Page 37 of The Shadowed Oracle (The Bonded Worlds #1)

Chapter Twenty-One

The view of the deep valley surrounding the cabin had been beautiful that morning, light from the new day illuminating those crooked trees lining the upward pathway to the surface.

Ingrid watched the shadows slowly disappear, taking the last sips of coffee that Dean had brought from home.

Since Tyla had already gone out on a scouting expedition, and the other two were close behind, she decided she’d put on her armor and make the climb alone.

As it had been when first donning it, Ingrid felt both dangerously uncoordinated and thoroughly protected all at once.

The cool morning breeze wriggled its way into the few vulnerabilities as she started up the path.

It was made of dirt and stone, slippery but carefully arranged like steps to guide her.

One wrong move, spending a moment too long gawking at the vivid color of the mountain flowers, or the almost artistic way in which the brush had grown into a leafy-green tunnel overhead, and she might’ve fallen to her death.

Considering what she’d been threatened by already, it was probably a good way to go. Less frightening, at least.

She made it to the top of the steep path, feeling accomplished enough for a short break from her macabre thoughts.

She tightened a strap across her chest, reached her arm over her shoulder to make sure her sword was still sheathed and secure, then felt the grooves in the hilt as a sort of meditation, centering herself, readying for the journey and?—

“A few things to remember!” Raidinn yelled so loudly from behind her that she jumped a good three inches in the air.

“Fuck, Raidinn.” Any semblance of calm she was easing into vanished. “It’s way too early to be screaming like that.”

In a mocking whisper, the brutish man said, “Sorry. Can’t help it.” He took in a deep breath. “The fresh Ealis air, the promise of blood, the tingle in my bollocks. It’s all so brilliant.”

Ingrid shook her head. “Didn’t need to know the bollocks bit. But go on. What should I remember?”

“Huh?” He was fastening a few more blades to his leather vest, looking uninterested in the conversation he himself had started.

“The things to remember?” Ingrid said impatiently. “You said?—”

“Oh, right.” Reaching for his quiver, pulling an arrow from it and using it as a pointer, Raidinn directed Ingrid’s attention to a small bush full of pink flowers. “First rule of the forest is, nothing is what it seems. If you see something pretty…”

Creak. Phoosh.

“Best to assume it looks like that for a reason.”

Ingrid was too busy staring at the bush to notice Raidinn had knocked that same arrow and fired it. It zipped by too fast for her to track, landing in the ovule of one of the flowers.

Ingrid whirled to ask, “What did you do that for?”

But Raidinn only sucked his teeth, nodding back to the colorful shrub.

She complied, turning to watch the arrow slowly disappear. It was swarmed by the other flower buds, thorns and stems acting like tiny daggers, desperately trying to protect the whole of the plant.

“Don’t go picking daisies,” Raidinn said. “You don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. Just remember, nothing is as it seems.”

Ingrid was grateful for any tips, though she couldn’t help wonder at one thing. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Raidinn, but I thought you’d never been here?”

“I haven’t. Doesn’t mean I haven’t been learning everything I could about it.

” He seemed satisfied with himself as he went on.

“I bet you didn’t get any nuggets of wisdom like this from Tyla, huh?

She never took as much interest in this as I did.

Probably taught you nothing but parries and…

I don’t even know what to call them, those little ducking moves she does. Didn’t she?”

“Didn’t she what?” a voice from behind them called out.

Dean was a few feet away, climbing the last step of the hidden path down to the cabin.

“We’re talking about Tyla’s woo-woo hippy-zen swordsmanship,” Raidinn said, crossing his arms. “And how it will do fuck all for Ingrid in this forest.”

“I see.” Dean looked to Ingrid, slyly rolling his eyes. “Very interesting stuff. Do continue.”

“With pleasure!” Raidinn seamlessly shifted into a fighting pose, pulling his sword and demonstrating some of the kills he’d accrued during his Wrane-hunting expedition back on Earth. Ingrid and Dean did a considerably good job of hiding their laughter.

“Are you watching?” Raidinn asked, winded.

“Oh yeah. It’s mesmerizing.”

“Good.” Raidinn halted, catching his breath.

“Cause that brings me to my second lesson of the forest. We walk silently, careful with every step. Even a broken tree branch could alert some asshole a mile away. Especially when we cross the border into Banebrook. We might be cloaked, but we’re not soundproof. ”

“How will I know when we’re in Banebrook?” Ingrid asked.

“Easy,” Dean said. “We’ll try to tell you.”

“Tell her what?”

Tyla had approached from the west, far from the path leading from the cabin up to the hill where they now stood.

She’d been scouting other routes early that morning, spry as ever when Ingrid was still struggling to keep her eyes open, guzzling her coffee.

The crafty mentor had woken early to make sure there wasn’t an easier, less decayed route they could take.

“You find anything?” her brother asked jokingly. “Did the rhythm of the wind guide you?”

A small crease appeared between Tyla’s eyes. “What are you on about now?” She looked to Ingrid. “Has he been making fun of me again?”

“Yes,” Ingrid said simply.

“Only a little,” Raidinn countered. “Just about your… teachings.”

“This again?!” Tyla flashed a brief scowl, but something seemed to dawn on her, and she smirked devilishly. “My teachings, huh? Would that be my teachings with Ingrid?” She looked to her brother. “Or to you, Rai? Back when you could barely swing a sword?”

Ingrid put her hands on her hips. “Wait, she trained you, too?”

“Oh yes,” Tyla answered for him. “I bet he didn’t tell you that. Just like he left out what kind of shape he was in back then.”

“Don’t start,” Raidinn begged.

“I won’t say pudgy. That’s too mean. Really, he was more… portly. Like a cute little baby. About as talented with a sword as a baby, too, until I taught him.” Tyla got on her toes, lifting herself high enough to pinch her brother’s cheeks. “Feel guilty yet?”

“Guilty? Me?” Raidinn huffed. “You’re the one shaming a child.”

“Yes, but you started it.” Tyla lifted her arm, pulling the sleeve of her undershirt up. On the palm of her hand was a small cut, not deep, but still bleeding. “While you were ridiculing my swordsmanship, I was out there fighting more Ungii.”

Raidinn’s face went still. “How many?”

“Just two. But the path to the Occi Isles is swarming with them.”

The Occi Isles , Ingrid remembered instantly. That cluster of islands from the map Dean had laid out for her. It was made up of two large islands and a series of smaller islets and unnamed seamounts. They extended down a large gulf in the Jemii Sea that led directly to Maradenn, their destination.

“No vacation cruise for us, then,” Raidinn lamented. “Damn.”

“I was thinking more in terms of the future,” Tyla countered. “Finding a boat would be one thing. Traveling that unprotected and out in the open past the Nockspring coast, though, that would be suicide.”

Dean and Raidinn nodded slowly, almost bored. The constant reminder of looming doom was not only tiring for them, but repetitive. Ingrid envied them for that.

“But on a positive note,” Raidinn said jovially, patting the hard metal of Ingrid’s shoulder armor. “Look at you, all geared up like a real live killer.”

Dean echoed the compliment. “You look incredible.”

“I’d have to agree,” Tyla said. “Positively frightful.”

Ingrid again looked down at herself, taking stock of all Dean had equipped her with.

The armory in the fortress on Earth provided most of it, but the cabin had its fair share of weaponry as well.

The four of them cleaned the place out, taking everything from daggers, throwing knives, bows, and magic dust—Dean’s words, spoken in all seriousness when claiming the odd blue powder could create a storm of clouds to temporarily blind their enemies.

They might’ve been on a suicide mission, but they wouldn’t go down without a fight. Preparation was not an issue.

Like a mother handing out lunches and sending her children off to school, Dean began doling out the Spectis Weed.

Raidinn went first, chewing and swallowing in one fluid motion.

Tyla took down the strange plant next. Then after Ingrid received hers, the four of them watched in awkward anticipation, dumbly staring.

“How long did you say this was supposed to take?” Raidinn asked.

“Minutes,” Dean answered sharply. “Be patient.”

“Oh, wait, I think something’s happening now!” Tyla took a step toward her brother, assessing his facial features. “No, sorry. It’s just your face.”

“What do you mean it’s just my face ?”

“Your nose,” Tyla said, cruelly indifferent. “It’s always been too small for your face.”

Ingrid started into a laugh, but could feel the mammoth male staring daggers at Dean and her.

“Don’t you dare laugh,” Raidinn protested. “It’s not that funny. She probably planned that last night, too. Never the quickest, my sister.”

“He’s right,” Tyla conceded. “I did think of it last night. Truth is, his nose isn’t that small. It’s his elephant-sized head that makes everything else look puny.”

“Oh piss off!” Raidinn stumbled over his comeback, the bickering pinging around the circle until the four of them were silenced by the slow but obvious change occurring.

No matter what angle Ingrid viewed her companions from, she couldn’t see anything but a barely noticeable ripple in the air. Any further from the few feet she stood from them, they’d be entirely undetectable, just like Dean had said.