Every single part of Cyrene Strohm’s body ached.

She dismounted from her proud dapple, Ceffy, and dropped to her feet. Her knees nearly buckled underneath her, and she tried to shake off the stiff soreness that had come from riding day in and day out. Even her fingers were cramping from gripping the reins so tightly.

Pulling her bag off of Ceffy’s saddle, she prepared her horse for another long day tomorrow. Her hand reached inside the bag before it fell to the ground at her feet. She removed the golden pin of Byern from the bag and affectionately ran her fingers over its climbing vines. It was the mark of an Affiliate, the highest position in the land, save royalty. It pained her not to wear the pin anymore, but she and her companions had all agreed that it was too recognizable. So, it lay, tucked away, in her belongings.

Cyrene stifled a yawn and covered her mouth to try to bite back the exhaustion. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to see her weariness. She had been the one to convince her friends—Maelia Dallmer, Ahlvie Gunn, and Orden Dain—to flee their home country of Byern. So, she was the one who had to remain strong throughout this journey, no matter what was thrown in her face.

From an early age, she had dreamed about finding adventure and traveling the world. She just hadn’t expected adventure to be this tiresome.

Maelia hauled the packhorse through the open clearing and immediately began to set up camp. Orden scouted the hilly roads far ahead. Ahlvie had already tied up his horse, Belgar, and was collecting firewood. They had been on the run for a few weeks now and had settled into a routine.

“Cyrene,” Maelia said, grabbing her attention, “Ahlvie should have been back already?”

“Already? He hasn’t been gone that long,” she said.

But then her eyes caught the location of the sun, and she frowned.

“I don’t like for him to be too far out with Orden gone and guards on our tail.”

“I’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

“Take that with you.” Maelia pointed at a heavy broadsword hanging from Ceffy’s side.

Cyrene looked at the sword with disdain. “I’ll only be a minute.”

“I’d feel better if you had it with you,” Maelia said.

The sword was an unfortunate necessity. The group had left Albion, the second largest city in their home country of Byern, with no trouble. By the time anyone had noticed that they had left, Cyrene had thought the coast was clear.

Oh, how wrong I was.

News had traveled quickly that King Edric Dremylon of Byern believed Cyrene had been kidnapped, and a hefty reward had been issued for her return. So, even if she could tell Edric that she had not been kidnapped but instead escaped to fulfill her mission to get to Eleysia and discover how to use her magical powers, no one would hear her story. Not to mention, everyone, including herself only a couple of months ago, believed magic was nothing more than a myth.

But magic was more than a myth. After a near-death experience where she had faced a deadly Braj, her powers had manifested, and even if she was in love with the King, getting out of Byern had been a necessity. Edric would never have let her go if he had known the truth…of any of it. So, it was partly her fault that he believed she had been kidnapped, and now, their departure from Byern had turned into a game of duck and cover with guardsmen in pursuit.

Cyrene must have made a face at Maelia’s suggestion, and she fixed Cyrene with a stern look.

“The sun is setting, and the Hidden Forest is notoriously dangerous. You’ve heard the sounds at night. Strange inhuman howls and creepy slithering noises.” Maelia shuddered at the thought. “Just take it.”

Maelia had a way of ignoring Cyrene’s protests. Even though the sword was clunky, Maelia was used to a world where a sword was the best defense. So, Cyrene untied the sword from Ceffy’s side and laced it around her plain blue dress. It dragged down her waist, and she bent slightly to the right to try to adjust it.

“There.”

“Thank you,” Maelia said. “Be safe.”

Cyrene ground her teeth and set out.

After the first week of trekking aimlessly through the woods, she had cursed her parents for not giving her a proper education on tracking, positioning, and other such important matters. She had thought that all she needed to know could be found in books. But the only book she had brought with her held text that only she could see and read. It was a riddle wrapped inside a mystery.

As she followed the most obvious pathway through the trees, her eyes scanned the ever-darkening sky. They needed to build a fire before they lost all light. Her stomach growled louder than those weird noises.

A rustle of voices sounded in the trees nearby, and Cyrene hastily hid behind a large bush. With a shuddering deep breath, she peered around the corner.

Six Byern guard were in full armor. Each had a headpiece tucked under his arm. The man currently speaking was sporting the royal colors of her homeland with a plume of green and gold feathers jutting from the top of his helmet, the telltale sign of a Captain of the Royal Guard.

“You’re sure you saw someone coming this way?” the Captain asked.

“Certain, Captain,” the guard answered at once.

“Then, where are they?”

“Sir, we’ve sent out Rorick and Naelan to sweep the perimeter of the area. They couldn’t have gone far,” another man said.

Not six guards.

Eight.

Eight against four with two of my friends missing, and I’m unable to properly use a weapon. Now would be a great time for me to be able to use my magic.

“I don’t like these woods. If we don’t hear back with a definite destination by nightfall, we’ll make camp.,” the Captain said. “There’s a small creek not far from here on the other side of the embankment. Meet there. Now, move out.”

Cyrene’s heart hammered in her chest. Orden had said the guards who were trailing them were gaining ground, but she hadn’t thought that he meant this much ground. She needed to get back and warn Maelia. She didn’t know where Ahlvie and Orden were, but she had to do what she had to do.

When the Captain heeled his horse away from her, she breathed out heavily.

As soon as he was out of her line of sight, she bolted back to Maelia. Adrenaline pumped through her system, fueling her body, and lightening her steps.

She tiptoed around the next tree, careful not to barge into the clearing in the event that the guardsmen had already found Maelia. But Maelia was standing there with her sword in hand, easily swinging it back and forth while pacing the space.

Cyrene walked into their camp as Ahlvie burst into the clearing. He dropped what little firewood he’d still had in his arms.

“Guards,” he choked out. “Everywhere.”

“What?” Maelia squeaked, gripping her sword tighter.

“They’re swarming the woods. I don’t know how many there are, but I barely missed two of them.”

“I saw them too,” Cyrene said. “I saw six and they said the two you saw were out on patrols. So eight of them, and one is a Captain.”

Maelia’s face paled. “A Captain?”

“Creator!” Ahlvie said. He spat on the ground.

“Did you find Orden?” Cyrene asked Ahlvie.

“No. He was still scouting. I don’t know how he missed the guards. They’re right on top of us.”

“We’ll have to make do without him.”

She didn’t miss the glance between Ahlvie and Maelia. She knew as well as they did that Orden was the only reason none of them had been caught yet. He was an excellent tracker and seemed to know these woods like the back of his hand.

“With or without him, it’s clear that we can’t stay here,” Ahlvie said.

“Agreed,” Maelia said.

“I overheard them say that, if they didn’t find anything by nightfall, they were going to make camp on the other side of the creek, due west of here.”

They all looked at the sun hovering above the horizon. Nightfall would be here soon enough.

“Ahlvie, you know better than I do, how feasible it would be to get us away from here without drawing notice,” Cyrene said.

He was more than adept at navigating the woods than either of them. His family was from a small Third Class village, Fen, leagues north of the country’s northernmost city, Levin. The Taken Mountains trailed off into foothills, and a forest surrounded his village. He’d said it was nothing like the enormity of the Hidden Forest, but it was certainly different than Cyrene’s First Class background with Affiliate and High Order parents or Maelia’s life in Second Class with two Captains of the Guard as parents.

“We’d be sitting ducks,” he told them. “We’d have more luck hiding and leaving before first light. That should give Orden sufficient time to return. I don’t want to leave him behind.”

“Then, we’ll do that. Maelia, start packing in case we have to make a run for it. Ahlvie, find something to use as cover. I’d rather not move the horses. They’ll draw too much attention. We’ll set up a watch, and I’ll take the first shift. You two are better with a sword, if it comes to a fight, so you should rest.”

Without complaint, they immediately went into action.

Ahlvie returned with some foliage and branches for camouflage. The horses were obscured from sight by a large tree and shrubbery, and in such a short amount of time, there wasn’t much more they could do. Ahlvie selected an area near the clearing to wait out in until sunset.

No one said a word. They huddled together and hoped for the best. It had been a long journey already, and they had too far to go to quit now.

A noise in the woods off to their right alerted them that someone was coming. They each took in a sharp breath. A small opening in the branches provided Cyrene with a peephole to view the heavy black boot stepping into the clearing. Her heart stopped as the Captain came into view. Maelia and Ahlvie tensed next to her.

He walked forward, his eyes searching the ground for prints to track. Ahlvie had covered their footprints as best as he could before throwing fresh leaves on the ground, but if the Captain overturned the wrong leaf…

She didn’t want to think about it, and they all strained not to make a single sound. The Captain’s head cocked to the side in the direction of the horses. She prayed to the Creator that they were as concealed as she thought they were. When she had made a pass by the horses, she couldn’t see them. But one sound would give them all away.

The Captain took a step toward the horses and then tentatively took another, like he wasn’t sure what he would find there. Cyrene was panicking, the closer he got. Ahlvie reached out and gripped her arm, as if he knew she was about to do something irrational.

When the Captain was practically on top of the horses, one of the other guardsmen barged into the clearing at a breakneck pace.

“Sir! Captain!” the woman cried. She stopped and saluted the Captain.

“What is it, Naelan?” he asked impatiently. “I’d be surprised if anything could hide from you with you trampling around the grounds like that.”

“We found something up the western path. Jaela instructed me to inform you at once.”

“Thank you, Naelan,” he said dismissively.

“Sir,” she said, saluting before retreating.

He followed Naelan out of the clearing, glancing back once before disappearing entirely. When he broke the tree line, Cyrene sighed in relief. She couldn’t believe how close they had come to getting caught.

Unfortunately, their excitement was dampened by the news Naelan had delivered. They had found something along the western path. Is Orden that something? No one wanted to voice the concern.

They waited until dusk fell before removing their camouflage. Soon, night would follow, and Orden still hadn’t returned.

“What do we do?” Maelia asked.

“We can’t go after him.” Cyrene hated the answer.

“We can’t leave him either,” Ahlvie said.

“No,” she agreed, “we can’t. If they apprehended him, we’ll have to get him back. But it’s too dark to go marching through the woods, looking for him, now. They’ll need me before they can return anyway—Orden won’t suffice—so that should buy us some time.”

“Not the kind of time I prefer,” Ahlvie grunted, scratching the back of his head.

“Me either,” Maelia said.

“Either of you have a better solution?”

Maelia and Ahlvie slowly shook their heads.

Cyrene nodded. “All right then, let’s bed down for the night. Don’t unpack the horses. Let’s just find somewhere hidden to rest for a few hours.”

“Somewhere hidden in the Hidden Forest?” Ahlvie asked, cracking a half-smile.

“How can you even joke right now?” Maelia asked.

She glared at Ahlvie, and his smile vanished.

“I’m taking first watch,” Cyrene interjected.

“Let me,” Ahlvie insisted.

“You need rest. I couldn’t go to sleep now if I tried,” she insisted. “Now, go!”

Her friends set out their bedrolls, and Cyrene found a perfect location to stand guard. Her sword was hanging from her belt with her hand holding the oversize pommel as she stared forward into the darkness.