Page 17

Chapter 17

Karus

Philius was gone. I warred with the thought of reaching out to the woman who haunted a dark corner of my mind—the woman who I knew was the reason for his leaving.

I debated it in my own head a dozen times before glancing to Rev as we all trudged through the snow, melting our path little by little with magic. He shook his head once, knowing what I was thinking without me ever having to say it aloud.

“ We both know it’s the Blightress .” I confirmed my thoughts in a grumble, pulling back a particularly thorny blackberry branch and hauling myself up another foot along the hillside.

“ More reason not to contact her. Whether Philius went by choice or by her command, she wants you to reach out to her.”

He took a moment to glance behind us to see how the rest of our party faired. Ilyenna and Talon were right behind us while Renn , Rell , and Mychael drafted the middle of our line, Nyeimah and Figuerah at the end. We’d gathered everyone together and packed a meager amount of food, planning to return to the farm if we did not find him by midday.

“ Maybe we should hear what she has to say. Maybe we?—”

He cut me off as he used his power to pull back more of the underbrush, and I used mine to melt the snow. “ No . This is either a trap or she really does want to train him in her own way. If the first, we need to keep her out of your head. If the second…”

He trailed off, stopping for just a moment to let his black eyes darken. “ If the second, he’s already lost to us. I need you to think about that and what it means for you and him.”

I scoffed, “ Philius is a stubborn ass, but he’s not interested in actually training with her. He told me he wasn’t, and I believe him.” I knelt against the steep ground, balancing by holding onto a jagged rock jutting from the side of the hill. “ Liquiren ,” I spoke in frustration, my hand flat on the snow. A brilliant surge of green power spilled from my fingertips, racing across the rest of the hill to melt what snow was left. I lifted my hand, bringing the snowmelt up above us and flicked my fingers to the side. The gush of icy water flew down the hill, splashing into the ravine below.

Rev’s brows rose. I shrugged and kept moving, able to see the path to the top of the hill a little easier.

When we reached the top, I surveyed the Tectus Trail while Rev helped pull the rest of our party to the narrow path. The trail had been cut into the side of another hill that rose before us. I searched the snow, looking for Philius’s prints to direct us. They led north and upwards.

“ Reform the line,” I called as Figuerah took Rev’s hand to help her up onto the road. “ We continue up this trail and do not break our line. The Blightress is unpredictable at best, vicious at worst, so eyes open.”

“ And what if Philius left on purpose?” Figuerah demanded, taking a moment to catch her breath. “ What if we find him on her side?”

Nervous murmurings crept through the line of magic wielders, and I shared an apprehensive look with Rev .

He gripped my hand tighter and addressed them. “ If any of you would like to go back at this point, do so now. You may return to the farm and wait for us there. It’s your choice, not ours.”

The eyes of seven stared unflinchingly back at the Barons of Felgren in silence.

He nodded, continuing, “ It’s more than likely the Blightress used her connection to Philius through the remnants of the Black Fever . This feels like a trap to capture Karus or any of you. But we will not leave one of our own behind. Be on your guard and let the more experienced of us protect you should you need it. Do you all remember how to shield?”

An agreement of nods rumbled through them. Even Nyeimah was able to produce a small bit of her silver magic to use.

“ Good ,” Rev continued, “ Now we follow this trail. We have a few hours yet before it becomes too dangerous to continue.”

“ This trail is haunted, Baron Revich ,” Ilyenna called, cradling her swollen belly.

I mimicked her movement.

“ It’s just a trail, Ilyenna ,” he returned, continuing upward, keeping my hand in his.

I hoped he was right.

* * *

Philius’s bootprints in the snow were the only indication of life along the abandoned trail. No animal prints, no foliage along the path, no evidence revealed that this trail was regularly traversed by anyone or anything. We climbed for another hour in our line with little said and cloaks pulled tightly around our shoulders. Revich led us, sending a warming spell behind to help with the ever-pressing chill of silent, cold earth. Snow fell lightly on our shoulders, but not enough to cover Philius’s tracks.

We couldn’t be too far from him, though it’d be hard to catch up unless he stopped. The trail thinned and we had no choice but to take it one by one, sticking close to the left side of the rocky hill. The trail dropped off into a treacherous fall on the right if we dared veer too close to the edge.

We neared the crest of the hill, and I held on to the sharp rocks beside me to keep pushing forward. Icy stone, coarse and jagged, met my fingers, and I pulled my hand back as if burned. My heart thundered in my chest as a deep well of cold flowed over my skin.

“ What is it?” Rev faced me, grabbing onto my waist and calling for a halt.

All eyes fell on me as I tried to catch my breath, reaching out to the rock once more. I picked at the layered stone, ignoring the break of my fingernails, using both hands to pull chunks of the rock away. Pieces split into long rectangular flakes, and I let them fall to the snow at my boots. I bent down to look into the divot I created along the rock wall, confirming what I had just felt down my fingers. A subtle golden light pulsed, and I followed it, using my fingers to dig. Ilyenna gasped behind me as the root came free from the rocky depths. It was black like the Blight with a golden light that flowed down the thick of it to a well-timed, steady heartbeat.

“ I felt it,” I said, staring at the root that Rev reached out to touch. “ I felt it through the rock.” I grabbed his arm. “ The Blightress is here. This is hers.” My eyes shot up above us, unable to see what was at the top of the hill, knowing that whatever it was, our lives were about to change once more.

“ Shields up,” Rev called, holding his own hand out in front of him as a thin glow of his fiery walls encased his body. “ Be on your guard. Follow orders,” Rev commanded. “ If we say run, you run. You get back to the farm, regardless of who joins you.”

Talon grumbled, “ I thought we weren’t leaving any of our own behind, Baron .”

There was a murmur of agreement.

I smirked and raised my brows at Rev who frowned. I turned back around, agreeing, “ No , we don’t. Stick together. I made a promise to get all of us back to Felgren , and I plan to keep it.”

I looked back at Rev with a grin, suggesting more confidence than I felt.

His face turned to stone. “ I love you,” he said, his black eyes flicking blue.

I frowned at his tone. “ And you’ll love me still when we have Philius back, so don’t you dare say it like a goodbye.”

He chuckled and nodded, turning around and leading the way up.

I kept my hand along the rocky wall as we climbed.

Thump , thump.

Thump , thump.

The heartbeat I knew well was much slower than what thrummed in my chest as the horizon view changed, and we reached the top of the hill’s summit. The snow became deeper, encasing the ground in a layer of sharp ice. The sound of our footsteps would have alerted anyone listening as the loud crunch sounded over and over from the nine bodies approaching the massive grove of trees ahead.

They loomed at the crest of the hill in an endless array of ragged black branches and pulsing lights at the trunk of each. Dim colors hummed in green, red, blue, silver, and gold—every color I’d ever seen a channeler or conduit produce rose and fell in the hazy morning sun.

“ His prints lead into this grove,” Rev called in front of us.

“ These trees look Blighted ,” I admitted, crunching through more ice to approach the nearest one. I heard the unsheathing of a sword just behind me and turned quickly to see Mychael gripping one in his hand. “ I don’t remember you bringing any weapons with you to Felgren ,” I remarked.

“ This is borrowed,” he said at my back. “ This sword has been in Pompeii’s family for centuries. He insisted I take it with us.” He shot me a playful grin. “ He also said I’d be more useful in physical combat than magic on this adventure if needed.”

I chuckled, knowing Pompeii was probably right. Mychael hadn’t been training in magic nearly as long as he trained as a Hyrithian Royal Guard .

Rev addressed all of us. “ Mychael , Rell , Ilyenna , and Figuerah , you follow Karus’s footprints. The rest of you, follow mine. We stay in two lines and keep the noise minimal. Step where Karus and I step. We stay close, we stay together.”

I moved next to Rev , planting my boots in the snow at the edge of the trees that seemed to circle around a center. I felt the pulse continuously in my bones, and as everyone followed orders, I closed my eyes for just a moment to focus.

The power flowing from these strange trees was immense. This didn’t feel like the Blight . It felt stronger, different from what we’d seen the Blightress produce so far in her rage across the isle.

I opened my eyes and frowned.

It wasn’t just immense power that I felt, weighted and heavy in the air in this grove of dense trees. It was the potential of power. I jerked my head to Rev , meeting his eyes.

“ I feel it, too,” he spoke low, inaudible to our people behind us.

“ Rev …” My breathing came at a rapid pace, my bones chilling further as the truth hit me.

“ I think so,” he agreed, already understanding what we were about to see.

I turned to address those in our care. “ We feel...individuals here.” I nodded to Rev . “ Whatever we are about to see, try to keep your emotions under control. We are finding Philius , and we are leaving with Philius . Is that clear?”

Varying nods of agreement came through their thin shields of light.

Revich took my hand in his and with a nod from me, we stepped forward into the line of trees.