Page 46 of Shadows of Ruin

Slowly looking up and meeting Jax’s gaze, Kade spoke. “We need to get to Mount Legion, and fast before it spreads any farther.”

I jerked my head toward Kade. “He is going to be okay though, right?”

Storm shook once, and he swayed, suddenly unsteady on his feet. “I have you, brother,” Kade said. He looked grim as he picked up Storm and carried him toward the horses.

He pushed Storm up onto Onyx to sit slumped over, and as soon as he had, I grabbed his arm. “That blade was meant for me, Kade.” Tears welled in my eyes. “He has to be all right.”

Kade’s jaw tightened, but before he could speak, a hand shot out in front of me. Raya offered the reins of Storm’s horse. “Looks like you're on your own for this stretch.”

Nodding, I grabbed the reins. I swallowed, watching Storm’s body, swaying still from atop the saddle. Kade stood next to me, grasping Onyx’s reins in one hand.

He brushed his thumb across my cheek but didn’t offer me reassurances. He let a shaky breath escape before turning to his friend.

“Do you need to lean against me?”

“I’ll stay seated. Get on, you overbearing ass,” Storm mumbled back.

Kade mounted Onyx behind Storm, glancing at me with a fear I’d never seen in his eyes.

“We need to ride. Now.” Kade’s voice faltered. “If we don’t get him to a healer soon, we could lose him for good.”

Chapter 13

Lana

We rode hard through the barren land.

The pathways twisted and turned through more of the wild, wind-shaped trees.

Storm rode with Kade, barely sitting upright as the horses galloped faster and faster. Kade’s shadows worked overtime holding him in place.

Not once did the horses falter as they blazed their way through the terrain and into the mountainous region of the land, leading straight into a city. The city I could only assume my companions called home.

No one spoke, too scared to think about losing Storm to the poison. He groaned every so often, and Kade quietly whispered to him each time.

Tears formed in the corners of my eyes as the wind whipped around us. My hands raw from holding onto the reins too tightly for so long.

Kade shouted over his shoulder. “Stay behind us when we get to the palace, Little Rebel. Don’t draw attention to yourself.”

The air racing past us whipped my acknowledgementaway, and when Kade looked over his shoulder, his eyes held a desperation in them I wouldn’t ignore.

“Please,” he yelled.

I nodded, trying to give him a reassuring smile.

A few hours later, we passed the first sprinkling of houses along the outskirts of the city. What I beheld amazed me. The homes were built from beautiful gray and black stones. Even with the monochrome colors, the beauty astounded me. Light danced along the smooth glassy black portions of the stones, blinking as if showing off. The trail we followed arced upward, taking us into the mountains. The longer we rode, the more the buildings seemed erected as if they were extensions of the mountains themselves.

We climbed higher still.

After riding on the stone street, passing homes and curious gazes from the crowds throughout various points of the ride, large giant gates loomed before us. While the homes and buildings of the city were made from rocks and stone, the entire fortress of a palace protruded from the very mountain itself.

It screamed danger and power as turrets and stone walls jutted from the mountain, like the palace had always been a part of the stone and rock.

Raya, Jax, and Kade each rendered a salute of sorts, touching a fist to their shoulder and bowing their heads as they approached the guards at the gates. The two men standing at attention dipped their heads, and the steel gates opened just enough for us to pass through as we continued up the road to the palace.

Where the palace at Ellevail stood bright, filled with large windows to observe the gardens, this palace in Mysthaven was dark. The windows were smaller, and the glass appeared blacked out, tinted in a way I had never seen before. Columns of stone further accented the fact that parts of the walls seemed to be made of the mountains themselves.

We slowed the horses to a trot as we approached the massive staircase leading to the entrance of the palace. The intricately carved doors, lined in a metal I didn’t recognize, opened with a slow creak.

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