Page 154 of Keldori By Daybreak

“We have a better chance, but Orla and the others don’t,” I asserted. “We’re short on time as is. If we go north and take the safe route through Riverstead, we’re almost certain to take too long, right?”

Ciarán nodded. “That is correct.”

“And if we go south, we might shave a couple days off that time, but we’ll be dodging rotsbane, and it still might not be enough?”

“That is also correct, but Wren—”

“No one has ever come out of the strath, but how many have gone in?”

“I’m not sure.”

“And is there anyone on the other side checking to see if people come back out? Or is this all hearsay?”

“Four hundred years worth of hearsay is still—”

“And didn’t you just say this morning that most Magicians aren’t capable of more than cheap magick tricks?”

“Yes.”

I straightened up and brushed onchú hair off the leather armor strapped over my hoodie.

“We are stronger than most Magicians, I thought. We don’t have time to go around, and we can’t afford to fail.”

Ciarán nodded and turned to look back at the valley. “You are in charge—”

“No. I’m not making you go into the strath if you don’t want to,” I said. “But you have to see that it’s the only way.”

“I do, my Lady.” He took my hand in his. “I wish it wasn’t, though.”

“I wish most of this wasn’t the only way.” I laughed as we took on the decline together with Una padding after us.

“Most of this?” He smirked at me.

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

Glowing spores rose to meet us, and I curled my fingers to catch one in my palm, already doubting our path forward. “Does it have Skal in it?”

“It must.” Ciarán frowned at the spore constellations gathering around us. Una leapt and tried to catch a glowing bit in her mouth, but it drifted out of reach of her teeth.

“What if it is poisonous?” I asked.

Ciarán shook his head and pointed towards the colossal fungal stalks where an owl perched on a ridge, hooting at the oncoming night. “If it were, there wouldn’t be wild animals. And Una doesn’t seem to mind it.”

Una jumped again, pawing at the spores with her talons.

We descended into the ambient glow of the cloud, and while the spores lit the strath in hues of blue, it was hard to see far through the muggy haze. Condensation and sweat stuck to my forehead, but I didn’t dare take off my armor and hoodie, no matter how humid it became. The slope leveled out, and we stared at the bright shadows sifting between the fungal stalks.

The silence was as stifling as the air was thick. The soft dirt, the heavy air, and the massive bodies of dark fungus absorbed all the sounds of a usual forest. I scratched at the short hairs on the back of my head just to check that I could still hear at all.

“Back onto Una,” Ciarán suggested. “I don’t want to spend longer inside than we have to.”

“Right.” I let Ciarán help me onto Una, and then offered my hand to help him up after me. “First Magicians to make it through Mycastrath?”

He wrapped an arm around my waist. “You do love making history.”

Una lurched forward, sprinting into the fungal forest. Spores stirred in our wake, and an owl glided overhead.

Something in this forest killed Magicians. If it wasn’t the spores, maybe it was some beast hiding in their haze. I scanned ruffled trunks, some of them large enough to fit Gams’s marina shop within their diameter.