Chapter 13

As winter winds scour the mountains, Wren, Oak, Tiernan, and Titch push toward the distant Stone Forest. They pass staked heads—troll and Gentry—bearing warnings of the Kings of Stone. In a cave cache, they light a fire, find old supplies, and Tiernan recounts his history with Hyacinthe: romance, a rupture over treason, prison visits, refusal to repent, and Tiernan’s eventual retrieval of Hyacinthe before the failed assassination of the High King.

At dawn, Tiernan butchers a deer; Oak seals its heart in the reliquary. Skirting the Stone Forest fails as the woods seem to draw them in. Stick-and-bramble monstrosities and a falcon scout drive them under the trees. Oak orders Wren on while he fights; Wren, overwhelmed by the forest’s ancient troll-king curse, seizes the magic and redirects it toward the invaders, splitting the earth and scattering foes. Oak survives a brutal duel with a giant spider-construct.

Armed trolls confront them and escort the trio to a village led by Speaker Gorga. Fed and tended, they learn tales of the two troll kings turned to stone and sense the forest’s binding curse. As revelry grows, Gorga “offers” lodging. Before sleep, she pours drinks laced with blusher mushroom; Oak drains all three cups to spare Wren and Tiernan, relying on his resistance, then collapses.

At dawn, with the door barred by a boulder, Wren and Tiernan unhinge it, squeeze out, and steal a sled. Wren finds a cache of bloodied trophies from past victims, then they lash Oak onto the sled and slip from the village. Fighting the forest’s pull, Wren leads them to the edge and onto open snow. Oak mutters deliriously but lives. By midday, they behold the shattered spires of the Ice Needle Citadel.