Wicked Hunt

Chapter Eight, Part II

Worriedly, Victoria took a step in that direction, but a hand on her shoulder from Jillian made her pause. She watched as her mother knelt in the dirt at the edge of the forest, tossed the plant and its root before her and began chanting softly.

The wind picked up instantly, carrying her mother's mournful voice through the trees. Victoria's dark hair swirled around her like a fog as a collection of black birds leapt into the air, eager to escape the quivering tree branches. From the trees, the blackness of the shadows in the forest seemed to shiver. They lurched and leapt, as if being branded by a flaming sword. The scent of smoke drifted with the wind, the lingering effects of Clive's wedding, but also something new. Something acrid crept from the shadows, something vile and putrid, like rotting flesh. The scent reminded Victoria of her dream. Destruction. Fire. Death.

She shook Jillian off and hurried to Gemma's side. She did not know the words that she was saying, but she took Gemma's wrinkled hand and began humming in tune with what her mother sang. Soon, the words came to her, bleeding through their shared magical connection.

With this bond, create a wall,

Shield this realm, use these trees

From darkness peering through a glass,

To the evil hidden on the breeze

Forget the lure of the shadows

Bring the wicked to their knees

The shadows swirled around the trees as their voices faded out. Jillian crept closer. Victoria could feel her standing behind her. She glanced at Gemma whose milky eyes stared absently into the forest. Victoria glanced back at the trees. Her knees had begun to ache, and she was just about to say something to her mother when two glowing red dots caught her eye in the undergrowth. Ice slithered down her spine, and as she gasped, her breath made a puff of fog in the chilled air.

The eyes watched them intently, flitting between the three women and the broken plant before them. Victoria felt their annoyance. It bled through the trees to scrape across her chest and leave her breathless.

"You have no power here." Gemma's voice rang out in the still air making Victoria's stomach lurch. She glanced at her mother's hunched form, then back to the forest. The eyes were gone. Only darkness peered back at her from the trees. She stumbled to her feet and tugged Gemma up beside her.

"He's never shown himself before." She shook her skirt out. Dirt fell to the ground before her. She noticed that the Nightshade flower had shriveled up into a dried shell.

"His power is stronger than it has ever been before." Gemma leaned against her daughter, tired from expending herself.

"Will this work?" Jillian asked quietly behind them. "If he's already grown this powerful-"

"Don't question the ways of the old magic," Gemma snapped. Then, she swayed, the effort at being irritated mixed with the expelling of magic was taking its toll on her.

"Mother, please." Victoria wrapped her arm around Gemma's hunched frame. "Let's get you back to the carriage."

The closer they got to the vessel; the more anxious Victoria grew. She tried to focus on assisting Gemma, but her mind was focused back on the two red eyes glowing through the darkness of the forest. Under their malevolent gaze, she had felt trapped.

Did he know that her family was descendants of the ancient serpent, the stag's sworn enemy? He must have felt it in the air.

"Let's get out of here," Jillian pressed. Shoving past them and leaping onto the carriage's step.

"Calm yourself," Gemma hissed, but her words seemed lost on the cold, violent air that rushed at them from the forest. She froze, quirking her head. Her breathing became shallow, and she reached out, fingers twitching. Gemma's Sight. She was getting a feeling. Victoria knew the signs.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Where is Michael?" Gemma asked suddenly, her glazed eye opaque and wide. They held a terrible fear in them that Victoria rarely saw.

"He's with the other guards..." Victoria turned to look at the group of men who shifted uneasily on the other side of the horses. She squinted but now saw no sign of the big burly guard her mother asked for.

"He's not there, is he?" Gemma said gravely.

"What do you mean?" Victoria snapped, dread overtaking her. Gemma pinched Victoria's elbow and pointed back to the dark trees. She caught the back of a figure disappearing into the black shadows. The wind died instantly.

"What the hell?" one of the men shouted. Gemma turned on him, and they all shrank back.

"What did you do to Michael?" Arthur questioned.

"I did nothing," Gemma retorted. "That was the Stag's doing."

"He's back?" the words filtered around the small group, hushed and disbelieving.

"He never left," Victoria stated icily and with an air of finality. She pushed Gemma up into the litter, Jillian reaching down and helping. Victoria focused on the wheels, ignoring her shaking hands. Once Gemma was inside, she grabbed the handle and pulled herself up.

"What about Michael?" Andrew's face was forced forward, white as a sheet. His hairy lips trembled, and she knew his concern was all for show.

"You're welcome to go and look for him." Victoria tilted her head back to the pitch black trees. The moon seemed to vanish.

"I'll...I'll take the others," Andrew said. He disappeared, and Victoria sat back in a huff, her breath easing out of her wearily.

"There's no point going looking for the man," Gemma remarked, closing her eyes and laying her head down against the windowpane. "They'll be nothing left."

"Why did he go into those woods at all?" Jillian asked frantically. Her words were laced with hysteria.

"He did not go of his own accord," Gemma said. "This was the Stag's doing. He has a certain sway over things."

"Especially now that he is gaining power," Victoria agreed.

The night was suddenly pierced with a bloodcurdling scream, splitting the semi-calm. It didn't sound male or female. It didn't even sound human. The hairs on the back of Victoria's neck instantly straightened.

Loud huffs and rustling leaves. The men were jogging back up from the Shadow Wood. She knew Michael would not be with them, but she tentatively poked her head out and inquired about him anyway.

"No sign of him, ma'am," one of them said, leaping onto his horse. The others were quick to follow.

"Get us out of here," Victoria replied, gripping her mother and Jillian tightly.