And oh, that kiss! Even thinking of it now, while nearly crawling on the ground of the Necrosilvam, her skin flushed warmly. It’d been more magical than she thought anything could ever feel, but she pushed it from her mind. It was that sin, which had seemed so small and slight, that had led to her to this. One little kiss, and she’d been abandoned here to die.

Lily knew she should be angry at him for taking her and leaving her like this, but she wasn’t. Despite everything, she trusted him. She didn’t understand what was happening, and it upset her that Lux didn’t think he could tell her. But the insistent look in his eyes before he left made her believe he was doing this for her. He was trying to protect her from something, although none of it made any sense to her. Especially since the Necrosilvam was so horrible.

The stories about the Necrosilvam were some of the worst, since it ran right along the end of Lily’s father’s land in Insontia. Past the rolling green hills, the foggy moors, and the pristine rivers, the dark shadows of the wood stood like tombstones in an overgrown cemetery.

Legend was that long ago a curse had been put on the trees so their limbs never had leaves, but they could never die. They were left haunted and possessed, only attracting creatures of a similar nature, and any man that entered, never came out of it alive.

Lily’s mother, Iris, had never been one for gossip, and when she heard the servants carrying on about all the horrible things that happened in the Necrosilvam, Iris would chastise them. Whenever her mother wasn’t around, Lily would hide down in the scullery closet and listen to them talk. They told the most fantastic stories about good and evil, and the cook in particular knew every superstition known to man.

Lily had yet to see anything terrible, but she could hear things scurrying about. Sometimes, she’d catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look, it was gone. She tried to tell herself it was all in her in head, but the insistent panic in her demanded otherwise.

One of the branches tangled in her long dark waves, and she jerked her head back, trying to pull it free, but it only caught more. When she turned back behind her, she could see the branch in the moonlight, making a fist to grab onto her tighter. All the trees around her were leaning in, moving in closer to her, their wood creaking and groaning as they bent at her.

Screaming, Lily ran forward. She managed to escape from the branch’s grasp, but only by leaving a few strands of her hair with it. Running ahead did no good, since trees were all around her. The wind whipped through them, sounding all too much like laughter.

Seeing no real way to get away from them, Lily fell on her knees. The ground felt wet and mossy, and it’s dampness seeped through her gown. She pulled Lux’s jacket up over her head, protecting herself the only way she knew how. She could feel the branches, running like claws down her back. Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself for whatever attack they might have.

But abruptly, everything stopped.

The trees groaned as they fell back into place, standing upright. Lily peered out from under the jacket, looking uncertainly at the woods. She waited a beat, suspecting some kind of treachery, but when there was none, she slowly lowered the jacket, letting it hang back on her shoulders, and got to her feet.

The forest had fallen silent around her. Nothing groaned or breathed. Even the wind had stopped. The scurrying creatures in her peripheral vision had disappeared.

Lily turned around slowly. The moon cast light on everything around her, and while there was still a sense of foreboding at even being in the Necrosilvam, everything had shifted. She didn’t understand it, but the imminent danger she had felt before had dissipated.

Pulling Lux’s jacket more tightly around her, Lily started walking forward. Whether things wanted to kill her or not, it wouldn’t do her any good to wait around. She had no intention of living in this cursed place forever, and she had to get somewhere she could rest and eat.

When she had tried running from the trees, her shoes had slipped off. She considered going back to look for them, but all the trees looked the same. She couldn’t tell where she’d lost them, or where the road was, or even if she’d been here before. Her only plan was to keep moving until she couldn’t move anymore.

The ground squished underneath her bare feet, and sometimes, she swore she felt it move. A shiver ran down her spine, and she walked faster. She had been a stupid, careless girl for going off with Lux. The temperatures continued to drop, her feet were covered in muck, and she just wanted to go home.

Her father would notice she was gone and start worrying soon. Her step-mother probably wouldn’t care at all, but Lily couldn’t bear to worry her father. She had to get back to the palace as soon as she could figure out where she was.

But as soon as she thought it, an icy chill stopped her heart. She had promised Lux she would never go back home, and she couldn’t renege on the vow. More than that, he’d made her promise for a reason. Regardless of everything to the contrary, she still trusted him.

Once she decided to listen to him, to listen to her heart, the chill faded, and she started walking again. She let her mind wander back to the brief but intense kiss she’d shared with Lux, since it seemed to be the only thing that warmed her, instead of paying attention to the ground in front of her.

Her feet slipped in something wet, and Lily stumbled forward. She put her hands out in front of her to break the fall, and the palm of her hand caught on a gnarly root that poked out of the ground. Her knees landed softly in the mud, but the root sliced open her palm. She winced, holding it up in the moonlight to see a thin line of blood sliding down her skin.

Almost instantly, Lily heard the flurry of things moving about. She got to her feet hurriedly, once again sensing the motion of things that she couldn’t quite see. She held her hand up, pressing the jacket against her cut to stop the bleeding, and tried to keep her eyes on the shadows that moved around her.

At least the trees weren’t reaching out for her again. They remained stoic, watching her spin around.

“I know you’re out there!” Lily shouted as if it were some kind of threat.

The sound of wings flapping echoed off the trees around her. She looked back to see a dark creature descending toward her. At first, it appeared to be a simple crow, but the closer it got to her, the more she saw how little it resembled any bird she’d seen before.

It had a long bony beak filled with tiny, jagged teeth. At the bend in its wings were leathery hands with long, sharp claws. A wriggling, serpentine tail whipped the air, and dark, mangy fur covered its body in place of feathers.