Maria Snyder - Taste Of Darkness

When the blob sharpened into sunlight filtered through large leaves, Hogan stopped. “Lily vines are wrapped all around the opening. We’re safe here.”

“Good. Stay,” I ordered, striding past Hogan.

The sergeant gasped when I reached the edge of the vines.

“You get used to it,” Odd said.

I stepped between the vines, trying not to harm the Lily. Exiting the tunnel, I paused, breathing in the fresh air. The sun hung low—late afternoon. We had left in the morning, not that it mattered below the earth, but Ryne had wanted my ribs to heal and for me to get a good night’s sleep. As if that was possible. Dreams of Kerrick and Tohon had sabotaged my rest. At least my ribs no longer caused me pain. Just a dull ache that should disappear soon.

A handful of Lilys grew nearby. As soon as I approached, the scent of vanilla dominated. Peace Lilys. They didn’t even twitch when I rested a hand on their petals.

“It’s okay,” I called to the men. “They won’t hurt you.” I searched the area, seeking Death Lilys. None.

When I returned, Hogan sat cross-legged on the ground. He sketched on a piece of parchment stretched across his lap. Working fast, he drew the landscape with a piece of charcoal.

“What are you doing?” Odd asked.

“Drawing landmarks,” Hogan said.

Confused, Odd glanced at me.

“Do you know where we are?” I asked him.

“No.”

“Neither does Hogan or Ryne. That sketch will help them figure out where this tunnel leads to.”

Odd nodded.

“We did find a rudimentary map of the mines,” Hogan said. “But it was old and doesn’t show half the shafts we’ve discovered.”

If only Kerrick was here. He’d know our location the instant he touched the forest. While Hogan worked, I wandered among the greenery, trailing my fingers over the leaves and along the rough tree bark.

Most of the Pomyt, Casis, Vyg, Sogra, Lyady, and the northern half of Ozero Realms were wooded. On a color map of the Fifteen Realms they appeared like a green belt south of the Nine Mountains. No surprise that lumber and mining were the top two resources for them. Farming dominated the realms of Zainsk, Sectven, Tobory, Ryazan, Kazan, and the southern half of Ozero. Bavly Realm extended into the Southern Desert and they sold the high-quality sand used in making glass wares.

Of course, all the trade and sharing of resources died when two-thirds of our population died. Not enough workers to plow the fields, mine the sand, or cut trees. Not enough manpower to stop the marauders and outlaws from running amok. Not enough craftsmen to provide goods and services. It had been utter chaos. A dark time when the people executed healers because they blamed us for unleashing the killer among them.

I’d believed we had nothing to do with the disease, but I’d since learned the healers did indeed cause over six million deaths. They’d been experimenting with mixing Death Lily toxin with Olaine pollen as a way to heal those pricked by the lethal Lilys. Instead, it had triggered the plague.

Did all my colleagues and friends deserve to die? Or just those few who lost control of their experiment? Tough questions.

And now Ryne hoped to return us to peace and prosperity. Or rather a semi-peace. The leaders of the Fifteen Realms squabbled like siblings over things like mine rights and border issues. Minor compared to Tohon’s army of the dead.

“Avry...hello?” Odd waved a hand in front of my face.

I focused on him. His brows were pinched together.

“Something wrong?”

“Hogan’s finished his sketch and wants to get moving to the next blocked exit.”

We headed back, joining Hogan at the threshold.

“How many more of these—” Odd gestured to the Lilys “—do we have to check?”

Ah, the reason for his scowl.

Hogan consulted the map. “Four more.”

Odd gave me a sour look. “Gee, Avry, if this how you treat your friends, I’d hate to see what you do to your enemies.”

* * *

We spent the next couple days trekking through the Victibus mines. I made and discarded a dozen plans to rescue Melina as we moved through the forest. Peace Lilys blocked the next exit, but at the third one a small Death Lily grew. Not big enough to snatch a man yet, its petals reached as high as my hip.

“Is that...” Hogan backed up a step.

Odd laughed. “It’s just a baby. Can’t hurt a full-grown man.”

“Should we pull it?” Hogan asked.

“No. It has a flower and is still dangerous.” I stepped between him and the Lily. Before the plague, teams of people would cull the young Lily plants before they flowered to save lives.

“But we might need this exit.”

True, but these plants had a sentient core. “Let me talk to it.”

“Uh—”

“Don’t ask,” Odd cut in.

I knelt next to the Death Lily and extended my hand. With a high-pitched hiss, it parted its petals and grabbed my arm. Two barbs pricked my wrist. Toxin flowed in me, but it wasn’t strong enough. Semi-detached from my body, I connected with the Lily’s consciousness. However, the connection remained weak. I caught a glimpse of another Lily, one fully grown a few miles away.

“How do you know where it is?” Hogan asked after I’d recovered. “We don’t even know where we are.”

How to explain? “The Lily showed me a map of the area. Like your sketch, but in my mind.”

“And you trust this?”

“Yes. And we need more toxin. It’ll only be a short detour.”

“But Prince Ryne—”

“Will be very happy to be able to eliminate more dead soldiers with the toxin we collect.”

Hogan glanced at Odd.

Odd shrugged. “Just so you know, she’s going whether you agree or not.”

“You can wait here if you want. We’ll be back by sunset.” I hefted my pack.

Hogan tried again. “Prince Ryne ordered us to stay together.”

“Then come on—you’re wasting time.” I strode north. “Besides, what can happen? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“Now you’ve done it,” Odd said, catching up to me. “Never invite danger.”

“How’s that inviting danger?”

“Asking ‘what can happen’ is a challenge to fate. It’s like asking fate to throw something our way.”

“That’s a silly superstition.”

“To you.”

Uh-oh. Had I hurt his feelings? I glanced at him. Instead of wounded puppy dog, his expression remained serious. I remembered Odd was from Ryazan Realm. “Is this a Ryazan belief?”

“No. Soldiers don’t tempt fate. We don’t brag or boast, which is different than being bold and aggressive. We aren’t cocky, just confident. Well, the good ones are.”

“But you brag all the time at camp.”

“About stupid stuff, not the important things. You’ve never heard me come back from a patrol and brag about how many enemy soldiers my squad killed. Or how we ambushed them while they slept.”

True. He’d bragged about stealing the last cookie from the mess tent or about dumping Ursan in the mud during a training session. Actually he’d never seemed to tire of teasing Ursan over that one.

“I understand and I’ll be more careful in my...word choices from now on,” I said.

“Thank you,” Odd said.

We walked in silence for a while. While Odd and I moved with the sounds of the forest, Hogan didn’t. He needed the silent training. The afternoon sun warmed the air and drove off the damp chill. Tipping my head back, I enjoyed the heat of the sunlight on my cheeks. We’d been overnighting in the tunnels for the past two nights. I hoped Ryne’s new infirmary location wasn’t inside a cave.

After an hour, we reached the Death Lily. It grew among a dozen Peace Lilys, the largest cluster I’d seen since I’d been harvesting the toxin.