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Thea’s skin prickled. At first, she thought it might be a totem calling out to her, the beginnings of that cyren song as Kipp had described it. But no – it wasn’t that. It was the sensation of the hair on the back of her neck standing up, the sensation that usually occurred when someone was watching.
‘Kipp, Cal,’ she called.
Both young men paused, turning back to her, their brows furrowed in concern.
‘Can you feel something?’ Cal asked.
Thea shook her head. ‘I think someone’s following us,’ she told them as quietly as she could, unsheathing her sword once more. ‘Be on your guard.’
Cal clenched his jaw and nodded, adjusting his grip on his own blade.
Together, they crept through the strange, jungle-like foliage of the third island, poised for attack, but no one announced themselves, no one leapt from the bushes. And yet Thea’s skin still prickled. She didn’t lower her guard; she had learned long ago to trust her instincts.
They kept to the edge of the undergrowth, careful to keep Thezmarr in sight at all times. They had already faced a death-defying leap, the backstabbing nature of their own kind and a giant pulverising boulder… Who knew what else was out here to jeopardise their mission, their lives?
‘Wait,’ Cal whispered suddenly, holding up a closed fist, signalling for them to stop. His head lifted to the canopy, his whole body was taut and leaning forward.
Then Thea felt it, too. That same pulling sensation from before.
Cal pointed to the leaves above. ‘It’s up there.’
Thea followed the line of his finger to what looked to be a bird’s nest in the fork of a tree. The tugging sensation grew stronger. He was right.
Kipp groaned. ‘Not more climbing…’
‘No one asked you to climb,’ Cal replied. ‘Flip you for it?’ he said to Thea.
But Thea shook her head. ‘You take it. I’ll get the next one.’
Cal hesitated for a moment before shucking off his shield and passing his bow and quiver to her.
There was nothing for Thea and Kipp to do except watch as their friend started up the tree. Thea bit back the urge to tell him to be careful, assuming that would be the default for all of them from here on out. The hair on the back of her neck still prickled, and she couldn’t shake the feeling…
Unease churned low in her gut as she watched Cal scale the trunk, nearly at the top —
‘Is it there?’ Kipp shouted from beside her.
‘It has to be, I can feel it,’ came the reply as he neared the nest.
The silence that followed made Thea’s skin crawl. She could see Cal’s lower body, but not what he was doing in the fork of the tree.
‘Got it!’ he called triumphantly.
But that triumph was chased by a scream.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Suddenly, Cal was crashing back down toward them, hitting several branches and bushes on the way down.
Dozens of huge black birds burst from the canopy, flapping and squawking loudly. There were so many of them for a moment they blocked out the light streaming through.
Thea felt another magical pull, forcing her attention skyward.
But Cal was falling. It seemed endless as he bounced between trees, his shouts muffled by the impact.
He hit the ground with a thud. His eyes were screwed shut in pain. In one hand he clutched his totem, but the other hand was streaked with blood, a thrashing brown viper latched to the skin between his thumb and forefinger.
The possible call of another totem forgotten, Thea skidded to her knees beside her friend, her heart racing. Prising the snake’s jaw from him without a moment’s hesitation, Thea flung it over the side off the cliff.
