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We tracked until the trail ran cold atop a ridge overlooking a small ramshackle village below. It looked abandoned, but that was likely by design.
"Where would Kol have gone from here?" Henderson thought aloud. "The ungoverned villages in the Borderlands aren't exactly friendly to outsiders."
Nik pursed his lips. "You'd be surprised. I've been through this one before. It was kind enough until some of the residents started disappearing."
I squinted to see what I could make out from this high up. "Which village is this?"
"Cragstedt."
Henderson chortled. "Original."
"Yet fitting," I remarked, skirting the edge to see if there was a path Kol may have taken down to the settlement.
The wind shifted and Nik went rigid. "Don't move," he ordered.
I held still, sparing Henderson a worried glance. He was a good fifteen yards from Nik and even further from me.
"Turn around slowly," Nik murmured.
Cautiously, I rotated to face whatever threat Nik had scented. We were met by two yellow-green orbs peering at us from within a cluster of foliage.
Henderson could jump us out of here, but he'd have to make two small jumps to get to each of us. We should have remained within arm's reach.
I pulled power into my hands.
Nik's head swiveled slightly towards me, eyes remaining on whatever was watching us. "No."
"What, it's a friend of yours?" I whispered.
"Lindwyrm."
Nik's clipped reply wasn't one I wanted to hear. I absorbed the magic back into my body as quickly as I could.
The poisonous serpent was not only one of the few creatures impervious to magic, it was attracted to it. It would sense any shield I created and plow right through it.
Something rattled underneath us.
"That's it's tail," Nik warned.
I knew lindwyrms were big, but its head was at least thirty yards away. "Or there's more than one," I guessed.
Nik started to remove his shirt.
"Are you insane? Even if you shift it can still poison you."
"I'll distract it while Henderson gets you out of here."
I knew he had a built-in mechanism demanding he shield others from danger; painting himself as the primary target was hardly the answer.
"Henderson? A little help, please?" I requested.
The male witch was eyeing the serpent intently. Another rattle came up through the porous ground, this time closer to Nik.
"The tail has a barb," I said, taking a sluggish step closer to Nik. "It's poison is concentrated in the tail."
"Stay back," he ordered.
"Henderson can get us both in one jump if we're a little closer together."
