Chapter 4 Whispers in the Dark

"Wake up! Wake up, you stupid girl!"

Mara's eyes flew open. For a moment, she forgot where she was. Then everything came rushing back—the Shadow Woods, the curse, Nyra's warning.

But that voice didn't belong to Nyra.

Mara sat up quickly and looked around the cave. A small creature stood at the entrance, barely reaching her knee. It looked like a fox, but its fur was silver and its eyes were bright green.

"Finally!" the creature said in a high, annoyed voice. "I've been calling you for five minutes! Do you want to die here?"

Mara rubbed her eyes. "You can talk?"

"Of course I can talk! I'm a spirit fox, not a common animal!" The fox's tail swished impatiently. "Now get up! The sun is rising, and you need to move!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Mara scrambled to her feet.

"Because the hunters are coming," the fox said. "King Darius sent wolves into the forest. They're not supposed to help you, but they're not supposed to let you reach the shrine either."

"How do you know about the shrine?" Mara asked, grabbing the moonstone that had fallen beside her.

"Everyone in the Shadow Woods knows about the shrine, stupid girl! It's the most powerful place in the entire forest!" The fox hopped from foot to foot nervously. "But hardly anyone can reach it. The path is hidden and full of traps."

"Can you show me the way?"

The fox's ears flattened. "I shouldn't. Spirit foxes are supposed to stay out of wolf business. But..." It looked at her with those strange green eyes. "I can feel your bond. It's different from normal wolf bonds. It's older. Stronger. And it's fighting against something dark."

"The curse," Mara whispered.

"Is that what you call it?" The fox tilted its head. "Well, curse or not, you're running out of time. I can smell death on you already. You have maybe two days left. Probably less."

Mara's chest tightened with fear. But she forced herself to stay calm. "Then we need to hurry. Will you help me?"

The fox was quiet for a long moment. Then it sighed. "Fine. But only because I'm curious. I want to see if a human can really break a wolf curse. My name is Corin."

"Thank you, Corin," Mara said. "I'm—"

"Mara. Yes, I know. Everyone in the forest is talking about you." Corin turned toward the cave entrance. "Come on. We need to move fast. The hunters will find this place soon."

Mara followed the small fox out of the cave. The forest looked different in the morning light. The trees were still dark and twisted, but she could actually see now. Mist hung low on the ground, and strange flowers with black petals grew between the roots.

"Stay close to me," Corin warned. "Don't touch anything. Don't eat anything. And whatever you do, don't listen to the whispers."

"What whispers?"

As if answering her question, Mara heard it. Soft voices, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"Come here, child..."

"We can help you..."

"Just step off the path..."

Mara shivered. "What are those?"

"Lost souls," Corin said quietly. "People who died in these woods. They're trapped here, and they want company. If you listen to them too long, you'll walk right into a trap and join them."

Mara kept her eyes fixed on Corin's silver tail. The little fox moved quickly, darting between trees and jumping over roots. Several times, Corin stopped suddenly and changed direction.

"What's wrong?" Mara asked during one of these stops.

"Trap ahead," Corin said. "Pit covered with leaves. You would have fallen right in." The fox looked back at her. "I told you, this path is dangerous."

They walked for hours. Mara's stomach growled with hunger, but she didn't complain. Her legs ached from climbing over fallen trees and through thick bushes. The cuts on her face from last night started to sting again.

Then Corin stopped suddenly and dropped low to the ground.

"Hide," the fox hissed. "Now!"

Mara dove behind a large rock just as she heard voices approaching.

"I'm telling you, she couldn't have gotten far," a male voice said. "She's just a weak human."

"Prince Ronan wants her found," another voice replied. "Dead or alive. Preferably dead."

Mara peeked around the rock. Two large wolves were walking through the forest in their animal forms. They were sniffing the ground, searching for her trail.

"The King's Blade won't like it if we kill his mate," the first wolf said nervously.

"The King's Blade doesn't have a say anymore," the second wolf laughed. "Everyone knows the curse will kill her anyway. We're just speeding things up."

"Still, I don't want to be the one to face him when he finds out."

"He can't do anything. The King has him locked in the dungeon."

Mara's heart stopped. Zevran was in the dungeon?

The wolves moved past her hiding spot, still talking. Mara waited until their voices faded before coming out.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Corin. "They locked Zevran in the dungeon!"

"Of course they did," Corin said. "King Darius isn't stupid. He knew Zevran would try to come after you. This whole trial is just an excuse to get rid of both of you."

"But that's not fair!"

"Since when is life fair?" Corin started walking again. "Come on. We're almost at the River of Memories. After that, it's not much farther to the shrine."

"River of Memories?"

"You'll see."

They walked for another hour. The forest grew darker and quieter. Even the whispers stopped. Mara felt like they were being watched, but every time she looked around, she saw nothing.

Finally, they emerged into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a river. But it wasn't like the river Mara had fallen into last night. This water was completely still, like glass. And it glowed with a soft silver light.

"Don't touch the water," Corin warned. "The River of Memories shows you your past. Some people see things they've forgotten. Others see things they wish they could forget. Either way, if you fall in, you might never come back out."

"How do we cross it?" Mara asked. There was no bridge, and the river was too wide to jump.

"There." Corin pointed with his nose.

Mara looked and saw stepping stones going across the river. But they were small and far apart, and the surface looked slippery.

"That's the only way?" she asked nervously.

"Unless you can fly, yes."

Mara took a deep breath. "Okay. I can do this."

She stepped carefully onto the first stone. It was solid beneath her foot. She took another step, then another. The water beside her reflected the sky above, but Mara kept her eyes straight ahead.

She was halfway across when she heard it.

A baby crying.

Mara froze. That sound... she knew that sound somehow.

"Don't listen!" Corin called from the shore. "Keep moving!"

But Mara couldn't help it. She looked down at the water.

The surface rippled, and suddenly she saw an image. A woman with long brown hair was holding a baby. The woman was crying, saying something Mara couldn't hear. Then the woman handed the baby to someone else—a man in a dark cloak—and ran away.

The baby was crying, reaching for the woman.

The baby was her.

"No," Mara whispered. Tears started falling down her face. "That's... that's my mother?"

"Mara, move!" Corin shouted.

But Mara couldn't move. She stared at the water, watching the image play over and over. Her mother had given her away. Just handed her to a stranger and ran.

"She didn't want me," Mara said. Her voice sounded strange and far away. "She left me..."

The water began to pull at her, as if it wanted her to step closer. To fall in. To stay forever and keep watching that painful memory.

"MARA!"

Someone grabbed her arm roughly and pulled. Mara stumbled backward and fell onto the far shore. She looked up, confused.

Corin wasn't strong enough to pull her. So who...?

A girl stood over her. She was maybe Mara's age, with wild red hair and fierce brown eyes. She wore clothes made of animal skins and carried a bow across her back.

"Are you insane?" the girl snapped. "You almost fell into the River of Memories! What were you thinking?"

"I... I saw..." Mara couldn't finish the sentence. The image of her mother leaving her was burned into her mind.

The girl's expression softened slightly. "Yeah, I know. The river shows you painful things. That's why you don't look at it." She held out her hand. "I'm Thalia. And you're the human everyone is talking about."

Mara took her hand and stood up. "You know about me?"

"Everyone in the Shadow Woods knows about you. A human bonded to the Silent Beast? That's big news." Thalia looked her up and down. "You're tougher than you look if you made it this far."

"Are you here to stop me too?" Mara asked tiredly.

"Stop you? No. I'm here to help you." Thalia grinned. "Any enemy of King Darius is a friend of mine."

Corin hopped over to them. "Who are you? I've never seen you in these woods before."

"I'm from the Free Wolves," Thalia explained. "We're wolves who refused to bow to King Darius. We live in the deep forest where his hunters can't find us."

"Why would you help me?" Mara asked.

"Because you're going to the Ancient Shrine, right? To break the curse?" Thalia's eyes gleamed with excitement. "If you can break Zevran's curse, you'll prove that King Darius isn't as powerful as he claims. That might give other wolves the courage to stand against him."

Mara felt a small spark of hope. "You really think I can break it?"

"I don't know," Thalia said honestly. "But I think you should try. Come on. The shrine is close now, but the last part of the path is the most dangerous. You'll need my help to get there alive."

"Why is it so dangerous?" Mara asked as they started walking again.

"Because the shrine is guarded," Thalia said. "By something very old and very powerful. Most wolves who try to reach it never come back."

"What is it? What guards the shrine?"

Thalia stopped walking and turned to face her. Her expression was serious now. "A dragon."

Mara's mouth fell open. "A dragon? But dragons aren't real!"

"Oh, they're real," Corin said quietly. "Very real. And very dangerous."

"The dragon's name is Silas," Thalia continued. "He's been guarding the Ancient Shrine for a thousand years. No one knows why. But he kills anyone who tries to approach without permission."

"How do I get permission?" Mara asked, her heart sinking.

"That's the tricky part," Thalia said. "You have to answer his riddle. If you answer correctly, he lets you pass. If you answer wrong..." She drew her finger across her throat.

Mara swallowed hard. A riddle. Her life depended on answering a riddle correctly.

"What kind of riddle?" she asked.

"No one knows. It's different for everyone." Thalia started walking again. "But don't worry too much about it. We have to actually reach the shrine first. And with King Darius's hunters in the forest, that's not going to be easy."

They walked in silence for a while. Mara's mind was spinning with everything she had learned. The image of her mother still haunted her, but she tried to push it away. She could think about that later. Right now, she had to focus on surviving.

The forest grew even darker. The trees here were ancient and massive, their branches blocking out almost all light. Strange sounds echoed around them—clicking, scraping, breathing.

"Stay alert," Thalia whispered. "We're entering the Old Growth. Dangerous creatures live here."

"More dangerous than shadow creatures?" Mara whispered back.

"Much more."

Suddenly, Corin stopped. His ears went flat against his head. "Something's wrong."

"What?" Thalia asked, notching an arrow in her bow.

"Too quiet," the fox said. "All the normal forest sounds are gone."

He was right. Mara realized she couldn't hear any birds or insects. Just silence.

Then she heard it. A sound like wind rushing through trees. But there was no wind.

"RUN!" Thalia screamed.

Mara ran without thinking. Behind them, she heard a terrible screeching sound. She risked a glance back and immediately wished she hadn't.

A massive creature was chasing them. It looked like a giant spider, but with the head of a wolf. Its eyes glowed red, and its fangs dripped with green poison.

"What is that?" Mara screamed.

"Arachna!" Thalia shouted back. "Don't let it bite you!"

The creature was fast. It was gaining on them. Mara's lungs burned as she ran, jumping over roots and ducking under branches. Corin was a silver blur ahead of them.

"This way!" the fox called, darting to the left.

They followed him into a narrow passage between two large rocks. The Arachna tried to follow, but it was too big. It screeched in fury, its legs scraping against the rocks as it tried to force its way through.

"Keep going!" Thalia urged. "It'll find another way around!"

They ran through the narrow passage. It opened up into a small valley. And there, at the center of the valley, Mara saw it.

The Ancient Shrine.

It was a stone building, old and covered in moss. Strange symbols were carved into every surface, glowing with a faint blue light. The air around it seemed to shimmer.

But between them and the shrine was something else.

A dragon.

It was smaller than Mara had imagined dragons would be—only about the size of a house instead of a mountain. Its scales were black as midnight, and its eyes were golden. Smoke drifted from its nostrils as it watched them approach.

"That's far enough," the dragon said. Its voice was deep and rumbling, like an earthquake.

Thalia grabbed Mara's arm, stopping her. "This is as far as I can go. Only you can approach the shrine."

"What?" Mara looked at her in panic. "But I don't know what to do!"

"You'll figure it out," Thalia said with more confidence than Mara felt. "You've made it this far, haven't you?"

Behind them, they heard the Arachna screeching. It had found another way into the valley.

The dragon's eyes narrowed. "Make your choice quickly, human. Approach me, or face the Arachna. Either way, your time is running out."

Mara looked at the dragon, then back at the Arachna that was scrambling toward them. She felt the moonstone in her pocket growing warm.

She thought about Zevran, locked in a dungeon. She thought about the curse that was slowly killing her. She thought about her mother's face in the river, and all the pain and loneliness of her life.

"I choose the dragon," she said.

And she walked forward alone.