My Dear Damsel

Chapter 20

Something's changed in Cherry. 

Where blood once flowed, there's fire and ice. Steel in her posture, arrowheads in her smile. It's some combination of grief and rage fortifying her. 

The midday sun shines high in the sky, the blue expanse unmarked by clouds. Across from me, sitting cross-legged, Cherry shoves a pebble along the dirt. 

"So that's the mage," she says. 

That's right. She's going full battle strategist. 

"You can be an acorn cap." She snatches one from the ground and places it near the 'mage'. 

"Yay." 

"I'll be the..." Cherry scans the ground. She picks up a little twig. "The stick." 

"Okay." 

"And then the tower will be..." 

I freeze. "What?" 

"I'll just make it a bigger rock." She grabs a large, smooth gray rock. 

"I'm sorry—the tower?" I ask. 

"Yeah," she nods. "You know, the one you rescued me from?" 

"I know the tower. But we're going back?"

She shrugs and fiddles with the acorn top. "That was the plan." 

"Why?" 

"Easiest way to get to him." 

I frown. "Won't he know we're coming?" 

"Hopefully." 

I stare at her. This... this is reckless. 

"How are we going to kill him?" I ask her. "We couldn't even kill his snakes." 

"Enchanted sword." She points at my blade. "It's powerful blood magic. The snakes were different. They weren't alive—just spellcraft. But the mage is a person, so he can still die." 

"Which of us is going to be doing the actual, you know..." I mime a stabbing motion.

"Me."

"What's my role?" I ask. 

She studies my acorn cap intently. "You don't... you don't have to come," she mumbles. 

Oh, so now she tries to send me away. Fucking wonderful. 

But the snakes are gone. One's buried in the earth. The other is buried in a—in a corpse. So my going wouldn't pose any threat. 

"Uh, no." I say. "I'm going with you. What do you need me to do?" 

Cherry sets my acorn back down. "I don't know. This is dumb. There's no point in planning this out. I mean, anything could happen." 

"What do you want to do?" 

"We should just get going," she sighs. "The sooner we wipe him out, the better." 

"Do you think you're going to ask him any questions?" I ask.

She shakes her head sadly. "I'm not... actually sure how much I want to know." 

I nod. "Okay. You ready to get going then?" 

"Yeah, I think so." 

"How are we going to find the way?" I wonder. 

She smiles a bit. "Just trust me." 

I do trust her. I trust her completely. But despite all that, it's a little hard not to doubt her as she weaves through the trees. 

Her eyes are half-shut. I have my hand wrapped around her elbow so she doesn't run into another tree. 

Yes, another. Cherry's not being particularly careful. 

Fahj-Dsal is curled around my shoulders, rumbling contently. I feel a bit guilty bringing the dragon into battle, until I remember she could easily rip me or Cherry into shreds. 

We walk for a couple hours. I don't dare say anything for fear of disrupting whatever the hell it is that Cherry's doing. She looks almost like she's in some kind of trance. I wonder if she has some kind of magic item that's doing this, or if it's all her. 

Slowly the woods begin to grow familiar. Fahj-Dsal seemingly perks up a bit, focusing on a tall tree that I guess she recognizes. 

I can spot the tower way in the distance. It's really there. Cherry did it. 

"Hey." I shake her elbow. "You did it!" 

Her eyes snap open. She yawns drowsily—not a good sign. "Congratulations, me," she says sleepily. 

She swoons suddenly, swaying. I have to catch her by looping my arms under her armpits. 

"Shit," I mutter. "Cherry?" 

"That's me," she mumbles. Her eyes keep opening and shutting. 

I start to feel uneasy. "You okay?" I ask. 

"Oh, I'm wonderful." Her head lolls. She smiles drunkenly. "I'm here with my favourite ever person." 

Part of me is touched. The rest of me is absolutely terrified. 

Me and Cherry we're going to do this together. Well, her mostly. But now we're here.

At the tower. 

And I'm the only one in fighting condition. 

Fahj-Dsal jumps off my shoulders and starts licking Cherry's face. Okay, so there's two of us in fighting condition. 

Still not great. 

"Come on, Cherry!" I shake her shoulders. "You need to get up and get better." 

She slaps my hands away. "Stop doing that." 

I sigh. It's no use. 

I hear a thunderclap. 

Instinctively, I glance up, but the sky's bright blue—not a cloud to be seen. No rain, no lightning. Nothing. 

So what...

A shiver runs down my spine. Something's off. 

Something very sharp and very scary-looking flies towards my head. I shriek and duck, setting Cherry down carefully. Well, as carefully as I can. 

The thing's impaled itself in a tree trunk—right where my head would've been if I hadn't managed to duck. A throwing knife. 

Cautiously, so as to avoid any other dangerous flying projectiles, I pull the blade from the tree. 

The leaf-shaped blade looks like no material I've seen before—black and glossy, but with undertones of red. The hilt is silver-coloured, studded with red gems rather like my sword. And carved around the handle...

Bile rises up my throat. I drop the knife, almost impaling Cherry's arm. 

That's a carving of a snake. 

I look up in the direction the knife was thrown, concealing most of my body behind a tree. I can barely see the figure—a hooded ghostlike humanoid standing at the foot of the tower. 

But the tower's... well. 

It's so far away that I have trouble believing anyone could throw a knife with such accuracy. 

There's no point in denying it, though. 

That—that figure is the mage. The man who imprisoned Cherry. Who sent the snakes. Who's responsible for Ransom's death. 

He's here, waiting for us. 

But instead of a teammate, I have a semi-conscious friend lying dazed on the ground. 

I pull my sword off my neck, knowing it won't do me much good. 

I'm screwed.