Bria looked around warily. “Warned you how?”
“That this place lives more in darkness than light.” His gaze swept briefly through the thick woods surrounding them before returning to her once more. “But it is the only way to reach where we must go.”
Bria wished that answer comforted her, but it only added to her unease.
A short distance ahead the forest narrowed further between enormous rock outcroppings thick with moss and tangled vines. What little sunlight remained struggled weakly through the dense canopy above.
Kaelan slowed and stretched his hand out toward her.
Bria took hold of it instantly as though she had no intention whatsoever of letting go until they safely escaped this area.
Hours passed slowly and the forest appeared to keep changing around them. The thick vines hanging from branches overhead resembled great twisted serpents sleeping amongst the trees, and the heavy silence surrounding them pressed so deeply upon her nerves that she found herself stepping closer and closer to Kaelan without realizing it.
He tightened his hold gently around her hand as he asked, “Did you need to stop and rest?”
Bria shook her head immediately. “Nay. The sooner we get out of this forest the better.”
“It should not be long now,” he said, though a sudden unease stirred inside him that he had no wish to pass along to her.
She went to tell him she hoped so but gasped instead as she watched a large man step silently from behind a tree, too silently for someone his size. Then five more men emerged from behind massive tree trunks until six surrounded them completely.
Kaelan reacted instantly, shoving Bria quickly behind him while drawing his sword in one swift motion.
To Bria’s surprise, the men laughed with amusement.
Kaelan swore softly beneath his breath and that more than anything sent fear tightening sharply through her.
She cautiously peered around him and immediately understood why.
None of the men carried a single weapon. Yet they faced Kaelan’s drawn blade with complete confidence. That could mean only one thing… magic.
Bria heard movement before she saw it. The vines suddenly came alive and she cried out when thick lengths twisted violently off nearby trees and whipped at her, wrapping tightly around her ankles and wrists before she fully understood what was happening. More shot toward Kaelan, binding his sword arm and legs so quickly that his weapon slipped from his grasp and landed heavily upon the forest floor.
Kaelan fought, muscles straining violently against the vines tightening around him, but the more he struggled the tighter they wrapped themselves around his arms and chest.
The men laughed harder.
One of them stepped forward and lifted Bria easily over his shoulder despite her furious struggling, while another did the same to Kaelan, vines still binding him tightly as he fought to break free.
“Put me down!” Bria shouted, pounding against the man’s broad back.
The large warrior only laughed again.
Kaelan twisted violently, fury blazing across his face as he fought with all his strength to get to her.
She did the same, though knew it was futile, and yet she had to try. She had to fight, touch him, and feel his love for her as if somehow that would make a difference.
The large men continued to laugh at their useless efforts. They carried both Bria and Kaelan deeper into the dark forest.
Chapter Eighteen
A Surprising Rescue
And the Heart of the Beast
The strange men did not carry them far before the forest finally began to thin around them.
Bria lifted her head enough to see sunlight glimmering faintly through the trees ahead, along with the sound of rushing water growing steadily louder. Moments later the men emerged into a narrow clearing where a wide stream cut through thick moss-covered rocks before disappearing once more into the forest beyond.
