Maria Snyder - Taste Of Darkness

“Avry, we need to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you. Go away.”

“You can’t avoid me.”

True. I sighed. “We’ll chat in the morning, before the search parties go out. Okay?”

“I’ve called off the search.”

I sat up, turning. “What? Why?” Fury blew away the sleep fog.

He reached for my hand, but I jerked back. Ryne settled back on his heels. “He’s gone, Avry.”

“No. You’re wrong.”

“I wish I was, really I do.” Ryne pushed a lock of his brown hair from his tired hazel eyes. Worry lines creased his face and he appeared much older than twenty-seven—the same age as Kerrick. “Remember that book on magicians I have?”

“Couldn’t forget that.” I didn’t bother softening my sarcasm. His school textbook on magicians and their powers had led to Ryne leaving me behind to be caught in Tohon’s nasty trap. I shuddered at the memory.

He ignored my tone. “It reports that forest mages go into the woods when they die. And their bodies disappear.”

“No. Not buying it. What if they’re in a city?”

“Avry, it fits. You know it. Death Lily toxin is lethal. He died in the woods and the living green reclaimed its gift to him.”

“No.”

“Then why can’t we find his body? And if he didn’t die, why isn’t he here? You know Kerrick, he would never just leave you.”

“No. No. No. No!” I screamed the last one. And with that one word, all the emotions I’d been suppressing burst from my core. I collapsed as great gasping sobs pounded my body.

CHAPTER 3

I woke in Ryne’s arms. He was curled next to me. It took me a moment to remember what had led to this. Ah, yes. Ryne insisting Kerrick was gone. The suffocating pain returned, pressing my chest as if I lay under the Nine Mountains. Groaning, I rolled away.

Ryne pushed up to one elbow. “Avry, are you—”

“Don’t ask. Ever.” I grabbed my boots and left.

After checking on my patients, I searched for Loren. He sat with the group around Ryne. They’d probably been discussing military tactics, but I didn’t care. I caught Loren’s attention and gestured for him to join me. He nodded and slipped away.

His face tight with concern, Loren approached me as if I’d attack him. I would have laughed if the circumstances had been different.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Do you still have the map with the search areas marked on it?”

“Yes. Why?” He shifted, wary again.

“I need it.”

“But Ryne—”

“I don’t care what he said. I’m not giving up until I have proof. Can you get it for me, please?”

His shoulders drooped, but he shuffled off to fetch it. I consulted the Lily map and located the cluster the Death Lily had pointed out last night.

Loren returned with the map and Ryne.

I glared at Loren before snatching the map. Ignoring Ryne, I scanned the search grids.

“Avry, you’re needed here,” Ryne said.

“No, I’m not. My patients are doing fine.”

“What if more casualties arrive?”

“I’ll be back by nightfall.” I folded the maps and tucked them under my arm.

Ryne trailed me to my cavern and watched as I organized my pack, removing Kerrick’s boots. Debating about my cloak, I left it behind and strode for the cave’s exit.

“I can order you to stay here,” Ryne said, hurrying to catch up.

“You can.” I kept moving.

He huffed. “I can order the guards to stop you.”

“You can.”

By this time Loren, Quain, and Flea had joined Ryne.

“Avry, you’re not going to find Kerrick. He’s gone,” Ryne said.

I stopped and turned. Suppressing the desire to punch Ryne in the mouth, I asked, “Who said I was going to search for Kerrick?”

They all blinked at me in surprise.

“You need more toxin sacks, right?” I asked. “Or did Wynn lie about that, too?”

“We do need more, but—”

“So what’s the problem? I’m going out to collect them. Unless you know someone else who can harvest them from the Death Lilys?” I waited.

“Uh...” Ryne rubbed a hand over the stubble on his cheeks. “All right, you can go, as long as you take the monkeys with you.”

“I’m going, too,” Flea said, shooting us all a stern look that dared us to argue with him. At least he had more color in his face today.

“Fine. But hurry up, we’re burning daylight.”

They scrambled to get their weapons and packs.

Ryne stared at me. “Don’t go too far. There are still enemy patrols to the south and west.”

“And we can easily avoid them. They all sound like a herd of drunken deer.”

“But for how long? Wynn is working for Cellina now. She learned how to be quiet in the woods and it won’t be long before she’s teaching Cellina’s soldiers.”

Good point. And she’d learned that skill from me. Another ramification of her betrayal. However... “It’s only been a couple days.”

“Still worth considering. In fact, now that Cellina’s in charge, it’s even more dangerous to be out there. We’ve no idea what she’s planning.”

“And you knew Tohon’s plans?”

“Yes. He wanted to conquer all the realms and be king. Not hard to figure out his next move. Cellina, on the other hand, is more of a mystery. Plus she has Wynn’s information. We’ll have to relocate the infirmary and my headquarters as soon as possible. And until I get intelligence on her movements, it’s best for everyone to lie low.”

If he was trying to scare me, it wouldn’t work. “We’ll be extra careful.”

Ryne frowned.

The guys returned and we left the cave.

“Which way?” Loren asked me.

I touched the greenery, seeking Kerrick’s magic. Disappointment jabbed. “East. And keep a sharp eye out.”

“For what?” Flea scanned the forest.

“Lilys. Right, Avry?” Quain asked with a sad smile.

“Yes. We’re searching for Lilys.”

“Oh.” Flea hefted his pack. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

* * *

Although we found nothing that first day, we continued to seek Lilys after my morning rounds each day. I harvested a few toxin sacks, but not near enough to neutralize the thousands of dead soldiers or to stop our daily excursions. Wounded arrived sporadically as Ryne’s soldiers encountered Cellina’s. Odd returned to patrolling with the odd squad, and Ryne relocated his headquarters. The prince’s men continued to scout for an alternate infirmary site.

The burning knot of misery that had lodged in my chest consumed a little more of me each day.

After a week of Lily hunting, Loren spread the map on his lap and said, “We’ve covered all of the area around the infirmary. We’d have to camp overnight to reach new territory.”

Quain and Flea glanced up from their bowls. They’d been shoveling food since we’d returned from our latest sweep. We sat around the hearth.

I ignored Loren’s implication. “Okay. We’ll bring our bedrolls tomorrow.”

He paused for a moment. “But the odds of finding...er...a Lily that far away are high.”

“You can stay here, Loren. I’m not giving up.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d say that.”

“Then why did you bring it up?” I demanded.

“Because it needed to be said. And while you don’t want hear it, it’s true. But if this is what you need to do...then we’ll go with you. However, I plan to be the voice of reason whether you like it or not.”

Flea and Quain ducked their heads. Cowards.

“I’m not giving up,” I said again. Jabbing my spoon into my soup, I swirled the contents around. My appetite was nonexistent since Kerrick had disappeared.

“Okay. Do you want to go farther east or check along that stream to the north?” Loren asked, pointing to the map.