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Emilie stared at her hands as if they didn’t belong to her. Her face drained of color. I understood the feeling.
I rose to my feet and brushed the dirt from my chest and back. We were nestled between two walls of dark green bushes, like the hedge gardens back home. Except I couldn’t see the end of the row through the hazy mist.
I shivered, looking left to right, wondering which way to go. “We should move.”
Emilie stood, brushing her wild hair from her face. “Which way?”
When I didn’t respond, she raised her hand, her eyes narrowing in on the dense fog. Her power of wind might’ve been able to lift the haze and clear our path.
She stood frozen for a moment, summoning her magic, but then she crashed to her knees, throwing her hands to her temples and screaming.
I rushed to her side while she continued to cry in agony. I tugged at her hands, unsure what was wrong with her. “Emilie, what is it?”
Whatever pain she was enduring was internal. There was nothing I could do.
Finally, after what felt like hours, she slid her hands over her face and let them fall to her lap. She looked exhausted and was breathing rapidly. She whispered, “My magic…it’s gone.”
“No.” I shook my head and backed away. “No.”
The echoes of her screams made me hesitate for a moment. But ultimately, I directed my power to the ground a few feet in front of me. I concentrated on the dirt, what it would be like to melt it into mud, for it to sink and flow like a river.
It didn’t take long for a searing pain to shoot through my head. Lightning dashed across my mind, electrifying every one of my senses. My vision went white and I couldn’t feel anything other than the burning flames licking at my fingertips.
Oh gods, what was this?
My intestines felt like they were being dissolved by acid and my ribs were being cracked in half, one by one.
When it finally ended, I was in the fetal position, my stomach still reeling from the violent experience. I squinted. There was no daylight to be found, but even the white fog was too much for my blinding headache.
“Are you all right?” Emilie asked. I caught her feet moving toward me out of the corner of my eye.
“Obviously not,” I spat. Her feet retreated.
My skin was still on fire, though the cool mist helped to ease my suffering. I heard Emilie moving to my left.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
“Gods, you’re insufferable,” I muttered under my breath. She shuffled her feet farther away from me. “Wait.”
I stood on shaky legs, not fully recovered yet. But I couldn’t let her wander off on her own. We still had no idea where we were. Where were the masked soldiers? Where did this path lead?
Following her lead, I headed down the left side. It was a fifty-fifty shot to nowhere. We walked slowly; my ears perked for any noise of an oncoming slaughter.
Perhaps this was a game? They wanted to sneak up on us like they had at Fort Malek.
Something in my gut churned. The attack…did Cyrus make it out? Was he here somewhere?
A sense of urgency washed over me and I picked up my pace, Emilie right beside me. I was keenly aware of the fact that all of my weapons had been removed. If we came across any of our enemies, we’d be completely defenseless. Even our magic was no use.
A howling noise came from behind us. We both turned toward the sound, Emilie’s eyes wide and frightened. I was more angry than terrified. Angry that we’d ever gotten into this situation, but not stupid enough to think we weren’t in danger.
We were very much in danger.
“Run,” I said.
And we sprinted along the dirt path. The towering hedges next to us were endless. For all I knew, we could’ve been running straight into a trap, but what other option did we have?
