Page 36 of A Blightress of Wrath
Theeyes of seven stared unflinchingly back at theBaronsofFelgrenin silence.
Henodded, continuing, “It’smore than likely theBlightressused her connection toPhiliusthrough the remnants of theBlackFever.Thisfeels like a trap to captureKarusor any of you.Butwe will not leave one of our own behind.Beon your guard and let the more experienced of us protect you should you need it.Doyou all remember how to shield?”
Anagreement of nods rumbled through them.EvenNyeimahwas able to produce a small bit of her silver magic to use.
“Good,”Revcontinued, “Nowwe follow this trail.Wehave a few hours yet before it becomes too dangerous to continue.”
“Thistrail is haunted,BaronRevich,”Ilyennacalled, cradling her swollen belly.
Imimicked her movement.
“It’sjust a trail,Ilyenna,” he returned, continuing upward, keeping my hand in his.
Ihoped he was right.
* * *
Philius’sbootprintsin the snow were the only indication of life along the abandoned trail.Noanimal prints, no foliage along the path, no evidence revealed that this trail was regularly traversed by anyone or anything.Weclimbed for another hour in our line with little said and cloaks pulled tightly around our shoulders.Revichled us, sending a warming spell behind to help with the ever-pressing chill of silent, cold earth.Snowfell lightly on our shoulders, but not enough to coverPhilius’stracks.
Wecouldn’t be too far from him, though it’d be hard to catch up unless he stopped.Thetrail thinned and we had no choice but to take it one by one, sticking close to the left side of the rocky hill.Thetrail dropped off into a treacherous fall on the right if we dared veer too close to the edge.
Weneared the crest of the hill, andIheld on to the sharp rocks beside me to keep pushing forward.Icystone, coarse and jagged, met my fingers, andIpulled my hand back as if burned.Myheart thundered in my chest as a deep well of cold flowed over my skin.
“Whatis it?”Revfaced me, grabbing onto my waist and calling for a halt.
Alleyes fell on me asItried to catch my breath, reaching out to the rock once more.Ipicked at the layered stone, ignoring the break of my fingernails, using both hands to pull chunks of the rock away.Piecessplit into long rectangular flakes, andIlet them fall to the snow at my boots.Ibent down to look into the divotIcreated along the rock wall, confirming whatIhad just felt down my fingers.Asubtle golden light pulsed, andIfollowed it, using my fingers to dig.Ilyennagasped behind me as the root came free from the rocky depths.Itwas black like theBlightwith a golden light that flowed down the thick of it to a well-timed, steady heartbeat.
“Ifelt it,”Isaid, staring at the root thatRevreached out to touch. “Ifelt it through the rock.”Igrabbed his arm. “TheBlightressis here.Thisis hers.”Myeyes shot up above us, unable to see what was at the top of the hill, knowing that whatever it was, our lives were about to change once more.
“Shieldsup,”Revcalled, holding his own hand out in front of him as a thin glow of his fiery walls encased his body. “Beon your guard.Followorders,”Revcommanded. “Ifwe say run, you run.Youget back to the farm, regardless of who joins you.”
Talongrumbled, “Ithought we weren’t leaving any of our own behind,Baron.”
Therewas a murmur of agreement.
Ismirked and raised my brows atRevwho frowned.Iturned back around, agreeing, “No, we don’t.Sticktogether.Imade a promise to get all of us back toFelgren, andIplan to keep it.”
Ilooked back atRevwith a grin, suggesting more confidence thanIfelt.
Hisface turned to stone. “Ilove you,” he said, his black eyes flicking blue.
Ifrowned at his tone. “Andyou’ll love me still when we havePhiliusback, so don’t you dare say it like a goodbye.”
Hechuckled and nodded, turning around and leading the way up.
Ikept my hand along the rocky wall as we climbed.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
TheheartbeatIknew well was much slower than what thrummed in my chest as the horizon view changed, and we reached the top of the hill’s summit.Thesnow became deeper, encasing the ground in a layer of sharp ice.Thesound of our footsteps would have alerted anyone listening as the loud crunch sounded over and over from the nine bodies approaching the massive grove of trees ahead.
Theyloomed at the crest of the hill in an endless array of ragged black branches and pulsing lights at the trunk of each.Dimcolors hummed in green, red, blue, silver, and gold—every colorI’dever seen a channeler or conduit produce rose and fell in the hazy morning sun.
“Hisprints lead into this grove,”Revcalled in front of us.
“Thesetrees lookBlighted,”Iadmitted, crunching through more ice to approach the nearest one.Iheard the unsheathing of a sword just behind me and turned quickly to seeMychaelgripping one in his hand. “Idon’t remember you bringing any weapons with you toFelgren,”Iremarked.
