Shadow and Bone

in a crumpled heap on the ground and froze at the
unmistakable sound of a soft step behind me.
I spun on my heel, my heart in my throat, and saw a figure
partially hidden by branches, only a few feet from me. I’d
been so focused on the bearded soldier that I hadn’t realized
there was someone behind me. In an instant, the knife was
back in my hand, the mirror held high as the figure emerged
silently from the trees. I stared, sure I must be hallucinating.
Mal.
I opened my mouth to speak, but he put his finger to his lips
in warning, his gaze locked on mine. He waited a moment,
listening, then gestured to me to follow and melted back into
the woods. I grabbed my coat and hurried after him, doing my
best to keep up. It was no easy task. He moved silently,
slipping like a shadow through the branches, as if he could see
paths invisible to others’ eyes.
He led me back to the stream, to a shallow bend where we
were able to slog across. I cringed as the icy water poured into
my boots again. When we emerged on the other side, he
circled back to cover our tracks.
I was bursting with questions, and my mind kept jumping
from one thought to the next. How had Mal found me? Had he
been tracking me with the other soldiers? What did it mean
that he was helping me? I wanted to reach out and touch him
to make sure he was real. I wanted to throw my arms around
him in gratitude. I wanted to punch him in the eye for the
things he’d said to me that night at the Little Palace.
We walked for hours in complete silence. Periodically, he
would gesture for me to stop, and I would wait as he
disappeared into the underbrush to hide our tracks. Sometime
in the afternoon, we began climbing a rocky path. I wasn’t
sure where the stream had spit me out, but I felt fairly certain
that he must be leading me into the Petrazoi.
Each step was agony. My boots were still wet, and fresh
blisters formed on my heels and toes. My miserable night in
the woods had left me with a pounding headache, and I was
dizzy from lack of food, but I wasn’t about to complain. I kept