Samara
I frownedat the wall surrounding the Millfell outpost and tugged my cloak closer around me despite the warm spring air. Our ride here had been uneventful, but a cloud of tension seemed to descend on everyone and only got worse when we arrived at the fallen outpost. It just looked so… normal.
All of the defenses appeared to be intact. It was a beautiful day, and there were rows of flowers blooming around the gates entering the town.
We should have been listening to the outpost residents bustling around, finishing their chores before night fell. Maybe some children running around playing. Instead, there was only silence. Stark, deafening silence.
My internal dread only increased the lower the sun sank in the sky.
It would be dark soon, and we’d be staying here tonight. I inhaled a deep breath and did my best not to think about it.
I agreed with Vail’s decision for us to stay here instead of traveling back to Faybell. Traveling at night was too dangerous, especially with the horses, who would advertise our presence with every step and snort. I needed to make the trip here worthit, which meant I needed to focus and not freak out about spending the night in an outpost that had already been brushed by death.
“The wards look fine.” Alaric’s words jolted me out of thoughts, and my head snapped away from the wall I’d been staring at to him.
Those were the first words he’d spoken to me all day. Although he wasn’t exactly talking to me, more so thinking out loud.
I’d overheard him and Kieran exchanging harsh whispers this morning, but they’d both stopped at my approach. Alaric had stalked away, and Kieran had simply planted a kiss on my lips before telling me to be careful.
I hadn’t pushed Alaric to talk, mostly because I’d expected that we’d just argue, and I wouldn’t apologize for what was happening between me and Kieran.
My feelings about it were complicated enough without having to deal with Alaric’s shit on top of it. Although, I’d realized on the ride here that I actuallydidlike working with Alaric. He was an arrogant prick, but he was also incredibly smart and often brought up flaws in my plans or thinking. Our working relationship wasn’t perfect, but it was getting better, and I didn’t want to lose that, so I decided to seize this opportunity and work with him on the problem at hand.
“Agreed.” I crouched down next to the faint, dark red line that ran around the base of the perimeter fence.
Blood wards were some of the simplest spells, but they required a lot of blood to set up. Everyone who had lived in this outpost had donated theirs, and it had failed them.
I wanted to know why.
Alaric rose from where he was crouching and moved further down the fence before repeating the move. I did the same in the opposite direction. Emil went with Alaric, and Nyx followed me, keeping silent watch while I worked.
“There are no weak points, no broken segments,” I said when Alaric and I met on the other side of the outpost. “Did you see anything?”
He shook his head. “Either whatever was done to the wards was temporary, or the wraiths have found a way to pass through them.”
We were fucked either way. The blood wards had been a game changer for all of us, Velesians and Furies included. My generation had been born into relative safety as long as we stayed behind the wards. The previous generations had lived in a world where the monsters could attack at any moment, and they had.
The only reason our populations were steadily growing was because of the safety the blood wards provided.
I could tell by the deep crease between his brows that Alaric was having similar thoughts. We had to figure out a solution to this before more outposts fell and everyone started to panic.
“Let’s look inside. Maybe we can find some clues there,” I suggested.
The rangers followed Alaric and I back around the outpost to where Vail and Adrienne waited. I braced myself for whatever caustic comment Vail was going to make about how pointless it was to bring us, but he just looked us over and, upon seeing our frustrated expressions, moved towards the front gates.
Not before I saw the flash of disappointment across his face, though. Vail might hate me and be pissed about being ordered to bring us here, but he wanted to find out just as badly as we did why the blood wards were failing.
The silence as we entered the outpost set my nerves even further on edge. Aside from the lack of people, it looked like your typical outpost village. In front of us, a wide path led tothe tavern. On either side were small shops and stalls where vendors could sell their wares.
I trailed my fingers across some sturdy dresses and tunics that were still hanging on one of the stalls, waiting for someone to buy them. Clothing, tools, and other items were displayed in the others.
This outpost was small enough that nobody was worried about theft. They’d probably been a tight-knit community that only saw the occasional visitors. This far off the main road, there wasn’t much reason to come here unless you were visiting someone.
I veered off the path I was on and down one of the side streets to where the houses were.
A discarded doll lay on the steps outside of a simple but well-kept cottage, and I went still. It wore a dress that had seen better days. Even from here, I could see where the fabric had been patched.
Had the child dropped it on their way to bed? Or had they woken up during the attack and grabbed it while they ran from the house?