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Chapter 18

The next day in the wild was particularly brutal.

A long parade of clouds warded off the sunlight and had the group shivering in their too-thin clothing. Theo offered Clyde's extra sweater. It was too small for Avy, so Ren and Timmons took turns wearing the extra layer as they walked. She took little comfort in wearing a dead boy's clothes, but out here they had no other options.

Avy became their anchor. His barreling voice picked them up every time they felt low. His strides were a goal for the rest of them to match. Sometimes he'd come back and jog alongside them as they walked, offering idle conversation to get their minds off the task of surviving. Partnered with his tapered haircut, it was as if they'd hired their own Brightsword drill commander.

At some point he ranged ahead, and Cora eased in beside Ren.

"He's bonded, you know."

Ren frowned. "Bonded?"

"To his mother," Cora explained. "It's not typical in Delvea. More common in Tusk, where communal magic is normalized. They performed the ceremony a few years ago. It's the reason his ockley count is low. Not because he didn't get his vessel refilled, he always does, but because his mother siphons magic from him to stay alive. She drains his count every month. I saw the face you made when he said his number. I didn't want you to think less of him. His strength has been keeping her alive for a few years now. He doesn't talk about it because some recruiters would consider the relationship a liability. And he's… humble. Well, sometimes."

There was so much to unpack that Ren walked on in silence for a moment. She remembered Pree mentioning that his mother's health was delicate. Some kind of blood disease. A bond between mother and son was certainly atypical. Family members often linked a vessel—as she did with her mother—but it was very rare to bond directly with kin. That was an intimacy that was usually reserved for romantic partners. Her eyes found Avy up ahead. No wonder he kept himself in such great physical shape. A magical siphon would leave anyone else exhausted.

"Oh, and don't tell him I said anything. He doesn't like people to know."

Ren nodded. "I promise I won't."

Her mind turned back to the other detail that Cora's comment revealed. I saw the face you made. Ren had assumed her expressions and thoughts were well guarded, but Cora had seen right through her. What else had she noticed? Ren would need to be more cautious going forward.

Sunlight broke through during their lunch break. All of them unwound scarves or unbuttoned sweaters or jackets to allow the light to soak their skin. It was well-timed restoration.

"I'm starting to get hungry," Avy said. "You said you hunt, Cora?"

She nodded. "I can set traps tonight."

Theo stood. He looked up to the branch where Vega had settled, forgotten for most of the day as she winged above them. He snapped his fingers and the bird took flight. They all watched her sweep the sky in quick circles before darting down with true velocity. There were a few smaller birds unsettled by the swooping shadow. When Vega appeared again, she had a rabbit clutched in her stone talons. It all seemed so effortless.

"She rarely gets one on the first try," Theo admitted. "Got lucky."

Her wings spanned out as she fluttered to a near halt. Everyone laughed when she dumped the dead rabbit directly on Theo's shoulder. He jumped, muttering under his breath.

"Looks like she didn't appreciate the insult," Ren said with a smile.

She knew they should keep moving, but the prospect of actual meat was too good to delay. Theo sent Vega winging up in search of more prey while Cora found a large rock nearby and set to work. Ren would normally have thought skinning a creature to be a bit brutal, but the girl was surgical and quick. An artist returning to a favorite craft. Ren saw the pleasure she took in extracting as much meat as possible. Avy built a quick fire and had the smaller chunks of meat spitted and roasting in no time. No one complained about the lack of seasoning or the small portions. Their hunger more than made up for that.

"I might marry you, Cora," Avy said. "Even if you don't find my anatomy sound."

The girl finished swallowing a large bite. "You're handsome in a roguish way."

Avy grinned at that. Hearty food, however meager, turned out to be the restorative they'd needed. After washing their hands in the nearest creek, they picked up their satchels and pressed on.

Ren was still tracking their spells carefully, but as they settled in for the night, she allowed herself to believe they'd actually get home. Surely, they were capable enough to survive. Cora always fell asleep first. Her skin had taken on a deeper olive color. Maybe the slightest of burns from all the extra sunlight out here. Ren knew this was a far cry from the mortuary.

They'd been out here for only a few days, but that was enough time for Avy's beard to come in. It was a dark brown that verged on black, with a random splotch of white near one dimple. It was hard not to think of his brother, Pree. He'd been growing a beard when the two of them dated. She still remembered the way it scraped and snagged during their first kiss. She felt a long way away from first kisses.

Ren was imagining being back in Kathor when Timmons nudged her. She'd assumed her friend was asleep. She turned so they were face-to-face.

"The night before the accident… at the party."

Ren sighed, thinking her friend was going to apologize for abandoning her.

"It doesn't matter now, Timmons."

"I hooked up with Clyde."

There was no way for Ren to hide her reaction at this distance. She should have known. The way Clyde had tried to catch her attention in the portal room. How flushed she'd been at the party. It was hard to comprehend that someone like Timmons would ever settle for someone like Clyde Winters.

"He was there. And I was there. We were both high. I don't know. His family's been secretly courting me. Harder than anyone else. They recently offered his hand in marriage. I knew I didn't have to decide right away, but it was the best prospect I'd been given so far. The second-born son of one of the wealthiest houses. He was my age and decently handsome… or he was. Before…"

Ren decided not to point out what a prat he'd been in the waxway room. Or the fact that he'd hit Avy with a full-fledged combat spell. Timmons didn't need criticism. Ren thought she understood, having no prospects herself. It must have been devastating for Timmons to lose her best chance at a future. Seeing Clyde dead on that forest floor changed everything.

"We will survive this. You'll have other suitors. I promise."

Timmons offered Ren a strange look.

"I'm not worried about my prospects. Clyde is dead. It's not like I was in love with him or anything, but he's dead, Ren. And it wasn't an easy death. It wasn't quick. He was burned from the inside out. I don't know how long it went on. I have no idea how much pain he felt. But I know the screams we heard were his. I guess I'm just glad that he had one good thing. Before it ended."

Ren nodded. "I'm sorry, Timmons. No darkness lasts for long."

Her mother's words. The two of them nestled together, silent for a time. There were night sounds. A few evening birds, singing their sad songs. Ren's mind started to drift back to that first sighting of Clyde's body, fouled by unspeakable magic. She needed to think of anything else.

"Remember the day we met?"

Timmons offered a pitiful snort. "How could I forget? You rescued me."

It had been in an entry-level magical history class. The professor had called on Timmons, and she'd offered up a very incorrect answer about the Expansion. It was one of Ren's favorite historical eras. Her Delvean ancestors had built up their citadels to the south. The Tusk were entrenched in the west. The rest of the continent felt too dangerous to explore. There were still a handful of dragons then. Other predators too. No one wanted to push the boundaries of the map.

Until the true nature of magic was discovered. One Delvean family had risen in power, their sons and daughters all particularly gifted with magic. The matriarch claimed it was hereditary. They were simply born with a talent for it. The lie was disproven only because a boy snuck onto their farm as a dare. He fell through a hidden door in one of the barns and landed in the very first magic-harvesting room that ever existed.

When others learned that magic came from the ground—and that anyone could dig down and find it—a quarter of the city's population set out like explorers in a fairy tale, all in search of buried treasure. There were two particularly famous groups. The first sailed too far north, landing in fertile farm country but finding no magical veins. The second group of magic-barons were the ones who landed in what would one day become Kathor. It was pure guesswork, but fate rewarded them with a bounty that had lasted for generations.

"You said the barons were religious zealots," Ren recalled.

That earned another snort. "I don't know why I said that. Maybe I got them confused with that one Tusk group that eventually sailed around the northern tip of the continent? I don't know! I was nervous! Why the hell did they have to call on me first?"

Ren smiled at the memory. "Eryn Shiverian was the one who corrected you."

"Oh, I remember. That rhyming-named, uptight brat. She was so smug about it too. ‘Actually, the motivation was purely monetary.' Blah, blah, ‘there was only one priest on board,' blah, blah."

It was true. The Expansion was very much about money. That era was also referred to as the Age of Man. It represented the greatest decline of religious interest in Delvean history. It hadn't been easy to summon a reasonable defense of Timmons's answer, but Ren had attempted it anyway.

"Eryn never saw you coming," Timmons whispered. "Did she? I still remember you raising your hand. I thought—I don't know. I thought you might pile it on. But you were the only one in that room who wasn't laughing at me. You looked so… angry."

"I was angry," Ren whispered back.

"And you spun the most outlandish argument I've ever heard to defend me."

Ren laughed. "It shut up Eryn Shiverian, though, didn't it?"

Timmons had no idea that Eryn had bullied Ren for the rest of the semester. Eventually she'd grown bored—but Ren had learned then what it meant to wield her knowledge against someone with one of those five famous last names. She'd never told Timmons because she hadn't wanted to taint the memory of the moment they'd become best friends.

"It was nice," Ren whispered. "Knowing you weren't one of them."

Timmons nodded. "It was nice knowing the smartest person in the room had my back."

"Always. You know, we're going to get home, Timmons. Together."

The two of them fell silent. Ren found it difficult to believe her own words. The surrounding darkness offered no comfort. The shadowed mountains promised no easy passage. Deep down she knew the only true relief would come when they walked through the front gates of Kathor again. They had to survive what had killed one of them already. It was the only way out.

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