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“Jax,” Killian said in warning. “Be kind.”
Get down!The ancient wolf ducked under an overhang in the escarpment, burrowing into the cliff face. The others followed. Above them, a creature with beating wings flapped by once, twice and again, its flight stirring the trees with a whistling wind.
I think she can smell you, old woman.Jax’s green eyes flashed as his nose tucked into Killian’s shoulder. He pulled back with a snort.You’re not much better, Killian.
Killian agreed, but nothing could change that now. He gave the wolf a quelling glare.
It’s true though …Jax muttered.No respect for canine sensibilities …
The tree closest to them suddenly creaked as it wavered, shifting side to side in an abnormal pattern like something had landed on the highest boughs.
Then a whisper shivered through the forest. “Killian … Killian.”
He shuddered, his center filled with ice as the eerie yet altered voice of Zalina rippled through him.
He felt a kick to his shoulder, and he looked back at Meshougi who put her finger to her lips, before pointing to her forehead. He tried to focus on Raela so he wouldn’t accidentally respond to the call of Zalina’s magic. He remembered Raela’s bubbling smile. Her patience with his pronunciation. Her sweet vigor for life.
A woosh of air filtered through the branches, until the tree wavered and returned upright. Zalina called again, “You cannot save her. I will marry you, and you will be mine. Iwillbe queen.”
The heavy presence was lifted as the beating wings faded into the distance.
“Well, that was terrifying,” Phineas said.
Killian had to agree. “Zalina has cursed the true princess. I have to make this right. Then, find Raela and clear this whole thing up.”
“Can I ask—and I don’t mean to be callous—but why doesn’t Zalina just kill the princess or you?” Phineas sheathed his sword.
Meshougi sat up and brushed off her filthy dress and the blanket tied like a cloak around her neck. “She cannot. The magic of the blessings prevents it.”
Killian turned to her. “The blessings?”
Jax huffed.Magic complicates everything.
“I promise I’ll tell you when we get out of here,” she said to Killian. To the wolf, she added, “So bitter in your old age.”
Jax’s fur bristled. Killian reached for him. “Jax, don’t eat the nice lady.”
I wouldn’t eat that if she asked me.
“I bet I’m delicious,” she said as she eyed her forearm. “Maybe a little crunchy right now. But wine tastes better with age, so why wouldn’t I?”
Jax rolled his eyes, then headed back toward the path. The others followed behind, watching the shifting shadows of the forest which swayed and groaned in acrid wind. A low hum emanated from the ground and blackened bark and droned around them.
Jax was leading them back toward the place they had stepped off the path, but then he slowed and began rapidly sniffing the ground and air around him.The path is gone. My nose says we were here, but there is no path.
Phineas and Killian searched as well, but every turn revealed the same pattern of trees, rocks, moss, and ice. They found no tracks, no path, and no evidence that animals ever trailed through this part of the forest. Since they were several hundred feet lower in elevation, snow patches were rarer. But it was as if their path had never existed. The light around them dimmed as the trees closed in tighter. The hum of the forest was increasing by degrees.
“I did tell you to stay on the path.” Meshougi shrugged. She sat heavily on a rock, strumming her fingers along the green and black lichen.
Jax whirled toward her, but Killian set a hand on his shoulder. “Peace, Jax.” He turned toward Meshougi. “Do you know the way out?”
Closing her eyes, she stood slowly, her knees creaking like trees in the wind as she turned first one way, then another. Jax snorted in impatience. She opened her eyes and turned up the hill. “It’s this way.”
“Up?” Killian raised a brow and turned to Jax, but the wolf shrugged.
It doesn’t smell like death that way.
“Isn’t that the way we came?” Phineas asked as he unsheathed his sword. “Weren’t we running downhill to get here?”
