Page 38

Chapter twenty-four

HYACINTH

Bats scattered from the rocks like poison flowed through their veins.

As if these mountains were so full of foul magic, not even the creatures of The Silliands could make a home there.

The realm’s passage hadn’t given us the trouble I’d expected, but the stillness of it, the complete and utter quiet that had engulfed it, only made the unease seep deeper into my bones.

None of us spoke, we hardly dared to breathe as we hiked the narrow trail up the side of the mountain’s edge.

The fabric tied over my nose and mouth did little to protect from the putrid air that clung to us—that infiltrated our lungs like a disease.

The Blackridge Mountains held only the faintest of light, as if the sun refused to gift these jagged rocks its warmth.

My boots thudded against the rocky path, crunching atop the gravel as my shadows clung to the dead, twisted trees lining the trail to keep my balance.

The trail was steep, and my palms bore evidence of that, cut and bloodied from grabbing onto the jagged stone to keep from falling and slipping off the path’s cliffed ledge.

A loud rumble shook the ground beneath us and we froze, glancing up at the towering cliffs above.

“W-what was that?” I stammered, my voice hushed, as if speaking any louder would send the mountain crumbling down on us.

Another tremor began to shake the mountain’s core, the roar of shattering rocks filling the air as the earth violently shook beneath us. I looked up as pebbles and debris began to rain down on our heads and a cloud of dust consumed the sky above us.

Landers’s arm flew through the air, slamming into my chest as my back collided with the ridge. Pain erupted through my spine as my lungs gasped for the breath that had been knocked from my body.

In that same second, rocks began falling, boulders crashing down taking chunks of the mountainside along with them as they fell into the dank smog below us.

Shadows sprang from my body, shielding us from being torn off the mountain and into the abyss with the shards falling from the sky.

“We need to move!” Dukovich yelled as the earth began to split under my feet. Cracks and craters formed below us, spider-webbing outward as my mind began rapidly searching for a way to stop this.

We needed to get off this ledge or we’d be swallowed up by the mountain.

Shadows released from the palm of my hand, moving toward the top of the peak, and I prayed the tendrils would be strong enough.

“Climb!” I screamed over the deafening sounds of the crumbling stone as wings released from my back.

Landers reached for me, his hands gripping onto the strap of my sack and pulling me toward him as another crack tore through the ground.

“Go!” I yelled, stepping out of his grasp. “You need to climb!”

“I am not leaving you,” he snarled, fear saturating his voice as his eyes frantically searched mine.

“I will be right behind you, go!” I demanded, praying he wouldn’t see the dread I felt pooling behind my eyes. I didn’t give him time to argue as I stepped from the ledge and let my wings carry me through the air.

Panic spewed from my pores as each of them pulled on a vine of shadow. I could feel the weight of them on my bones, like they were pulling on my tendons as my billowing appendages pulled them up the side of the cliff.

My wings strained against their weight but I refused to let them fall, refused to do anything but grip onto every ounce of strength I had.

I screamed into the air, pushing all my energy into the shadows pouring out of me.

A sphere of black surrounded the mountainside where they climbed as trees and rocks clashed with the surface of it. The sting of each hit, of each blow to the shadowy shield, felt as if the debris was piercing into my flesh.

Groaning against the pain, I forced my wings to carry me through the chaos. Flying away from the mountainside, I searched for any landing, any flat surface for us to find safety.

Terror skidded down my spine as I hovered in the air and looked at the mountain range before us. The only place crumbling—the only rock falling—was where we were.

Someone was doing this.

Someone knew we were here .

My eyes scanned wildly over the peaks, looking for any sign of Marzog soldiers as they climbed higher up the cliff’s edge, pulling on my shadows.

My gaze locked on a bright light at the top of the mountain and the oxygen froze in my lungs. I flew closer, trying to decipher what it was as I readied my magic, letting it flow underneath my skin.

The world went still—silent—, as an icy chill covered every inch of my skin and my eyes focused on the source of that light.

A single being came into view and even from this distance, I could see the foul grin that spread across its face as a voice cracked through the air.

“Let this be your first and only warning.” The sound was like a screeching whisper, cutting through the silence with a jagged blade. “No mercy will be given to those who defy the Gods.” I closed my eyes as the threat lingered in the distance between us and sucked in a deep breath.

I knew what I had to do.

Knew what magic I needed to wield. I had only channeled this power twice before, but I needed it now.

I lifted my hands to the heavens, praying it would find me, and at that moment I felt it click inside of my chest.

My eyes snapped open to see the world stopped on its axis.

The rocks frozen in midair, suspended in a moment that seemed both infinite and fleeting. The silence was deafening, and yet I could feel the vibration of my heartbeat echoing through my body. I pushed toward the landing where the being stood, the wings beating violently on my back.

The moment my boots touched solid ground I sprinted for the being. It was a man, slender and gauntly, like the sun had never touched his skin and all color had fled from his body.

Time snapped into place as a violent crack reverberated through the mountains. Shadows wrapped around him as he turned to flee, slamming him into the rocky ground and pinning his hands to his side.

The mountain quieted, his hollow eyes locked on mine, the rock no longer crumbling as his attention turned to me.

He had been controlling the chaos .

Where color should have been staining his irises, there was only a translucent film, holding a galaxy of falling stars behind it. If the eyes hadn’t been attached to him, it would have almost been beautiful. But instead, it was like looking into a well devoid of warmth—devoid of hope.

“Who are you?” I snarled as I hurled my body on top of him, my dagger pressing against the thin skin stretching across his neck.

He licked his lips as a chuckle rolled from his lips like the devil’s chorus.

“ Who are you ?” I repeated as my blade cut into his flesh and crimson trickled down his neck.

“I am nothing but a messenger, sent to do the bidding of the Gods,” he said, squirming underneath my weight.

“Why did my grandparents send you?” I hissed, letting the shadow tighten around him like a snake suffocating its prey.

His eyes widened for a split second at my question before his thrashing became frantic.

He hadn’t known who I was.

“No mercy will be given to those who defy the Gods,” he repeated back to me, the words stumbling from his lips.

“Answer the question,” I spat, leaning closer to his face. “Why did they send you?”

“The Fallen Ones,” he gasped. “It is forbidden to wake them. They will show no mercy if you go against them.” I stared back at him for a long moment, my gaze burning into his face as I felt a tug on my shadows. I snapped my head to the clearing’s ledge.

They were close to the top of the mountain.

The decision was made before I had even realized there was one.

I would not let them find him.

I needed him to send a message for me now, and they would kill him.

“What is your name?” I asked, turning back to him as my blade held steady against his throat.

“Saniel,” he breathed as I lowered my lips to his ear.

“Run back to your masters and deliver this message for me, Saniel. ‘No mercy will be given to those who defy the Gods,’” I whispered, letting each word roll off my tongue like the threat it was.

I stood slowly, lifting my body from the ground as my shadows pulled him to his feet.

“Oh, and tell my grandparents I said hello. I’ve been dying to meet them,” I sang, grinning at him and tilting my head as he looked back at me in pure horror, unmoving, though my shadows were no longer holding him in place.

“If you want to live, I suggest you go. Now ,” I said, raising a brow in his direction. Saniel vanished before my eyes as Landers pushed himself over the ledge, Wren and Dukovich following close behind him.

I sprinted toward the three of them, reaching out for Landers and planting my hands firmly on each side of his face as he stood.

“Are you hurt?” I probed, my voice shaking as my eyes scanned his body for any signs of damage.

“I am fine, Hyacinth,” he said as I nodded, pulling myself against his chest and holding as tight as I could. He buried his nose into the top of my head, sucking in a deep breath and taking in my scent as the tension in his chest began to uncoil.

This could have gone a million different ways.

“What happened?” Landers asked, pulling away only enough to tug my chin up to meet his gaze. His eyes searched mine as his brows furrowed.

“W-what do you mean?” I stammered, tucking a curl behind my ear as my eyes flickered to the ground.

“You look . . . haunted .” There was heaviness in his tone, concern that tore at the muscle pumping ferociously in my chest.

I didn’t want to lie to him, I didn’t want to keep this from him, but if I told him of the warning—of Saniel—he may try to stop me. He may not give me the dragon fire I needed to finish this.

I stared back at him for a long moment, grappling with the choice I had already made.

“I was just scared,” I whispered, burying my face into his chest so he wouldn’t see the guilt staring back at him.

It was a lie—the first one I had ever told him.

My throat constricted at the kiss he placed on the top of my head to comfort me and I willed myself not to recoil in shame.

Ruin was never far behind a secret kept.

I pulled away from him, my eyes still cast to the ground as I tried to swallow the guilt. Night was quickly coming, and we needed to get out of view—needed to find a safe place to regain our strength for whatever would unfold tomorrow.

“Well, if that is any indicator of how the rest of this trip will go, I think it is safe to say we will be dead by morning,” Dukovich said, smirking to himself as he dusted off his leathers.

Rolling my eyes at his brazenness, I looked to Wren, scanning him for injuries.

Other than some small scrapes and bruises, there were none—they were fine.

He gave me a small smile, a reassurance that he was unharmed and I let out a sharp breath in an effort to shake the adrenaline still pumping through my veins.

“We need to set up camp. We do not want to be out in the open when night falls. These mountains come alive in the dark,” Dukovich said as he adjusted the sword across his back and stalked toward a narrow trail at the far side of the landing.

“The passage where they rest is a few hours hike from here and we will need our strength.”

“What about the glamour?” I snapped at his back. “Why did you remove it from us?”

Dukovich turned to look at me, confusion twisted onto his face. “We are glamoured, we have been since we stepped foot into The Silliands.”

“Then how did they find us? How could they see us?” I challenged. Dukovich’s eyes flickered to Wren and Landers before falling back to me.

“How could who see us, Cin?” Wren interjected, the question riddled with uncertainty.

Shit , I silently cursed myself.

I was not good at this, not good at keeping secrets. Of course Saniel could see through the glamour, he was a messenger of the Gods. To think that a glamour would hinder his vision was foolish.

We stood there staring at each other, my mind turning frantically to come up with something, anything, to say.

“The mountain was only crumbling where we stood, where you climbed . . . I-I just figured that meant that someone had seen us,” I stuttered, fidgeting with the sleeve of my leathers. Wren looked back at me skeptically and I refused to meet Landers’s gaze.

He would know I was lying.

“The very root of The Silliands magic is chaos. The Blackridge Mountains were birthed from the belly of that power. They do not want us here and that rockslide was their way of telling us,” Dukovich said, his voice a low rumble as he pointed toward the cliff’s edge at our backs.

His answer made sense and though this time it was not the case, it was probably the same reason Saniel had chosen to use the mountain to his advantage.

I nodded, not trusting myself to say another word.

I hadn’t realized just how much of my energy I’d used on my magic until we hiked the last few miles through the mountains.

I could barely keep myself upright, barely stand when we finally made it to a cave at the base of another peak.

My knees buckled from under me and Landers caught me by the waist, sweeping my body into his arms before it could collide with the rocky ground.

Worry etched itself into the creases of his face as he watched me rest my head against his shoulder.

I still needed so much training—still needed to learn how to balance my energy when wielding so it wouldn’t drain me like this.

A trickle of panic dripped into my chest at the thought.

We were running out of time and I wouldn’t have the luxury of rest every time I used my magic in the middle of a war.

My chest began to tighten as Landers carried me the rest of the way into the cavern.

A stench hit my nose and I gagged against the bile that it sent racing up my throat.

Something had died here .

Wren buckled over, dry heaving beside us as Dukovich waved a hand in front of his face like it could clear the rank air from his senses.

“What the hell is that smell?” Wren coughed out, cursing at the spoiled air.

A light flared to life in the palm of Landers’s hand, casting shadows against our faces and every crack and crevice in the cave.

His grip on my body tightened, his fingers digging into my skin as his eyes focused on something at the back of the opening.

I followed his line of sight and jolted from his arms, my hand colliding over my mouth to trap the scream hurtling itself up my lungs as he pulled my back against my chest.

Landers’s lips caressed the tip of my ear, his hot breath trickling down my neck intertwining with the fear already scurrying up my spine. “Do not scream.”