Page 42 of Dragon 7

What the fuck?!!

Tons of hooded people in red.

They rose out of the branches ahead.

Out of the black between the trunks.

Out of every place the moon refused to touch.

More people than I could count. All hooded figures in deep crimson. Their capes lifted and pooled on the wind, moving through the high limbs as easily as I did.

Somehow they sensed I was coming, and had waited up here the whole time, patient as spiders.

The fucking Silent Ones.

“I don’t want to kill you.” I sneered at them. “Get out of my way!”

A man spoke on my far left. “The Tiger is fine. You should turn back and arrive with the Dragon.”

That voice sounds familiar.

I looked at him and wished I could see his face under the hood’s shadow. “Who cut her?”

“That was part of the ritual that she chose.”

“What ritual?”

“Turn back, Hiro. We must focus on the ritual.”

“If you all don’t move, then I will go through you.”

The Silent Ones remained where they were. The branches held them high above the forest floor. The moonlight touched their crimson hoods and silvered the edges of their cloaks. The wind stirred their capes. The figures stayed still.

Unease crawled through me.

People facing violence usually revealed themselves. A jaw tightened. A shoulder lowered. A hand drifted toward a blade.

These people offered me something else. They watched. They waited. They held their places among the branches as if the forest itself had grown them there.

The feeling reminded me of mourners gathering around an open grave.

Patience.

Sad acceptance.

Expectation for suffering.

Every one of them seemed to know exactly how this night would unfold. Every one of them seemed to believe I would eventually understand.

One figure lowered their head, and sympathy softened the gesture. The sight chilled me more than any weapon. “Go back, Hiro.”

“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?” I frowned. “I’m not going to just turn around and walk away, when she’s in pain.”

A woman on the left spoke. “We all should save our energy for the Fox’s people, not fight each other.”

Another hooded figure nodded. “We are all on the same side.”

“Move!” I leapt to the next branch.