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Soon, the light of the sky faded, and the stale air became suffocating inside the dense forest. If there were animals or insects living here, they didn’t stir as we slowly trod down thepath. Fortunately, the trail became wide enough that Kah could move and turn around easily, but that’s where our luck ended.

Every fifty feet, the path forked and then forked again. The three of us pored over the map to try to follow the red line I’d drawn. But every turn had us second-guessing our direction, and whenever we hit a dead end and had to backtrack, we became even more disoriented.

When I realized we were already lost, I reached for my magic, feeling for the way forward, for the path home. But I felt like a spinning compass, unable to find north. My tracking skills were useless in this place.

As the day wore on, we moved like cautious prey through the deadly bramble. While I continued to study the map, Kah and Raven watched for signs of danger, looking over their shoulders every few minutes. None of us spoke, too afraid to alert the resident tribe of our presence.

The rain picked up, turning the dirt under our feet to mud. Nothing looked familiar or friendly. The landscape was relentless, unchanging. We may have been on track, or we may have been going in circles. There was no way to tell.

The tall bramble already blocked out the sun, but as twilight approached, it grew darker. “We’re going to have to find a place to sleep,” I said quietly. One wrong step in this blindness and we’d be dead.

“Where, though?” Raven said, waving her hands to indicate we were caged in by bramble. “Unless you want to sleep on the muddy path.”

If the Bramblemen traveled along these paths, sleeping here was too dangerous. Skies, justbeinghere was too dangerous. “We need to look for a clearing or a cluster of boulders before we run out of light.” It wasn’t uncommon to see large boulders scattered in areas near the foothills of the mountains. I’d already noticed several during our journey, just none in the last hour.

“Wait,” Raven said suddenly, reaching into her pocket. She stood so close to me in the growing darkness I could smell the scent of rain on her skin. When she opened her palm, a pale silver glow illuminated the thorny branches surrounding us.

The moonspar had come to life.

“Finally,” Kah said, exhaling loudly.

I didn’t know if he meantfinallythe moonspar was working orfinallysomething was going our way.

“Thank the goddess,” I said. A twinge of hope sparked in my chest, sending new energy to my weary muscles. My father would never approve of relying on the magic of the Terrans, but I could have hugged Merrin right now.

Raven’s lips curved into a smile that reached her eyes. “I thought it might be useful in here,” she said, blinking raindrops off her eyelashes. She took the lead with the moonspar as we searched for a place to rest. The stone didn’t give off much light, but it was enough to keep us from impaling ourselves on the thorns as the path twisted and turned.

An owl hooted in the distance, sending a chill up my spine. It was the first sign of life we’d encountered all day. I prayed we didn’t find any more.

An hour or so later, Raven called back over her shoulder. “I see something up ahead.”

Peering through the darkness, I saw several boulders jutting out of the earth, creating a clearing.

“All right, we’ll sleep here tonight,” I said.

Kah grunted with relief. It was raining steadily now, and the three of us were soaked through, our feet dragging. Despite this, I noticed the pain in my shoulder had mostly subsided, and I could feel my body returning to full strength. After getting some sleep, I might be back to normal.

Taking the lead, I began to climb the boulders toward what looked like a shallow cave. “Do you see anything we could build a fire with?” I called back.

When Raven didn’t respond, I turned around. She was staring at her hand, not blinking. Something was wrong.

In two strides, I was at her side. A thin pink line was drawn across the top of her hand. A tiny drop of blood appeared. My mouth fell open.

“I—I was just trying to—” she stammered, glancing at the stray vine of thorns hanging low over the path. “I didn’t see?—”

She crumpled to her knees. I caught her, sinking to the ground with her in my arms. “Raven,Raven!” I pushed back her hood, keeping the moonspar in my hand so the light wouldn’t go out. Her skin was damp and cold.No, no, no.“Raven, stay with me. Don’t fall asleep. You’re going to be all right.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice breathy and shallow. “I?—”

She was blinking heavily. “Raven, listen to me. The thorn just scratched you. There can’t be much poison in your blood. You can fight this.”You have to fight this.

“I’m so tired—” she breathed, her body trembling.

Kah paced nervously beside us, looking helpless.

“Raven, look at me. Come on. Stay with me. You can’t go to sleep, k'da?”

In response, she went limp in my arms.