The Dark: Book Three of the Lost Boys Trilogy

By Riley Quinn

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS.

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

 

The Cove has fallen. The woods are collapsing. Leonardo and the s

• Language: English
• Publisher: West Bay Publishing
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781777129866

Riley Quinn

RILEY QUINN is a Canadian author and musician. He grew up in Western Canada, dividing his time between the Prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and the shores of the North West Coast. When he's not writing, Riley can be found performing and teaching music in his local community. To learn more, visit: www.rileyquinnofficial.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

Tension crackled as Leonardo gripped the stem of his longboat. Oars clunked in precise rhythm, and sweaty faces squinted at the shadows along the bank. Four boats plowed through the river behind them, piled with colorfully robed Cove kids, their expressions tight.

They cut through the Backwaters, a marshland on the edge of the Darkwoods, and not a single living thing broke the silence. It was as if this entire corner of the woods had frozen in time.

Everything’s dead, said Moth, breathless from working his oar. His flushed cheeks turned pale as islands of charred grass slid past.

I know. Heaviness weighed on Leonardo’s chest. He studied a withered stand of reeds, cattail tops drooping for the surface. Around the Backwaters, previously lush aquatic trees had blackened, their branches shrunken.

"Like dead dead," said Bates.

It’s so quiet, said Viola softly, her gaze fixed on another island of scorched grass. She glanced at Leonardo. He met her grim eyes.

They had traveled a week to get here, chased from the Cove by the Dark, the all-consuming presence that spent its days ravaging the woods.

Did you expect green gardens? Kate sat cross-legged in the boat, a salt-stained coat draped from her shoulders and a skull-and-crossbones trilby resting cockeyed on her head.

When we left, this place was untouched. Leonardo shuddered. The Darkwoods were never quiet.

Raven Clan territory was dying fast, though, said Nym, clipped and impatient. It was only natural for it to spread.

Leonardo frowned at him.

He’s not…right.

Nym had been battling the Dark inside him for weeks now, but he’d changed since the last attack. He was thinner, sunken, bitter. His deterioration was a reminder to all of them, the sand racing through an hourglass.

Leonardo eyed the other three clans of Cove kids, regarding the miles of rotten trees with apprehension. They were all veterans of the Dark, yet they knew so little about it.

They knew the heart of it lay in the Cove. They knew its reach extended across the entire woods. A small group of them knew it was a nightmare, let into the dreamworld by the woods itself. And they knew that sea monster venom could hurt it.

That was all. And they were a long way from any sea monsters.

We’re on our own. Viola’s people—the guardians of the woods—were gone, and the sirens had abandoned their post as guardians of the Cove.

The Hawk Clan patrol is still sitting at the border, said Viola, eyes shut as she searched ahead with her mind. They’re not moving.

Then let’s introduce ourselves, said Mishti. Leonardo’s co-leader of Lion Clan, she stood atop the captain’s platform of her boat, with its gold lion head and silk sail. Days of travel had disheveled her black hair, her gold robes smudged and stained, but the knife-edged throwing rings around her wrists glinted as sharp as her eyes.

A few girls in her boat leaned closer, whispering quickly. Leonardo watched them out of one eye. For all of Mishti’s bravado, her clan weren’t fighters. Leonardo’s boys had told them stories of Hawk Clan’s ferocity, and he recognized the hesitation on the girls’ faces to confront such a formidable enemy.

Formidable or not, we have five-times their numbers.

I agree, said Leonardo. But this is only a fly-by. We don’t stop.

What? Pinch twisted back to look at him. Why?

If we attack a border patrol, explained Leonardo, we’ll have a second fight on our hands with the rest of the clan. Instead, we’ll scare Hawk Clan, let them gather all their numbers, then we’ll capture them as one.

He held no illusions that Gallus would listen to logic. He was the new Aleksander, and they would waste precious time trying to convince him to leave the Darkwoods. Tying up Hawk Clan and dragging them in front of the Dark would be the only way to gain their allegiance.

Imagine when Gallus sees all of us, laughed Bates. The halfwit’s going to curl up and cry.

Leonardo grinned, despite himself. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to the expression on Gallus’s face. They slipped past a blackened tree, its branches sagging like rubber. The amusement turned sour in Leonardo’s mouth.

We can’t waste time here. They needed the imaginative power of all the clans in the Darkwoods, as well as the Redwoods and the Highland, if they wanted to save the woods and survive the Dark.

He eyed the boats beyond his stern, filled with Lions, Tigers, Dragons, Snakes, and pirates. They were weary, tattered from their escape. He hoped they were ready for the fight Hawk Clan would bring.

There’s the river, called Pinch. He pointed over the prow to where the sprawling delta of the Backwaters narrowed into the mouth of a waterway, laid bare by the flattened, dead vegetation.

The river. They’d been on ‘the river’ for a week, but this leg was different. This was home.

How much has changed? Has died, he corrected himself. He wondered if he’d recognize it once they rounded the rocky stretch of Hawk Clan territory and entered Raven Clan’s boundaries.

The five boats slipped out of the Backwaters and through the bottleneck of rotten banks, single file, to the steady splash of water sloshing off paddles. The current strengthened, impeding their progress and spraying around the tip of the prow. Leonardo’s heart pounded. They were in Hawk Clan territory now. They had returned to the Darkwoods.

I never imagined five clans could be so quiet, said Moth. Sweat matted his curls, and a partially healed scab marred his cheek, earned during a fight with demonic freshwater sirens a few days earlier. The journey north hadn’t been any easier than the one south.

No one replied, punctuating his point.

Their surroundings became sandier as the banks gave way to large outcroppings of rock. Leonardo tugged the rudder, guiding the boat left, around a bend in the river, and down the final stretch toward where the water funneled through a massive cleft in the Tree Cliffs. The silhouette of pines atop the ruddy stone set his fingers twitching on the stem, dry wood flaking under his nails. Those trees leered down, sinister now. Leonardo had become a trespasser. An intruder in his own woods.

A hawk cry split the air, and Leonardo jumped.

At the far end of the tunnel, a longboat floated near the Raven Clan border. He drew a sharp breath.

Calm down, Leonardo told himself. His clan needed him in control.

His clanmates glanced at one another, but they uttered no raven cry in response. They weren’t Ravens anymore.

The Hawk boat rotated to face them, and Leonardo wrapped his fingers around his sword’s leather grip. A pudgy figure on the stern platform lifted a hand, shading his eyes.

Viola glanced back at Leonardo, her brown eyes scrutinizing his. It was Gallus’s ploy that started Raven Clan’s demise. Memories of the ambush played through Leonardo’s mind. Of Hawk Clan, Bear Clan, and Fox Clan storming the clearing below the treehouses. Of the treehouses burning as he watched helplessly.

Leonardo’s boat passed into the cleft between the cliffs and closed on the Hawks fast, oars churning under anxious hands.

Oars up, called Leonardo. His clan responded instantly, oars clattering out of the water.

Gallus’s face came into focus, all apple cheeks and baby-fat. His mouth dropped open at the sight of the ex-Ravens.

You! His gaze darted past Leonardo to the four packed longboats in his wake. He focused on Leonardo again, his eyes wild. What the hell are you doing here?

Chapter 2

We’re not here for a fight, called Leonardo. Even with the oars raised, his boat closed rapidly on Gallus’s. Hawks glared at the Lions and Cove kids.

No? Gallus drew his sword.

The Dark is growing, said Leonardo. We need to unite.

"The what?" demanded Gallus.

The Dark, idiot, said Pinch. Look around you. He loaded his slingshot under the lip of the prow as they edged alongside the Hawk boat.

Gallus swung his head around, eyes wide and exaggerated as he feigned searching for something in the murky water. Beyond his boat, ranks of black trees and underbrush slumped together, as far down the riverbanks as Leonardo could see. His stomach constricted into a knot.

It’s daylight, said Gallus.

No shit, said Pinch. And all that,—he waved dramatically at the trees, is the Dark.

It’s a living thing, said Leonardo. It’s what’s killing everything.

It already destroyed the Cove, added Mishti.

Who are you? demanded Gallus, bewilderment slackening his face. He glanced from one boat to the next, laden with kids in gold, red, blue, and grey robes.

Mishti, said Mishti, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ok… Gallus shook his head, focusing back on Leonardo as their captain’s platforms glided toward each other. Rowers spat insults from both sides as the flanks of the two boats passed.

I appreciate that you brought this…circus here, Leonardo, said Gallus. I really do. But please…get out.

Leonardo frowned at the silent woods. A breeze whistled through the blackened branches, carrying a rotten stink. He’d smelled it in the Cove a week earlier, when the Dark laid waste to everything.

Gallus, you need to leave with us. There’s nothing left of the—

Oh, no-no-no-no. You are mistaken, my…not-friend. Gallus waved around grandly, drawing a deep breath of the stench. This is fine. Actually, it’s better than fine! He laughed, then winked at Leonardo. I’ll bet this is Aleksander’s worst nightmare.

Suddenly, Cyrus stood up from his bench in the middle of Leonardo’s boat. He straightened his grand, purple-feathered pirate’s hat, and all at once, he was a perfect twin of Gallus. His magic hat gave him a disturbing talent for changing his appearance.

Gallus blanched and staggered backward. He made a choked noise and nearly tripped over the edge of his boat, stubby arms pinwheeling before a Hawk jumped up and caught him.

Damn. Leonardo would’ve liked to see Gallus take a plunge into the river.

I’m Cyrus, said Cyrus, in Gallus’s voice. He stepped closer, eyes locked on the real Gallus.

Gallus pushed away the boy who’d saved him. Terror covered the kid’s face, along with every other Hawk, as they gaped at their leader’s doppelganger. Gallus swallowed hard, fingers shaking as he gripped the edge of his boat for support, and visibly mustered his bravado.

I don’t like this one, Leonardo, he declared, with a thin veneer of joviality. He shivered. I don’t like him at all.

Well, I don’t like you either, said Cyrus. A friend of mine was from the Darkwoods. He’s dead now. But if everyone here is as annoying as you, I can see why he left.

Right. Well, Gallus smacked his lips together. I choose to ignore you. He drew himself up and faced Leonardo as the boat’s momentum carried Cyrus past him. "This has been a lovely chat. But you all must leave my kingdom now."

"Kingdom?" Leonardo raised his brows. Okay…fine. They came side-by-side. Oars down.

His boat jumped forward under the push of the oars, across the Raven Clan border and away from Gallus.

Hey! Gallus whipped around to watch them over the stern. I said get out!

We are out. Leonardo twisted to see him. Raven Clan territory isn’t part of your ‘kingdom’ anymore.

Mishti eyed Gallus as her own boat glided by, then Caliban passed Gallus on the opposite flank.

You’re crazier than me, said Caliban, one blue eye and one green narrowed as he regarded Gallus.

Who are you? demanded Gallus. Then, Get out! All of you! I’m the ruler of the Darkwoods!

No, you’re terrified, thought Leonardo.

The five boats slipped around an indignant Gallus, and he made no move to stop them.

That went…better than I expected, said Viola. She returned her slingshot to the leather loop in her dress. Next to her, Charley did the same. Next to Charley, Pompey still gripped his too-big sword, eyes narrowed as the Hawk boat grew smaller in the distance.

They’ll start preparing for war, said Puck.

Which is exactly what we want, said Mishti, as she brought her boat alongside Leonardo’s.

If we topple Hawk, Fox and Bear will follow. If everything went to plan, they could be out of the Darkwoods by sunset. But capturing Gallus wouldn’t solve all their problems. First, they needed to pay a visit he’d been dreading since they left the Cove.

Good job, everyone. Leonardo drew a breath. Now for the real challenge.

Raven Clan, said Moth.

#

The rest of Raven Clan territory was just as bleak as the first hundred meters. If Leonardo had to guess what had happened to the trees, he would say they melted. They leaned against each other, branches drooping and trunks warped at unnatural angles. The dappled sun glinted off white shapes in the underbrush.

Those are crocodile skulls, aren’t they? called Mishti. She squinted at the bank, drawing her dark brows together.

Oh, they’re croc skulls alright, said Pinch from his fore-watchman’s bench. He said it grimly, too quiet for Mishti to hear, but everyone in Leonardo’s boat tightened their grips on the oars, half-rising from their benches to see better.

Everywhere the Dark went, it left crocodile skulls.

That’s how it sees, Viola had told him last time they were here.

The boats rounded a bend, past the raised bank and the old oak tree where Leonardo and Viola first met. It was as dead as everything else, its vast canopy like a sad carnival ride, all the branches drooping around a twisted trunk. Viola blinked slowly at Leonardo, and he squared his jaw, a silent emotion passing between them. They’d been through a lot since that tree was alive.

Seeing it didn’t make him sad. He’d accepted by now that his home was gone. The oak tree was just another reminder they needed to act.

So, Raven Clan, said Sophie, Mishti’s second-in-command. I suggest we try to negotiate with them. We don’t have room for two full clans of prisoners.

Half the ex-Ravens laughed.

Good luck negotiating with Ajax, said Pinch.

Sophie crossed her arms. Her red hair was pulled back in a severe bun, and her freckled cheeks didn’t offer a hint of a smile.

We may have no choice but to fight, Leonardo told her. The Darkwoods are very different from the Cove.

So we fight, said Mishti. We’ll tie up every clan here and drag them to the Dark if we have to.

Sophie tightened her lips. Leonardo watched her from one eye. Until recently, Sophie had been pulling the real strings behind Mishti’s façade of leadership. Even Juliet had manipulated Mishti’s devotion to the woods to steer decisions. With Mishti’s newfound confidence and Leonardo’s support, she’d grasped the full reins of her clan, and Sophie didn’t appear to be taking it well.

Remember, Mishti turned in her boat to get all five clans’ attention, priority number one is to spare as many lives as we can. We need them to defeat the Dark.

The boats glided through bars of sunlight, thinly filtered by the sparse canopy.

Defend yourselves, added Leonardo. But fight to disarm.

Then the old Raven Clan beach came into sight.

Leonardo caught his breath.

The trees were gone. They’d burned before the Dark arrived, in a wildfire that destroyed Raven Clan’s original camp, but when Leonardo left the Darkwoods, the burnt trunks were still standing. Now, the rest of the forest looked how those trees had, and that stretch of woodland had collapsed to ash under the force of the Dark.

Camp’s gotten worse, said Pinch dryly.

Do you think they’re still living across the river? asked Nym.

Leonardo eyed the span of woods opposite the old beach. It looked like a tar pit had exploded.

Well, said Moth. It’s no worse than anywhere else.

Take us to the edge, said Leonardo, tugging the rudder.

We’re not going ashore, are we? called Cleopatra from the Tiger Clan boat. She picked up her tiger cub from the footwell in front of her, holding it against her chest. Neither she nor her girls wore the white makeup they had donned in the Cove. Formality was gone within the clans. They were one alliance now, just trying to survive. And Cleo’s youth was plain in the hesitance of her expression as she studied the grim banks. She was the youngest of the leaders—maybe thirteen.

A few of us will have to, replied Leonardo. Raven Clan will be hostile—

Duck! shouted Pinch.

A pebble whistled past Leonardo’s cheek.

Dammit.

He dropped to the boards, scrambling for a shield.

Shields up! yelled Puck.

Sophie yelled the same thing from Mishti’s boat.

Kate shoved one at Leonardo. He grabbed it and climbed into the footwell, breathing fast and crouching low as a shower of pebbles popped against the sides of the boat, pinging off the gold embossed shields. They’d taken every weapon from Lion Clan’s fortress before leaving the Cove.

I think we found them, called Bates.

Ow! snapped Moth, clutching his arm beside Bates. A pebble clattered to the footwell. Keep your shield up, halfwit.

The attack wasn’t as strong as he’d expected. Maybe a dozen slingshots.

Are their numbers that depleted?

Leonardo straightened from behind his shield. Moth and Viola looked at him sharply.

Shapes moved between the trees, their faces indistinguishable in the shadows.

Ajax! yelled Leonardo. Stop shooting!

He dropped behind the shields again. Three pebbles whisked over his head.

They haven’t lost their aim, at least. When Puck used to run battle practice, he’d force them to spend hours shooting at targets on trees under Aleksander’s orders.

You think he’ll listen? Viola crouched two benches over from Leonardo, her shield in one hand, slingshot in the other.

The pebbles stopped. Viola frowned.

Leonardo shrugged. Maybe.

He straightened again, hesitantly. For a second, nothing happened. The Ravens in the underbrush kept still. He squinted through the shadows for Ajax’s lanky form. But it wasn’t Ajax who stepped out into the sunlight.

Leonardo? Soot smeared the boy’s face, his tailcoat torn and dishevelled, but Leonardo recognized him immediately.

Jack?

What are you doing here? Jack let his gaze travel over the five boats. Who are all these people?

Where is Ajax? asked Leonardo.

Ajax is gone, said Will, stepping out of the trees. He looked older than Leonardo remembered. His bloodshot eyes were too small for his soot-covered face, and his brown hair was hacked in an uneven fringe. Any youth he’d possessed had hardened and weathered. The Dark took him.

Gasps rippled across the boat. Leonardo stared at Jack and Will on the bank.

He’s gone? A surge of relief flooded through Leonardo. Without Ajax, the Ravens might actually be reasonable.

And Cato? asked Pinch.

A hulking figure lumbered out of the forest, covered in more soot than a firepit.

I’m still here, dumbface, bellowed Cato. He grinned, and Leonardo grimaced.

How did he get soot on his teeth?

Right, said Pinch. Great.

Are you here in peace? Jack’s eyes glinted, searching for answers in Leonardo’s.

We only left because Ajax forced us to, said Leonardo. We’re not here for a fight. Are you leader now?

Jack drew a deep breath. Closest thing we have to one. He eyed the four other boats again. Come ashore. I think we need to talk.

Chapter 3

Leonardo’s boots thudded against the dirt. Darkwoods soil back under his feet.

In truth, part of him felt like he’d never left. If he didn’t think too hard about it, the Cove and everything there could have just been a strange dream. But then again, everything in the woods was a dream, wasn’t it?

A world of imagination.

The other four boats angled up along the bank, and a parade of kids in colored robes jumped over the side, shattering any illusion that he’d just imagined the Cove.

Follow me, said Jack. Up close, Leonardo realized it wasn’t soot but a thick, tacky substance the Ravens had smeared across their faces.

Why?

Leonardo ducked under branches, jogging to keep up with Jack’s brisk pace. He pushed a bush aside, and his fingers came away coated in a syrupy blackness. He grimaced and paused to rub it off in the dirt.

It’s harmless, said Jack over his shoulder. The Dark is holed up downriver, in Fox and Bear territory. All of this is just deadness.

Why are you wearing it? Caliban ran a finger across a coated branch and drew a symbol on the back of his hand, his expression pensive.

Can you harness its power, was what he meant. Leonardo and Mishti tightened their lips.

Camouflage, said Will. He stopped and peered into the rotten vegetation. Leonardo spotted something white poking through the black, and Will climbed toward it, unceremoniously stomping the crocodile skull, so it shattered into dust.

If we blend in, it can’t see us as easily, said Jack. That’s how we survive.

They stepped into a clearing. Sleeping rolls were arranged like a sort of carpet on the tarry grass. Spare shirts and clothing had been stitched together and stretched into makeshift lean-tos. A pile of swords and shields lay against a rock, most of them blackened and warped.

Leonardo’s jaw dropped. He’d fought the Dark before, but seeing the state of Raven Clan’s weapons brought the severity of their situation into a new light.

The thirteen surviving Ravens gathered in a cluster as a hundred and fifty Cove kids poured into their camp. Aside from Jack, Will, and Cato, Leonardo recognized Snout and Rugby through their camouflage soot, along with several other kids he’d known from his Raven Clan days. There didn’t appear to be anyone new.

Have the woods stopped bringing new kids here?

I’m not going to sugar-coat it, said Jack, his voice soft. Things are bad. We need help.

Leonardo glanced at Mishti. She moistened her lips. Optimism sparked in the eagerness of her raised brows.

Careful, he thought. All these Ravens had turned their backs on Leonardo’s clan once.

Where’s Page? asked Bates.

Jack swallowed. He met Bates’s gaze, his lips white, then blinked slowly at Leonardo.

Gone too.

I’m sorry, said Moth.

The pain on Jack’s face confirmed what Leonardo already knew—Jack and Page had been a lot more than friends.

We need help too, Leonardo told the Ravens warily. Everyone’s help. In every corner of the woods. Together, we can defeat the—

Ok, said Jack.

Uneasiness spiked Leonardo’s nerves.

Jack shrugged. We’ll die if we stay here. Whatever you want to do, we’ll join you.

Leonardo analyzed him.

Jack met his gaze plainly. This is our reality, his expression said. Welcome back to the Darkwoods.

Leonardo bit his cheek. It’s too easy.

Jack scanned the other Ravens. Anyone disagree?

Heavy bags weighed under their eyes. Several blinked rapidly as if struggling to stay awake. Will lost his balance and stumbled sideways, stopping himself against a tree. The wood gave way under his hand, compressing like a sponge. Black tar oozed between his fingers, and Leonardo resisted the urge to gag.

There, said Jack. His voice bore the bleakness of the entire clan. It’s decided. However, as leader of Raven Clan, I do have one condition.

That didn’t take long.

Leonardo hadn’t realized how little he trusted the Ravens. These kids used to be his friends, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

Ok, he said slowly. What is it?

You be the leader.

What? The ground shifted under Leonardo’s feet. He looked from Moth to Pinch, to Viola, and the rest of the Lions. Their faces fell slack with shock. Pinch started to say something, then closed