“I will leave my seat to Dynalya …”
The councilor’s expressions varied from bulging eyes to gaping mouths. Dyna might have found their reactions amusing if she had not been equally speechless. To take Lady Samira’s place meant she would have the high seat and with it, the power to make decisions on village matters. It gave her the power to save Lyra.
“Hurry, man, I am dying,” Lady Samira snapped.
Councilor Pavin balked and hurried out of the room.
Lorian caught Dyna’s eye and motioned for her to come out to the hall with him while the others gathered to say their farewells to the councilwoman.
Once they were alone, he cornered her against the wall, leaning over her until his rank breath blew in her face. “You are cruel to fill her head with dreams and fairy tales on her deathbed.”
Dyna glared at him and clenched her shaking fists so he wouldn’t see how much he intimidated her. “I am telling the truth. I can help—”
“You will help us by staying here and not exposing us to the Archmage. If we are discovered, all of Magos will descend upon us.”
“Lady Samira has given me her blessings.”
“Her seat, you mean. A seat that should go to one of us.”
“To you if you had any say in it.”
“It is mine. I earned it and I’ll not let some girl take it from me.”
“I don’t care about that seat, I care about saving the children,” she exasperated. “The Shadow is coming and I know how to stop it. If you will not help me then I will do this on my own.”
Lorian sneered and leaned down until their noses touched. “Go on, leave if you’re so brave. But do give your loved ones a farewell. It will be the last time they ever see you, Dynalya, for you will fail.”
His words echoed in the cavern of her thoughts. The floor was quicksand, pulling her under, slipping over her mouth and nose until she was blinded in the cold dark.
You will fail.
“What were you doing to my granddaughter?”
Councilor Lorian jumped away. Grandmother Leyla stood at the end of the hall with her bag, glaring daggers at him.
“Come now, madam. You wound me,” he chuckled airily. “We were merely discussing Lady Samira’s condition.”
Grandmother Leyla’s eyes narrowed. She went to Dyna, searching her face. “How is she?”
Dyna shook her head and her grandmother sighed.
Councilor Pavin rushed past them with a sheet of paper and a well of ink. They followed him into the hushed room. Councilor Mathis covered Lady Samira’s face with a blanket as they approached the settee.
“She’s passed,” Councilor Xibil announced somberly. Cario laid a comforting hand on his father’s shoulder.
“Oh …” Grandmother Leyla covered her face.
Dyna dropped into the chair beside Lady Samira and lowered her head. Her bitterness against this woman had been with her for so long it had rooted itself deep within her. But it served no purpose. It would only keep her in the past when it was the future she needed to face.
Dyna gently took Lady Samira’s hand and recited the prayer for the dead, “May you leave the Mortal Gate with no burden to bind you. May you cross Death’s Gate with all faults forgiven.” Her tears came freely, and she felt each one wash away her resentment. “May you pass through the Time Gate with the wisdom of the age. May you pass through the expanse of the Spatial Gate’s wonder. May you pass through Life’s Gate as you did at the beginning. May you arrive at Heaven’s Gate at the end. May the God of Urn receive your soul.” In a whisper, she added, “I will save them. I promise you.”
“Lady Samira has departed before she could officially leave a successor,” Lorian said coolly. “The laws are clear on this. We must vote for a new Head Councilor. Who shall it be? Someone among us? Or will the village’s fate rest on the whims of an inexperienced girl?”
The council members looked to her unsurely, Lorian’s mouth twisting with mockery.
Dyna didn’t bother staying to hear the obvious result of the vote. She took her confused grandmother’s arm and walked out of the room with as much dignity as she could muster.
When first discovering the map, Dyna knew she would have to leave, but she had put the journey off, lacking the courage to take the first step away from the comforts of her home. The small sliver of hope that the council would be of any help died with Lady Samira.
She had no choice but to do this herself.
The thought was as frightening as jumping into a pitch-black pit not knowing when she would hit the ground. There was no telling what awaited her out in the world, and there was the danger of attracting a mage. Great risk outweighed her success.
Dyna looked up from the letter she had been writing at her desk. The dark sky was lightening. She had stayed awake into the late hour, thinking and planning, but soon it would be morning. She groaned, dropping her head into her hands.
Winter was coming and soon the gorge entrance to the village would seal with snow until late spring. If she didn’t leave now, she would not have enough time to cross Urn and return home before the fourth coming.
Time slipped past her, drawing the Shadow nearer.
She had to go. There was no question. She had to leave today, at this moment, before it was too late.
Fear caught her in a snare, reminding her she couldn’t sleep by herself, let alone in the dark. She also had dire responsibilities. Zev needed her help or he would …
Her spiral of thoughts stopped and she broke into a grin. Zev could come with her. She didn’t have to do this alone.
Dyna peeked at Lyra, who slept soundly on the bed under a mound of blankets. She picked up the journal where it had been resting behind a stack of books, opened it to the blank page, and whispered the passphrase. Once the map appeared, she tapped on the Kingdom of Azure, and the dance of magic rippled across the surface. The continent swirled and expanded until the eastern quadrant filled the page.
She studied the land past the Zafiro Mountains. Zev lived in Lykos Peak, werewolf territory. It was located in a dense region of woods, bordered by coastline cliffs. It lay about thirty miles east of her village, but a thick forest separated them. The villagers called it the Forbidden Woods.
On the map, it was identified as Hilos.
Wander in there about and you will never come out, as the saying went. A dire rhyme they were all made to learn as children. No one outside of the council knew what lurked in there. But how dangerous could it be if Zev trekked through those woods when he came to visit her each month?
He never spoke of anything frightening prowling within it. That couldn’t mean much. Most found him to be equally frightening, considering his origin.
Regardless, Dyna was curious.
“What’s in there?” she had often asked him. “What’s it like?”
Zev would always shrug as though it was a silly question. “It’s a forest.”
“Then why is it forbidden?”
“You must obey the rules, even if you don’t understand them.”
Her cousin was not of North Star so the rules didn’t apply to him, but the forest mustn’t be so terrible if he went in. The rumors had to be mere superstition.
Or perhaps not.
Her aunt had gone through those woods years ago. She did not return.