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When I tried to stand, my legs did exactly what I’d expected—they refused to work. I sat back on the ground. “I think I need another minute.”
“We don’t have another minute. We need to get to the ruins before resting.”
“I know—I just—”can’t do it.
Jeddak studied me for a moment. “Well, since Kovak bears aren’t keen on being ridden, you have three options. You can walk. I can leave you here. Or I can carry you. Which is it going to be?”
I glared at him, hating all those options.
When I didn’t answer, he bent down and lifted me into his arms. Before I could protest, I was pressed against his chest and smelling the scent of rich leather and clean sweat on his neck as he took off down the road.
“Walk!” I practically shouted, heat rushing to my cheeks.
“What?” he said, feigning confusion. He didn’t slow his stride.
“I will walk! Put me down!”
“Are you sure?”
Yes. No.His body was warm despite the bitter-cold weather. A part of me wanted to curl into him and fall asleep. The other part refused to look weak if I didn’t want him to ditch me before we reached Askeland.
“Yes, put me down,” I said, my cheeks still bright red.
“Your choice,” he said.
He carefully set me back on my feet. I was still exhausted, but to my surprise, my muscles didn’t ache as much when I started walking again.
“Watch out for roots,” Jeddak said with a wink before striding past me.
Instead, I found myself watching him, wondering if he’d secretly used his healing magic on me. He must have. There seemed no other way to explain the new lightness in my step and the sparks that danced under my skin.
I breatheda sigh of relief when we finally reached the Ruins of Javan well after dark. The waning moon illuminated the decayed city, which was carved into the foothills of the Annundu Mountains.
A towering stone archway sagged over the old road that led into the city, flanked by crumbling walls that ran out to the sides like a giant holding out his arms to stop intruders. Inside the walls, I could see ancient structures built into the rock of the mountain foothills, dotted with crooked pines and scrub oaks. The towering snow-tipped mountain peaks in the background reached up to touch the field of stars covering our heads.
Nothing here looked familiar. I sighed. “What was this place?” I asked, longing for it to trigger any sort of memory for me.
“The once-Great City of Javan,” Jeddak answered, his tone filled with a mixture of pride and sadness. “Centuries ago, this was one of the illustrious twin cities of the Kovaks—Javan and Jetan.”
“What happened to it?”
“The Terrans. During the Iron Wars, before the Tribal Peace Accords existed, they besieged both cities, forcing my people out. Then they left this city to fall into ruin and claimed Jetan and its riches as their own.”
“Oh.” It finally made sense why Jeddak wasn’t quick to trust any of the Terrans.
“My ancestors fled north over the mountains to found Askeland, while another group of Kovaks went east to establish the city of Kadden. But ever since then, our tribe has felt divided,” he explained, leading us toward the heart of the decaying metropolis. His expression hardened. “And the scar that the Terrans left on our tribe will never be forgiven or forgotten. Especially by people like my father …” He trailed off.
“What?” I asked, not hearing the last thing he said.
I noticed Kah’s attention flick toward him.
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Come on. We need to find a place to sleep.”
Halfway up in the ruined city, we crossed a cobblestone courtyard with a wide crack running down the middle like a dried-up creek bed. It looked like evidence of an earthquake. Beside it, a massive statue of a bear rested in boulder-size fragments, its stone eyes staring at us in the dark.
“Over here,” Jeddak called, gesturing to me and Kah. He’d found a hidden alcove on the far side of the courtyard that blocked the wind enough to build a steady fire.
Jeddak collected kindling, and I started the fire—without assistance this time.
