Thousands of years before Feyre Cursebreaker was so much as a whisper of thought on the breeze, there was another girl in another forest - Carbhan, a half fae girl eking out a living in the largest and most vicious court in Prythian, the Dusk Court...
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Afterward, I was never sure how long it took me to make that run. Logically, I knew it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but I would have sworn some mischievous faerie living in the woods had decided to warp the time around me—I could think of no better explanation for why it seemed to take hours to arrive at my triur's location.
About a hundred feet away from where I could sense the pulse of Samy and Naree's location, I stopped, closing my eyes and zeroing in on our bond. Both on the ground now, radiating the high focused exhaustion and determination that came from fighting cornered with no chance of escape, close enough together that I would bet that they were standing side by side if not back to back. I bit back a growl at whatever was threatening them, resisting the urge to charge into the clearing arrows flying.
Instead I turned to the closest tree—a tall spruce, similar to most of the other evergreens in this part of the forest. My eyes were drawn momentarily to a section of smooth, near-white wood, stripped bare of bark by some hungry animal. I could almost see the image of a small doe, thin with the cold, yet retaining an air of regal grace, staring out at me from that smooth, blank strip of wood. If only I had my knives... or maybe I could just... I shook my head. Snap out of it, I told myself. This really wasn't the time for a flight of fancy. I glanced further up, finding a low enough branch. I adjusted my grip on my bow, hooking a finger over the arrow where it crossed the hand rest to free up my other hand, and jumped. My arm jolted at the sudden burden of my weight, the rough bark digging into my fingers. I pressed my toes against the tree for additional leverage, and managed to swing onto the branch, straddling it, with only minimal sound. I hauled myself upright, turning again in the direction of my triur. And I leapt.
I landed in a crouch in the next tree, straightened, and leapt again, repeating the process until I sat in a branch almost directly above a small clearing—a small clearing full to bursting with High Fae. My heart skipped a beat, then picked up even faster than before, a drum in my ears, pounding out a rhythm of fear and violence, like the clawing of a cornered animal trapped in the bone cage of my ribs.
I looked into the clearing. My eyes were immediately drawn to the figures closest to my branch.
The two of them stood side by side, like I'd thought. Naree stood slightly in front of Samy, his back pressed against the trunk of my tree. My fury rose as I took them in. Both were bloody and bruised, their doe skin coats in shreds. Samy had his hands slightly raised, and I could see the whitish glow around them. Even though he looked entirely Dusk Court, with his straight black hair and pale, slightly ruddy complexion, Samyani's grandfather was from the Dawn Court, and Samy had inherited an impressive amount of his healing power, especially considering he was a leathphór. Now, he was using it to keep Naree on her feet—and I could see that she needed it. She was breathing heavily, her bow and arrows set aside in favor of Samy's shillelagh—never her favorite weapon. Of the three of us, Naree was the only one who favored a blade over a staff-weapon for close range. Her black hair was a mess, tangled by blood and sweat, and her usually lilac tinged golden skin—a feature she inherited from her half Day Court half lesser fairie father—was pale from blood loss. Still, she stood, her dark eyes narrowed, shillelagh held steady in front of her, ready for the next attack.
