Chapter Eight
Floriancouldfeelthemagicintheairgrowingstronger,untilitpracticallythrummedagainsthisskin.Theremnantsofastonepathwereundertheirfeet,leadingthemuphilltowardthatunmistakablesensation—itdidn’ttakelongforthecrumbledremainsofavillagetostartpoppinguparoundthem,too.Thefirsttoappearwerechunksofwhathadoncebeenastonewallalongthepath,mostofitcrumblingtodustnow,butoccasionallywithafewfeetstillstandingadjacenttothepath.
Then small structures appeared among the hills: stone buildings that were barely more than huts. Even from a distance, they looked rudimentary, and scattered between them stood charred husks of other buildings—some made of wood that had burned away, the rest stone that still lingered.
“Stop,” Kade hissed, grabbing Florian by the shoulder. “Look.” He pointed, but Florian could already see. Walking between two buildings was another creature ambling on two legs, like the creature they had just slain. They were far enough that it didn’t seem to notice them.
“What the hell is going on?” Florian whispered, as they shuffled toward one of the half-crumbled stone fences along the path and crouched behind it. “They have to be Blight monsters, right? How can they walk like that?”
“I don’t know,” Kade said, eyes narrowing as he looked toward the village. “I’m not sure what’s going on. But it has to be in there.”
“I think so,” Florian sighed. “Can you feel it? The magic?”
“Sort of. Not really.”
“It’s definitely nearby.”
“Then we have to keep going,” Kade said, glancing back at him, and silently Florian nodded. “Follow me. Maybe if we’re quiet we can get by without it noticing.”
“There must be more,” Florian protested, glancing back over the fence. Only the one was visible from here, but...
“We’ll deal with it then,” Kade affirmed, lightly touching his forearm. “Let’s worry about this one first.”
Florian hesitated, eyes flickering between the unknown and Kade’s determined expression. “Okay,” he relented, and with one last squeeze of his arm Kade crept forward, motioning for Florian to follow. They darted from one section of stone fence to the next, staying beneath the slight cover it gave them. After a moment the panther-like creature disappeared into one of the small stone huts; and with a quick nod, Kade broke into a rapid walk past the cluster of buildings. Florian hurried after him.
Once they had passed the cluster of buildings, they crested the hill where the last piece of stone fence stood crumbling, and saw that the path was clear the rest of the way down. From there, Florian could also see the rest of the village nestled at the bottom of the hill. A few more stone buildings were set up, and in the center was another stone monument that was similar to the one that they had seen on the way into the ruins. And there, gleaming in the light, the Golden Arrow was perched carefully at the very top of the structure.
“That’s it,” Florian gasped the moment it came into view. “Holy shit, it’s right there.”
“I see it,” Kade said. Florian started to step forward, but Kade grabbed his wrist, stilling him. “Wait. There must be more. And if it’s on that shrine thing...”
“They’ll definitely see us,” Florian agreed, stepping back and looking toward him. “Do you think we can sneak up to it? I don’t see any of them outside.”
“Worth a try,” Kade said, his eyes still on the Arrow. “We should be ready to fight, though. Even if we can sneak up, something tells me they’ll know the second we have it.”
“Yeah,” Florian sighed. Kade drew his sword, so Florian pulled his sword out, too. “You go. I’ll follow.”
Kade nodded, his eyes flickering between the shrine and the stone buildings surrounding it, watching for any sign of movement. But everything remained quiet and still, so cautiously he started making his way down the hill, Florian following closely. Only the crunching sound of their footsteps broke the silence around them, but nothing seemed to notice them as they slowly approached.
“Florian,” Kade whispered, pausing against the wall of the first building they approached. “Let’s just try and get out of here quickly. I’ll shift and run to grab it. I think we’re close enough that the shroud should hold.”
Florian hesitated, eyeing the path downhill. It did seem just close enough that the shroud should still stretch. He could inch closer, and if Kade was fast enough, he could just grab the Arrow, run back to him, and he could teleport them back to the wolf kingdom right away. He didn’t see any of the creatures, but there were sure to be more.
Kade was certainly faster than he was, and Florian was unsure if he could hold the shroud and shift at the same time. Though with the creatures walking around, it seemed possible that the Blight couldn’t touch them here—but they had no way of knowing for sure, and it was too dangerous to try and test the theory. He would have to maintain the shroud. He could only hope that he’d be strong enough to cover Kade if any more of the strange panther-like creatures appeared.
“Okay,” he said, looking up at Kade. “I’ll try and get a bit closer too, just in case. So I can have your back if anything happens, too.”
Kade hesitated, worrying his lower lip between his teeth as he shot one last look down toward the Arrow before finally nodding in agreement.
“Ready?” he asked, and Florian nodded, despite his heart hammering in his chest. Kade shifted, his body aglow with tangerine light until his familiar wolf form stood in front of Florian. The wolf’s ears pressed flat to his skull as soon as he appeared, his nostrils flaring—he must have smelled something Florian couldn’t. He looked up at Florian with an inscrutable expression—without being a wolf himself, Kade was nearly impossible to read.
“Still good?” Florian asked, the change in his demeanor making him nervous. Kade glanced down toward the Arrow for a moment, then looked back up at Florian and nodded. “Okay... Whenever you’re ready, then.” Kade nodded once more, then turned to run down the path.
Florian tightened his grip on his sword and took a few cautious steps behind him, hugging the stone buildings, as Kade galloped right down the center of the path.
The moment Kade was out in the open, though, a cacophony of screeching and hissing erupted from around them. Two panther creatures leapt out from their stone shelters toward Kade, and Florian could hear the sound of many more coming from within the other homes.
“Shit,” Florian hissed, then held out his hand toward the first two creatures charging Kade and shouted, “You’re blind!”
