Page 32 of Ozma

Ozma peered up at the stag, unsure if he would let them ride him, but they could try.

A loud shriek sounded in the distance as she took a step forward. Something like branches cracking reverberated and the stag jerked, barreling off in the direction of the road. Ozma stood frozen beside Jack before yanking out her dagger. He held out his hand, as if prepared to release his magic.

When nothing else came, Jack rolled his eyes. “Or not. Could have at least given us a goodbye first, stag.”

She was just glad he’d taken them this far. Blowing out a breath, Ozma opened the door to the wagon, collected her satchel, and handed Jack his pack. Inside, the wagon was mostly empty, except for the extra fruit they’d brought. Before she and Jack had left that morning, she’d cleared out Mombi’s spell books and burned them. No one needed to find those tomes and use that sort of darkness on other fae. No one deserved to go through what she and Jack had.

“Ready?” Ozma asked.

Jack opened his pack and fished out a plum. “Now I am.” He bit into the thin skin as they walked deeper into the forest. The mushroom-shaped trees seemed to get shorter, and the trunks wider, the farther they trekked. Dryads—with leaves for ears and bodies covered in thorns and twigs—would poke their heads out, large eyes blinking, then scurry back inside the trees.

“So,” Jack finally said when a lavender-winged sprite flew past them. “Is Ozma part of your true name or was it one Mombi gave you? Tip could never feel his true name.”

Ozma closed her eyes briefly, recalling how she would say Jack’s true name—Jackseith Arel Diosyll—to try and force him to escape Mombi. But Mombi’s magic was always too strong for it to work. She thought about her own true name and tapped into it. The one she hadn’t known until after she’d met Reva, but it hadn’t mattered then, and it didn’t now, because she still couldn’t draw up magic.Ozma Emeraldis Dynasia. Her heart sped up as she silently repeated it over and over. Nothing.

“Yes, it’s part of my true name.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know all of it before, not until the dark place.”

“I think I like Blossom better.” He pressed a red flower into her hair that he’d taken from a small patch on the forest floor.

She left it there, her heart speeding up from how gentle his movement had been.

Neither spoke for a long while as they skirted around trunks and dodged vines lined with sharp spikes.

In the distance, there were several huge trees, forming a half-circle, stretching into the sky, taller and wider than she’d ever seen. Gnarled branches bloomed from the tops and sides of the charcoal-colored trunks. Dark blue leaves grew across the limbs while others decorated the ground where they’d fallen. Long brown vines with scarlet leaves dangled over the large openings—similar to a cave entrance—at the front of each trunk.

Ozma glanced up at the sky, noticing it would be dark soon. She didn’t know how safe it would be staying the night here, but they would have to make do. Besides, she didn’t think Jack would be able to handle sleeping at the top of a tree like she could. The wagon would have been ideal, but that was far behind them now.

“You want to stop there for the night?” Ozma pointed to the tree in the middle. “Or go farther and hope we find something better.”

Jack squinted as he lifted his chin, seeming to search around the trunks.

Ozma smiled, latched onto a shorter tree beside her, and quickly scaled her way up until she was near the branches at the top.

“You’re quite fast at that,” Jack called up to her. “Even in a dress.”

In the dark place, a dress was all she’d had to wear after she’d abandoned her old clothing, so she’d grown used to it, rather liking the loose fit more than trousers.

“Two years with Reva,” she shouted down, then studied the surrounding trees and past them into the distance. “I can’t really see anything. Only foliage and more foliage.”

After Ozma touched ground again, she and Jack gathered twigs and dried leaves to start a fire outside, near where they were staying, to give them light without burning the whole tree down. They set the things on the ground to start the fire later, then headed inside the large trunk in the middle. Ozma pushed aside the vines at the entrance, allowing Jack to enter the dark space first. A smoky smell struck her nose as she stepped next to Jack.

From the outside, a small bit of light entered, making shadows dance along the wall. Jack moved forward, examining the trunk’s walls. Ozma glanced down just as his foot was about to step into nothingness.

“Jack!” She rushed to grab his arm and yank him back. But it was too late—his body fell forward, taking her with him.

A squeak escaped her mouth at the same time he shouted, “Fuck!” Her stomach was somewhere down in her knees and she couldn’t get a scream out.

Above them, the opening fell farther and farther away. Small bugs with glowing blue bodies scurried along the dark walls, the only light guiding their way as they continued their descent.

Into the darkness below.

Chapter Fourteen

Jack

Down, down, down, they fell.

Jack couldn’t pull in air. Couldn’t cry out another curse.Fuck!Twisting, he managed to hug Ozma to his chest, his back to whatever fate lay beneath them as the blue glow of bugs blurred around them. His stomach rose, the plum he ate earlier threatening to make a reappearance. All he could do was hold onto Ozma. Hold on and hope there was a soft landing.

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