Part 4

Zara shivered. Already she could feel the chill of the forest, reaching out to her like the invisible tendrils of a sea monster waiting in the dark depths. She could hear Ronan's heavy footsteps behind her and she turned to see him staring into the forest with a look of awe on his face. No trace of fear just yet, but she was certain there would be before their journey was through.

It had taken less than a full day for Amalia to return her message, though it had taken Zara a long minute to decipher its cryptic nature...she understood the need for secrecy better than anyone, though. Amalia was risking much, more than Zara felt she deserved to be asking for.

The smell of smoke began to fill the air and she stopped abruptly and turned to face Ronan. He nearly crashed right into her and Zara held a palm to his chest to steady him. She could feel the heat of his skin beneath his shirt, which irritatingly made her blush against her will. She quickly removed her hand and jutted her chin out as she looked up at him.

"I'll do the talking. You should say as little as possible," she said quietly.

His eyebrows rose slightly. "If I'm not talking, what should I be doing then?"

"Just stand there. I'm assuming you can handle that, can't you?" Zara asked, her mouth twitched as she held back an amused smile at his expression of indignation. "Shush," she said before he could argue. "It's nothing against you, alright? We shouldn't have an issue, but I don't want to ruin our chances."

"Fine," he said after a moment. "Lead the way, my lady."

She wrinkled her nose as she turned around. "Would you stop with that already?"

She ignored his low chuckling. Up ahead she could see the huge oak tree that held one of the many outposts belonging to the Red Capes. A set of iron steps twisted around the enormous trunk of the tree, leading to a wooden hut nestled in the branches. A maze of swinging bridges led off in each direction, connected from tree to tree all along the edge of the forest and going as deep into the trees as the territory boundaries allowed. Not that those boundaries mattered much anymore. The wolves crossed them easily these days, without much of a care. This worried Zara. All it took was one to gain the attention of many. If the other creatures saw the wolves crossing the line, it wouldn't be long before they followed.

Her heart sped up as she stopped at the bottom of the tree and looked up. She was whiplashed by a thousand different memories. She had not returned to the forest, let alone the Red Cape quarters, since that day. She could feel Ronan's eyes on her, watching. She quickly cleared her throat and took a step forward, grasping the iron railing in her hand.

"Are you alright?" Ronan asked quietly. She could sense his presence just behind her and felt embarrassed to turn and see the expression he wore though his voice was free from anything aside from genuine concern, and perhaps a mild interest.

She took in a shaky breath. "Many memories," she murmured. "Not all of them good."

"Understandable. You must have climbed these same steps many times in the past."

"Yes." She inhaled deeply and let it out. "No point delaying the inevitable."

She put her foot on the first step, hoping that her feeling of dread would dissipate the further they climbed but it did the opposite. By the time they reached the top, her heart was swimming in it. She paused outside the double door, with its stained glass windows. The light reflected through it, casting colorful, shadowy shapes on the wooden floorboards. She held up her fist and knocked once. The door opened almost immediately revealing a redheaded girl with wide blue eyes. A smattering of freckles dusted the bridge of her nose. It was a face that had once been familiar to her, and now seeing her old friend again was somehow both painful and reassuring. Zara felt a tug at her heartstrings. She had missed her.

"Amalia," Zara greeted quietly. "Thank you for agreeing to see me."

The girl stepped forward and crushed Zara to her chest. "Oh, Zar. You've no idea how good it is to see you. I wasn't sure I'd ever hear from you again."

"To be honest, I was sort of hoping not to," Zara admitted, as Amalia pulled away. "I don't exactly feel as if the rest of the Capes would be as forgiving as you." She smiled wanly.

Amalia rolled her eyes. "Most of them don't know you the way I do...the way I did," she corrected herself. She stepped out onto the deck and peered around before ushering the two of them in, her eyes lingering on Ronan's broad back. "I only have a few minutes until the others finish their perimeter sweeps. Best no one sees you here besides me."

"For the sake of everyone, I agree," Zara said as she took a few unsure steps into the center of the room. It was the strangest feeling, to be back in a place you had every certainty you'd never see again. It was unchanged, the photo in her mind's eye still a perfect match. She could remember countless afternoons spent pouring over maps in the same room, giving nightly reports to the captain on duty before taking the swinging bridge that led to the living quarters after a long shift. It had been in this very room where her commander had dismissed her for the final time. "We have a favor to ask of you, and it's not one to take lightly. I'd understand if you said no, but then you must understand...if you do say no, it won't stop us. It'll just make it a little harder."

Amalia bit her lower lip as she sank back down into a seat. There were maps spread out on the table behind, areas of the forest and surrounding villages and towns circled in black. "I have a feeling of what you're going to ask...why, though? Why would you want to go back in there?"

Zara shook her head. "I don't want to get you tangled up in the details."

"We're on a rescue mission," Ronan suddenly interrupted. Zara whirled to face him, eyes narrowed. He looked just slightly apologetic as he turned to look at Amalia, who had crossed her arms over her chest and was watching him wearily. She glanced sideways at Zara for a moment, her expression asking 'who's this again?' "Someone needs our help."

"Someone needs your help?" Amalia repeated. "And you are aware that your chances of success out there are not very good?"

"Zara has already made that very clear to me. I'd rather try than do nothing," Ronan answered. "It's not in my nature."

"Hmm...and how did you manage to convince this one to join you on your quest?" Amalia nodded at Zara

He smiled. "I promised her an adventure and I believe my rugged good looks did the rest."

Zara rolled her eyes as one corner of Amalia's mouth twisted upwards into a smile. "For some reason, I believe there's more to the story that you're not telling me." She turned to Zara, her expression growing darker. "You know you ask a great deal of me. I'd be going against the regulations. I'd risking not only my position, but your lives. I don't know if I can have the weight of that on my conscience."

"I'm not asking you. As I said you can choose whether or not to help us. We'll go either way," Zara answered firmly, flicking a dark strand of long hair out of her eyes.

Amalia's blue eyes bore into her for a long moment before flicking towards Ronan. "If you truly seek to help another, than that is a noble enough cause for me. I can guide you safely halfway to the boundary, but not a step further. If I go the full distance, I'm afraid it will cause suspicion. No one ventures that far anymore. Not even Red Capes..." Her voice trailed off.

Zara placed a hand on Amalia's arm, breaking the girl's stare as she had seemed to drift off somewhere else for a moment. "We're in your debt then."

Amalia shook her head and shared a small smile with her. It sent a jolt of familiarity through Zara, remembering countless other times Amalia had exchanged knowing smiles with her. After leaving the guard, Zara had spent too much time wondering if she had taken the girl's friendship for granted. "Please, no debts. Let's just think of it as a favor for an old friend." She turned away then and glances out the window. "We'll wait until dark to move. We'll blend into the shadows. Meet me at the edge of the forest, near Pines Peak. That's my patrol tonight."

"We'll meet you then," Zara agreed.

"Thank you," added Ronan.

Amalia shrugged. "We'll see how thankful you are when you've crossed the boundary."

Zara frowned. "I'm choosing not to think of it until the moment's upon us."

"Probably best," Amalia agreed.

Ronan looked between the two of them, but Zara did not meet his eyes. He would learn what they meant soon enough.