I fell awake. Dawn lay green as a corpse. From the window, I saw them abscond with my sister. I saw her white hands folded upon her breast as they carried her away into the hills.
I took a knife with me. The stones gave way to gravel, and the gravel gave way to dirt. The path wound up, and the trees started to stretch. A river appeared, brown as a boot.
I slipped in the mud, and my knife sank into the riverbed. I fished for it but could not find it.
An undine looked up at me.
“What are you looking for?”
“My knife fell in the water.”
“Is this your knife?”
She held a waterlogged arm up to me. I refused.
“Is this your knife?”
She held a blind head up to me. I refused.
“You are honest,” she said. “Here is your knife. Don’t refuse.”
She gave me a piece of bone, sharp on one side, and she gave me the arm and the head.
I crossed the river and entered the forest. I heard the crunch of many feet on dead leaves.
“Alas, the lass is lost,” said the head. “Alas, the lass is lost.”
I stabbed its swollen tongue. It shut.
The canopy grew dense. Darkness hid the road. I stumbled in the daynight.
“The witch comes close to catch you and grind your bones,” the head said. “The witch comes close to catch you and grind your bones.”
I was grabbed. A shape straddled me, and fingers coiled around my throat. I looked up and saw two burning eyes blinding me. I fished for my knife while I tried to pry her hands. I saw another shape move. The witch choked. Her fingers came loose. The arm was crushing her neck.
I toppled her and plunged the boneshard into her heart until she stopped wriggling. I gouged her eyes and put them inside the head. I saw the path once more and continued.
I heard the jingling of bells. A motley fool walked beside me.
“A riddle, a riddle,” he said, showing his black teeth. “Answer it, and I will leave. Refuse, and I make you my sleeve.”
“Ask,” I said.
The fool said his riddle.
Down he goes, up he comes
Up he goes, down he comes
“Let me think,” I said and leaned against a tree. I threw up the arm, and the arm pulled me up a branch.
The fool gave a moan, got on all fours, and started to climb the tree. I climbed higher, and he climbed after me. We reached the top and struggled. I tried to stab him with the boneshard, but it broke.
We fell. The arm grabbed another branch and pulled me up. The fool slumped on the ground, his limbs twisted. His bells fell silent.
Something crawled out of his skin — spiderlike — ran away into the shadows.
The boy climbed down, put the skin on his back, and went on his way.
The trees parted. The hills loomed. Up on the slope, I saw them take her towards the summit.
“Storm, storm, storm,” the head said. “Born, born, born.”
I scaled the crag with my hands and feet. On the summit, they saw me.
“Grab the fool,” one of them said. “Grab the fool.”
I threw the arm at him, and he stopped shouting. The second, I kicked down the mountain. The other two ran, but I caught one of them and squeezed its neck.
It started to rain. I approached my sister. She was laid on top of a pyre on top of a mound. I tried to wake her, but she didn’t. I was late again. The wind picked up. Thunder crashed somewhere. The mountain started to smoke.
I had to try again. I still had a chance. I leaned against the mound and closed my eyes.
“Alas, the lass is gone,” the head said. “Alas, the lass is gone.”
I no longer heard it, nor the rain, or the wind, or the thunder.
I fell awake. Dawn lay green as a corpse. From the window, I saw them abscond with my sister.