Page 86 of Shadow Queen
Alexander released the arrow from his bow at the Wild women.
“Naavi!” the horned creature cried to the woman, and knocked the arrow from its path. Naavi stepped back in surprise, and a third Wild woman leapt from a tree to join her. She was similar to the green woman called Naavi, but her skin shone a shimmering bronze. Above her cheeks and around her temples grew wisps of branches twisted back into the hair woven high atop her head.
A wave of power surged through the air, but it seemed to only pass through them. Alexander released another arrow, unfazed, and this time it found its mark. Naavi cried out in pain, grasping the protruding shaft in her side. The Wild women stumbled backward, and Norah gasped.
Soren leapt forward to Mikael, axe in hand, bringing down the blade and freeing him from the clutches of the forest.
“I can’t control them, sister,” Naavi cried. “There’s a shield!”
Norah’s mind swirled, trying to understand what was happening. Then the realization hit her—the women couldn’t get inside their minds.
Alexander pulled another arrow into his bow as he advanced closer.
But Norah didn’t come here for this. “Stop!” she cried, stilling everyone. Alexander paused but held his stance, his bow ready.
“Please,” Norah called, “we mean no ill will.”
Naavi pulled the arrow from her side, and Norah watched in astonishment as tiny threads of roots braided themselves over the wound, closing it. “Then why do you bring these monsters here?” the woman demanded. “Norah, how can you protect them?”
Norah’s heart stopped in her chest. “You know me?” she breathed.
Naavi looked back at the other woman, the one she called her sister.
“Please,” Norah begged. “I’ve come for your help.”
“We’ll never help the Shadowmen,” Naavi said bitterly.
“I saidIneed your help.”
“And what makes you think we’ll help you?” the sister asked coldly. “You made your choice.”
What didthatmean?
Naavi straightened, recovering from the arrow’s wound as if it had never pierced her. “What is it you seek?” she asked.
The bronze woman cut Naavi a sharp eye, and Naavi seemed to withdraw under her sister’s gaze.
“My memories,” Norah said.
The Wild women looked at one another again in surprise. “You cannot help her,” the bronze woman hissed to Naavi. “Not now. But we can rid her of this wickedness that surrounds her.”
The sisters looked at the Shadowmen with bitterness, seemingly contemplating their end. But Alexander pulled up his bow again and stepped in front of Mikael and Soren. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Sana,” Naavi called back to her sister, “do you feel it? It’shim.” She stepped toward Alexander, and he fixed his aim on her again.
“I feel it,” Sana said between her teeth. The bronze woman cast a daggered glare at Norah. “You say you want our help, but you come with the means to fight?” She looked at Alexander. “I feel your power, seer,” she seethed. “But I don’t need to take your mind to kill you.”
What?
Alexander glanced at Norah and back to the Wild woman. “I’m no seer.”
“Then what are you?” Naavi demanded.
“I’m the lord justice of Mercia.”
“What, not who,” Sana said icily.
Confusion flashed across his face, matching Norah’s, and he shook his head. “I’m but a simple man.”
