Fall

Atlas

The forest was silent when they entered. As it had been the last time…

Before we were captured. Hudson kept his nose in the air, alert for danger.

Atlas scanned the trees. He hoped his expression was unreadable to others. Adrenaline thrummed through him, giving him the same buzz as before a battle. Are they watching us now?

I wonder the same. Hudson stopped at the base of a tree, sniffed, and continued on. There are no human scents. But then again, living so long in the forest, would the population of Trene take on this camouflage?

They are truly invisible in their element, Atlas thought grimly. He hoped Nell greeted them with more warmth than he past letters to Elbe.

Or perhaps less warmth, as her letters were rather heated. Hudson snorted, amused at his own joke.

Atlas rolled his shoulders. Very funny. He slowed, and let the rest of the group encircle him. They watched him with confusion and hope.

“We should keep going,” Micah advised. His badger was investigating the early-fallen leaves around them. “If we want to get to Trene by night, that is.”

“You know the paths of this forest,” Atlas said, his voice a half-question.

“Of course I do,” Micah said. A bit of the indignation that Atlas had first seen the ambassador with seemed to return. “I can lead.”

Atlas made a welcoming motion with his hand. “Then please, be my guest.”

Micah narrowed his eyes, and stalked forward. His feet made a slight swish-swish sound as the leaves whispered underfoot. Monty the badger followed.

“You baited him to lead, mapmaker,” Milla murmured beside him. “You did not trust the path.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Atlas replied. “You said yourself, one must be lost before they can be found.”

“No, it is fine.” His old mentor watched Micah. “But I would be more cautious with Nell. She was not merely Loy’s childhood friend or translator.”

“Noted,” Atlas said. He shifted his eyes to the treetops as Hudson heard a rustle.

Milla nodded. “They are here.”

Piper gasped moments later. “I saw someone!”

This triggered a chain reaction of blurs falling from the trees. The Trene soldiers were cloaked in various shades of fall; yellow, brown, and orange. Their fera charged to fill the gaps between the humans.

And, in the span of three heartbeats, they were surrounded.

A woman cloaked in honey-yellow stepped forward. “You have entered Trene boundaries. State your business.” Her eyes were hard and dark. She carried a small box turtle in a sling under her arm, which also glared at them.

Micah regarded the group around him with cool calculation. “I see the security has been upgraded. And with you, Eliza, at its head.”

The woman—Eliza— stiffened as if struck. “Not with any help from you.”

“Obviously,” Finch said dryly. Atlas whipped around, and shot a silencing look at the spy.

What is he trying to do, get us killed? Atlas thought.

“Our business is of utmost importance. We are bringing valuable information and property to Nell.” Micah pointed to Floyd, whose lead was still tied to June’s saddle.

Eliza gasped. Her followers were likewise shocked. They hissed and shuffled nervously like the leaves around them.

“Come,” Eliza said. “Nell will want to see this.”

The Trene soldiers moved with the incoming group, escorting them forward.

Atlas wondered if Nell would truly kill them before the trip was over.

Piper

The arch of saplings, the gateway into Trene, passed over their heads with little fanfare. After spending so many weeks next to the Golden Gates of Elbe, Piper found them oddly rustic. Like a child’s twig boat beside a gilded ship.

Trene had not changed since the winter before. The same round, railed platforms hugged the trees around them, the loose bridges acting as their lifelines to each other. On those bridges, Trene citizens and their fera still risked breakneck falls to reach their destinations. In the center of it all stood the giant redwood, where Trene’s leader resided. The spider in her web.

This is Nell’s legacy, Piper thought. She watched the woodland people in their autumn apparel clump on the platforms around them. Watching. Waiting. But for what?

A thin shard of sorrow pierced Reine. They are waiting for Nell’s heir. Their prince.

Piper turned to Milla. The older ambassador had Loy’s scarlet cape concealed in June’s saddlebags, but Floyd was far from hidden. Nearly every eye followed the bighorn sheep as the group made their way under the bridges.

Eliza led them to a ladder that snapped into a staircase. She crossed her arms, and tapped her foot impatiently as they filed past. The turtle cradled in her arms continued glaring at them. Eliza’s hand shot in front of June when Milla started to climb.

“This donkey,” she paused. “Will not fare well on the bridges.”

Milla showed more resolve than she had with Loy. “But Hudson can go?”

“I’m assuming you mean the black bear, which are indigenous to these woods, along with other forests.” Eliza huffed a dark strand of hair from her face. “Should Hudson’s weight prove to be too much for our bridges, he has a chance to save himself with tree-climbing abilities. Which your fera lacks,” she finished pointedly.

Humans lack tree-climbing abilities too, Reine said.

Not all of us… Piper’s hand hovered over her belt, ready to take out her alea at a moment’s notice. Eliza’s passive-aggressive attitude unnerved her.

Eliza saw her action over Milla’s shoulder. “I hope you do not take advantage of my goodwill, Miss Amur, and have all of you searched right here and now.”

Piper widened her eyes in shock, and let her hand drift to her side. It seems Trene is not behind in Eden news.

Indeed, Reine agreed.

“I would hate to be left behind,” Milla said.

“And we will not let that happen.” Atlas, who was halfway up the staircase, took a step down with Hudson. This made Skye and Finch have tension with the guards at the bottom. Micah waited above them, an unreadable expression on his face as he held Monty in his arms.

Eliza scowled. “I will discuss this with Nell. Until then, you will go underground.” She looked up at Micah. “Will you join them?”

“I would like to speak to Nell personally,” was all Micah replied.

“Fine.” Eliza ordered two guards to lead the Trene ambassador away, and took the rest of them with her.

“Interesting,” Finch whispered. He was beside Piper.

“What?” Piper whispered back.

Finch looked at Eliza then back at her. His motion seemed to say, not now.

Why does everyone want to capture us? I do not recall from your memories that this is a human rule, Reine growled.

Peace, Piper said. We will get through this.

Will we?

Piper did not have a comeback for her fera’s question.

Eliza left them at the framed darkness between two birch trees. It was the same entrance Loy had brought them to before his escape, and where they had stayed before. Perhaps it was the only way to the stables.

“You will stay here until we need you or Nell calls. Got it?” Eliza stared at Piper. “I’ve heard of your little escapades, and it will not be permitted here. You are outnumbered, outsmarted, and out of options.”

“We came here out of our own free will,” Atlas said. “As an extension of King Asher’s wishes.”

“We’ll have to find out.” Eliza turned sharply, and stalked away to the nearest spiraling ladder.

“She’s a witch,” Skye spat.

One of the guards jostled her sharply. “You do not speak like that of Eliza.”

Skye’s eyes smoldered as they went underground.