Villainous [Wattys 2021 Shortlist]

24: Guardians of the Forest

They wore all their steel strapped to their bodies in defiance of Kai's warning, and rode the horses at a gallop towards the road Dante had found. Kai was bound and gagged, still tied to his horse, his eyes dull and unfocused. Delilah wondered if some infection had set in, and eyed his mangled hand. The fingers were all wonky, and they would only heal properly if they were straightened and immobilized. Which was not about to happen anytime soon. She relished the idea of his fear - the only flaw in their plan was that Kai's blood was making his horse uneasy. Only the rope attaching its bridle to Dante's saddle kept it from bolting.

Delilah rode beside Dante as they entered the Ziran Forest's green depths. From the outside it was like an impenetrable wall, a swathe of woodland swallowing up everything in its path. Oaks, birches and larch trees spread leafy arms to envelop them.

Instantly Delilah decided she didn't like it. The forest was closed-in - the horses were restricted to the path due to the close-growing trees, and insects buzzed past them. The air was heavy and humid, and moss or fungi choked some of the trunks.

"Ugh," she muttered.

Dante's lip curled. "Give me Vale's pines and firs any day."

"You're going to get us all killed," Kai rasped from behind.

They both swivelled in the saddles to look at him.

"Shut it, prisoner," she snapped.

"I saved your lives," he whispered through the gag. "Does that mean nothing to you?"

Dante, his face like thunder, halted the horses and walked up to Kai, who flinched. Dante merely tightened the gag until it cut in horribly. Kai made a choking sound and Dante seemed satisfied as he walked back to his horse.

"Do you think the Rtko really do live here?" Delilah asked as they kept going. "We've already fought Shahmaran, and she wasn't supposed to exist."

"They're supposed to be intelligent," Dante said. "Why would they hide? Unless the stories are wrong and they exist but behave as animals."

"I wonder who these Opal guardians are?" Delilah commented. "If I were a samuarai I certainly wouldn't volunteer to spend my life in this hellhole."

"And they call it a wonder, a place of natural beauty," Dante sneered. "We could use the Earth Opal to flatten it all when we find it. Then we won't have to worry about getting lost on our way out."

Kai made a terrified noise from behind, but they ignored him.

The deeper they went, the more the forest seemed to hate them. Sharp twigs scratched their faces and snagged in their hair - Dante hated this especially, as his hair had grown almost past his jawline and he didn't seem to be used to it yet. The horses stumbled on the uneven, leaf-strewn path and started at every noise. It became difficult to control them, and Delilah soon felt like she was fighting to keep her mare going forwards. The trail started to twist and turn alarmingly, and more than once they nearly ran headlong into a tree or boulder. Once Delilah thought she saw a herd of deer bounding through the trees in the distance, but when she looked properly they'd gone - or maybe the infernal forest was playing tricks on her.

Dirty, scratched and tired, they paused to stretch their legs and drink. The horses' were shaking.

Delilah was aware of Kai watching her every move as she tipped her water bottle up and gulped greedily.

"You want some?" Dante's lip curled. "How about giving us some information in exchange?"

Kai made a strangled sound just as something rustled in the forest. It sounded... like a footstep.