Page 75 of Forging Darkness

There’s nothing in front of us except a jutting wall of rock, covered in ice several hundred feet away. There aren’t any footprints in the snow either.

“You sure about that?”

“No. It feels . . . weird.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah.”

“Care to expound on that?”

“No.”

Great.

I trudge forward in the direction he indicates, the sword at my back thudding against me with each step. I haven’t used it since I was a child, but instinct urged me to bring Thundersinger on this quest.

Snow swirls in the air around us, funneling upward. The details of the rocky wall we’re traversing toward start to take shape, but it’s the cave chiseled into the side of the mountain that has my attention. My mind drags me back in time.

Full dark has settled over the night, and the cold seeped through my clothes and into my bones an hour ago. Silver shivers beside me. The wind flings her hair in different directions, making it extra hard for her to see through the tornado of snow. I’m more than a little worried, but I try not to let it show.

“I’m sure the chalet will be over that ridge.” I’m not sure of that at all. I thought that about the last three ridges we climbed and was wrong every time. We are good and lost. We both know it, but refuse to voice it. Mom and Dad are going to kill us when we get home. Strike that, they’re going to kill me, since this was my idea.

Silver’s face is pinched as she nods, keeping up the charade that either of us knows what we’re doing.

We slog forward, picking up the pace when we near the next crest. My stomach bottoms out when we reach the top to discover nothing but another snow-covered descent.

“Steel. I’m scared.” Silver’s eyes dull as she turns toward me. She stumbles when a gust of wind slams into her body. I reach out to steady her and get blown sideways a step myself.

“We just have to find somewhere to ride out this storm. I’m sure Mom and Dad are already looking for us.”

“They’re going to lock us in the attic for this.”

“Don’t worry. There aren’t any attics in our penthouse.” I smile to lift her spirits, but the expression is all wobbly.

“Like that will stop them,” she huffs, but the corner of her mouth quirks up. “Hey, look over there!” She points to something in the distance, halfway down the slope in front of us. I tilt my head to get a better look, eyes straining in the darkness.

“Is that a cave?”

“I think so! Let’s go check it out.”

We whoop and holler with renewed energy and hope as we slide and stumble down the decline. The cave opens halfway to the bottom. We slip past it and have to claw our way back up through the snow. Collapsing in the opening, we fall to our knees to catch our breath.

The enclosure is still cold, but bearable because it’s protected from the howling wind. Icicles like thin teeth drip from the top of the entrance. We knocked a few to the ground when we dove into the cave—they’re as thick around at the base as my leg. Snow and ice layer the ground of the cave for the first few feet after the opening, and then there’s only the craggy green rocks of the spirit realm. They’re slightly luminescent, casting a sickly green glow over both of us.

“Wow,” Silver mutters.

“See. I told you it would be worth it. This place is wicked cool.”

“Maybe even worth the frostbite,” she agrees as she traces a gloved finger down one of the icicles.

My eyes are on the glowing rocks, wondering if I can pry one loose to take back with me when we’re rescued, as I step a few feet further into the cave. There’s a shuffling sound and a pebble comes rolling out from the darkness beyond, only stopping when it bumps into my boot.

Silver and I freeze.

Something emerges from the shadows, striding with the gait of a seasoned predator.

I’ve never seen a Forsaken in real life. They are the monsters in our nightmares, the boogeymen of our parents’ warnings, but even having been told about them practically from birth, I’m not prepared for the sight in front of me.

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