Page 83 of A Tempest of Intrigue
“Thetreesate them!”
The hair on my nape stood on end as I recalled the trees Ellery and I had encountered in the forest. Monstrous creatures had risen from those trees’ roots, but Ellery would recognize them and stay away.
Farley had to be panicked about someone else, but I’d unfortunately gotten to know the poltergeist a little more, and there were few amsirah he’d care about getting eaten. Ellery was one, and Mouse was the other.
We’d encountered Mouse several times during our travels to the other encampment. Mouse didn’t talk to Farley either, but the annoying blob had a soft spot for the boy.
“Black dogs chased them into the trees, and the trees ATE THEM!” Farley yelled.
An icy chill crept through my cheeks and into my skull when his tiny hands clasped my cheeks. I tried to pull him away, but all that did was turn my hands to ice too.
“Dogs chased,” Farley panted, though I had no idea why since he didn’t require air, “and the trees ATE!”
The chill creeping down my spine had nothing to do with Farley’s icy touch spreading through me and everything to do with the fact Ellery was late and Farley was losing his mind. I didn’t think it would upset him this much if anyone else got eaten… and he kept sayingthey.
Did something happen to Ellery and Mouse?
“Farley,” I said, “have you seen Ellery?”
Farley’s eyes grew bigger as he pulled himself so close our faces nearly touched. “The trees ate her and Mouse. They ate them!”
Everything inside me went as still as a broken clock. I forgot about Farley’s icy touch as silence descended before all sound rushed back into my deafened ears.
“Take me to them,” I commanded.
Farley flew into the woods again. I contemplated opening a portal to where the trees attacked me and Ellery, but this was the Revenant Woods, and thousands of those trees could be hidden within these mysterious depths.
A portal would be faster but could also take me to the wrong place. I bolted into the woods after Farley.
“Stay with the children!” Tucker yelled at someone in the encampment.
I didn’t look back to see who remained as I sprinted through the trees. Farley had at least finally stopped screaming, but inside me, a loud, echoing wail rose. It came straight from my soul and reverberated around my head, but I didn’t release it.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Ellery
Something tappedmy face with an urgency that somehow pierced through the pain in my skull. I tried opening my eyes to see what it was, but instead of starry white lights, black filled my vision, and my lashes felt weighted by something.
A gentle brush against my eyes eased the weight and made it easier to see. It took too long for me to realize someone had cleaned debris from my eyes.
I blinked again, but the blackness remained. “Wh… Wh…?”
It was nearly impossible to form words as something clogged my mouth and nose. I choked, and a wracking cough shook my body.
My lungs burned, and it felt like something clogged them as my body worked to expel whatever was trapped inside. The thick, cloying substance filled my mouth before spraying from me in chunks that choked me.
It tasted like… mud. Yes, it had the mineral tang of earth and the consistency of dirt as I continued to hack it up.
My chest ached, and my head felt like someone had smashed it with a rock, but the coughing eased. While the taste remained, after a few more minutes of being able to breathe a little easier, I was certain I’d gotten most of it out of me.
When I lifted my head, pain exploded through it; I shuddered, which did nothing to ease my suffering. Though I tried to stay still to ease the agony pulsing through me, I couldn’t stop the quaking in my body.
My arms quivered so much I almost collapsed onto the ground, but I managed to drag myself away from the stuff I’d coughed up before sinking to the cool earth. The aroma of dirt and rocks filled my nose as my fingers dug up chunks of soil.
Groaning, I rolled onto my back and winced. I rested a hand on my forehead as I tried to figure out why everything hurt so badly and what happened.
Someone was here with me; maybe they knew. “What happened?”
