The Gingerbread Witch by Alexandra Overy

Author:Alexandra Overy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: 2022-07-21T20:15:20+00:00

14

FRIEND OR FOOD

It didn’t take long for the treacle black to close around them. But it didn’t scare Maud, even as Nuss’s claws dug into her shoulder. Because Maud thought she understood something about the forest and its watching trees now. The thicker the darkness became, the closer she was to her goal.

Almost like it was helping her find the way.

A noise from behind made her jump, nearly dislodging Nuss.

“Wolves or monsters?” Nuss whispered as Grim pressed close to her calf.

Maud wasn’t sure which was worse.

“Let’s just keep going,” she murmured back, helping Grim over a tree root taller than him.

The noise had seemed far enough away, and she couldn’t see any sign of the telltale pricks of light the Wolf Gard brought with them.

Though a monster wouldn’t carry light to warn her. And this far into the Shadelands, there’d be far worse than druden.

She took a breath, shaking her head to dispel her worries. There was no point in turning back now, so they had to forge on.

More sounds rustled around them the farther they walked. Soft noises that seemed to suit the forest—definitely not the clattering of Wolves. Maud caught snatches of scaled wings overhead and slithering tails in the undergrowth. But the creatures didn’t seem particularly interested in her.

Just like with the beasts in any wood—if she didn’t bother them, they probably wouldn’t bother her. The theory seemed to hold, anyway.

Further proof that most creatures weren’t out to eat humans, despite what the Wolves said. Maud couldn’t imagine humans would taste very nice anyway. Very stringy and unseasoned.

But Nuss didn’t seem to agree with that line of thought. She kept up a running commentary of the various things she was convinced would attack at any moment.

“What if we run into the mossfolk?” Nuss whispered in Maud’s ear. Talk of moss made Maud think of Ludo. He’d probably love to meet the mossfolk.

“They could hypnotize us,” Nuss went on. “Or there might be a nixe that wants to drown us.”

“We’re nowhere near water,” Maud pointed out.

“A night raven, then,” Nuss pushed on, undeterred. “They’ve got giant wings and hooked claws specially for tearing out hearts.”

Maud sighed. She really shouldn’t have let Nuss read that book on night creatures last solstice.

“Or maybe—”

Maud stopped so suddenly Nuss almost fell off her shoulder.

A sound, much closer than any of the others, reverberated against the massive trunks. The ghostly echo of a bird’s hunting cry.

“Night ravens!” Nuss blurted.

“No,” Maud said, though she wasn’t so sure now. This wasn’t the small natural sounds of the forest. This was the sound of something hunting. The silence suddenly seemed to magnify around her, not true silence at all. Claws skittering over wood, another echoing cry, the slithering of something over leaves.

Maybe Maud had been wrong to trust the forest was leading her in the right direction. Perhaps it had just been luring her in deeper to devour her.

She let out a snort of laughter. Now she was sounding like one of the Wolves, convinced everything wanted to eat her.

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