It smelled musty, mixed with damp earth and something sweet and sour. The stench was extremely pungent.
While the warmth against my arm made every hair on my body stand on end, my heart pounding loudly, I tried to decide what to do.
This is an animal…! But what kind? A wolf? A bear? Please don't let it be a bear…!
I tensed my body and suppressed the first impulse to jump up, scream at the top of my lungs, and run. Instead, I stiffened so completely that even the violent trembling vanished for a moment, and I remained motionless, like a statue.
The breath against my arm disappeared, and something rough brushed my back. The fabric of my top caught on it, producing a scratchy sound, similar to when a wool thread is overstrained and gives off a kind of cracking noise.
Then the animal sniffed at my ear and accidentally nudged me with its nose, causing me to squeeze my eyes tightly shut.
Stay calm. Even if it is a bear… you don't have any food with you. As long as you stay perfectly still, nothing will happen to you.
And a wild boar wouldn't have sniffed me like that, that much was clear. So there was nothing to fear. Right? … Right?
I was completely alone, had already been through a lot, no longer possessed a sword or any other kind of weapon, and I certainly had no real control over my magic. How was I supposed to defend myself like this?
My arms tightened around my knees. Then I had to contradict myself: I could use magic a little. Even if I wasn't capable of fighting, there were one or two things I could still do.
Very slowly, I loosened my hand from my knee and turned my palm upward. Gently, I let the warmth inside me flow toward my fingertips.
A faint tingling spread, accompanied by a pleasant heat, as if I were sitting beside a campfire. Only this effect was limited to my fingers, which meant it did little against the cold. Five small, individual candles can never produce enough warmth either.
I kept my breathing shallow and my concentration high so the warmth wouldn't slip away. But the animal, which circled me now and then and continued to sniff, distracted me. On top of that, the constant thirst did the rest, sending a dull ache through my head.
Eventually, many tiny sparks broke free from my fingertips. I gave them a gentle nudge and let them rise into the air. Like little fireflies, they shimmered in the darkness and drifted lazily upward. Each one left a wafer-thin trail of light behind before quietly burning out.
There were too few for me to make out much, but just enough to render a few outlines visible. No sooner were the lights in the air than I found myself gasping for breath, and white specks clouded my vision for a short while.
Out of the corner of my eye, I registered a movement perhaps an arm's length away. I slowly turned my head to the side, whereupon a soft snort sounded, followed by an inquisitive sniff.
When my lights hovered directly above the broad-shouldered shadow, which was barely larger than a dog, a black-and-white striped face immediately caught my attention.
The moment I let out a breath, all the tension drained from my body. A badger. It was just a badger.
It tilted its head, regarded the little lights for a heartbeat, then took a step back, its nose twitching slightly.
The corners of my mouth twitched. Why had I even been afraid of the darkness? The real threat did not lie in it.
I leaned forward slightly and croaked:
"Hello there."
The badger watched me warily. For a blink of an eye, we stared at one another, then its nose twitched again before it turned abruptly and became one with the darkness.
In hindsight, my fear seemed irrational. That little badger had been more afraid of me than I had been of it.
As I nearly tipped forward, I extinguished the sparks with a quick flick of my hand and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.
All at once, the forest had fallen deathly silent, and even the wild boar that had grunted in the distance had gone quiet. Only the sound of my far too rapidly beating heart remained.
I lifted my head, but could make out no more than a few dark shadows against an even darker sky, where scattered stars glimmered.
"At night, it's simply quiet. There's no reason to worry," I murmured softly to myself and glanced left and right.
Several times, I repeated the words in my mind: There's no reason to worry.
I almost believed it, but then there was an incredibly loud beating, like that of a sail, directly above me. The ground suddenly trembled, and a powerful gust of air sent my hair flying wildly. The rustling of leaves grew so loud it hurt my ears.
Then something pitch-black passed over me, as large as an entire granary. It flew so low over the treetops that branches snapped and crashed down to the ground.
What is that…?!
I made myself as small as I possibly could and raised my arms protectively over my head.
Was it what I thought it was? Had it found me? The thing Sol had taken from me…?
'A monster so immense that, by comparison, a human seemed like an insect. Scales as black as the night, and glowing golden eyes that pierced the darkness.'
Just as quickly as the enormous shadow had appeared, it vanished again in an instant. The treetops swaying back and forth in the wind, along with the broken branches and the leaves stirred up from the ground, were the only proof that I had not imagined any of it.
Even when the sounds of the forest eventually returned, I remained the small bundle I had become. I held my breath until my lungs burned in my chest and dizziness set in.
Only after I had taken a few deep breaths and the burning subsided was I able to form a clear thought.
It had definitely been large. No, enormous. It had definitely been pitch black. Yet I had not noticed any glowing golden eyes.
Whatever it had been, it did not necessarily have to be the thing I feared most.
But who was I trying to fool? In Grania there were no such animals, let alone magical creatures.
At that moment, however, I was not ready to face the truth.
I was unable to see the sword of Damocles hanging over me. I had no idea that what was about to happen to me in the near future would change everything. Especially me.
At some point, the constant trembling exhausted me so thoroughly that I fell asleep right there, still sitting.
The next day, the sounds of crows woke me. A sharp pain shot through my eyes when I opened them and warm sunlight surrounded me.
Everything looked fresh with dew. The wet leaves glittered, and since my clothes had become damp as well, I shivered despite the warmth the sun provided. Now and then a few birds chirped, but it was fairly subdued.
The cold had made my body so stiff that I could barely loosen my arms from my legs.
I grabbed hold of a root of the fallen tree and pulled myself up. Immediately my heartbeat accelerated rapidly, and every muscle hurt, whether I moved or stood perfectly still.
As I looked at my fingertips, which had turned bluish, I wondered whether Marcy and Kiyan had made it through the night safely.
Without wanting to, tears ran down my face, burning hot against my chilled skin.
I focused on the rustling of the leaves, which audibly accompanied every one of my steps. The more distance I covered, the less my heart seemed to fall apart.
Just when I thought I had regained my composure, I began to sob softly. Lucian. What had happened to him?
Since he had left me, Jarek, and his followers alone in the cell, I had not seen him again. I did not know whether he was still in Truwenreuth or whether he had already been sent somewhere else.
There was nothing left for me to do but hope that he had not been nearby when Marcy and Kiyan fled with me. That we had not caused him any trouble and that nothing had happened to him.
I cried until there was no moisture left for it and my eyes were completely dry. All my thoughts seemed foggy, and I could no longer grasp them properly.
After I had stood there for a while, the hoarse voices of the crows reached me again.
It had been the right decision to follow the birds. Before long, I caught sight of a gray light shimmering through the trees. The forest fell away, and I stepped out onto a narrow strip of open land.
The grass reached up to my knees. Between the blades, spiderwebs glistened, so delicate that the slightest disturbance could tear them apart. The crows perched in the treetops and fluttered across the fields, landing in the meadow or hopping along the forest's edge in search of food.
In the distance, mist lifted from the fields. I must have been standing on a hill, because beyond the forest that bordered the fields on the far side, Truwenreuth and its city walls stretched out. Smoke rose from the chimneys and dissolved into the drowsy landscape.
Normally, I loved the early morning. It was like an in-between world, where nature falls silent before the day truly awakens. But today, the sight gave me no pleasure at all.
I no longer know exactly how long I stood at the forest's edge, staring at the picturesque scenery. It was long enough, at least, for a hollow pain to settle in my lower back and for my legs to grow heavy as lead. In return, my head felt clearer.
A fresh wind swept across the landscape and carried with it the smell of soot, reminding me of the forge back home.
With my lips pressed together, I thought about how much I wished I were there now. How gladly I would help my father in the smithy, just as I had done so often over the past nine years.
It was impossible to know whether the wanted notices Artur must have used had already reached my home village, or whether travelers were already speaking of the incident in the capital. Whether my father might know what I had been drawn into, or whether he was going about his daily life unaware, simply assuming that my letters were probably delayed.
I wished someone would tell me that everything would be all right. That my father would tell me that everything would be all right. Just like he had back then, when he had picked me up from the street after Sol's death.
More than anything, I wanted to go home, but I could not. It was too dangerous. That was also why I was supposed to go to Drakania if anything ever happened that made me unsafe in Grania. That alone was the reason I had to memorize the routes through the center of the country and Artur's small shop in Truwenreuth, like so many other things as well.
I twisted my mouth as my stomach clenched involuntarily. Artur could not have been the only way to reach Drakania. There had to be others. The only question was: Where did I find another way?
My gaze swept over the surroundings as I drew my shoulders back.
For now, I had to survive.
And then…
Another gust of wind passed through. The leaves rustled, the grass shuddered, and the spiderwebs tore.
… I would find a new way.