Page 54

CHAPTER FORTY

“ S hit,” Galen curses. But his violet eyes are steady as he turns to Draven. “Fight or run?”

“We’re already behind,” Draven replies, clenching his jaw in frustration. “We can’t afford to get bogged down by a fight.”

“So we run, then?”

“They’re coming from that direction,” I interject, and nod at the path towards the center of the dome. My heart slams against my ribs as I add, “Fast.”

The others snap their gazes between the direction I nodded and the area behind us, where the curving walls of the dome rise up from the ground and block any escape on all three other sides.

Draven lets out a low growl of annoyance and then jerks his chin. “Then run. Fast.”

We sprint forward.

Panic pulses inside me as we dart between the gnarled tree trunks, heading right towards our mysterious attackers. We need to make it past the cut-off point so that we can turn left before they reach us. But they’re moving fast. Incredibly fast.

“They’re coming,” I press out as we hurtle between the trees.

Dark purple moss sways around us as we shove the rippling curtains aside in our mad dash. I leap over a stone covered in yellow lichen and then duck under another tree. The group of attackers closes in rapidly.

“Hurry,” I plead.

Our boots thud against the grass, flattening delicate pink flowers and leaving a trail behind.

Alarm shoots through me when I realize that.

But we need to make it past the bend in the walls.

Otherwise we’ll be trapped between them and our attackers.

But if they can see our footprints in the grass, they’ll be able to keep hunting us.

“Isera,” I gasp out between rapid breaths as we sprint through the trees. “Our footprints.”

She snaps her gaze between me and the ground, realization sparking in her eyes. I catch her eyes beginning to glow for a second before she turns her head back towards the woods ahead. Then ice springs to life before her feet.

Lyra yelps, stumbling slightly, as she almost trips over the circular patch of ice that now hovers right above the grass.

But she recovers quickly and jumps up onto it after Isera.

Another patch forms ahead. And then another.

And another. We all leap onto them, running in a line along the patches of ice.

Isera creates new ones in front of her while letting the last ones disappear as soon as the final person has left them.

I keep my magic connected to the group of people up ahead. They’re closing the distance faster than I thought possible.

“They’re coming,” I hiss again.

We pick up speed. Sprinting so fast that the woods blur around us. My pulse thrums in my ears.

The group draws closer.

I suck air into my lungs.

We just need to make it past this point up ahead. Then the wall evens out, curving away wider in both directions.

Just a little more.

Alarm shoots up my spine.

“They’re here!” I gasp.

The group is crashing through the trees straight to our right.

“In here,” Draven snaps.

I don’t even have time to turn my head before a storm wind slams into me from the side.

My breath is knocked right out of my lungs as I fly through the air and slam into a tree trunk.

Gasping, I try to get my breath back. But any air is knocked right back out again when Alistair crashes into me. Followed by Galen.

Blinking, I try to clear the ringing from my skull and figure out what the hell just happened.

“Stay down,” Draven orders, his voice low but pulsing with command.

I stop moving.

The six of us are lying in a pile, our limbs all tangled up, blinking and looking dazed. Everyone except Draven, who orchestrated this move. He’s on his feet, yanking a long curtain of that dark purple moss closed in front of us. The patches of ice are gone as well.

Gloomy darkness falls over our group.

Drawing in a soft breath, I glance around me. A twisted and gnarly tree envelops our messy pile. Branches stick out on both sides, and the thick curtains of moss hide us almost entirely from view in here.

Still on his feet, Draven summons his magic and fills the cramped space with dark clouds as well.

A moment later, a group bursts through the trees outside.

My heart leaps into my throat.

Lying there on the ground with Alistair half on top of me, I stare out between the small gaps in the hanging moss as nine people run out of the woods.

And my mind can barely comprehend what I’m seeing.

They look like us. Like fae. But at the same time… more .

Just like us, they have an ethereal beauty to their features.

But these people look as if they have been sculpted by the Goddess Mabona herself.

Tall and muscular, they somehow manage to look both powerful and graceful at the same time.

And based on their height compared to the trees around them, they look to be at least half a head taller than even Draven.

And not just one or two of them. All of them.

Light glints against their polished bronze breastplates, and long pointed ears stick up from their shining hair that flutters behind them when they run.

Arrows rattle in the quivers they carry, and eight of them are holding powerful bows.

The ninth person, the severe-looking male who is running at the head of the squad, carries no bow.

But lightning crackles along one of his arms and fire burns along the other.

I gape at them.

What kind of beings are these people?

They thunder past, their boots thudding against the ground as they rush through the trees and towards the location where we landed earlier.

For a few seconds, all six of us just stare after them in shocked silence.

“Fuck,” Alistair says at last.

A rather apt summary indeed, so I nod. “Yeah.”

That seems to snap us all out of our stupor. Sucking in a breath, we start to detangle our limbs and push up from the ground.

Isera cuts Draven a look as she straightens and brushes blades of grass from her fighting leathers. “A little heads-up next time, Ryat.”

He arches an eyebrow back at her. “Like you gave us with the ice path?”

For a moment, she just looks back at him with those cool eyes of hers. Then she lets out a huff, and I swear she almost smiles.

He smirks, looking satisfied with his win, before shoving the hanging moss aside and jerking his chin. “Come on. We need to put as much distance between them and us as possible before they figure out that we’re not there.”

“I’m creating some patches of ice now,” Isera says in an overly explanatory tone while giving Draven a pointed look.

I chuckle, shaking my head at them, while Draven just rolls his eyes.

Circular ice patches appear outside the sheets of hanging moss, forming a pathway out. Isera jumps up on the first one, and the rest of us scramble to follow her.

We run across the ice until we’ve cleared the immediate area and disappeared farther into the woods. Then Isera lets her magic fade out, and we continue jogging across the soft grass.

My heart still pounds and my head spins with questions about those beings we just saw. They must be the native population to these lands, and they were probably caught inside the barrier when Hana created the pocket reality. No wonder they’re so aggressive. They probably think we did it.

To calm the worried storm inside me, I throw my magic out again in search of those sparks of suspicion. They’re still heading in the other direction. I breathe a small sigh of relief. Then I disconnect it and throw my magic out in search of sparks of excitement, just in case.

I suck in a sharp breath as my magic connects with five people heading towards us from the left.

“Another team is coming,” I snap.

Galen curses under his breath and casts a sharp look over his shoulder. “We can’t fight them here without those strange fae in bronze armor noticing it.”

“Agreed,” Draven grinds out. He shifts his gaze to me. “Selena, which direction and how far?”

“They’re coming from the left. Based on the speed they’re moving, they’ll be here in less than two minutes.”

“Fuck.” But his breathing is even as he continues running while casting a glance at the rest of us. “We need to push ahead. Fast. Better to have them behind us than next to us, because that will at least put them between us and that group of natives.”

We nod, still zigzagging through the mass of twisted trees.

“Aye, aye, captain,” Alistair says.

Draven cuts him a look, but then just returns his gaze to the forest ahead and says, “Run.”

My heart leaps, and I pick up speed. Pushing ourselves hard, we sprint through the woods so fast that I barely have time to check where I place my feet.

I leap over a twisted root, almost slamming into a tree at the hard landing.

The dark purple moss sways as I stagger into it. Shoving it aside, I keep running.

Our pounding feet and rapid breaths echo around me as we hurtle through the forest.

The other faction is getting closer, picking up speed as well now.

Goddess damn it, we need to lose them. Or shove them into the path of the natives. Or somehow?—

Air explodes from my lungs as I slam into Draven’s muscular body.

The force of the hit sends me stumbling backwards. I flail my arms, trying to regain my balance. Next to me, everyone has screech to a halt.

“What are you doing?” I snap, staggering upright again. “The other faction is almost…”

Trailing off, I stare at what made them all stop.

A massive yellow cloud spreads out before us, swallowing the forest ahead.