I leapt—not away but toward the beast, my body coiled tight.
The bird hesitated—a fatal mistake.
I spun in the air, drawing on every scrap of magic, every last drop of will. My hand, aglow with an inner fire, struck true. A terrible crack sounded, like thunder following lightning, as my magic surged into the bird's chest.
For a heartbeat, all held still.
Then the giant creature fell to the ground. Dead.
I dropped to my knees in front of it, its defeat a bitter taste on my tongue. Without the bird hunting me, spying on me, I could better carry out this mission. Without it, I might just stand a chance.
Legacy, I thought, wiping a stray tear from my face,I've won another day without you.
Chapter
Thirty
The moon hung like a thin crescent, barely shedding enough light to reveal the underbrush in the forest as I made my way to the clearing where Ehuna had instructed me to meet her.
"Collie," a voice called, barely above a whisper.
Ehuna, standing like a sentinel among the shadows, her white sigils glowing faintly against her brown skin. Her horse stood nearby, tethered to a tree.
“You’re early,” I noted. “Or am I late?”
Her eyes met mine, sharp as flint, as she held up a roll of parchment. The one about Legacy. My empty heart panged.
"I found this by your bed as we were packing up our camp to move out. Tell me about the messenger who delivered this to you."
No hello or how are you. Just an order that made no sense to me. “Why?”
“Just tell me,” she said, her tone a dagger’s edge.
"Okay… Can't say he left much of an impression since I had just opened my eyes for the first time in…"
“Weeks,” she filled in for me.
I winced. Had I been unconscious that long?
Ehuna's gaze didn't waver. "We must consider every detail. His appearance, his manner… Did anything strike you as odd?"
"He said his name was Tim, which I suppose is a bit too…ordinary? Like he was meant to be forgotten."
"Describe him," she pressed, her voice laced with suspicion that mirrored the sudden tension knotting in my gut.
"Average height, average looks. Youngish, maybe eighteen. Blond hair. Caputo armor. Honestly, it's all a bit hazy." I shrugged.
Ehuna's lips thinned, the lines of her face hardening like they did when a battle plan formed behind those calculating eyes. "You said his name is Tim." Her voice sounded like a low hum, vibrating with the weight of unspoken fears. "I don’t have a messenger in my camp named Tim. Not among my scouts, not in my ranks."
Her admission hung in the air between us, heavy as an executioner's ax.
"What? But he was real. The parchment is real, and…" The implications of what she’d said shot a tremble down my shoulder blades.
She exhaled slowly, the sound almost lost to the rustle of leaves in the gentle breeze. "We’ve discovered underground tunnels in many of our fortresses and camps. This Tim, despite his armor, might have been a Montrose or a Caputo working for Tannin. This reeks of deceit and manipulation."
“What are you saying?” I whispered, instinctively reaching for Legacy’s bracelet on my wrist. A reminder of the touch of my flame-haired enemy who had somehow slipped past my defenses.
“Here.” Ehuna handed me the parchment. "Look at it closely. That seal isn't just any glob of wax, and there is no name written on the outside of the parchment itself."
