Page 18 of Stormvein (The Veinbound Trilogy #2)

Chapter Nine

ELLIE

What is taken in darkness returns changed. Always.

The Nature of Veinblood Rebirth

My hands won’t stop shaking. No matter how tightly I grip the reins, the tremors persist. It’s not exhaustion, it’s something deeper, more complex.

Fear, and rage, and worry that we won’t make it on time.

We’ve been riding through the night, pushing the horses to the limits of their endurance to reach Glassfall Gap before the convoy carrying Sacha gets there.

The mountain path twists and turns ahead of us, barely visible in the early morning light.

Stones clatter beneath hooves, echoing through the silence.

Every second matters, every moment takes Sacha closer to Blackvault and whatever horror awaits him there. The name alone makes my stomach twist.

Blackvault .

A place that made even Varam look sick when he spoke about it.

“We’re approaching the pass,” Varam calls from the lead position. “Glassfall Gap is just beyond.”

Fifteen fighters follow him in tight formation, faces grim with determination.

My position in the center of the group isn’t a coincidence.

They’re keeping me protected, surrounded.

The light inside me flickers with every surge of emotion, harder to control as exhaustion sets in.

We’ve been riding for nearly fourteen hours with only brief stops to rest the horses.

The mist stalker keeps pace alongside us, its form more substantial than ever.

It runs gracefully over the rough ground, sometimes disappearing briefly only to reappear ahead of us.

Unlike the horses, it shows no sign of fatigue.

If anything, it appears to be growing stronger with each passing mile.

Mira pulls her mount alongside mine, her expression troubled. “You need to stay hidden when we reach the gap.” It’s not the first time she’s said it. “Your …” She waves her hand at my arms. “That could give us away before we’re ready.”

“I know.” Frustration bleeds into my voice despite my best efforts to stop it. “You’ve all made that very clear.” I meet her gaze. “I’m sorry. I … I can’t stand the thought of staying back when he’s so close.”

“It’s not about the light.” Her voice drops. “Your power is unpredictable. If you lose control during the ambush?—”

“I said I understand!” The silver flashes again, breaking through the fabric of my tunic. The mist stalker turns toward me, the hackles on its back rising.

Mira’s features soften. “We all want him back, Ellie. But we can’t risk?—”

“The mission. I know .” I force my breathing to slow. “I’ll stay out of sight until it’s over.”

“No, not the mission.” She reaches over to grasp my arm, squeezing gently. “We can’t risk losing you . We’ve lost him, we … I don’t want to lose you as well.”

I stare at her. She holds my gaze.

“You’ve become important to us, Ellie. Not because of whatever power you’re developing, but for who you are.”

There’s a burning sensation behind my eyes, and I blink rapidly, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip. She squeezes my arm again, then releases me.

“So, you’ll stay hidden, yes?”

I nod, not trusting myself to speak. She stays beside me until the path forces us to go back to single file.

The sky has lightened by the time we reach the pass, the darkness giving way to a deep, cloudless blue.

Below us, a narrow path winds through the valley toward a sharp break in the cliffs.

Glassfall Gap is within sight. Even from this distance, the crystals embedded in the rock catch the first rays of dawn.

They glitter like broken mirrors, and seeing them sends a chill up my spine.

They remind me too much of the crystal Sereven used at River Crossing.

Varam raises a hand when we reach a small clearing. “Dismount. We’ll go the rest of the way on foot. Hooves will echo through the valley, and announce our presence to anyone listening.”

I swing down from my saddle, legs stiff from hours in the same position.

The silver that is a constant presence now has faded, but not disappeared.

It still shifts below the surface, giving my skin a slight sheen.

It’s getting harder to control the brightness, the longer I stay awake.

And I find myself constantly touching Sacha’s ring through my tunic, drawing strength from its presence.

We secure the horses in the sheltered grove.

It’s off the path and hidden from view, with enough vegetation and a small stream to keep the horses fed and watered while we’re gone.

Varam issues quiet instructions to the men gathered around him.

Archers will take high positions, and the rest will face the incoming Authority on the ground.

“Ellie.” Varam turns his attention to me once he’s done. “I want you to remain here with Kiran. We need someone in a high position, with a clear view of the gap. You will be able to warn us if something changes.”

It also keeps me out of the fight.

“I need to be closer. What if something goes wrong? What if you need?—”

“What we need is to know our flanks are secure. If you lose control of that light, and they see it, we could lose the only chance we have to get him back.” His expression softens slightly. “I know you want to help. This is how you do it.”

I want to argue, to insist that my place is down there with them, but the memory of the storm I unleashed at River Crossing silences me. That devastation came from grief, from watching Sacha fall.

What might happen if I lose control again, this time with him so close? Could I control the storm enough not to get him hurt in its fury?

No, Varam’s right. My power is too unpredictable. It’s liable to manifest without warning. I’ve made some progress under Telren’s guidance, but nowhere near enough to be of any use here today.

“All right … but if something goes wrong?—”

“ Nothing is going to go wrong. This is something we’ve lived with all our lives.

We know what we’re doing, Ellie. This isn’t our first ambush.

” Varam checks his weapons one final time.

“The scouts report the convoy entered the southern approach an hour ago. They’ll reach the narrowest point by mid-morning. That’s when we’ll hit them.”

The archers disappear up narrow paths toward elevated ground. The rest of the fighters move stealthily down the slope toward the point where the convoy will come through. They’ll cut off escape once the wagons are fully committed to the passage.

Kiran leads me to our position—a rocky outcropping that offers a clear view of the entire valley while keeping us hidden. The mist stalker follows, settling down beside me.

“We’ll be able to see everything from here.” He’s clearly uncomfortable with his babysitting duty, but too disciplined to complain. “We’re far enough away that your …” His eyes move to my arms. “No one will see anything from this distance.”

The gap stretches out below us, the road winding between the towering cliffs that nearly meet overhead in places.

In the narrowest sections, sunlight barely breaks through, creating pools of shadows between columns of gold.

From here, I can see our fighters settling into place—dark shapes against stone, arrows nocked and waiting.

Hours pass in tense silence. The sun climbs higher, harsh light bouncing off the crystals in blinding flashes. My fingers find Sacha’s ring again, tracing its edge through my tunic.

With nothing else to do but wait, I can’t avoid the memories that surface. Sacha teaching me to control my breathing. The way shadow pooled around him when he finally stepped outside of the tower. The intensity in his eyes that night in Ashenvale.

Somewhere down there, he’s coming toward us. Alive, but suffering. That’s what the Authority captain said. The thought sends a sharp current through me.

“They’re coming,” Kiran whispers, pointing toward the southern entrance of the gap.

I follow his gaze. A convoy of wagons appears in the distance, moving slowly along the road.

Even from here, I can see the mounted guards surrounding the central wagon that carries a metal structure …

A cage , I realize with mounting horror.

I don’t know how I imagined they’d be transporting him, but a cage definitely wasn’t it.

The mist stalker stirs beside me, its form shifting and flexing. It rises to its feet, but remains in a crouch, muscle and sinew rippling beneath its skin. Its eyes are fixed on the approaching convoy with a predatory focus.

“Easy,” I whisper, although I’m not sure if it understands me.

Its head turns toward me, unblinking eyes meeting mine.

There’s intelligence in their depths, an understanding that goes beyond animal instinct.

I’m not convinced it’s an animal at all, but something else entirely.

For a brief moment, I’m sure something brushes against my mind.

A foreign sensation, like fingers touching the surface of my thoughts.

The convoy enters the bottleneck, and the guards fan out, scanning the cliffs, hands on weapons, alert to the vulnerability of their position. In the cage, I can just about make out a shape … a body, lying unnaturally still.

Sacha .

Every bit of my attention locks on his form. The silver stirs again, but something else rises with it. A more insistent pushing against my mind, accompanied by a low sound from the mist stalker.

It wants to move, to act. And I can feel the urgency inside me like it’s my own.

“Stay.” The command is both to myself and the creature. It lets out a soft huff in reply.

The convoy proceeds cautiously. From my position, I can see our archers tensing, bowstrings drawn, waiting for Varam’s signal. The blocking force stays hidden, ready to seal off the road once the wagons are too far in to go back.

Everything is going according to plan … until it isn’t.