Read Hollow by Caroline Peckham Chapter 35 –
The Dragon had taken me right across the forest when I’d fled Hendrix’s company, and I couldn’t deny the way the northern parts of the woods felt different. The birds sang more softly here, the wind was more of a breeze, and even the leaves on the trees seemed more golden in tone than that deep green.
The silence kept me company in place of the brooding Fae I’d grown used to having at my back. And though I refused to admit I’d made any kind of mistake in running from him when I had, I could admit that it was a much lonelier place here without him.
I’d spent two days hunting for the Phoenix, searching an old stone tower which smelled of ash and was coated in narrow creepers thick with violet flowers, but there had been no sign of the spirit. The Phoenix was the opposite to the Raven in that it coveted sunlight and had once made certain that every tree, plant and shrub within the forest got to feel the rays of the sun on their leaves so they could flourish to their fullest potential. The two spirits were said to be in love with one another, creating balance as they flew over the trees, adoring what the other could bring and endlessly admiring the changes their magic brought to the forest.
I had no way to tempt such a spirit out but after hunting and searching, turning over every loose leaf and stone, I had finally come to the conclusion that another Champion must have claimed the beast I sought. I’d found evidence of a campfire not far from the tower and boot prints in the mud by a burbling brook. Between that and the haunting emptiness of this place, I had concluded that any further searching of this place was futile.
“What now?” I sighed, sinking down on the crumbling stone steps before the tower and taking the diary from my pack.
A little chill rolled down my spine as I turned the pages, the ghost of its previous owner seeming all the closer now that I understood she had been me in some form.
I’d spent many hours wondering over the lives I’d lived before, searching through my memories for a glimmer of something beyond what I had experienced in my own twenty-two years, but there was nothing there. I didn’t believe the versions of me which had come before had truly been me. They might have had my face, my body, even some form of my spirit, but this life I was living now was the only one I would ever know or accept as my own.
I supposed in a way the other versions of myself were like ancestors. They may have contributed to my make up in some small part, but they hadn’t influenced it directly. They weren’t me and I wasn’t them. Which I had decided to believe was for the best – they’d failed in this task after all. And they hadn’t had Rissa either.
I’d stepped out into the night twice now in hopes of meeting with my sister again, calling her name into the dark before fleeing behind closed doors once more.
I didn’t seem to need to fear the Lost Children the way the other Champions did but that didn’t mean there weren’t other things which lurked in the darkness that might take a bite of me if I lingered there too long.
Even the forest seemed less hospitable once the sun had fallen from the sky. The trees were more hostile, more wild, as if the sun were the only thing reminding them not to become as malevolent as the curse demanded.
I wasn’t sure if there was truth in those assumptions but neither the Dragon nor the Raven had denied them.
“Where should we hunt next?” I asked, summoning both of my spirits and watching as they materialised before me.
The Raven cawed in greeting, hopping up to perch on the step at my side, swathing me in darkness so deep that I had to lean forward to hold the map out of its reach to be able to see it at all.
The spirit released an amused chirrup and nuzzled against me. I’d been surprised to find out how affectionate the spirit could be the first time it had done such a thing, but I’d soon grown used to its exuberant greetings. The Raven didn’t speak as often as the Dragon did in my mind – though it always listened intently when I was the one talking.
The Dragon was more austere, moving through the clearing at the base of the tower, its long, serpentine body coiling between the trees before it laid itself down facing me, its regal head resting atop crossed front paws.
“We could head west and hunt for the Carp,” I mused, tracing the lines of the map, though in truth, there were notes in the diary about the Carp’s location which made it clear that it was very much a guess on the part of the woman who had drawn it. “Or… east in hopes of finding the Unicorn.”
I glanced at the Raven who simply cawed again, its silken wing draping around my shoulders, no answer clear in either gesture. The Dragon huffed wearily like it was tired of my shit. Crotchety thing that it was.
I hmmed, considering the options. The Carp was an interesting spirit to say the least. My book on the spirits wasn’t exactly complimentary about it when describing its powers or the responsibilities it had once held.
I tugged the book free of my pack and read over the now-familiar words once more, my eyes drawn to the white and orange Carp which glimmered in the illustrations beneath the chapter heading.
The Carp is a curious spirit indeed. Some theorise that its creation was something of a jest by the Great Elm, or perhaps a mistake altogether. Though large and beautiful in its own way, the Carp’s dominion was over puddles – a most peculiar endeavour.
It is said that the Carp liked to flick its fins and throw water around the forest to create these puddles, though their use to the trees and the creatures within them is questionable. Of course it was the Bear who ensured all of the forest was kept watered and even made certain to care for the streams, brooks, rivers, ponds and lakes within the forest’s bounds which kept the trees and animals sustained for their thirst.
Why then was there a need for puddles?
It is always hard to divulge the purpose behind the actions of the spirits, but in this case, there seems to be no answer which makes any kind of sense beyond perhaps boredom or a desire for amusement.
The Carp is no fighter, nor is it particularly fast even in the water. It would likely be the easiest of the spirits to capture, especially as it so often leapt from its pools and ended up flapping around on the forest floor until such a time as one of the other spirits took pity upon it and returned it to its domain.
“Easy does sound nice,” I commented, though I had to wonder that after this long, if the Carp was so easy to capture, wouldn’t one of the other Champions have already done so by now?
I knew of course that the Dragon, Raven, Bear, Fox and Wolf were accounted for already. It seemed the Stag, Boar and Phoenix had been found too, if my fruitless searching was proof of anything. The Rat and the Tiger had been taken by Islasees. So all that might now remain were the Unicorn, Carp, and Serpent. The Serpent which Rissa had been riding through the trees…
I frowned as I thought on that. Rissa wasn’t a Champion, and to my understanding, couldn’t claim a spirit for herself, nor had she been wearing an amulet. So how had she bonded with it? Would she really be able to convince it to join with me? If so, then I could count myself as having three amulets already. One more would surely mean I had the most in that case. And if not and someone else had gained four too, then I needed to have the more powerful set. The Carp wouldn’t help much with that.
I flipped to the part about the Unicorn.
The image on the page made my heart ache as I took it in. The Unicorn was a stunning white mare with a golden starburst on its brow where its horn stood proud, shimmering with ethereal light. Its mane and tail were a carpet of pale blossoms in every shade and style, roses, peonies, tulips, daisies and many more besides, all draping down around it to brush along the floor.
The Unicorn was the bringer of life to the forest, spreading blossom and blooms wherever its hooves fell. Often agreed to be among the most powerful of the spirits of the forest, the Unicorn is shy and elusive by nature but can be brutal and unrelenting when provoked, using its horn to maim and even kill if it feels the life of the forest is being threatened.
I drummed my fingers against the pages of the book, looking between the two spirits I’d already won. My confidence in this task had grown immensely since gaining the Raven for my own. Yes, claiming the Dragon had been colossal, but until I had tempted the Raven into joining with me too, I had feared that my method of trying to prove myself worthy to the spirits might have been a fluke.
Now I felt far more confident that it would work again.
The Fox had come for my flames, the Wolf had been herded by the light I’d steered, and I truly believed that my idea for securing the Unicorn might just work too.
“Let’s go after the Unicorn,” I decided, as my spiritual companions clearly had no intention of giving me their opinion.
The Dragon raised its head, then released a heavy breath which made the feathers around its jaw ruffle.
I made quick work of repacking my bag, then slung it onto my back and strode down the tower steps to the enormous spirit.
It still took my breath away to look at the beast of legend, still made my heart pound faster to approach it.
“Would you mind flying me across the forest to this spot?” I asked, holding out the map for the Dragon to look at and pointing to the little Unicorn drawn in a place several miles to the east.
“Climb on then, spirit singer,” the Dragon spoke in my mind, staying low on its haunches so that I could climb up onto its back. I had wondered whether the Raven might also be able to carry me while flying. It was far smaller than the Dragon but still much larger than I was, so I imagined it could. And of course it would be far more subtle too, but I got the feeling the Dragon would not take it well were I to ask for the other spirit to take on the task.
I climbed up the Dragon’s smooth body, marvelling at the shining scales and little sparks of teal electricity which zipped across them. They didn’t hurt when they made contact with my skin but buzzed vibrantly, awakening something deep inside of my soul which resonated with them on a base level.
“Ready?” the Dragon purred in my mind, amusement clear in its tone.
I moved to wrap my arms around its neck, the soft feathers of its ruff tickling the side of my face as a little burst of adrenaline surged through my limbs. “Ready.”
The Dragon leapt into the air in a rush of motion, racing for the sky above the tower and shooting across the treetops so fast that tears were torn from my eyes at the motion.
The Raven cawed as it took chase, a swathe of night scoring across the sky behind us.
Thunder rumbled overhead as the Dragon’s passage stirred the clouds and my hair streamed out around me in a wild tangle.
A grin found its way onto my lips, the rush of our passage through the sky leaving me utterly elated as it stripped away my fears, my regrets and my doubts. Nothing which had led me to this moment could have been wrong. Nothing about the decisions I’d made could have been different. I had to believe that. Even though there was an ache in my heart which asked if I’d been right to run from Hendrix. He had betrayed me, but he’d protected me too after all. He was bad, just as he’d always told me, but he hadn’t tried to conceal the fact from me. I’d just been too stubborn to see the whole truth of it.
And despite it all, he’d never done anything to hurt me.
Regardless of those nagging thoughts, Hendrix was long behind me now. Perhaps our paths would cross when we made for the Great Elm. Perhaps by then I’d have three spirits of my own and he would be forced to truly treat me as an equal.
That thought stirred me, banishing my doubts once more as the Dragon dove from the sky and plummeted into the grasp of the trees once more.
We stopped so suddenly, I was almost hurled from the back of the spirit and only managed to stay in place by gripping the feathers around its ruff so tightly that they were in danger of tugging loose.
We’d landed in a dale where shards of sunlight punctured the canopy of the trees overhead and illuminated patches of wildflowers in their own personal spotlights. The scent of the blooms was enchanting, something about this place so serene that I found myself relaxing just a little despite our intent.
“Go that way,” I said, pointing to a space between the trees where daisies, buttercups and forget-me-nots carpeted the forest floor like a beautiful tapestry.
“I thought you’d learned not to bark commands at me like I’m some common mule,” the Dragon griped, its anger lashing against the inside of my skull and making me cringe.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I’m only keen to-”
“Perhaps you will learn from this folly if you are forced to recall what traversing the forest is like without my help.”
The Dragon shook like a dog leaping out of a river, and I yelled in alarm as I was tossed from its back less than gracefully, falling on my ass in a mound of white and blue flowers.
The spirit’s clawed feet hit the ground either side of me as it growled in my face, and I cringed away from it as sparks of electricity slashed against my skin.
“Heed my warning, spirit singer, for I won’t do you the courtesy of offering up many more.”
In a flash of silver and teal light, the Dragon’s body broke apart, swirling into the amulet at my throat with such speed that the force of it flattened me on my back in the flowers.
I blinked at the Raven as it hopped closer, offering me a soft caw which sounded a little pitying and a little judgy, like it thought I should have really seen that coming, and before I could even think to ask it for its help in place of the Dragon’s, it slipped back into its amulet too.
Clearly I had a lot to learn about conversing with spirits. I had to say, the spirits were certainly far touchier than I’d have expected. Grumpier too.
I huffed in irritation, brushing some flowers out of my windswept hair as I stood.
This was fine. I could find the Unicorn on my own and capture it alone too.
I ignored the lingering doubts and got to my feet, looking around at the stunning flowers, certain from them alone that I was in the right place.
I moved quietly, creeping along the path carpeted in daisies and other small blooms, the scent of the flowers settling some old ache within me as I moved deeper into their embrace.
This place was like something from a painting. Great swathes of wisteria in shades from deep to pale purple, pink and even white all hung over my head. Insects buzzed drunkenly between the blossoms, so overwhelmed with choice that it was a veritable feast for them.
I rounded a huge cherry tree, its branches thick with pink blossom, the petals slowly tumbling down around me and brushing against my cheeks on their way to the ground.
The Unicorn raised its head as I stepped into its clearing. The spirit was far larger than any horse I’d ever laid eyes on before, its limbs slender and ethereal, its mane of flowers draping down its side and parting for the glimmering golden horn on its brow.
The spirit regarded me warily, pawing at the earth and lowering its head in threat. This was not a creature that would run from a fight, and as I looked more closely at the trees which surrounded its dale, I found the faces of at least six Cursed Ones watching me with intrigue.
Had they met with their fates while trying to capture this beast? It seemed the most likely reason for so many of them to be in this place and my gut knotted with the urge to flee.
I bit my lip, my plans for luring this spirit to me falling apart. I had thought to pick some of the flowers it so cherished and lay them out in a trail for it to follow. That seemed like the thoughts of a fool now that I stood looking into the eyes of my quarry. Enraging the Unicorn would not go well for me.
So instead, I gave into a thought which likely was nothing but lunacy.
The Unicorn snorted in warning, its horn pointed right at me as it pawed the ground again, the soil turning over beneath its hoof and flowers bursting to life there in the next breath.
I opened my arms wide to show it I held no weapon, then very slowly, sank down to sit among the wildflowers at the base of the cherry tree.
“I came here in hopes that you might agree to help me,” I said in a soft voice.
The Unicorn whinnied, the sound carrying that hint of magic to it which shook something in the heart of me, shattering my humanity and wrapping me in the wildness of its power.
I sucked in a breath and the spirit charged.
There was no way I could escape, no hope for me to get out of its path, so I threw up my arms and called my sister’s name. I wasn’t sure if it was meant as an apology or farewell, but before I could figure it out, the Unicorn leapt over my head and galloped a full circle of the cherry tree.
I shrieked in fright, recoiling against the bark, then lurching away as one of the Cursed Ones caught a knot of my silvery hair in its fist.
I stumbled out into the heart of the dale, my scalp tender from the hair which had been ripped free of it, and the Unicorn trotted closer, its golden horn glowing brighter the nearer it came.
“Please?” I begged, my throat thick with a mixture of fear and hope. If the Unicorn denied my request, then I could already tell I wasn’t going to be capable of capturing it by force. This spirit was both fierce and powerful. A stone wouldn’t fell it and I had no other weapon, not that I wanted to cause it pain even if I had.
“You know, you really don’t need to be looking at me like I’m some kind of threat,” I said in a rush, unsure on exactly what my plan was at this point but hoping it might at least pause in its murderous intent to hear me out. “I wouldn’t even hurt a fly. I mean that. One time, there was this moth trapped in my room, and it kept flying around and around by the rafters while I was trying to sleep. And I know what you’re thinking – a moth couldn’t possibly be that loud, but truly this thing was flipping and flapping and bumping off of everything, even after I doused my lantern. And of course even back home we knew better than to ever open a window at night in case the spirits came to… well not that I think all spirits like to lure unsuspecting humans to their deaths or anything like that because you don’t seem at all the type to do such a thing. But there are the Hollows to consider too, and the lure of the night and well… anyway my point is that I let the moth have my room for the night and had to curl up on the hearth downstairs because I couldn’t bring myself to hurt it.”
I cringed back as the Unicorn lowered its head before me, the spirit’s wide eyes meeting with mine and capturing me in that place, a breath stalling in my lungs, fear coiling all around me.
With a snort that sounded almost bored, the Unicorn stepped forward and touched the tip of its horn to my brow.
Its power enveloped me, stealing the breath from my lungs as it surged through my limbs and almost knocked me from my feet.
I stumbled backwards, leaning against a tree as the rush of magic faded and a wild laugh tumbled from my lips. The Unicorn’s amulet sat on the ground before me and the weight of it settling around my neck was like a balm to my soul.
Three spirits. I’d captured three spirits! The chances of anyone besides Hendrix having matched that number were seriously low. Would Rissa be able to help me with the Serpent? If so, then I was almost certain that I would be the one to seize the boon. I’d be able to rescue my sister from this nightmare, break the curse and return us to the lives that had been stolen all those years ago.
A flash of warmth caught my attention, and I looked down at the intricate floral pattern which now coiled across the back of my right hand, like a knotted bouquet of every kind of flower the forest had to offer. The Unicorn had marked me just as the others had done. And I was finally living up to the promise I’d made eight years ago.
