Raven Girl

Chapter 19

They travelled through the mountains for days, and Nadine was overjoyed to find that there were forests hidden in little valleys, dotted among the mountain range. The forests reminded her of Ravenna. They made their way through a rocky pine forest. The forest floor was punctuated by piles of rocks, clefts in the ground, and small cliff faces. They had to go carefully, avoiding stones to keep the horses' hooves in good condition.

"Where is the river? Why couldn't we just sail up it?" Regina asked one day. "These mountains last forever."

"You want to be caught by police before we even get to the harbour? They'll never see us coming this way," Gylfi replied.

Nadine had been travelling at the back of the group. She pulled on the reins as an echoing shriek resounded through the forest. "What was that?"

"Probably nothing. Come on." Gylfi began to ride ahead.

Nadine felt fear thrum through her. "It sounded like a daylight horror."

"I told you, we don't have them in Jötunheim. Ravennans are all paranoid."

"What's to stop one flying over the border?" Nadine challenged. "What if –?"

Darkness blotted out the sky. Trees snapped, wings churned the air. Nadine screamed as a daylight horror swooped down on her, talons outstretched. It collided with her and her horse, and they were sent flying.

"Nadine!" someone shouted, and the entire world was a blur, then –

Nadine collided with something hard – a rock – and she felt bone snap. Then she fell – down a cliff, into nothing.

The darkness came for her. Falling – she wrenched a dagger from her belt and stabbed. The blade sank into something tough and leathery. Nadine's body collided with the earth once more, and she knew no more.

*

"Nadine!" Elias bellowed. Regina was shaking. She wasn't sure what had happened – everything had been a blur – but Nadine and a daylight horror had disappeared into the ravine.

They spurred their horses towards the cliff edge and peered down. Nothing. Just a path of broken branches where the monster had fallen.

"Is she alive?" Regina whispered.

"We have to go after her," Gylfi said, already beginning to dismount.

"No," Elias said.

"What?"

"We can't. We'll be killed."

"But Nadine is hurt –"

"She's dead," Elias said flatly. "I heard her neck snap."

Regina swayed in her saddle. The world was spinning around her.

"She can't be," Gylfi croaked.

"We have to leave. Now," Elias said. "Before it comes after us – and before people come to investigate that roar it made."

Regina chewed on her lip. She didn't want to leave Nadine, but then she reminded herself that Nadine had never been her friend. They weren't even allies, really. They'd been thrown together on this mission, which was why Elias was so readily turning away. Gylfi looked torn, but he tugged the reins.

"So we just leave her?" Regina asked.

"You'd rather go down there and get eaten?"

"No."

Regina followed the boys. She kept looking back, seeing where her fellow Ravennan had disappeared. She'd seen a glimpse of Nadine and her horse, Nadine with a dagger out, her face wild and hair flying.

Why had the daylight horror come to Jötunheim? Regina remembered the one in the meadow that had attacked Nadine and Gylfi. Had it... followed them? How intelligent were they?

No one knew, because no one had ever seen one and lived to tell the tale. They were black. They were huge. They meant death.

They continued down the path, Gylfi and Regina looking back, Elias leading the way with a stiff spine. Even the clop of their horses' hooves sounded dejected. It began to rain – drops pattered on the trees. Leaves bowed. The forest was a symphony of soft noises.

They didn't speak until they left the forest and began to climb one of the mountains. Eventually they dismounted and made camp, once it grew too dark to see anything. Gylfi had hunted earlier in the day, and they roasted mountain hares on spits over the fire.

"She might still be alive." Gylfi's voice was hollow. Regina jumped – it was the first time they'd spoken since the attack.

"I heard her neck snap. She would never have survived the fall," Elias said. He looked at his feet. "Remember, we need to finish the mission, then it's over. Just finish the mission."

"If I fall behind or if something happens to me, would you leave me, too?" Regina said, leaping to her feet. She stormed into the trees, shaking.

"If there was a chance you'd be alive, I would help you," Elias yelled after her. "But if you were dead, what'd be the point?"

Regina drew her cloak tightly around her and leaned against a beech tree.

She was a thief, she told herself. She'd have stabbed you in the back. But it felt hard to believe. Nadine had never done anything to her.

An owl hooted in the distance.

I'll make sure her brother is cured of his illness, Regina thought. This made her feel better. She'd do something to help. Nadine had given her life in the hope that her brother would get better – she couldn't just waste that. It occurred to Regina, once she'd returned to the boys, that she was thinking these things only to ease her own troubled conscience. She hated the feeling of guilt.

"So one of us is already dead," Gylfi was muttering, sketching symbols in the dirt with a stick. "Who will be next?"

"There is no 'us'," Elias bit out.

Regina looked down to see that Gylfi had drawn the shrike insignia. She shivered.