“That’s the way then,” I said.
Before we started into the unknown, I set my remaining arrow on the ground and pointed it in the direction we were going. When the trees dragged us below, Farley remained behind and would go for help.
If Ryker was at the encampment, he would come, but we couldn’t stay here to wait for him. I’d much prefer to be free of this place before Ryker placed himself in a position to be trapped here with us.
I quelled my unease over the possibility as I stared at the arrow. I didn’t want Ryker here, but if we didn’t get out before he arrived, he had to know which way we’d gone.
Trying to hide my unease, I smiled at Mouse as my lightning rose up my arms to my elbows. Its glow created a circle that illuminated the tunnel about twenty feet in all directions.
Mouse and I walked further down the tunnel and deeper beneath the earth.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
Ryker
“Here!”Farley shouted. “Here’s where it happened!”
Now that night had completely descended, the thick canopy of the trees above made it almost impossible to see anything. When I let the lightning at my fingers increase to illuminate more trees, a rustling came from the leaves overhead.
Beneath the glow of my light, I immediately recognized the bloodthirsty trees that once tried to kill me and Ellery. I was glad I hadn’t opened a portal, as these weren’t the same trees Ellery and I encountered; these weren’t in the same section of forest.
I kept an eye on the trees as I remained at the edge of the clearing they’d created beneath their boughs. The intertwined canopy of the trees was so thick that little sun penetrated their leaves, which didn’t allow anything to grow between them.
Those same connected branches strengthened the trees, so they didn’t break apart or shed their debris like other trees did in a storm. A cluster of large rocks was in the center of the cleared pathway. They formed a small circle.
Nothing stirred beneath the trees, and I saw no sign of a fight or disturbance of roots on the ground. There was no sign Ellery or Mouse had been here.
“Are you sure this is the right area?” I asked Farley. “I’ve encountered trees like these before, in a different location, and I don’t see any sign of a fight.”
And Ellery would have fought ruthlessly against black dogs and these trees. The reminder of the black dogs shifted my attention to the woods.
“Keep an eye out for those dogs,” I told Tucker.
“On it.”
“This is the right area, Twinkle Toes.” Farley whizzed past me and further into the trees. He pointed to something on the ground, but it was too far away for me to see. “Here’s their blood.”
I scowled at the poltergeist but ignored his words as I stepped out of the woods and under the canopy of the trees. I only made it two feet before Tucker grasped my arm.
“Wait,” he said.
The look I gave him caused his eyes to widen. His hands tightened on my arm before easing again.
“For what?” I growled.
“We don’t know what will happen once you walk out there.”
“I know what will happen, and it doesn’t matter. If they took her, then I’m going after her.”
A small murmur went through the crowd behind me. I glanced back to see that most of the encampment had followed us. The children and some adults had remained behind, but the rest had come for Ellery.
Tucker cast his voice low as he spoke again. “She could be dead, Ryker.”
Whatever he saw on my face caused him to snatch his hand away. “She’s alive… for now.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Yes, Ican.”
