Kade nodded in acknowledgment as Jerah spoke. Florian watched him, but his eyes always darted away from him before they were even close to looking at each other.
Jerah must have sensed their tension. They had walked in silence the last few days, but now his father was chattering away at Florian about all sorts of topics: what the ruined city had been in the distant past; where the Arrow might lie within it; where they would go next; and what meals he would like first when they got home. Florian focused on the quickening spell, but more out of spite than any real desire to talk, he kept up with the conversation, talking loud enough that he was sure Kade could hear them.
They had been walking for several hours when ahead of them Kade suddenly stopped.
“Do you see it?” Jerah asked, abruptly turning his attention away from Florian. Kade nodded, pointing, and Jerah followed the gesture, lifting a hand to cover his eyes despite their goggles.
“There,” was all Kade said. Florian squinted, and he could just make out what he thought Kade was pointing at—blocky, square shapes along a hillside in the distance, more man-made in appearance than the rock formations around it.
“I see,” Jerah said, nodding decisively. “That must be it. Stay on your guard, boys. No telling what we might find. Florian, drop the quickening spell.”
Florian nodded, letting the magic dissipate. At a normal pace now, Florian soon discerned through the light what must have once been a path becoming apparent under their feet. It was dusty and much of the stone had started to crumble away, but there was a pattern to the stonework that seemed like it may have once been a careful geometric design.
“Wait,” Kade hissed, holding a hand out. Florian froze, and Jerah took one careful step forward to peer past Kade.
“It's dead, I think,” he said, taking another step.
“What is it?” Florian asked, stepping closer; but as soon as he could see past them, he caught sight of it. A mound of flesh laid in the center of the walkway, unmoving. It must have once been some kind of Blighted creature with a thick, craggy hide similar to the pig-like beasts they had seen a few days ago, but longer, more feline in form—almost like a very large fox, though it didn't seem to have fur. Florian was certain they had not seen a creature like this in their travels so far.
“I don't know,” Jerah said, confirming his thoughts. “Something dead in the middle of the road can't be a good sign, though. Stay sharp.”
Kade nodded, drawing his sword; but they crept closer to it all the same. Florian couldn't hear anything—didn't see any movement that might indicate that there were more creatures nearby—so when they got up to it, he paused to inspect the body more closely. Up close, it looked much more like a big cat, maybe some kind of bobcat or cougar, and—
He frowned. “Look, it's burned.”
He felt Jerah come up next to him, and looking down he pointed to where its face was pressed into the dirt. There Florian saw the few lingering patches of dirty brown fur, but everywhere that was exposed to the light had burned and blackened into a hard layer. It had resembled the thick plate hides of the pig creatures from a distance, but looking closely he could now see that the cat had been burnt into a crisp by the Blight. Turning to face Jerah, he could see his father was frowning in thought.
“I thought the creatures that still lived in the Blight couldn't be killed by it,” he said. “Like they evolved or something.”
“Normally that’s the case,” Jerah agreed. “I'm not sure what might have killed this thing, then, or how long it may have been here.”
Florian looked back down at it. Had something else killed it, and the Blight had just burned it away over time? He couldn't see any other kind of injury, but its body was so blackened that it could have been hiding any number of wounds or markings.
A thought occurred to him, and before he could talk himself out of it, he reached down and touched the creature near its shoulder. The burnt fur crumbled under his fingers. Above him Jerah hissed.
“Don't touch it!” he exclaimed, moving to pull Florian away. He paused, though, as Florian let his hand trail from its shoulder down along its face, where the last remaining patches of fur were pressed into the dirt. “I... Well, that's a clever thought, but I don't know if that will work, Florian.”
“Me neither,” he said, pulling his hand away.
“Maybe let's not try that now,” Jerah continued, looking down at the creature's dead body suspiciously. “I think trying to shift into a mystery beast is perhaps not the best use of our time at the moment, especially if the Blight did kill it.”
Kade's footsteps crunched from behind them, and he walked past them without looking at the creature.
“Yeah, alright,” Florian sighed, standing up straight and dusting his hands off on his pants. Jerah's gaze was still following Kade as he moved further down the path.
“I was hoping he might be in a better mood today,” he muttered, leaning closer to Florian as they started to follow. “Did something else happen? I don't think I've ever seen him this sulky before.”
Florian flushed bright red, but luckily Jerah was still looking curiously toward Kade.
“I don't know,” he replied quickly, but before Jerah could keep questioning him, something in the air changed. It was hard to pinpoint, but they both must have felt it, coming to a stop at the same moment.
“Do you feel that?” Jerah said, looking down at him. Florian nodded.
“What is it?” he asked, rubbing his arms. The air somehow felt thicker around him, clinging to him as he moved. “It feels... like static, almost.”
“Magic,” he answered, looking toward Kade again. “Kade, wait.” Obediently Kade paused, glancing back at them, but Jerah had already turned his attention back to Florian. “It must be the magic of the Arrow. I knew it was powerful, but I hadn't expected an... an aura, or whatever this is. We're definitely close.”
Florian looked back at the dead creature in the road behind them, thinking. “Maybe that's what kept them safe, and that one went too far into the Blight, where it couldn't reach.”
