When they reached the treeline, Marcus called for a halt. “What do you see?” he asked Mei.
Sliding off Saundra’s horse, Mei approached the wall of trees. Up to this point, the tracks that Liraya had left had been pretty clear, but where the open scrublands offered little opportunity to hide, the forest gave Liraya ample opportunity to lay traps. Keeping one eye on the tree line, Mei knelt and traced a heavy boot print with her fingers. Her brother had made it this far too. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she stood up straight. “They’re in the jungle.”
Maggie dismounted, staggered for a moment, and then composed herself with a cough. She nodded at the trees. “That will slow them down.”
“And us.” Saundra dismounted too. “I think we should leave the horses behind.”
Marcus waved for the rest of the soldiers to get ready to enter the jungle. “I doubt Liraya is going to just charge through this territory. We heard back from the countess in this area, and she made it clear she doesn’t want any trouble with Soura.”
Maggie tilted her head. “What if she’s putting up a facade?”
The knight shook his head. “This close to the Southern Line, she’d be risking retaliation. She even gave us permission to hunt the enemy in her territory.”
As they kept talking, Mei looked over the jungle, which was verdant and full to bursting with life that Mei had only seen in picture books. She stepped forward and cupped a blue bell shaped flower, and a buzzing insect, black and red, flew out of the flower and disappeared into the green shadows. Smiling, Mei tried to follow it in, but her foot hit something hard. She looked down and her stomach dropped. It was the golden armor that Huan had been wearing, and he hadn’t left the mask behind. The beast was still with him. She had to find him and stop them. After kicking the armor deeper into the forest, Mei returned to the group and announced, “I will go in and find the camp.”
Maggie and Marcus stopped talking and the two of them stared. Mei met their gazes, holding her breath.
Maggie shook her hand. “No, you- We have to do this together.”
Saundra crossed her arms. “We don’t want a repeat of milady going into that house again.”
Blushing, Maggie nodded. “We’re better together.”
A weight lifted from Mei’s heart, and her breathing became easy again. She rubbed at her eyes. “Okay, but only the three of us.”
Marcus glowered at her. “No.”
Mei met his eyes. “This many is too loud.”
“This many is safe.”
Maggie stepped up next to Mei. “We just need to get the lay of the land so we can plan a rescue.” When Marcus didn’t respond, she put her hands on her hips. “You know she’s right.”
The knight scowled. “Fine. But if I hear any screaming or if I think you’re taking too long, I’m charging in.”
Saundra saluted. “I would expect you to, sir.”
While Marcus got the others ready, Mei led Maggie and Saundra into the jungle. With her friends watching her back, Mei followed Liraya’s trail of crushed leaves, broken branches, and hastily covered footprints to a wide clearing. She put her hand up to stop Maggie and Saundra and then pointed to the other side of the clearing, her heart pounding in her ears. Maggie started to bounce, an action Mei stopped by grabbing her shoulders and pressing down.
Subsiding, Maggie kept her voice low. “That’s a catapult!”
“And the giant has armor,” said Saundra.
Maggie’s eyes widened.
In fact, Mei had stopped because of the giant, which was leaning against a tree in heavy metal armor, but what had excited Maggie sat in the center of the clearing. It was a strange contraption made of black cords and wood. Seeing the familiar pods around it, Mei came to a realization and shoved her friends back into the jungle, shushing both of them before they could protest. She waited, her ears perked up for the slightest sound.
“Grruuuh…” Two Hounds shuffled into the clearing right through where Mei, Maggie, and Saundra had been.
Maggie’s breath caught and Saundra let out a soft curse. One of the Hounds paused and looked around, its milky white eyes peering into the trees and undergrowth. Mei’s hand dropped to her axe, ready to behead the fiend, but it turned away and joined its partner in the clearing. There was a tap on Mei’s shoulder, and she barely kept herself from jumping. She turned to Maggie, who pointed back the way they had come. Mei shook her head. The Hounds had come from that direction. Maggie frowned, but Saundra tapped her on the shoulder and wrote something in the dirt. Mei’s lips pinched together. The words in the dirt meant nothing to her so she had no idea what Saundra was saying. More importantly, they hadn’t finished their task, and considering how dumb the Hounds were, Mei could slip by them easily, but Maggie and Saundra, though earnest, were not quiet. Getting their attention with a wave, Mei pointed to herself, held up one finger, and then pointed across the clearing. Saundra cocked her head, but Maggie shook hers, and so Mei reached out and squeezed Maggie’s hand, mouthing, “I will come back.”
Then she slipped into the underbrush. After skirting around the edge of the clearing and staying out of sight of the terrifyingly armored giant, she discovered a well used foot path that had been recently cut into the forest. She followed alongside it, not wanting to meet whoever had made the path.
“Grruuuh…”
Clutching her axe, Mei hid behind a tree, crouched down, and waited for three Hounds to shuffle by. Where humans would look around and maybe hide their approach, the Hounds just ambled along, relying on their hearing to find anything suspicious. Mei could hear dozens of them now, and though she wondered why they were suddenly on the move, she couldn’t just wait here. She took three slow breaths and then continued forward. The path ended at another smaller clearing where the wraith Zeya stood guard next to a tent and a strange looking rock. Unlimbering her rifle, Mei searched for any signs of Huan or Lord Kalan, but found nothing. The tent flap opened, and Liraya stepped out and stretched her limbs, completely unaware of the danger she was in.
Raising her rifle, Mei took aim, held her breath, and placed her finger on the trigger. She could end this now. She could pull the trigger and spill Liraya’s brains, her blood sinking into the leaf matted ground. Her aim shook. If she killed Liraya here like this, there would be no chance for surrender. Stifling a sob, Mei let her rifle drop. If she killed Liraya in cold blood, she’d be a different person, one she wouldn’t recognize. Mei had almost become that person two nights ago when she’d shot Liraya in the neck, and even though that had been to save her friends, the image still haunted her. She shouldered her rifle.
It took Mei moments to slip back through the Hound patrols and get back to Maggie and Saundra.
Maggie opened her mouth to ask a question, but Mei shook her head, wiped away the message Saundra had written, and drew a tent and two stick figures in the dirt. She pointed at one and mouthed, “Liraya.”
Smiling, Maggie pointed back the way they came, and Mei nodded.
When they’d gotten out of earshot of the clearing, Mei said, “I’m sorry.”
Maggie frowned. “What for? You found her.”
Saundra looked back. “Are you okay?”
“I had the shot.” Mei sniffed. “I’m sorry.” They would have to do this the hard way because of her.
“Don’t be,” said Maggie.
Mei blinked.
Maggie kept walking. “If you’d taken the shot, then all of those Hounds and things would have attacked you. I’d rather have you alive then Liraya dead.”
Saundra patted Maggie on the back. “That’s sweet, milady.”
Maggie’s ears turned red. “I’m just stating fact.”
Mei smiled.
When they reached Marcus and his soldiers, Mei described what they saw.
Sir Marcus’s hand came to his chin. “So they were using a catapult? From there? I didn’t know that they could get that kind of range.”
Maggie started bouncing again. “Right? I think the ropes they were using were Qe-made somehow.”
“But the giant’s armor is the real problem, milady,” said Saundra. “We could barely hurt that thing before.”
Maggie settled down. “And all of those Hounds… we’re going to get swamped if we go in recklessly.”
The knight turned to Mei. “What about Huan?”
Mei shook her head. “He is here. I found his armor.”
Sir Marcus’s shoulders rose. “Damn, I hoped he’d given up.”
Mei blinked. “Why do you care?”
The knight’s eyes met hers. “I don’t want to see a bright light get snuffed out,” he said, “or fall into the shadows. So, Lady Gallus, do you have a plan?”
Maggie paced back and forth. “I think… we should give Liraya a taste of her own medicine.”
Admaeus Speaks 
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