No one spoke. Lina stood rigid, heart pounding, cold dread settling in her chest.
The final flames curled greedily around their victims.
The corpses burned.
This time, Lina thought, they might finally rest.
When the final embers winked out, Fin stepped forward, kicked the remaining bones into a shallow grave, and covered them quickly in dirt.
Woodsmoke and the smell of burning flesh clung to their clothes. Ash plumed through the dark like sinister fog.
Lina covered her mouth to stop herself from gagging.
They walked, silence stretching between them.
The taste of ash and iron lingered in Lina's mouth.
When she stumbled, Fin caught her without a word.
As the trees thinned, Lina's shoulders sagged beneath the weight.
'Too much death.'
She didn't let herself think about the moment she died.
If she did, she might not survive it.
A sharp breeze tore through the forest, throwing Lina's hair across her face and making her shiver.
Fin's boots crunched on the pebbled path to the inn.
The door creaked open, and Fin strode inside with purpose. Lina hurried after him, as if a hellhound snapped at their heels.
Sofia entered last. Before the door closed, Lina swore a wraith of shadow and ash curled around the entrance.
She swallowed.
The nightmare disappeared with the final click of the door.
Lina squeezed her eyes shut, willing the nightmare away.
Fin grabbed three mugs and filled them with ale. He placed them on the table and settled on a bench facing the fire. Lina took hers and slumped across from him with her back facing the fireplace.
Sofia emptied her mug of ale in one long swig, then stood up to pour herself another glass at the bar.
Fin's voice cut through the silence. "Lina."
Lina flinched and studied her reflection in the ale: wide eyes, a smudge of ash.
She scrubbed at her cheek and gripped her mug to steady her hands.
Would she drink? No.
Yet if she let go, even for a second, the trembling might give her away.
Sofia plopped down beside Lina with a sigh.
"Been here weeks. Never saw anything like today." Sofia's fingers drummed on the table.
"Lina."
Sofia peered curiously between the two.
Fin gripped the edge of the table, his voice tight. "You disappear for four days. Then a group of undead soldiers turns up on my doorstep."
Sofia coughed, breaking the tense pause.
If she could, she'd drown in her ale to hide from this conversation.
He looked at her. "They may not be related, but I'd appreciate an answer to the question I asked."
She met Fin's eyes, their sadness curling his lips. He'd taken her in at nineteen and waited beside her for a mother who never came.
The same steadiness watched her now.
Fin asked, "Where have you been?"
Lina fidgeted with her cup and said, "I don't remember all of it."
The wind wailed outside the rattling door.
"I went to the rune mage, Arystelle, to ask a question about—" Lina choked, "about magic."
Sofia pressed, "What kind of magic?"
Lina's gaze flicked to hers and offered a partial truth.
"Things haven't been right."
"Like what?" Sofia asked, leaning forward.
"Like animated dead," Lina stared at Sofia. "I don't know. Everything's felt different lately."
Sofia's mug clacked against the table. Fin watched Lina, unwavering.
She took a deep breath. "When I got there, Arystelle was with a man in rune-etched armor."
"Sentinel," Fin growled.
Lina nodded. "He sensed magic in me. When Arystelle mentioned the council, he said I was too old to be tested."
A grim expression darkened Fin's face.
Sofia pushed, her voice sharp. "And then what happened?"
"They took me. Something went wrong. There was pain, then darkness," she whispered, lifting her mug and gulping.
'Can alcohol burn away terrible memories?'
'It amplifies them.'
She jerked at the sudden reply.
Her grip tightened on the mug.
Not here. Not now.
Sofia watched her, unblinking.
"I woke up in the middle of the woods. Alone. And then I returned here," she sighed. "You know the rest."
"What happened after you blacked out?" Sofia asked.
"I woke up in the woods."
"No, what happened in those four days that you were gone?"
Lina shook her head.
"Four days is a long time to forget."
"I don't know." She admitted.
'I died… and woke up alive.'
The thought sat heavy in her chest, pressing against her ribs.
She couldn't say it out loud.
Raithe offered nothing. But she could feel his steady presence, listening.
"You don't look like someone who just got lost," Sofia drawled. "There's something missing in this story. Four days to be exact."
"I didn't get lost. I blacked out and woke up in the woods."
Sofia assessed her. Eyes scanning her neck, face, and arms.
Sofia's voice held skepticism. "Blacked out after meeting a sentinel who thought you had magic? Convenient."
"I want to know what happened, too," Lina protested, shifting in her seat.
"What did you specifically go to Arystelle to ask?"
'You don't have to answer.'
Lina dropped her head, avoiding their eyes and letting her hair fall forward to shield her face.
Fin looked between Lina and Sofia, then let out a long sigh. He reached out, placed his hand on Lina's shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"That's enough. If you remember anything… I'll listen."
Sofia didn't push, but her gaze lingered—sharp, questioning.
The moment dragged on. Shadows deepened around the corners of the inn. Lina shivered.
"We shouldn't stay here," Fin warned.
Lina's mouth dropped and snapped shut.
"Yes," she agreed.
"If the king starts asking questions, we won't survive not having answers."
Sofia smiled and said, "I don't want to be here when the king tries to silence this particular problem."
Fin ordered, "Pack up and meet here in an hour. Someone will come looking for those soldiers."
Lina rushed to her feet.
The common room's door groaned under the pressure of the wind. Lina waited. Shadows curled against the bottom of the door.
She shook her head. After everything that happened, even shadows felt wrong.
Lina sprinted upstairs, packed a dress, a tunic, and her mother's letter.
"Sorry I can't wait for you anymore, Mom," she whispered to the letter.
Back in the common room, Lina gripped the letter as she descended the stairs.
"She'd understand," Fin said.
Sofia raised an eyebrow.
'It will be okay,' Raithe said.
A shiver rippled through Lina at his voice in her mind. Her head ached as if something inside her was stretched thin.
A tear slipped free.