29. Veli

Chapter twenty-nine

Veli

The men worked to row us to shore, and with each maneuver of their paddles, a sickly pit of dread dropped further into my gut. The echoes of the splashing waves served as a constant reminder that with each stroke they made, the closer it brought us to our possible doom.

Elianna didn’t take my cautions seriously, and I could claw her eyes out for disregarding my many pleadings. The forbidden princess did not understand the workings of magic, let alone that of a dark nature. Even her siblings, who had witnessed it firsthand, barely had a grasp on it, but they knew to fear what lurked within it.

I could not fault the rightful queen for her desire to seek a better life for her people. After all, that was precisely what brought me into the predicament I have now found myself in.

“Shouldn’t be long now.” Elianna’s words snapped me out of my trance.

I blinked through the haze that covered my distant eyes. Our pinnace was now only but a half mile from the shore of the isles, giving the humans aboard a better view of what lay on the enchanted land .

“It looks so…” Zaela started.

“Eerie,” Avery finished for her.

“If you are afraid of what your sight beholds now, you should paddle back to our awaiting ship while you still can,” I warned.

“It’s just a bit of fog,” Elianna hissed.

I scoffed. “Just a bit of fog, she says.”

“While we are well aware of your hesitance to return to your homeland, you will do well to respect Lia’s wishes. And to not mock her when she speaks,” her mate growled as his arms continued to row us closer to shore.

His words silenced us all.

As we floated into the fog, the air became thick with the scent of moss and earth as we entered the heart of the marsh. The water beneath us morphed from that of the clear sea to a significantly darker hue, reflecting the overhanging canopy of twisted, rotting trees and their vines.

The water became shallower, and soon, we found ourselves navigating through a labyrinth of grassy channels. While those on board remained silent, the bog was lively with the sounds of croaking frogs and the rustle of hidden creatures beneath the underbrush. Sweat beaded on everyone’s foreheads as the humidity grew heavier with each passing moment.

Tall grasses stood sentinel along the water’s edge; their feathery plumes that once danced on the breeze now remained still as a spear—the land sensed that we were here, and it was watching us .

Memories of my past swarmed me, and my heart raced—a feeling I certainly wasn’t accustomed to, but I knew all too well what awaited us in the depths of the isle.

“We shouldn’t paddle much deeper into the marsh,” I warned them. “For if we need to flee, it would be best to have a quicker escape into the sea.”

Elianna gave me a curt nod and turned to her comrades. “You heard her. We’ll stop here.”

Gage leaned over the side of the small boat, extending his arm out over the water to reach for the shore’s edge. Without a second of hesitation, I leapt across the space, and my hand shot out to grip his wrist, rocking the entire boat with the force of the movement.

“Veli!” Avery shrieked, but my focus remained on the human that almost touched the soil of the land.

His brown eyes were fixed on my own, and I could sense a bit of fear lingering beneath the surface of his skin as my grasp on him slowly released.

“You cannot touch the terrain. You told me you understood this,” I snapped as my gaze then whipped back and forth between his and the commander’s.

“Apologies, Veli. I was just trying to get us closer to shore,” he admitted.

My jaw locked. “Here will do. Those that are female may either reach for it or step into the marsh to get there.” I turned to Elianna. “They must not leave this boat.”

“Gage, please don’t make her say it again.” She laughed and then turned to her mate. “You will both need to stay here, and we’ll be back as soon as possible.” Jace’s jaw ticked. “We will be fine. ”

“The more the witch speaks of what lurks here, the more I’m reconsidering the idea of not coming with you,” he admitted.

She huffed out a breath and turned back to me. “Is there no way they may come?”

“Not unless you wish for them to be killed.” My talons dug into the palms of my hands in frustration. She wasn’t taking me seriously enough—none of them were.

“Fine,” she huffed. “Let’s get this over with.”

With those words, Elianna leapt into the water with her pack of supplies—the splash of it startled the lurking crows that hid in the tree’s canopy.

“Trust no one and nothing,” I said to everyone as the rest of us followed her lead. I turned back to the men who remained on board as the other three took their first steps onto the land. “Trust nothing you see or hear. The isles already sense we have arrived. Keep your wits about you, or you may lose your life. The wooden pinnace does not guarantee your safety.”

“You just make sure they stay safe,” Jace demanded as he gestured to Elianna, Zaela, and Avery, who waited for me.

My gaze traveled to the tops of the trees and then leisurely roamed over the surrounding area as I whispered, “None of us are safe, Commander. Not even myself.”