Page 118 of Children of Blood and Bone

Below us the forested hills of the Gombe River Valley spread beneath the shadows and moonlight. Mammoth trees fill the land, but from up here, one unique symbol makes itself clear. Unlike the random spread of trees throughout the forest, this grove is arranged, forming a giant circle. From our vantage point, their specialXis just visible, painted onto some of the trees’ leaves.

“He told the truth.” Zélie sounds surprised.

“We didn’t give him much of a choice.”

“Still.” She shrugs. “He easily could’ve lied.”

Between the circular formation of trees, a secret wall has been erected, formed from mud, stones, and crisscrossed branches. Though rudimentary, the wall sits high, reaching several meters up the trees’ trunks.

Two figures armed with swords stand in front of the wall, guarding what must be their gate. Like the boy we interrogated, the fighters wear masks and are completely clad in black.

“I still don’t understand who they are,” Zélie mutters under her breath. I echo her question. Besides their location, the only other thing we learned from the boy was that his people were after the scroll as well.

“Maybe if you hadn’t beaten him half to death, we could’ve gotten more answers.”

Zélie snarls. “If I didn’t beat that boy, we wouldn’t have found this place at all.”

She stalks forward, starting her trek down the forested terrain.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To get our siblings back.”

“Wait.” I grab her arm. “We can’t just storm in.”

“I can take two men.”

“There are far more than two of them.” I point to the areas around the gate. It takes Zélie a moment to see through the shadows. The hidden soldiers are so still they blend completely into the darkness. “There are at least thirty of them on this side alone. And that doesn’t count the archers hidden in the trees.”

I point to a foot dangling from the branches, the only sign of life in the thick leaves. “If their formation matches the feet on the ground, we should expect at least fifteen of them up there as well.”

“So we’ll attack at daybreak,” Zélie decides. “When they can’t hide.”

“Sunlight isn’t going to change how many of them there are to fight. We have to assume they’re all as skilled as the men who took Amari and Tzain.”

Zélie scrunches her nose at me; I hear it, too. Her brother’s name sounds strange coming out of my mouth.

She turns; her white curls glow in the moonlight. Her hair was straight as a blade before, but now it bunches in tight spirals, twisting further in the wind.

Her curls remind me of one of her young memories, back when she was a child and her coils were even tighter. Her mother chuckled while trying to comb Zélie’s hair into a bun, magically summoning dark shadows to hold Zélie in place as her daughter struggled.

“What’s our move?” Zélie breaks through my thoughts. I return my focus to the wall, letting the facts of battle wash away all memories of Zélie’s mother and her hair.

“Gombe is only a day’s ride away. If I leave now, I can bring back guards by morning.”

“Are you serious?” Zélie steps back. “You want to bring the guards into this?”

“We need a force if we’re getting into that camp. What other choice do we have?”

“With the guards, you have a choice.” Zélie jabs her finger in my chest. “I don’t.”

“That boy is a divîner.” I point to the captive. “What if there are more behind that wall? They have the scroll now. We don’t know what we’ll have to face.”

“Of course. The scroll. Always the scroll. How stupid am I to think this could be about rescuing my brother or yoursister—”

“Zélie—”

“Come up with a new plan,” she demands. “If there are divîners behind that wall and you summon the guards, we won’t get our siblings back. They’ll all die as soon as your soldiers arrive.”

---