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Suddenly, his eyes widened like he’d remembered something. “The mountain pass.”

“What about it?”

“That Rathalan guard …”

“What are you talking about?”

“That guard—he said that the Rathalans are blocking the mountain pass. Blazen skies!” He raked his hand through hismessy hair, looking like he wanted to punch the wall. “Do you know what this means? The mountain pass is the only way to Askeland from this direction. And now we’re cut off.”

“I’m sure we can find another way?—”

“There isn’t one!”

I tensed as his voice echoed in the alcove. “Maybe the guard was lying?—”

Jeddak cut me off. “Who did you tell where we were going?”

“What? I didn’t tell anyone!” It was true. I didn’t breathe a word of our destination to the innkeeper, Sal Sahteene, or even to Merrin.

“Don’t lie to me.” His golden eyes bored into mine.

“I’m not lying. You don’t think the Rathalans could easily guess that aKovakwas traveling toAskeland?” I didn’t blame him for being angry. I felt cut off from my home too, but I wasn’t going to sit still and be the quiet shore that his raging storm broke upon. If anyone should be upset about this, it should beme.Iwas the one who needed to reach Askeland quickly, not him. If there was any other way to restore my magic and find my brother, I would do it. But there wasn’t. We were just going to have to find a different way to Askeland.

Without another glance at Jeddak, I stood up and headed toward the courtyard.

“Raven, wait, I—” The anger dissolved from his tone. “Don’t go.”

“Leave me alone,” I said.

Just then, Kah strode into the alcove, blocking my retreat.

“There’s another way to Askeland,” Kah said, his voice booming in the quiet of the ruins. “Through the bramblelands.”

The shock of hearing the bear speak made me stumble backward, eyes wide.

“The bramblelands?” Jeddak’s voice was stretched. “That’s impossible. It’s a blazen maze. No one comes out of that place alive.”

Kah shot him an indignant look. “Then we’re going to need a map.”

30

Jeddak

It wasn’t long after Kah spoke out loud that I felt the invisible string that tied us together pull tight again. I wondered if my healing magic was strong enough to neutralize the malarite poison before it extinguished my magic completely or if my ability to heal ran deeper than magic, untouched by the malarite. Either way, the staggering relief I felt about our bond being restored was short-lived, overshadowed by my aversion to Kah’s suggested new route to Askeland. It didn’t matter that my magic had returned if we were about to die anyway.

“You decide to speak out loud to Raven, and the first thing out of your mouth is to go to thebramblelands?” I snapped at Kah, keeping my voice low so Raven couldn’t hear. An hour ago, we’d left the Ruins of Javan as the sun pulled away from the horizon. Raven was walking ahead of Kah and me, not looking back. She hadn’t spoken to me since I’d lashed out at her.

Kah ignored my accusatory tone. “With the new moon getting closer, we don’t have any other options,” he said matter-of-factly.

“There has to be another way,” I mumbled, though I knew there wasn’t. Going through the mountain pass now would be suicide. Along that narrow path, there was nowhere to hide fromthe Rathalans. Or fight our way through without an army. If I had any hope of reaching Lila by the new moon, Kah was right—we had no choice but to risk traveling through the unforgiving darkness of the bramblelands, knowing that those who dared to venture there were said to never return.

“Since when are you afraid of a challenge?” he said, raising a questioning eyebrow.

I didn’t answer. After all the times I’d leapt headfirst into dangerous situations, he’d probably never seen me so hesitant. Because I’d neverbeenso hesitant. This time was different, though. I was no longer just risking my own life. If anything happened to Raven …

I glanced ahead to check that Raven was still there, still close, still safe. Somehow, Kah had managed to convince her that traveling through the bramblelands was agoodidea. I think she was so stunned he was speaking out loud that she just nodded along to whatever he said. If her knowledge of the bramblelands was lost with the rest of her memories, she didn’t know of the dangers concealed inside that cursed place.

“You almost scared her off,” Kah said when he saw me looking at her.