Thankfully, my boots kept my feet dry as I splashed through the shallow, icy water and stumbled onto the rocky shore of the other side. I clambered up a small hill as the dog turned and ran away again.
“Ellery!” Scarlet shouted from behind me.
“Ellery!” Ianto boomed.
The distress in their voices told me they’d lost track of me. “Here!” I yelled but didn’t slow.
I didn’t have time to wait for them, but I couldn’t let them think I’d vanished. They could open a portal and return to thecamp, but they wouldn’t if they feared something truly bad had happened to me.
Hopefully, they could follow my voice as I shouted out to them every few seconds. And I really hoped I wasn’t leading them toward a trap.
I scampered up another hill and slid down the other side. At the bottom of the knoll, I paused to pull an arrow from my quiver; I jammed it into the ground to help reassure them they were on the right path.
When I rounded another bend, I spotted the black dog fifty feet ahead. The creature stood in the center of an aisle created by the large, intertwined trees lining it.
Leaves and debris kicked out from under my feet when I skidded to a halt at the edge of the trees. My heart sank as I took them in; the creature hadn’t been leading me to Ryker. It was taking me to thesetrees.
It was strange to see the dog sitting beneath trees that, at one time, had come alive to kill some of its brethren. At the time, the dogs were attacking me and Mouse, and the trees had other plans for us. They’d fended off the black dogs before dragging us beneath the earth to the tunnels and gargoyles below.
The Revenant Woods had decided to hit me over the head with a sign that the forest was indeed a living, mystical creation all its own. And it wanted mehere. But more than that, it wanted the gargoylesfree.
However, we’d agreed to keep them imprisoned. I also didn’t have thetime for this right now. Ryker was in jeopardy, and instead of taking me to him, the forest had lured me here.
And I’d stupidly gone against my instincts to trust the woods.What was I thinking?
My stupidity could have cost Ryker’s life, and it most certainly delayed me from helping him. He wouldn’t have made this mistake.
“No,” I moaned.
The black dog’s eyes blazed impossibly brighter in the unnatural gloom the intertwined trees created beneath them. Even in the middle of the winter, with most of their leaves gone, the branches still blocked much of the sunlight as they hooked and curved around each other like friends interlocking legs and elbows.
The depth of their entanglement made it impossible for anything to grow beneath them. Their leaves had fallen with the changing light, but the wind, or quite possibly the trees’ roots, had swept them away to leave most of the land beneath them clean of debris.
The black dog continued to stare expectantly at me as it sat. I knew it was waiting for me to walk out there so the trees could drag me down to the gargoyles below.
These trees protected those creatures, and they were making it clear that they wanted the gargoyles to be free. Only Ryker or I, with our lightning ability, could do that.
While my guilt ate at me every day about keeping the gargoyles imprisoned below, we couldn’t risk them turning on us and killing us, especially since only lightning bearers could trap them. They could help us against the nobles or make things far worse in Tempest, which was something I hadn’t believed possible until discovering the stone creatures beneath the earth.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Ellery
The dog’sblack tongue rolled out as it stared expectantly like a puppy looking to play fetch. My every interaction with these creatures had been one of life or death, but I was curious to see what it would do if I threw it a stick.
I shook my head at the idea. Most likely, it would jam that stick down my throat.
Before, the forest had always let nature take its course within its trees, but that had changed. I didn’t know if it was because the woods had decided it wanted the gargoyles freed or if it was because the forest also didn’t like how Tempest was being run.
It certainly hadn’t enjoyed being set on fire.
Or maybe something else had changed things. The forest had known for years I was a lightning bearer. I’d killed more than a few black dogs and other creatures with my lightning before, but the trees had never used any creatures to lure me to them.
Maybe our discovery of these trees, or the Heart of Stone, or the gargoyles had changed things… or perhaps it was time for achange in Tempest. I was certain most of the amsirah were ready for one.
The change could also be that Ryker and I have found each other.That possibility niggled at the back of my mind as I studied the black dog.
If I went out there now, the trees would come alive, and their roots would drag me into the tunnels below. They’d brought me here to free the gargoyles, but I couldn’t help feeling betrayed by them.
