Page 11 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

“But now that you have brought a youngling into the forest and broken a treaty, you two will make for wonderful negotiation tools with the crown.” Vines that wound around his arms unfurled down to his hands.

I pivoted, grabbed Cora into my arms, and ran. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as Cora clutched me tightly and let out a small scream. Five steps were all I managed before my ankle caught underneath a tree root, throwing us both to the ground. “Oof!” Cora tumbled out of my arms a couple of feet away, and I sprang back onto my hands and knees, ready to shield her with my body. I gasped. Tree roots were weaving up her legs, holding her to the ground. Cora squirmed and tried pulling herself away but was held firmly in place, her fingers leaving scratch marks in the dirt.

I thrust my body upward, but my feet couldn’t move, and I slammed back to the ground. Blood seeped out of a gash on my palm from connecting with a jagged rock and rolled down my forearm in crimson streams. Nettles vined around my ankles, twisting and stinging with their stalks.

The seraph menacingly laughed, his deep baritone reverberating in my ears as he approached my side. “A woman protecting her youngling is so predictable, but fleeing instead of using enchants makes you markedly stupid. Or weak.”

The man knelt between us. The pungent scent of wood, mushrooms, and musk wafted off him. I swung at his head, hoping in vain to give us a moment to escape. He captured my wrist in his palm, cocking his head in a bird-like manner, staring inquisitively. Blood rolling down my hand dripped onto his fingers. His grip on me tightened, with piercing hunter-green eyes looking me up and down and landing on my rounded ears. He blinked. “You’re… You are not… What are you?” His gaze settled back on my ears.

The previous struggle I had in me waned, and my body trembled beneath the touch of his coarse skin. He looked toward a cowering and sobbing Cora, examining her before quickly facing me with widened eyes. “Please,” I begged. “Please don’t hurt her. Let her go, and you can take me!” I swallowed. “We didn’t mean to come here. I’m sorry! Please!”

“Mom, don’t leave me! You can’t!” The fear laced in Cora’s voice cut through me, sharp and piercing. Had I not felt my heart thumping against my ribs, I would’ve thought it had been torn from my chest. I would offer to let this seraph do just that if it kept him from harming my baby.

He gasped as he let go of my blood-soaked wrist, stumbling backward with his eyes darting between Cora and me. The plants, still wound around mine and Cora’s legs, stopped moving and twisting to hold us to the ground. We sat still on the damp forest floor, trembling, and I fumbled to reach Cora’s hand to comfort her in what limited way I could.

The seraph stood to his full height, speechless and eyebrows hiked up, creasing his forehead. My voice trembled in a desperate plea, “We had no idea we crossed the barrier. This was a mistake! An accident! Please let us go. Let her go.”

Cora sobbed and clutched my hand, tears streaming down her face and snot sliding out of her nose. The seraph opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of a thudding impact made him jolt. His wide eyes blinked before casting down at the arrow protruding from his heart. Blood dribbled out of his mouth, the ruby color a stark contrast to his sun-kissed skin. His confused eyes were set on mine, and distant footsteps approached from behind. Cora bellowed at the sight of the violence before us. Everything happened so fast, and yet it felt as if time had slowed to a crawl.

The plants binding our legs loosened their hold, and I flung myself on top of Cora, pushing her head to my chest and shielding her from the gruesome sight as the seraph crashed to his knees and then his side. He lay on the damp forest floor motionless, eyes open but vacant, and rattled out one last breath.

The sounding footsteps slowly approached. I clutched Cora to my shaking body, my eyes transfixed on the man lying dead on the ground.

“Are you both alright?” asked a voice both calm and concerned, snapping my awareness back to my surroundings. Through blurred tears, I tracked another large seraph approaching us. His hands were held up in supplication, and worry etched his face. He stopped several feet away, and I blinked away the tears, taking in his form, assessing if he was a threat.

This man looked unequivocally different from the seraph who attacked us. Dark brown leathers and a green tunic covered his tall, muscular build. His deep lapis blue eyes inspected Cora and me. He paused at my ears, the rounded shape of them unlike his tipped ones. Light brown hair was tied with a leather strap at the nape of his neck. Three silver daggers glinted on his belt, and a bow peeked from behind his back. Formidable and intimidating, yet he held no malice in how he looked at us.

“Please don’t hurt us,” I pleaded with him as I closed my eyes and braced myself for another attack.

His face softened. “I’m Gabriel. I’m here to help.”

To flee and withstand another attack would take an act of the gods. The heaviness of my limbs and the return of throbbing pain in my head were immeasurable. The gash in my hand bled freely, and my ankles burned from the nettles’ sting. After Gabriel reassured me three times that he wouldn't hurt us and would keep his distance, I was able to let the fear slowly leave my body, pain becoming more pronounced, and exhaustion settled into my bones.

I sat silently on the ground with Cora’s arms and legs squeezing my torso, her head buried in my chest. My chin rested on her head, and I stroked her tangled curls as we gently rocked back and forth. It had been a few years since Cora let me hold her like this. Too grown and tough for this level of mothering. Skinned knees, friend problems, and even her struggle with accepting her father’s absence never afforded me this level of physicality with her. She always tried to be so brave, even when she didn’t have to be. Maybe she was like me in that way, but this moment was both heartbreaking and precious. I looked into her distant eyes and saw the diaphanous veil between my brave spitfire and the delicate little girl she had tried so long to hide.

Gabriel took to wordlessly dragging the dead body into the trees, away from Cora’s line of sight. Neither Cora nor I could move or converse with the reminder of what we endured, gruesomely lying mere feet away from us.

His footsteps approached once more, and he sat on the ground, leaning against a tall pine, keeping his distance. I made brief eye contact with him before shutting my eyes and letting out a slow and steady breath.

“You won’t need to see him again. Are you both alright?” Gabriel asked, his tone light and gentle.

I nodded and brought Cora away from my body to check her over for the third time to be sure. “Cora, my sweet girl,” I soothed. “Are you hurt?”

Her glassy eyes met mine, and with a swallow, she shakily answered, “N-n-n—no. I’m alright.” She unlatched herself from me and slowly slid off my lap onto the spongy moss-coated ground. I checked her legs and ankles, where the roots had wrapped around her. A few minor scratches were pulled across her calves, but she was unharmed otherwise. Physically, at least.

I turned back to face Gabriel, his eyebrows raised, and his intense blue eyes searched my face. “She is unharmed, but I think I twisted my ankle, and I have a deep cut on my palm.” I held my hand closed and pulled it into my abdomen.

He stood in a flash and moved toward us. I was startled at how quickly he moved, and he slowed his pace as I winced. He again placated me by putting his hands up and gently smiling. “I’m sorry. I simply want to help you with your injuries. Let me see.” Gabriel kept his tone soft, like he was addressing wounded animals. Maybe to him, that was exactly what we were.

Normally, I would refuse help from a strange man, let alone a seraph, but the defiance that was usually at the front of my personality could not be found, doused in favor of fulfilling the need for aid. An apprehensive nod was all I could muster, and he proceeded to slowly kneel at my feet. He kept his eyes locked on my face as he gently put his hands on my sprained ankle and pushed up my pant leg.

“Don’t be frightened. I am going to heal it, but I need you to hold still,” he said. I waited for him to pull out some sort of bandage, but I jerked, and Cora let out a gasp when soft white light emanated from Gabriel’s hand. We had only heard about seraphs’ divine magical gifts through our history lessons and stories. At times, we thought them to be fairy tales or fables, meant to teach children lessons through fear.

I remained still, and the pulsating pain in my ankle disappeared. “Thank you.” I rolled my ankle around with painless ease. “I am sorry for our fear and distrust when you arrived, but we have always been taught the dangers of seraphs. One of your people attacking us reaffirmed what we had been told about this side of the barrier.”

“I assure you, he is not the same as me,” Gabriel nearly growled. “Imagine my surprise to find a human and her youngling in the woods!” He flashed a grin of dazzling white teeth. "I am sure we both have questions for each other, but let's take care of your hand first.”

He turned to Cora and gave her a genuine smile. “Cora, is it?” She offered an apprehensive nod. “Well, Cora, I am going to heal your mother’s hand now. Would you like to come closer to watch?”