Silver (Wicked Woods #3) (8 page)

“We saw it,” Briony said. “In fact, this is the second time I’ve seen it, but…”

“You spotted it before? Where?”

“In a clearing. There were trees and flowers, and this smal stream.”

Aunt Sophie shook her head in disappointment.

“Probably just one of the decoys, then.”

“Decoys.” Things were moving far too fast for Briony.

Though she noticed that the dragon above wasn’t. As though it had sensed that they weren’t fol owing, it had wheeled back, swooping over the trees where they stood once more. “Decoys from what? And why do I get the feeling that thing wants us to fol ow it?”

“It probably does,” Aunt Sophie replied, looking up with the rest of them. “As for what’s at the end of al this, the answer to that is Palisor.”

“Palis-what?”

Aunt Sophie shook her head. “No time to explain.

We need to go, Briony.”

Briony looked back towards the house, where the fight was stil raging. “But what about the werewolves?”

“We’ve done what we can to even the odds, and individual y they should be stronger than any vampire. Now shut up and
run
.”

Aunt Sophie turned and ran off into the forest, her eyes skywards while Jake and Kevin loped along beside her. Briony hesitated for just a moment before taking off after her, Fal on sprinting along beside her.

Aunt Sophie set a punishing pace, and Briony found herself wondering how the older woman did it. After just a short time, Briony found her breath coming in gasps, yet Aunt Sophie kept going without any sign of discomfort.

Always, the dragon kept on ahead, apparently not looking back, yet never moving so fast that they couldn’t keep it in sight.

As the chase wore on, Briony found her legs screaming with the effort of it. Eventual y, she couldn’t go further, stumbling against the nearest of the trees, exhausted.

“Briony,” Aunt Sophie cal ed back, “this is no time to stop.”

That was easy for her to say. Aunt Sophie looked almost as fresh as the boys did, and they al had good reasons to be able to run like that. Briony, however, would be lucky if she managed to run another step.

Kevin must have sensed that, because he moved closer, nuzzling against Briony in his wolf form. Briony got the hint, and climbed onto his back al too grateful y.

Perhaps she should have done it at the start, but with Fal on so close by, she hadn’t wanted to risk renewed conflict between the boys. Even now, she could practical y feel the intensity of the vampire’s gaze as she clung to his werewolf brother. Yet if they were going to continue to keep up, what else could she do?

The moment Briony was securely in place, the others started to run again. Kevin bounded along with them in the way that Briony had become so familiar with by now.

Stil , they had to hurry, because even that one brief pause for breath had left the retreating dragon as a mere speck in the sky. It seemed that, this time, the creature wasn’t coming back for them. Briony could only hope that there wouldn’t be any more delays.

They ran on like that for long time, and stil Aunt Sophie didn’t seem to tire. How was she doing it? How could one aging human possibly hope to keep up with a pair of werewolves who were truly running now? It didn’t seem possible, and yet Aunt Sophie was managing it. It seemed that there truly was more to her than met the eye.

Though for the moment, the only thing available to Briony’s eyes was the green blanket of a thicker section of trees, through which it was impossible to see much of the sky. They certainly couldn’t pick out the dragon.

“How do we know that we’re stil going the right way?” she demanded, as Kevin rode level with Aunt Sophie.

“It has been flying in a straight line so far,” her great aunt replied, not slowing down. “We just have to hope that it wil continue to do so.”

That seemed to be the only option available, so they kept going. Briony wasn’t sure how much distance they managed to cover before the trees final y, merciful y, thinned out enough for them to get another look at the sky ahead. When they did though, the five of them slowed to a halt.

The dragon was gone.

Aunt Sophie kicked the floor in sheer frustration.

“We’ve lost it. How could we have lost it?”

“It must have changed course while we were in the trees,” Briony supplied, climbing from Kevin’s back.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Aunt Sophie paused. “I’m sorry, Briony dear, I shouldn’t have snapped, but I have been waiting so long for this. So very many years I’ve spent trying to find a creature capable of leading us to the gate, yet now that I have final y spotted one, it has come to nothing.”

“If we know where it changed course,” Briony said,

“there are only so many ways it could have gone. If we spread out, maybe we can spot it again.”

Aunt Sophie looked doubtful, but after a moment she shrugged. “I suppose it can’t hurt to try.”

They split, though they made sure not to go far. Even Briony, who probably had less experience of the woods than anyone, knew how easy it would be to become lost if she weren’t careful. Every few steps, she made a point of looking back and making sure that she could remember the way back to where they had started. She kept going on like that for several minutes, even though it didn’t seem to be getting her any closer to spotting anything worthwhile.

And then she did.

“Hey! Over here! I’ve found something!”

She had to repeat herself several times before the others showed up, and when they did, only Kevin seemed to get it straight away.

“What is it, Briony?” Fal on asked. “Did you spot the dragon?”

Briony shook her head, gesturing to the open expanse of meadow before her. “Look.”

“Look at what?”

“It’s the same,” Kevin supplied, and there was a note in his voice that made it clear he was happy to be getting one over on his brother. “It’s the same as the place Briony and I were in when we first saw the dragon.”

It was. Grass stretched away, dotted with wild flowers that bloomed in furious color, ignoring the time of year. Trees dotted the space, glowing with health the way those in the original clearing had. There was even a brook running through it, musical in its dance of water over stones and familiar. Oh so familiar. Except…

“It’s not quite the same,” Briony said. “It’s similar, but it’s not quite identical.”

“So we’re wasting our time?” Fal on asked, with a pointed glance at Kevin.

“I don’t know,” Briony admitted. “The brook is bigger, wider, but other than that…”

“These glades are mostly the product of glamour,”

Aunt Sophie said, looking around. “Decoys designed to hide the real entrance to Palisor. Stil , it is a good place to refresh ourselves. Go on, boys.”

Kevin and Fal on headed off towards the brook.

Jake was already there, turning back to his human form as he knelt to drink from it. The others fol owed suit. Briony stayed with her great-aunt.

“What is Palisor?” Briony asked, since they had time now. “You make it sound like it’s another world, or something.”

“That’s exactly what it is.”

Briony looked at her great aunt careful y. There didn’t seem to be any sign that Aunt Sophie was joking.

Briony briefly considered saying that it was impossible, but given that she was standing not far from a vampire and a pair of werewolves, she wasn’t sure how wel that would work as an argument.

“Another world?” she settled for saying instead.

“Like this one?”

Aunt Sophie nodded. “At least in the sense that it’s a physical world with ground and sky and so forth. Though there are some important differences.”

“Like dragons,” Briony guessed.

“Dragon-shifters,” Aunt Sophie corrected. “Dracos.

Assuming that what I was told about Palisor is correct, then it is a world where the old magic is stronger than it is here.

The magic that al ows the most fantastical things to survive in a way that they simply could not here. The old Danish stories portray it as a kind of paradise that the most powerful creatures fled to, afraid of the damage that they might do in the world.”

Briony looked around again. “This is a gateway to another world?”

Aunt Sophie shook her head sadly. “If the dragon isn’t here, it wil be another decoy. There are so many of them.”

Briony reached out to take her great aunt’s hand.

“I’m sorry I slowed you down back there. If we had been closer-”

“Then we would stil have lost the Draco under the trees. Now come on, before those boys drink the stream dry.”

Briony had to admit that she was thirsty after the effort of the run. Thirsty, and tired, and aching from the effort. She wasn’t sure that a simple drink of water would undo al of that, but it was certainly a good place to start.

Kneeling by the stream, she cupped her hands and brought the water to her lips. It was cool, clear and so refreshing that Briony quickly dipped her hands back for a second gulp. Aunt Sophie did the same.

As her great aunt’s hands touched the waters, something changed. Mist bil owed from them, as though Aunt Sophie had plunged something red hot into the stream. The mist bil owed up onto the bank, twisting and changing as it flowed upwards, before dissipating entirely.

It left behind it the shape of a stone arch, etched with lines and whorls. The space within the arch continued to flow with mist, though it did not leak so much as an inch to either side. Briony couldn’t help jumping back in shock at the sudden appearance, though she was slightly mol ified to note that even Aunt Sophie did the same.

“What is it?” Briony asked.

Aunt Sophie smiled. “It seems that this clearing isn’t the decoy I had feared, after al .”

For several seconds, al Briony could do was stand and stare at the gate as its mists bil owed and swirled before her. She wasn’t the only one. Al five of them, from Aunt Sophie to the boys, stood rooted to the spot by the sight of it. More than that, when Briony dared to glance across at her great aunt, she saw the older woman’s face streaked with tears.

“Aunt Sophie? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s perfect. Wonderful.” More tears of joy rol ed down her cheeks. “Can you see it, Briony? Beyond the mist?”

Briony couldn’t see anything past that shifting whiteness. The land around the gate was clear, but that one patch was as thick as any fog she had experienced. There certainly didn’t seem to be any way her great aunt should be able to see what lay beyond it.

“What is it?” Briony asked. “What can you see?”

“Palisor.”

“The place Fal on mentioned? The one you’ve been trying to find?”

Aunt Sophie nodded. “It’s beautiful, Briony. So beautiful. I was starting to think that I wouldn’t find it at al , but now I have, and it’s everything I had hoped to get back to.”

“Back to?”

“Oh, wow,” Jake said. “It’s true?”

“What’s true?” Briony asked. As usual, it seemed that there were so many things other people had not told her.

“That Aunt Sophie is actual y
from
Palisor.”

“But that can’t be right, can it?” Briony asked. She turned to Aunt Sophie. “Can it?”

Aunt Sophie shot Jake an annoyed look, but then turned back to Briony with a sigh. “Yes, it can be true, dear.

It is. This gate is my whole reason for being in this town.”

Briony tried to make sense of it. “But if you’re from over there, doesn’t that mean that you aren’t…”

“Human?” Aunt Sophie paused. “I wish there were time to explain, Briony. I real y do. For now though…” she looked up. “It’s here. It’s time.”

Briony fol owed the line of her great aunt’s gaze, and saw the great form of the dragon gliding towards the clearing. She saw the others staring up at it again as its golden form came lower and lower. They scrambled back to give it room as it touched down with the lightness and agility of any bird, but at least one set of eyes was elsewhere.

“It’s open!” Aunt Sophie cal ed out, sprinting for the gate. “Quick, al of you, fol ow me. We might only get one chance at this.”

Aunt Sophie leapt for the gate with an agility that belied her age, and just for an instant, the mists seemed to clear. Beyond them, Briony saw a clearing almost identical to the one they stood in, with trees, and a stream running through it. She could almost have been looking through an empty stone arch, except that the light seemed different somehow when looking through it. Brighter, perhaps, but also subtly changed, like it didn’t come from the same Sun.

Of course, it probably didn’t.

“Did you see that?” Briony asked the others.

“Aunt Sophie leaping into the mist?” Kevin replied.

“We al saw it, Briony.”

“Not that. What was beyond the mist.”

Fal on shook his head, beating his brother to it. “We didn’t see anything. It’s just mist, Briony. There could be anything on the other side.”

“Not anything,” Briony insisted. “A place like this.

Almost exactly like this.”

“We have bigger things to worry about,” Fal on said, nodding to where the dragon currently stood on the turf of the meadow. It didn’t seem to be about to move, and yet somehow, without so much as twitching a muscle, it exuded a sense of menace that carried over to the four of them.

Briony forced herself to ignore it. Potential y dangerous mythical creatures weren’t as important as the fact that her great aunt had just leapt into a strange world without them. “If it isn’t moving, we have time. We should get through after Aunt Sophie. The dragon won’t be able to do anything there.”