An unedited excerpt from The Road of Bones

Image credit:Palesile

“Silla walked with speed and purpose through the woods. Her eyes swept left to right, glancing behind her more often than she ought. The need to put as many miles between herself and those dead warriors was urgent, and she pressed herself hard, the hammer gripped in one hand, and the strap of her shouldered bag clutched in the other.

The woods were eerie enough during the daytime, but they were a different world at night, a land of shadows and shapes that constantly shifted on the edges of her vision. Clawed branches and twisted roots seemed to move of their own volition, tangling in her hair and rising before her feet, causing her to stumble.

It was unnaturally quiet, almost as if the forest were holding its breath. Still, Silla pressed on between the gnarled trunks of the Twisted Pinewoods.

This section of the woods had garnered its nickname due to a distortion in the pine trunks, warped and misshapen into menacing forms. Some Skarstad locals blamed the phenomenon on a tree sickness, while others claimed the lingering effects of an ancient witch’s curse. Whatever the cause, it had a decidedly eerie effect that kept Silla’s feet hurrying.

In the back of her mind, she knew it was not safe for a woman to travel alone on this road. Not only was it dangerous, but Rognir’s teachings dictated that women must be chaperoned by their husband, brother, or father after darkness.

“You have none of those,” said the girl, swinging a stick at a clump of willowy underbrush.

Silla hummed. “We must be quick,” she said.

The road had laws unto itself, rife with thieves, warbands who controlled passage through various sections, and other dangerous, desperate men. Her only hope was her stealth, to remain undetected.

“Best to keep in the woods; we’ll travel by night, sleep by day,” murmured Silla.

“Are we almost there?” whined the girl.

Silla snorted. “Give or take four nights.”

Four long nights, and she’d reach Reykfjord. Then she could breathe, re-evaluate, and decide what to do next. It felt monumental, impossible when considered as a whole.

Instead, she put one foot in front of the other.

It was all she could do.”