Trytian cleared his throat. “We should move onward, if you’ve had enough chance to rest.”
We were all good to go, so we began the march deeper into the forest. The trees were dark here; they had taken on the sheen of granite, though I realized they were actually fossilized wood. But they were misshapen, bent and twisted, and without any greenery, they appeared like creatures out of some nightmare realm, ancient beings that perhaps moved so slowly no one ever noticed until one day, they had crept out of the forest to right below the window and were brushing against the glass.
I wondered—the trees over Earthside, and in Otherworld all had sentience of some sort; they had a form of consciousness that witches like Camille could sense and sometimes tap into. Did the petrified trees still retain what consciousness they had once had? And if so, did they have any conscience to go along with it? Or did they seethe, slowly festering anger at the demons who wandered this realm, destroying the land and blighting everything they touched?
The walk through the forest was easy going, comparatively, but we would have been lost without Trytian to pave the way. He seemed to have an instinctive knowledge of which way and where to turn, though I could see no noticeable landmarks. I had no idea how much time was passing. I wasn’t tired; there was no pull of the sunrise to drag me down into sleep. Which raised the question: Did the vampires here walk the world day and night, unending, never resting? And if so, was that how they grew so terribly strong?
These thoughts, and others, flitted through my mind as we hiked through the petrified forest. We were silent, because who knew what ears might be hiding behind the stone trees? But after a while, Trytian held up his hand. He motioned up ahead, and I noticed that the wood seemed to be thinning out. We were near the opening.
He motioned for everyone to huddle close. “We are near the exit to the forest. When we come out, a short quarter mile to the left will take us to one of Shadow Wing’s encampments. He is not there, but the place is overrun with his demons. The path to the right leads to the detention center, and that is where they took Nerissa. I can’t be sure she’s still there, but I would guess she is. We’ll have to be cautious from here on out, to avoid attention. We do not want to take on the encampment. There are far too many demons for us to handle. I will lead us a roundabout way and we will skirt the path, keeping to the outcroppings of stone and scrub that border the area. Follow my orders. Do not diverge from them, or you will bring the entire encampment down on us and we might as well slit our throats before they catch us. Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded.
“What happens when we get to the detention center?” I prayed that my wife was all right and that she was still there.
“We break in, however we see best, and hope we manage through. Then we run like hell back to the stone forest. There, we keep a move on until we make it back to the Demon Gate. I hope you aren’t tired because there will be no rest until we manage through. We don’t have that luxury. So . . . are you ready?” He glanced at each of us, and we nodded in turn.
“Then let’s go rescue your wife.” And with that, we headed out of the frying pan into the heart of the fire.
Chapter 18
As we came out of the forest, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was surprised to see some actual living vegetation, though it was scrub brush like that found in a lot of desert places. The soil was hard, and the stone outcroppings were back, but they were even more weathered down, to the size of giant red boulders rather than true hoodoos.
A sense of activity filled the air, compared to the dead silence of the forest. There were creatures here, Demonkin, and even though we could neither see nor hear them, I knew they were out there. Part of me wanted to charge ahead, to race on and find Nerissa regardless of the cost. But I reined myself in. I would only hurt our chances if I ran off half-cocked. I had promised Trytian that I would follow his orders and I was intent on keeping that promise.