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Stepping forward, I shoved my hand back into the barrier and began to pull the magic to my skin, using the same spell I’d used to get myself out. This time, I kept my eyes open, watching as the barrier began to bubble and spit, moving back from my arm. It tried to push me out, but I wouldn’t let it. Instead, I grabbed Lachlan by the shirt and yanked him free, tossing him to the ground. I didn’t have time to see if he was okay. The other two couldn’t hold their breath much longer. Working quickly, I moved on to Trace and then Merrick.
They both stumbled as they burst free, and by the time they regained their balance, Lach was on his feet too. All three of them looked at me with something like awe in their eyes.
“What was that, Ari?” Merrick asked, his amber eyes shining with curiosity.
Lachlan shook his head, smiling at me. “Fuckin’ impressive shite, whatever it was. Though yer skin was on fire, did you know that?”
I chuckled and smiled, holding up my arm to show that there was no damage. Trace walked over next to me, lifting my arm to examine it closer, his fingertips making a new kind of fire flare in my veins as he examined my skin.
“I wonder how many gods you pissed off with that one,” he murmured. “It was brilliant.”
When we’d all regained our equilibrium, we stood shoulder-to-shoulder outside of the barrier, scanning the wilderness around us.
“It’s still the same landscape,” I said, not sure if I should feel happy or sad about that.
Merrick nodded. “It’s the same world, but I won’t lie, it all seems a bit more threatening and ominous on this side.”
Just as he said that, a large bird dove from the sky several yards away from us. Its talons closed around what looked like some kind of large magical cat, grabbing the animal by the throat and ripping it in half as it flew off.
Cringing, Lachlan looked over at us. “Ye think?”
Chapter Sixteen
“Kill it!” Merrick yelled across the clearing.
I grabbed both straps of the magical weapon that I had created out of nothing and yanked hard, not really sure what to expect. We had gotten very creative in our time on the other side of the gods’ boundary wall. As I yanked, the jagged edges of my magical weapon sliced through the three-headed beast’s neck, dropping it to the ground. Immediately, the men all sent blasts of magical fire at it, burning the thing almost instantly to ash.
Trace walked up next to me, brushing off his hands. “It’s a good thing we figured out that we have to actually burn the beasts to ash or they regenerate. I’m pretty sure on the first day, that rhinoceros-like creature was the same one over and over again. We just kept killing it, and it just kept coming back and hunting us down.”
I chuckled and nodded. “You’re probably right. Live and learn, right?”
Lachlan strode up to the top of the crest ahead of us and then turned, pulling a face. “Hey ladies, why don’t ye take a look at what I found. I’m not sure if this is good news or bad.”
I shoved my knife back into the pocket on the side of my bag and sighed. “I really hate it when he starts a sentence off like that. None of us are ladies here.”
Trace just laughed as we headed toward Lach, climbing up the embankment. Standing side-by-side, we stared down at an enormous rushing river in front of us. It was wide, and so deep that it made the water look almost black. I smiled, realizing that I knew exactly what that was. “It’s the River of Souls.”
Trace wrinkled his nose. “Is that like the River Styx?”
I trotted down the embankment toward the river, shaking my head. “Not really. But it means we have to be on the right track. According to what I read in the library, the seat of godly powers is contained within a river that flows like a giant circle around the place all the gods call their home. Which means, if this is that river and not some sort of trick, we just have to get across it. The gods’ city should be on the other side.
Merrick lifted an eyebrow. “You know you just said we need to figure out some way to get across this giant river, right? The fucking enormous one in front of us?”
Lachlan rolled up his sleeves and walked toward it. “Eh. It can’t be that hard.”
He sent out streaks of magic, watching as the pieces weaved themselves together into a bridge that went up and over from one bank to the next. Then he held out his hands and grinned, turning to us. “See? Not that hard.”
But as he turned back, the water in the river raced even faster, rising up. The bridge he had created trembled and crumpled under the pressure.
I chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, feeling his muscles tense in frustration. “Yeah, sorry, big guy. It’s not going to be that easy. They really don’t want us in their homes.”
Merrick pulled off his shirt, his muscles glistening against the reflections of light from the river. Working quickly, he tied the garment to his belt loop. “I guess we’re just going to have to swim.”
I shrugged, figuring there was nothing in my pack that couldn’t get wet. Fear of entering the raging water made my heart beat faster, but I couldn’t let fear win. We could use our magic to help pull us across, keeping the rough current from sweeping us away.
One by one, we began to wade into the river, sticking close to each other. Trace sent out a long stream of magic that curled around each of us, not tight enough to restrain us from swimming, but firm enough to keep us close together.
As I swam, I noticed how dark the river water was, and how incredibly wide it was from shore to shore. I was already exhausted, but this was going to take the last bit of energy I had left in me.
