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I had just sliced through a tangle of vegetation blocking the path when a tremor rumbled through the forest. It started low and slow like a ground troll waking from a long slumber. But by the time I’d turned to face the others, the rustling of thousands of leaves intensified, and a crack bellowed through the forest, sending a flock of golden birds into the sky.

“What in the seven hells—” Nyah’s exclamation was cut off as more of the earsplitting sounds erupted, seeming to flow toward us. We were all thrown off balance, stumbling to find our footing as the earth shook violently.

A cloud of dust and debris shot into the air as the thunderous sound grew closer, and in a flash, it was clear what was happening. The trees were being ripped apart like twigs as though an invisible giant were tossing them aside as it headed straight for us.

“Take her and fly!” I shouted, bracing myself.

“No!” Nyah refused. “We are not leaving you.”

“Torvo,” I ground out through clenched teeth. It was both a plea and a threat. I didn’t care if she was mad—I cared if she was alive.

Torvo’s wings sprung free, shredding his shirt. Nyah swore like the dirty little spy she was as Torvo grabbed her around the waist and took off. Relief rushed through me even as the sound grew closer. Trees older than history cracked and plunged into oblivion as an enormous fissure in the shape of a lightning bolt raced toward me, eating through the Night Forest.

I ran. There was a chance I could make it. Though the width of the gaping crack made that unlikely. My mind raced as I swung my blade, surging forward as best I could through the underbrush. Branches, thorns, and shrubs sliced at my skin, peppering the forest with my blood, but I barely felt the sting beneath the adrenaline. The sound of the ground splintering open would add to my nightmares, should I be lucky enough to have any more.

The ground below trembled so hard I was thrown to the side, my shoulder colliding with the trunk of a tree twice my width. Beneath my feet, the twisted roots rose, shorn from the dirt beneath. The fracture was feet away, and I could see it clearly now. The chasm was more than just the jet black of a hole. It was like a void. Like I was staring into…nothing. And from the edges, onyx lines crept out like spiders, the roots of the destroyed trees blackened like they’d been burned. Beneath my boots, the ones I stood on began to darken and shrivel. A spider raced across a patch of the rot, probably as desperate as I was to escape, but when its leg touched the black, it disintegrated.

I sheathed my sword and leapt for the lowest branch, catching it so I swung by my hands, staring below me at the unnatural sight. This was no simple earthquake. This was some form of magic. Had Balram sent this after us?

Whatever it was it had weakened the roots enough that the entire tree began to lean inward toward the crack as the fracture’s leading edge moved past me. I’d been close to escaping. But not close enough it seemed, as the tree groaned, then plummeted toward the void.

I jumped. But I knew there was nowhere to land that wasn’t touched by whatever this was. I held my breath as I sailed through the air, mind filled with only a single regret.

Nyah.

My wheeling arms caught hold of a branch just as I started to descend. I gripped tight, ready to swing to another, but when I glanced up, I realized the tree I held onto was moving. Not falling toward the crack. Not disintegrating at its roots. But spinning away from the disaster and carrying me toward safety. Holding tight, I watched as the thick roots scooted back into an untouched portion of forest, moving like stiff tentacles across the ground.

Once it reached the spot it had risen from—judging by the recently upturned dirt—it sank back into place. The branch I held lowered slowly until it dipped at a sharp downward angle. When it stopped, I released my grip and fell into a soft crouch about five feet from where Nyah and Torvo waited.

Nyah flew forward, colliding with me and wrapping her arms around my waist. I stared at Torvo, still shaken as I patted her back.

“Don’t you EVER send me away again.” Her angry cry was muffled by my chest. She released me and stepped back, swiping at her eyes with the backs of her hands. “I could have gotten us all out much faster with earth wielding if you hadn’t.”

I glanced at the now dormant tree where she rested a palm then back at her before dipping my chin. “I’m not sorry I followed my instinct to protect you. But—” I raised my head, “I am sorry I hadn’t considered the better option first.”

Torvo snorted, and I ignored him. “Nye, I know you are more than capable of defending yourself. You already saved my life in the palace. But I need you to understand that if something happened to you, I’d be as good as destroyed as well.”

Nyah sniffled a little, brushing a leaf from her loose white hair. I cleared my throat, turning back toward the now silent space where dust still bloomed in a cloud as high as the treetops.

“I’ve heard the reports,” Torvo said. “But this was no ordinary storm or earthquake.”

“What reports?” I demanded, facing him.

A rustling in the bushes behind Nyah’s shoulder had me reaching for my sword, but when a shining gilded horn and sleek midnight snout poked through, I relaxed. Torvo reached beside him to stroke Ash’s side without so much as a glance. “Glad you’re alright, old friend. The reports were brought to the king, and I could tell he was not pleased with my presence while receiving them. But it appears there has been increasing activity. I thought it was just in Astridon until now.” He glanced at the cloud behind me. “I’d assumed it was a side effect of the king’s dark magic. Clearly, it’s more widespread than that.”

“If Balram was surprised with the news, that means he isn’t the cause,” Nyah whispered, moving to the other side of Ash who whinnied her approval.

Troubling indeed.

“Let’s keep moving,” I said, striding past them toward where Ash had appeared. “We must be close to the deadlands if the path has opened up again. We can’t do anything until we find out more, and that isn’t going to happen in the Night Forest.”

We traveled in heavy silence the rest of the way, each prisoner of our own dark thoughts. When we reached the border of the deadlands, I stared up at the hill of rocks I’d scaled with Nyah what felt like ages ago. On the other side would be a stretch of open desert, deadly in nature and in its lack of camouflage. As much as I’d love to fish for information, we couldn’t stop in Elvenloft. They’d chosen the king’s side when they’d shot me with a poison arrow and tried to capture Nyah. But it seemed we had no other choice if we wanted to survival⁠—

“Are you alright?” Nyah asked, squeezing my hand.

I grunted in response.

“Thinking about Elora?” she challenged with a nudge, referring to my ex who had betrayed me in Elvenloft.