Page 13 of Feathers and Thorns

A sinister smile played at Adriel’s lips as he lifted the child into his arms. Then, as he disappeared into the shadows of the trees, he whispered in a menacing tone, “You may be of use to me yet, little one.”

Soren let out another howl of frustration as her eyes roamed over the contents of her emptied rucksack. “It was right here! It should have been right under my cloak and gloves.” She slammed her fists into the ground, her body not yet registering the bite of the rocks as they embedded themselves into the soft flesh of her hands.

“When did you see it last?” Enara asked, gingerly lifting Soren to her feet.

Soren massaged her now throbbing hands and looked up at her with tear-stained cheeks. “I had it when I left the manor. I should have realized it was gone.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“I can feel when it’s close,” Soren explained. “Something in it calls to me … through my blood.” She began retrieving the discarded items from her sack as she spoke. “I should have noticed, but between my injuries from the fight and the chill in my bones …” She looked down, the guilt of disappointing her friends weighing on her like the boulders that lined the mountain’s peak.

“If any blame is to be placed, it is on those creatures, not on you or any of us,” Jai’s voice cut through the cloud of her self-loathing.

She did nothing more than nod as the group helped her find the rest of the items from her pack.

“So, what’s our next step, then?” Baz asked. “It doesn’t make much sense to go to Braexmirth without an artifact to destroy.”

Soren bit her lip. “You have a point.”

“They could still provide us with stronger weapons,” Enara reasoned. “Plus, their lands would give us protection from Adriel’s forces, should he attack again.”

The tracker stroked the closely trimmed beard on his chin while contemplating their statements. “You are all formidable fighters; I have no doubt in your capabilities …” He sighed in a resigned manner. “Unfortunately, skill and well-honed weapons can only get you so far when facing an army.”

“So, what do you suppose we do?” Enara asked.

There was a mischievous glint in Jai’s eyes as he responded.

“We gather an army of our own.”

* * *

“And how the hell do you suppose we do that?” Soren questioned, raising a brow—Baz and Enara had yet to fill her in on his true identity. “Last time I checked, we don’t have an army in our back pockets. Besides, who would believe us? We have no evidence to convince people to join our cause.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I have confidence in the people enough for the both of us.” Jai’s tone was bordering on cocky, but before Soren could lay into him, he finished with, “I am the rightful heir to the Patrovian throne.”

Soren started chuckling at his bad joke then quickly realized she was the only one laughing. She straightened herself, and Enara gave her a sympathetic look. Baz rubbed the back of his head, looking everywhere but at her.

Soren stared at the tracker, eyebrows raised up to her hairline.

He placed one arm behind his back, the other at a ninety-degree angle at his waist, and bowed.

Soren scoffed in disbelief. “Okay, say I believe you … what then?”

“Well, there are some necessary documents I require to prove my lineage. After that … we wing it.”

* * *

They followed their route to Edras Mora, traveling south to Murkwall. Their haggard appearances helped them blend in with the locals of Thorncrest. The towns and cities that lay within the mountain range were home to the worst of people. Being so far north and without a leading body, Thorncrest was avoided by most folk. This was where the thieves, robbers, and murderers of Entheas chose to live out their darkest fantasies.

No one raised so much as a brow when the group sauntered in, looking worse for wear, to one of the many worn-down bars that lined the streets of Murkwall. The inside of the establishment smelled no better than the alleyways full of detritus that they had passed on their way here.

The entire town seemed to be encased in a ring of hush smoke. The mind-altering substance was derived from the sap of the white pines that were native to Thorncrest. The sap was melted down, formed into crystals, and mixed with the dried, fermented stalks of various hallucinogenic fungi to create a potent combination. Soren had to hand it to the person who had created the addictive substance. They were nothing, if not clever. Hush could be snorted, smoked, or even sprinkled into food, and the effect was always the same.

Soren took note of the many patrons in the establishment that were already under the drug’s influence. Pupils were blown wide and unseeing, with their faces turned up into saccharine smiles. Hush was both a paralytic and a hallucinogenic, which allowed the user to enjoy its effects without pitching themselves off a cliff by accident.

Enara grimaced as she tripped over the foot of a burly man. “Sorry—” she started to say before cringing away from yet another inhumanly smiling face, unseeing eyes following her all the way to their table.

Baz let out a ragged cough, and Jai patted him on the back with a chuckle. “You okay there, champ?”

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