Chapter 21

THE four of us looked up. We exchanged glances and ran after him to see the camp in chaos.

The non-fighters were being herded away, while anyone who could use a weapon was getting ready. Grove and Birch ran up to us, Grove's face tear-streaked.

"Fawn and Meadow. They're gone!"

"What?" Aiden cried.

"Fawn and...Meadow?" Arden said, looking stunned.

They'd gone away somewhere...were they in the camp, or had they ventured into the Forest?

How was this happening? How had Ivy found us again — was it my fault?

Both parents' faces turned even more despairing as they turned towards the front. "Where..." Grove's voice trailed off as shapes emerged from the nearby Forest.

Ivy's soldiers weren't coming. They were already here.

Nobody made a sound, though I could feel the tension and wariness in the air.

The soldiers had appeared silently. Holding hostages.

In a ring around us, soldiers held elves, not fighters — innocents — too far for us to reach. My eyes darted around, and I allowed myself to turn my head- and there they were.

Meadow and Fawn.

Two soldiers held them. Meadow looked terrified, but Fawn had put on a brave face and was murmuring something to the younger girl.

Seeing them captured was terrible but seeing them alive was a huge relief. I turned once more as another r thought caught me. Where was Ivy? I turned in a full circle, searching. But no. She wasn't there.

Why?

I was distracted by Arden's and Birch's ragged breaths and the steely determination on both Grove's and Aiden's faces. Nobody seemed to want to make the first move. The whole Forest seemed to be holding its breath, waiting.

The silence was broken by one elf's scream. Maple and I turned in unison. It was one of the elves who had been fleeing, just moments ago. Her eyes were fixed on a young elf in the hands of a soldier. His mother?

"Conall!" She screamed again, and the spell was shattered. All of Ivy's soldiers drew their swords, metal clinking in a smooth motion as the rebel fighters gripped their weapons. Another elf ran up to the her, pulling her back and pushing her behind him.

A n elf stepped out, at the fore of Ivy's army. His eyes zeroed in on me.

Branch.

As horrifying as Ivy and Forreston were, Branch terrified me in a different way. He saw me as an obstacle, blocking his son's path to the elven throne. He wanted to take my father's place, and I was stopping him.

"Rebels," he started, his voice effortlessly carrying across the camp, trained by loud debates in my father's Council. "We have your children. Surrender, and they will be set free. Otherwise..."

Next to me, Aiden murmured, "Not an option."

It wasn't quite so clear to me.

They were both wrong. No elf in their right mind would abandon their child. But surrendering was impossible, too. The rebels would never surrender. It would mean a fate worse than death, much worse. I would know. I had been there.

Another elf stepped out of our little group. Sir Sorrel.

"Branch," he said threateningly, "Let them go."

Branch actually laughed. Laughed. "Why, Sir Sorrel? Does it remind you of your own fate? You were on the dead king's side, weren't you? Look at your reward. You all will be much better off joining us."

Sorrel's face hardened dangerously. "I'm warning you, Branch, let them go."

"I think not, Sir Sorrel. There's really nothing you can do, unless you want to let your children die." Branch said, seeming amused.

He was right. We were trapped.

Sorrel's mouth tightened ever so slightly. "They will not die, but you shall if you even attempt it."

Branch raised an eyebrow. "You think so? I think you require a demonstration, then." I glanced at Arden. He shook his head, eyebrows knitting together in worry. The answer became apparent as Branch glanced at the soldier nearest him, who was holding a young boy.

The soldier obediently shuffled over, armor clinking in dead silence, the elf in his hands apparently too terrified to speak. Another soldier drew his sword.

An elf shrieked. "Stop!" Her face was white as snow. The child's face was a replica of her's.

"Mother!" He cried, tears pouring down his face.

Branch held up a hand. "Are you sure you don't want to surrender yet, Sir Sorrel?"

Sorrel stood resolute, not saying anything. I traded a frightened glance with Maple.

"Time's up!" Branch announced. He shook his head at the soldier, who put his sword back in its sheath.

What was he doing?

He shoved his hands into his pockets. Every elf held their breath as we watched him in confusion. He pulled his hands back out, holding...two stones. He grinned diabolically at me, madness sparking in his eyes.

He struck one stone against the other, my eyes widening as I realized what they were. Flint. Used to make fires. Still grinning at me, he turned in triumph as the spark landed on an old, dead tree.

His soldiers did the same thing all around us. Fire surrounded us, bright and hot and blinding. I couldn't think straight.

We watched in horror as the tree burst into flames, realizing what he was going to do. The elf's scream as he was about to be thrust into the flames was horrifying, and it mingled with mine as I dropped to my knees, pain crippling me.

I wasn't aware of anything but the searing pain in my head, caused by the Forest hurting. My vision burned angry red, my head aching. The pain only intensified more and more times until I was barely conscious.

This had to stop. I unleashed a long scream, drowning in the pain —

The ringing in my ears shut off abruptly.

I cautiously opened my eyes, stupefied to find the throbbing in my head gone. I opened my eyes, blinking away bright spots, and focused on the Forest around me. All the trees around had apparently been burned, but not much.

Because the flame was now hovering over the soldiers.

Branch, looking stunned, whirled to me. Utter silence hung over the camp for a long, tantalizing moment. The rebels rushed at the soldiers, using the element of surprise to free their children. I stood up shakily, using Maple's support, looking around in amazement.

All around, children were being released, the rebels fighting with manic determination, using the Forest, trapping Ivy's soldiers. I saw the young boy enveloped in a huge embrace from his mother, and Conall lifted into the air by the woman.

We were winning.

Branch bellowed in rage as my eyes snapped back to him, but he couldn't do anything. He clenched his fists, and the earth rose in a circle around us, leaving me with one echo in my ears. "RETREAT!"

The wall crumbled away, revealing — nothing. They had disappeared the way they'd come. "Go after them!" I heard Birch yell from somewhere in the midst of the fighters.

Maple, Arden and I stood in silence until Grove pushed through the crowd, Meadow clinging tightly to her side, Birch and Aiden a minute behind her. Aiden was staggering slightly, a hand pressed to his side.

"What just happened?" Arden asked, arm sliding to embrace his sister. I noted dimly that the fire had simply disappeared.

Birch shook his head in awe. "I've never seen anything like it. Elvina, you did it."

"What?" I mumbled, head feeling fuzzy. "The fire. It was a Forest fire. You controlled it."

I manage to clear my thoughts enough to nod once.

Then I promptly collapsed.

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