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The night spent in town was comfortable, but short-lived. The road that met them the next morning was harsh and unforgiving, although the cart made it a little more tolerable. Dusk took to walking alongside Maribel for as long as he could each day. Lex mostly rode in the cart, keeping to himself. Sometimes he rode in the front next to Tara, keeping a low conversation going between them. Dusk wasn’t sure what they had to talk about, but he always thought it had to do with him. It was possible Tara was trying to figure out new ways to trick him into forgiving Lex, but it wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t ready to do that yet.
Over the course of the first week, not much seemed to happen. There was a rainstorm, two or three passing wagons with people moving south to Jirath Harbor, although they didn’t speak much beyond a quick greeting or asking for news of the road ahead. The new horses were easy to handle and hardly any maintenance whatsoever. Although Maribel had become quite used to her new, larger rations and she was very picky about them each day when it was time to eat. If Dusk didn’t fill her feedbag full enough she would back away and stare at him as if to say he better think again if she was going to put up with such neglect. More than once Dusk snuck an old apple to her that he’d picked up in town. They were softening fast, being leftovers from the year previous. She still ate them gratefully, always giving him a nod of approval. Her smell continued to grow stronger and it looked like she was putting on a little more weight, although it was still hard to tell.
On the eighth day of the journey, Tara pulled the cart to a halt that night so they could make camp. As Dusk piled some wood into a small depression in the ground, Tara stopped him.
“Something isn’t right,” she said, her eyes fixed on the surrounding plains. “I feel like we’re being watched.”
“Well that’s not terrifying,” Dusk scoffed, slumping his shoulders. “So much for sleeping tonight.”
“I’m serious,” she murmured, still looking out over the grass. “Something is off.”
“Any idea what it could be?”
“There’s no sounds or smells.” She scanned the horizon from side to side. “I just can’t place it... I can’t shake the feeling that someone is following us. It’s been bothering me ever since we left Jirath Harbor, but it’s gotten a lot stronger the past couple of days.” She paused for a moment, shaking her head. “I feel like someone is breathing down my neck and I can’t see them.”
“What should we do?” Dusk asked, following Tara’s line of sight, but seeing nothing.
“We’ll take the night in turns. Just be on your guard. We’re out in the middle of nowhere now. There’s no place for us to run.”
“Well that’s horrifically ominous,” Dusk chuckled nervously. “I guess I’ll sleep with my bow nearby and an arrow nocked.”
“I’d rather be overcautious, just in case.” She turned to look at Lex. “You can take the first watch. I’ll take the middle of the night. Dusk, you go last.”
“Fine,” he replied, going back to lighting the fire for the night.
“Keep the flames low.”
Dusk gave her a nod and struck the flint in his hands.
The night was silent between the three of them as they all settled uneasily into their bed rolls. Dusk had taken to sleeping in the cart, no longer wanting to sleep on the ground. Tara thought he was crazy, saying the ground was much softer and more comfortable. But the truth be told, it reminded him of sleeping back in the slave quarters at the mine. Although he didn’t want to relive those days, he couldn’t deny that he found the familiar hardwood floor comforting in a strange way. Besides, after months of traveling through the wilderness and on the high seas, he was grateful to have something more familiar to rest on for the time being.
Dusk slipped into a dreamless sleep that seemed to last only a moment before he felt Tara’s hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake.
“Dusk,” she whispered, leaning down close to his ear. “There’s something here. Keep quiet.”
Instantly he felt himself come wide awake, adrenaline pumping through his veins. As he’d promised, his bow was already nocked, lying at his side. Scooping it up he pushed himself to his feet, slipping off the back of the cart and crouching next to Tara. Both of them were silent as he strained his ears, turning on the spot to find the source of the disturbance.
After a few minutes of silence, the snap of a twig in the distance sounded like the boom of thunder. Both of them turned on the spot, staring in the direction of the noise. There was a high pitched yelp as something or someone cried out. Tara jumped to her feet and ran over to Lex, shaking him awake, causing him to cry out from the shock.
“Be ready, something is coming,” she hissed, pulling the massive greatsword from her back. “And keep quiet.”
He nodded, and pushed himself up, suddenly awake with adrenaline like the others, and drew his rapier. In the distance to the east there was a crash in the woods and a howling roar quickly behind it. The noise of pounding feet through dry leaves began to move through the forest, echoing between the trees and it sounded like something much larger wasn’t far behind it. All three of them kept their eyes fixed on the direction of the noise. For a moment it seemed like it would continue south and leave them behind. But just as Dusk found himself thinking they were in the clear, the feet shifted in their direction. The embers of the fire were still glowing on the ground and he realized too late the fire had given away their position.
“Help!” a woman’s voice called from the forest. “Somebody, help me!”
“Don’t move!” Tara commanded, watching Dusk take a step forward. “Hold your ground until we know it’s not a trap.”
“Somebody needs help!” he called back, gesturing towards the woods.
“We’ve been tricked before. Hold your ground.”
Dusk knew she was right, but it took everything he had to stay where he was. His natural inclination was to spring into the woods towards anyone who cried out for them. But trying to help others had gotten him in trouble before. Instead he took a deep breath and pulled his bow up, tucking his fingers against the string, ready to shoot whatever came running out of the woods towards them.
He didn’t have to wait long as a woman came sprinting out of the trees directly towards them. She was thin and waifish, her clothing dirty and torn at the edges. Her long white-blonde hair bounced behind her, tangled with leaves and debris from the forest. She looked terrified.
It only took a moment for Dusk to see why. Less than five seconds after she came running into the clearing, a massive white beast came barreling through the trees, snapping them like twigs as it broke through. It was covered in a thick white fur, chunks of it torn off on the broken branches. Along its spine were plates of dark armor, extending all the way down to the tip of the tail. Even in the darkness Dusk could see the long tusks that extended down from its upper jaw. He recognized it immediately, it was an Amarok, just like the one they’d seen north of Emerald Deep.
The girl tripped and fell to the ground, skidding across the grass. Dusk heard more cloth rip as she came to a stop. The creature slowed its pace, knowing that its prey wasn’t going to get away. The yellow eyes flashed in the dark and Dusk wondered if they could stop it before it killed the mysterious woman.
“Nedarya?” he heard Tara whisper off to his right.
Before he could even react, Tara had hefted her sword up, crying out, and took off at a dead sprint towards the creature. For someone so bulky, it was amazing how much ground she covered in an instant, throwing herself between the fallen girl and the wolf-like monster that had come to a halt, confused by this sudden appearance of another human. A growl echoed in it’s throat as its fur began to stand, the tail standing straight up. The top of its shoulders were a full two feet above Tara’s head, but she didn’t back down. Baring her teeth back at the creature, she screamed out, sword held high in her hands.
Claws lashed out at her, but she sidestepped as if it were too easy and swung the sword around. The blade connected with flesh, the creature howling out in pain. A large gash appeared, staining the white fur red along its right shoulder while one ear had been completely shorn off. The eyes seemed to glow a brighter yellow as the lips curled back, revealing rows of too many long sharp teeth. There was a deep rumbling coming from the creature’s chest that filled the empty space around them. It completely ignored the woman on the ground and turned it’s full attention to Tara, saliva dripping from its lips.
Dusk saw his chance. He pulled the bowstring back, tucking it into the corner of his mouth. Taking aim he held his breath and let the arrow fly. It caught the beast in the left side of the neck, sinking in a few inches with a dull thud. Yelping in pain, it swung its head over, zeroing in on Dusk. But that was all the distraction Tara had needed. Like a lumberman splitting a log, Tara heaved her greatsword over her head and slammed it down on the back of the monster’s neck with every ounce of strength she could muster. Dusk watched in awe as the sword cleaved the beast’s head from its shoulders in one blow, a feat that didn’t seem possible until the muzzle hit the dirt.
Blood sprayed across the ground as the body began to convulse, falling in a heap on the grass. The jerky movements only lasted a few seconds before it went still, the last heartbeat dying away as the blood stopped pumping through its now headless body. Tara stood there, covered in gore from head to toe, still panting with her sword clutched in both hands, the tip lying in the dirt.
Dusk dropped his bow and ran a few steps towards the girl.
“Stop!” Tara yelled, lifting her sword again, her chest still heaving. She turned her attention to the woman. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Tara...” the woman muttered, a look of shock on her face. “Tara, is that really you?”
She got to her feet, a smile brightening her face, but Tara didn’t move.
“I said,” she panted. “Who the fuck are you?”
“You... you don’t recognize me?”
Tara didn’t respond, but the sword was shaking in her grasp and she was breathing hard.
“It’s me... Nedarya.”
“Nedarya is dead,” Tara growled, lifting the tip of the sword higher. “I took her body home to Eblesal and presented it to her father. She was entombed in the royal catacombs. You are not Nedarya.”
“Tara,” she whispered, just loud enough so Dusk could hear. “It’s me. Really. I don’t understand how, but I’m here. Somehow they brought me back.”
“That’s not possible. And even if you were, I know the crazy fucker who did it. He said your mind was lost in the process. Even if you look like her, you’re not really her.”
“I lied,” Nedarya replied. “You know how good I am at that. It’s the only reason father ever let me travel to Malkekna without him as my personal chaperone.”
There was a look of recognition on Tara’s face, but then it hardened once more. “That’s not good enough. I still don’t believe you.”
Nedarya sighed, her shoulders drooping. “How about something only you would know? Like that our first kiss was that last night in Malkekna, on the balcony of my private quarters. You turned so red, I could see it even in the dark.”
Tara still held the sword up, but there was a strange, far away look in her eyes. The harshness of her face began to soften.
“Or the night before I died, how we fought about the future. I wanted to run away with you, but you wouldn’t hear of it. You thought the king would find us no matter where we went. I snuck off in the middle of the night without anyone noticing. All I wanted to do was make the trip last a little longer so I didn’t have to go home.” She paused for a moment, a look of sadness in her eyes. “I was under a tree by the creek when someone snuck up on me. I imagine that’s where you found me, without my crown.”
Tara inhaled sharply and dropped her sword to the dirt before falling to her knees. Dusk could see the tears streaming down her face, washing away the blood that coated her cheeks.
“Is it really you?” she asked, her voice breaking.
“It’s me, dearest.”
Tara’s head slumped forward, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Nedarya stepped forward and kneeled in front of her, wrapping her arms around Tara’s hulking figure. For a long moment, they stayed there in silence. Dusk glanced over to Lex who was watching silently. He wanted to say something, to give them privacy, but he couldn’t tear himself away. Something about the whole situation gave him a strange sense of hope like there really was good in the world. It made him ache for Lex, to be held and comforted like that. Tara and Nedarya had been separated by death and miraculously reunited again. In that moment he thought maybe he could find a way to forgive Lex, or at least start working towards it.
“But why?” Tara finally gasped. “Why did Tiernan bring you back to life? How?”
“He wants to use me to take over the Ditanian throne,” Nedarya replied, sitting back on her heels, her hands still on Tara’s cheeks. “But I ran away as soon as I was strong enough. I’ll never be a pawn in his game. Not after what he did.”
Tara’s face suddenly grew serious. “What did he do to you?” she growled.
Nedarya looked up, her eyes full of tears. “He was the one who did it. He made me take off all my jewels and my crown. I thought he was just some common bandit until he slit my throat.”
Tara suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tiernan is the one that murdered you?”
Nedarya nodded, her head dropping to lean against Tara’s shoulder, eyes closed.
“I’ll have his fucking head,” she hissed, holding her lover close.