Spending another night on a carriage wasn’t a habit I wanted to keep up, but since I knew I would need my strength, I gave up rehashing my worries and slept with my cheek resting on Kull’s shoulder, listening to the sound of his breathing and realizing I should probably take his advice and stop worrying.
Easier said than done.
#
I awoke with the whir of the carriage resounding in my ears. When I opened my eyes, I found the sky outside had lightened to a dull, gunmetal gray. Acid churned in my stomach as my thoughts returned to my daily to-do list.
Travel through the wild lands without getting killed.
Find an evil castle.
Steal a lost egg.
Stop a maniac queen from taking over the world.
Do it without dying.
At least I couldn’t complain of being bored.
I lay with my head on Kull’s shoulder a moment longer, feeling the strength of his deltoid against my face. I gently traced my fingers along his arms, letting the warmth of his skin thaw my chill. But with his nearness, I was reminded of the prophecy.
Would he really be the person who killed me?
That thought made me shudder. Somehow, I had to figure out a way to keep Theht from controlling me. I had to rescue Fan’twar—I wasn’t sure if he could remove Theht’s presence from my mind, but he could at least point me in the right direction.
As the sky lightened outside, I began to make out the shapes of mountains against the gray horizon. But before we reached the peaks, the carriage slowed. The others woke as we pulled to a stop.
“Have we arrived?” Heidel asked.
The doors slid open, revealing a desert of sand dunes pocked with rocks, reminding me of the surface of Mars.
“Yes,” I said, “we’ve arrived.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The carriage sped away as we approached the wild lands. Despite Maveryck’s description of the place, I couldn’t see life anywhere. No monsters or mutated plants, no pools of blood, only an endless, desolate landscape as far as we could see.
A dry, hot wind rushed past, stirring the sand into clouds.
“This isn’t so bad,” I said.
“That’s because this is only the outskirts,” Maveryck answered. “We’ve yet to cross the border.”
I tightened my grip on my pack’s strap. Father had given us enough supplies to support a small army, and my pack’s weight was proof. But would food and weapons do us any good in the place we were going?
As the sun rose over the desolate valley and the empty expanse seemed to stretch forever, I began to doubt Maveryck’s word. This seemed no different from an ordinary desert, and I saw no signs of creatures mutated by magic. As I prepared to question him once again, we passed through a magical barrier.
A blast of hot air radiated around me as we crossed through the magical shield. Kull and Heidel didn’t seem to notice, but Maveryck winced as we crossed it. The air shimmered in shades of white and blue, and as if we had flipped a switch, the world transformed.
The sun shone with an orange haze as it filtered through layers of billowing, sulfur-smelling clouds. We stood in a jungle of tangled vines with carnivorous-looking flowers in shades of orange and purple. Humidity saturated the air as sounds of insects chirping came from the forest. Magic pulsed with a fever pitch from the smallest shrub to the clouds overhead. The feeling was so overwhelming, I had to stop and catch my breath.
“What?” Heidel spun around. “Where are we?”
“We crossed through the barrier,” Maveryck said.
Kull unsheathed his sword. “You could have warned us.”
“I had no way of knowing where it was.”
My arms and legs tingled with magic, making me feel as if ants crawled under my skin. “I didn’t sense it either until we crossed through.”
The sound of a creature howling echoed in the distance. Something disturbed the leaves overhead, making me jump back. Water pooled from the canopy, splashing us with large droplets. I wiped the liquid off my face, tasting its brine on my tongue.
“Well,” Maveryck said, wiping the moisture from his tunic, his eyebrows raised as if the water had offended him somehow, “welcome to the wild lands.”
“Where do we go from here?” Heidel asked.
“I’m not the best person to ask. It’s all changed quite a bit since I was here.” Maveryck looked at me. “Olive, do you have the map?”
“Yes.” I pulled my pack off my shoulder and dug through it until I found the journal. I flipped through the book until I came to the sketch of the map, although I wasn’t sure how useful I would be at reading it, so I handed the book to Kull. “You’re better at navigating than me.”
Kull studied the map as the rest of us looked on. “We’ll need to find one of these trails as soon as possible. I believe we entered here, in the south. If we travel due north, we should run into this trail here, and that in turn should lead us to the center of the lands where we’ll hopefully find the lake.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said as I replaced the journal in my pack. When Fan’twar had given me the diary, I had never planned to use it to navigate through an unholy land full of magically mutated plants and monsters, but then again, my life never seemed to go the way I planned.
Hoots and whistles came from the canopy as we trudged forward. We all used our swords and knives to cut away the vines and plants blocking our path. The sun rose higher, making the heat even more oppressive. Sweat beaded on my neck and forehead as I chopped through a thick vine that sprayed white fluid as it burst open, then shriveled back.
Near me, Kull severed a vine that lashed out, cutting his hands with sharp barbs.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Fine.” He wiped his hand on his tunic. “This cursed forest better be worth getting through.”
“It will be if we get that egg back,” I said.
Rumbling came from overhead. At first I assumed it to be thunder, but as it grew louder, I glanced up to find a horde of bat-like creatures flocking over the canopy, blocking out the sun. I’d never seen so many creatures in one place.
Thousands of wings created a rushing sound, brushing the hot air, creating a maelstrom of wind. After they passed, only silence remained.
“That was odd,” Heidel said. “Do you think they were flying toward something?”
“Away from something, most likely,” Maveryck said.
“Let’s keep going,” Kull said. “Whatever disturbed them is something I’d rather avoid.”
Pressing forward, we hacked through the brush until blisters formed on my fingers. We entered a small, circular clearing. Neatly trimmed grass grew around a single flowering plant blooming in the center of the glen. The air seemed cooler here than in the rest of the forest. Bunches of flowers in pastel purples and blues sprouted from its delicate branches, moving gently in the breeze. The bush reminded me of the hydrangea flowers blooming around my grandmother’s house. A low, crumbling brick wall had been built around the plant, and in places, it looked as if words or symbols had been etched into the stone.
I wiped away a bead of sweat as I stared at the flower. “That’s odd,” I said. “Who would have built that wall? Maveryck, has this place ever been inhabited?”
“No, it would have been impossible for anyone to inhabit the wild lands. The magic here would take over any man-made structures a person built. I imagine the castle—if it exists—is protected by powerful spells in order to survive the magical onslaught. Anything else would have been destroyed ages ago.”
“Then how did that get there?”
He shook his head. I reached out, feeling for enchantments in the glen or surrounding the wall, but the magic from the forest was too strong and overpowered any spells I might have felt.
“Is it safe to approach?” Kull asked.
“I can’t say for sure. The magic here is too strong for me to detect spells.”
&n
bsp; “Maybe Dracon built it,” Heidel said. “Is it pictured in the journal?”
“Good idea,” I said and pulled my pack off my shoulder. After I found the journal, I flipped through the pages until I found the map. The others gathered around me as we scanned the drawing.
“What about that?” Kull said, pointing to a small circle near the southern border. The label read HEARTSTONE.
“Well, that plant doesn’t look like any sort of stone I’ve ever seen, but it is drawn circular, just like that wall.”
We moved toward the flower, keeping an eye out for enchantments or traps, but found none. Sunlight, unhindered by brush or tree limbs, shone down onto the ground, highlighting the flowers and making them sparkle.
Kull knelt, lightly touching one. “These aren’t flowers at all. They’re jewels.”
I knelt by the flower and inspected the petals. Cradled inside each bloom, I found a jewel. Pink, purple, and cobalt stones glittered in the sunlight, refracting around the small grove.
“I guess we know why it’s called the heartstone,” Kull said.
I reached out and gently touched the leaves, feeling a steady hum of power coming from the plant. As I touched it, the stream of magic joined my own, a presence that reminded me of the Everblossom tree that had once grown beneath the pixie lands. Its magic seemed to speak to me, but whatever it wanted to say was snuffed out by the influx of magic surrounding us.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kull said. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yes. It’s odd, but it reminds me of the flowers that bloomed around my grandmother’s house. And it also reminds me of the time I heard the wind chimes when I went near the Everblossom tree. Do you think it could have been put here for a reason?”
“What sort of reason?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to help us or something? Do I sound crazy?”
“We’re in Faythander. Anything’s possible.”
“True.”
I touched one of the jewels, the cold stone smooth under my fingertips. Magic pulsed from the jewel, and I had an urge to take it from the flower but decided against it. I wasn’t sure what it would do to me. What if it had been cursed? Or what if the magic was unstable?
I stood and stepped away, looking from the plant to the wall instead. “Maveryck, can you read this?” I asked.
“Not very well. Some of the symbols are familiar, but it’s old elvish. Flourish for eternity.” He ran his fingers over the symbols, his face puzzled. “I can’t make out the rest.”
“It’s an odd place,” Heidel said, glancing around, “but we’d be wise not to linger here. We’d be easily ambushed in a place such as this. It’s too dangerous for us to stay any longer.”
I glanced at the plant as we left the clearing, wondering how the wall had gotten there and wanting to know why the plant felt so familiar. Was it connected to the Everblossom somehow? I wanted to stay longer and learn more about the flower, but for the time being, I would have to wait to get any answers.
We entered the dense jungle once again. The suffocating air returned, making me feel as if I’d been smothered in plastic wrap. When the sun reached its zenith, we still hadn’t found the path, making me wonder if we were traveling in the wrong direction.
Something fell from the canopy and landed in front of us. I stumbled back as a large, scaled creature stood before us. Black, prismatic scales covered its body, and it had a snakelike tail studded in barbs that whipped back and forth. Its lithe body reminded me of a panther. The creature had a snake’s head, with long, slitted pupils focused on us. A forked tongue licked the air as it took a step forward. The beast stood as tall as two men. Its mouth gaped open, revealing fangs dripping with saliva.
“I’m just guessing here,” I said, “but I don’t think it’s friendly.”
“I believe that is a well-educated guess,” Kull answered.
We scrambled as the thing leapt forward, lashing out with hawk-like talons. It nearly missed gouging Heidel’s midsection. She cursed and drove forward with her dagger in a powerful attack, ripping a hole in the beast’s leg.
The creature let out a scream that sounded almost humanlike. Maveryck lashed out with a short dagger, but the beast knocked him backward.
“Maveryck,” Heidel shouted, “you’re useless in a fight. Let us handle it.”
Maveryck stood, brushing off his tunic. “I fight just as well as you!”
“No you don’t!”
“I do too!”
“Then shut up and prove it!”
The monster snapped at us, so close I felt its fetid breath from where I stood.
“Split up,” Kull yelled. “Don’t stay in one place.”
I clenched my knife hilt tight as I scrambled into the forest. With the thick jungle obscuring my vision, I only saw flashes of scales and claws as the monster pursued us. Kull’s screams came from somewhere as I readied a spell, only to find that my magic refused to come to the surface.
I focused on calming my mind and tried again, but when I called the magic a second time, it still wouldn’t come to the surface—as if the potent power surrounding us kept it from responding.
“This isn’t good,” I muttered as I tried a third time with no success.
The monster broke through the jungle where I hid, its eyes livid and yellow, magic pulsing hot and strong from its body. I fisted my hands and faced the beast, a flimsy dagger my only protection. A quick search for Kull and Heidel revealed them both struggling to get to their feet behind the beast. Maveryck was nowhere in sight.
Backing away, I stayed focused on the monster as it dove for me, its massive talons outstretched, intent on tearing me in half, when a burst of silver light blasted from the jungle and hit the beast square in the chest. The monster’s body exploded in a fireball of white-hot heat. As the flames died away, nothing remained of the beast but wisps of glowing embers carried on the jungle breeze.
Maveryck stepped forward holding a basita weapon as Kull and Heidel both limped toward us, focused on Maveryck’s gun.
Maveryck stood tall as he clicked the gears back into the safe position. “Does that prove I can fight?” he asked smugly.
Heidel only stared with her mouth agape. Finally, she found words. “Fine. That proves it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Afternoon approached when we finally spotted the path matching the drawing on Dracon’s map. Despite the massive growth of foliage, the path looked untouched, as if a lightning strike had burned through the forest. Mirror-smooth, black stones paved the trail, and magic emanated from the path, so strong it made my hands grow clammy and my stomach sicken. I closed my mind against the magic to keep it from affecting me, but doing so only masked the symptoms.
“Didn’t you say we were supposed to be protected from the magic on these paths?” I asked Maveryck.
“Yes,” he answered. “I feel the magic, too—it’s unusually strong. Perhaps there is a spell keeping the paths protected from the forest’s magic.”
“Yes, maybe so.”
The forest grew quiet as we walked down the road. The constant sounds of insects chirping disappeared altogether, and only the echo of our footsteps—clinking as if we walked on glass—rang through the open expanse above us.
“I thought you said nothing manmade could exist here,” Heidel said. “How do you explain this road?”
“It’s a spell,” I answered. “It feels stronger than the forest’s magic. It must be keeping the road intact and the forest’s magic at bay.”
“How is that possible?” Kull asked.
“I don’t know. For a spell like this to exist, there has to be something fueling it.”
“Then the question is, what’s fueling it?”
“I have no clue. But there’s definitely something weird happening here. My best guess is that we’ll find out at the end of this path. At least, I hope so.”
“And I hope it’s not something that will k
ill us,” Heidel said.
“Good point,” Kull said.
Clouds thickened overhead, a mass of gray that overpowered the blue. At least it made the heat less intense. We found a few large stones alongside the path and stopped for a small meal of bread, honey, and some dried meat, though I wasn’t focused on the food. The pathway’s magic was getting harder to block out the deeper we traveled. It called to me with an almost overpowering voice, tempting me to test the magic. Theht’s voice chimed in, awakening more the closer we got.
The time for my awakening draws nigh.
“Is something the matter, Olive?” Heidel asked.
I looked up and found the others had already packed up and were ready to go. I hastily stuffed my half-eaten hunk of bread into my bag and stood. “No, I was daydreaming, I guess. We can go.”
Kull eyed me. “You’re sure?”
“Yes. Positive. Lead the way,” I said with as much enthusiasm I could muster.
Kull gazed at me a moment longer, not seeming to buy my relaxed attitude. “Maveryck, Heidel, go ahead; we’ll follow. I’d like to have a word with Olive.”
Maveryck and Heidel walked away, leaving me to keep pace with Kull.
“Olive, what’s going on?” Kull asked quietly.
I shook my head.
“You can tell me.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s… just… it’s hard to talk about.”
“Does this have something to do with Theht?”
“Yes,” I said grudgingly. “The magic here is stronger than anything I’ve felt before. I don’t understand how it behaves or what’s fueling it. And it’s… calling to Theht. In my head. I know that sounds ridiculous, but you asked. So there it is.”
Kull frowned as he pondered my words. “Calling to the goddess how?”
I wrapped my arms around my stomach, feeling the contents agitated and roiling. Every step we took made it harder to control the beast inside. A clammy sweat broke out over my skin.
“I’m not sure how to describe it,” I said. “I just feel like I’ve kept the goddess locked away, and now, the lock is crumbling apart.” Our footsteps echoed over the glassy stones with an eerie, musical quality. “This isn’t right. Maybe I should go back.”
Silverwitch Page 30
