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I run blindly into the rain, no idea where I’m going. It’s not like I have the layout of the village memorized; the majority of my time here was spent in a locked hut.
My dryad instincts are screaming for me to get into the woods and hide among the trees. It’s also not lost on me that this is a good time to escape my so-called marriage, though I’m more than a little disappointed I didn’t get to consummate it before taking off.
I swipe a hand across my eyes, trying to clear the rain out of them. I’m already drenched; running in this rain is tantamount to swimming in a lake, except much, much louder.
I flinch when a clap of thunder erupts directly over me, intuitively ducking to the ground to avoid the impending electrical strike. Maybe trees are a bad idea, given all the lightning.
When it hits, uncomfortably close, I jump up and start running again, just barely catching sight of a hulking figure in my path. I zag right, ducking around a cabin that still seems to be intact.
I take a moment to wonder what all the troll women are doing right now. Are they out in this fighting? Hiding? Waiting to get captured, or rescued, whichever the case may be?
Where the hell am I supposed to go?
A few feet away, I spot the small peaked roof of the well that sits in the center of the village. Better oriented, I turn to the right and run again, heading for the edge of habitation, where the woods start again.
Out of nowhere, another big shape rears up in front of me, and though I try to stop, I lose my footing in the mud. I run smack into the big form, and with a shriek, try to tear myself a way.
But a huge hand grabs my upper arm, stopping me.
“Oaklyn?” bellows a familiar voice.
I look up, shoving the rain and sopping curls out of my face. As luck—or possibly fate—would have it, I crashed right into my new husband.
“Bradoc!” I cry, relief pouring through me. “A Galkaj troll came for me. I had to run.”
“Come on,” he says. “We need to get you someplace safe.”
“But what about the village? Don’t you have to fight?”
“We’re outnumbered, and the rain isn’t helping. There’s nothing I can do right now. Besides, you’re my wife. It’s my duty to protect you.”
Yeah, I’m not gonna argue with that.
“What do we do?”
“We can’t stay here,” he says, shouting over the storm. “We need to hide.”
“The woods, then?”
He nods, and takes my hand, leading me away. I trust his judgment in this; as the alpha of his tribe, he’s intimately familiar with this territory. If anyone knows where to go, it’s him.
I’d thought I’d feel better once we were out of the village, ensconced in the safety of my beloved trees, but I was wrong. It’s darker in the woods, for one thing, and the gale-force winds keep blowing branches into me, scratching all my exposed skin.
I trip over a root and curse, annoyed, and Bradoc scoops me up and tosses me over his shoulder, never breaking stride.
As rain drips into my ear, I remember Adria’s warning from before I left: Her app predicted heavy storms for at least a week. Up this high, we’re sure to get the brunt of it, and this awful weather might genuinely last for the next several days.
At the time, I blew it off because I figured I’d just head home if the rain started. But that’s not exactly an option now. So where are we going to go?
Bradoc is trudging along implacably, seemingly undaunted by the relentless deluge or my weight. Which I guess makes sense. Even though I’m a hundred-thirty pounds and pretty muscular, compared to him, I’m practically a feather.
But now that I’m slung over him like an ungainly sack of potatoes, I notice his breathing is heavy and uneven. I don’t think it’s the hike or my extra weight, which makes me wonder if he’s injured again.
If so, I hope it’s not another poisoned arrow. Collecting the necessary herbs in this weather would be almost impossible, even now that I know where they grow.
“Where are we headed?” I shout in Bradoc’s ear, but he just grunts in response. I’m not sure how to take it. Does he not feel like yelling? Or does he not have a plan?
After an interminable hike, all rain, trees, and dislodged boulders, he finally stops. “We’ll rest here,” he announces.
