“Liut, my back hurts.”

Liut kissed his cheek and promised they would find a better place for the night.

They slept under a tree on moist ground, with Jace curled on top of Liut. The forest was so dense there was hardly enough open ground for Liut to stretch out his legs. Jace missed his mattress.

***

“Liut, my hair is all greasy. I’m disgusting.”

Liut kissed the top of his head, scrunched up his nose, and led them to a small stream with ice-cold water. It flowed all the way down from the snowy tops of the mountain, crystal clear and dazzling with reflections of sunlight.

Jace threatened to cut off all his useless hair because it took so long to wash it. Liut washed it for him.

***

“Liut, my feet hurt. Why did you have to let the horse go?”

Liut crouched down in front of him and offered his back. Jace held on tight and kept whining, now directly into Liut’s ear.

They were going through the woods, day after day, and the path seemed endless. A narrow road entangled on both sides by shrubbery and trees, a leaf-covered tunnel carved into the forest. It started off as a wide, scenic route, but the more they wandered forward, the more nature took its due—roots growing until nothing but a small trail remained. Jace missed the horse.

***

“Liut, I’m—”

“You complain one more time and I will throw you into the bushes.”

Jace bit his tongue and shut up.

***

“Um, Liut,” Jace whispered, briskly catching up with Liut’s wide steps.

“What?” Liut barked.

“Shh.” Jace tugged on Liut’s sleeve. “Listen.”

Jace did not have the best hearing, but he tended to fall back behind Liut since he was unaccustomed to walking so much and so long. At first, he would jump at every shiver of leaves or hoot of a bird. Liut had grown so tired of it he started gradually teaching Jace to decipher the sounds. So now Jace was pretty sure—the noise behind them was too suspicious.

Confirming his thoughts, Liut didn’t immediately roll his eyes, but frowned and listened.

He grabbed Jace’s hand and tugged him off the road.

“Let’s hide for now,” he said, voice low.

The forest was dense; twigs caught their cloaks as they pushed through the bushes further into the wilderness. But the trees were slim, mighty oaks long ago making way for pines, dry needles covering the ground and rasping under their feet.

Jace’s legs hurt permanently, but at least walking over straight and solid ground was not as taxing as finding footing over countless roots.

So, he was hardly surprised when he tripped. Mentally cursing this damn forest, he instinctively tried to grab onto something before he fell face-down into a blanket of pine needles and became a hedgehog.

With a grunt and tightly closed eyes, Jace landed on something solid, but smooth and cool. Oh. It was Liut’s armor. How nice. Jace relaxed and sighed happily, cheek plastered over refreshingly cold metal. He really appreciated a short rest. Maybe they could lie here a bit longer?

“What are you lying down for? Get off,” Liut muttered.

Jace shook his head and clutched Liut’s sides harder.

“I can’t walk anymore, my legs no longer work.”

“So you just collapse on top of me?” Liut tried to pry Jace away, but Jace wouldn’t let go, the thought of standing up was torturous. “Fine, I’ll carry you,” Liut hissed, “but we need to get up before—”

“Haaa, Drosel, can you slow down!?”

The moment Jace heard that name yelled by another very familiar voice, he froze. Damn it.

“Stop yelling, Kirsten, they might be close!”

Jace glanced up at Liut. He saw the outline of his chin—Liut had thrown his head back and was staring up at the sky hidden by the crowns of trees. Lying under Jace, motionless, Liut gave the impression of someone questioning every life choice that led him to this moment.

Wisely, Jace swallowed the words. He covered his hair with a hood and gently laid his head back on Liut’s chest. He should probably also pretend to be dead. Or Liut would be the one to end him.

“Close!? We’ve been going after them for how many days already?” Someone else complained, voice booming and so loud a bird took off from the branch.

The footsteps grew closer. Jace could maybe count a dozen or so people, their walk heavy and the clink of armor sharp. He thanked the gods he had tripped when Liut dragged him far enough from the main trail.

“Exactly! We saw their horse returning, so they slowed down! Now, all of you, shut up!” Drosel hollered, louder than any of the previous voices combined.

He stormed forward, and the group behind him picked up the pace to follow.

“This is ridiculous. Kirsten, can you talk to him?”

A twig snapped under someone’s irritated stomp of a boot.

“And what should I say?” Kirsten sighed, his footsteps coming to a halt.

Jace cursed—Kirsten picked the worst possible place for the group to have an impromptu discussion. Drosel at least had the decency to keep walking past them.

“We can’t keep up this ridiculous chase. Our rations are running out, half of the men already turned back. We never planned to go away for so long!”

That’s right, the search party should go back, Jace agreed full-heartedly.

“More of the reward for you, why do you complain?” Kirsten reasoned, though he sounded tired as well.

“What good would that reward do us if we starve on our way back!?” Another man joined the debate.

“We’re in a forest, don’t any of you know how to hunt?”

“In the Whispering Forest! I am not making a single step off this trail!”

Kirsten chuckled. But Jace couldn’t find it funny.

They were in the Whispering Forest all this time!? The same Whispering Forest that was very clearly described in the novel as an exceptionally dangerous place—the deeper into the woods, the more terrifying the creatures lurking there!? The one where, indeed, one step from the path led to sure death!?

“Are you that afraid of luerks and wolves?” Kirsten teased, cocksure and way too confident.

Jace carefully peeked from his hiding place under the hood. He and Liut were off the path. Liut had mentioned, in passing, that they should stay on the road, but they’d made detours here and there. To the mountain stream, to hunt for rabbits because Jace could no longer stomach the dry, salted meat Liut fed him for days on end. Liut never said what kind of forest they traveled through. And Jace was too busy complaining to even ask.

But now, looking around, yes, the forest was as described. Not a ray of sunlight found its way through the thickness of branches, the moss lush green on the trunks, roots dense and twirling under them so soil was nothing but rare patches, buried under grass and withered, yellowish needles.

Far up, swaying with the wind, the trees whispered. Ahead, their trunks huddled together so thick that even in daylight, the further Jace looked, the darker it got. An uncanny gloom lingered, emerald green eventually waning into blackness.

Jace gulped.

“Don’t pretend to be so tough, town guard! Have you ever fought a demonic creature!?”

And demonic creatures! They were there, Jace knew, deep in that darkness the monsters dwelled. Fought one? Jace hadn’t even seen one.

“I killed a boetchar,” Kirsten announced.

“Some achievement that is! They’re the size of a dog!”

As the group kept on arguing, Jace could no longer swim in the uneasiness of the revelation. He gently tapped Liut’s shoulder.

“What is it?” Liut murmured. Thankfully, Jace didn’t read any irritation in his voice.

Quick to use the opening, Jace crawled up so he could be face to face with Liut. He was diligent to stay quiet, though the ruckus from the Lodgerod party was more than enough to mask any other noise. Putting both hands at each side so Liut’s head was caged between them, Jace stared down at him.

“Is it really that dangerous to stray off the path here?” he wondered in an urgent whisper. A lock of silver hair fell onto Liut’s cheek.

“Could be,” Liut replied, hardly bothered. He placed his hands on Jace’s thighs and gently squeezed. “Are you afraid?”

His touch was soothing, deceptively so. Jace shook his head.

“No,” he lied.

With those palms gently rubbing his legs, Jace found himself losing the thread of the conversation. Liut hadn’t touched him like that for some time now. Even though they slept together, Jace had been so exhausted he blacked out the moment he closed his eyes.

“That’s good.” Liut smiled. “Because we can’t use the path anymore.”

The hands sneaked higher, dangerously close to Jace’s ass. He checked his new body and he was pretty solid, not too skinny, with a nice physique. But Liut’s palms were too large. So when they slid up Jace’s butt and cupped each cheek, Jace bit down on his lip and felt a hot spark of anticipation.

Every morning, he woke up when Liut was already busy with something. His grand plan to use any opportunity to pounce on Liut withered under the strain of constant moving, hunting, smelling of sweat and dirt. Even when they were naked washing up in the stream, the water was so cold Jace had no time to think of anything else.

He forgot what Liut said, something about the path?

Who cared.

He had Liut right under him, and Jace had a noble, graphic, and very mature goal in mind.