Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

CALLISTO

As soon as the vines recede, Silas guides me up onto Dandelion's back before heading out in front.

"You can ride too. Dandelion won't care."

"I don't want to wear him out until I know we absolutely need him to get us away," Silas explains.

"So you're going to wear yourself out?" I ask. "Why don't you ride instead, then!"

He ignores me and… I mean… okay, it was probably pretty foolish to suggest that I walk, but I hate him having to walk the whole time.

Dandelion follows Silas without complaint, clearly rethinking his former opinion of me. He carries me along as Silas watches the red bird flutter in front of us, leading us away.

"Can that bird sense the enemy?" Silas asks.

"I… don't know," I admit.

"Because we've been heading northwest for a very long time, and he's now taking us west. Is there a reason?"

"I really don't know. I know nothing about the bird beyond the fact that it likes to look cute before bleeding you and flying off."

"Who owns it?"

"A man."

"A man named?"

"Markson."

"And how do you know him?"

"He helped me once… a long time ago. When I had nothing left, he saved me… that's how I know him," I say.

Silas is quiet as he walks, but I wait for more questions. Honestly, I'm surprised he doesn't press me for more. He seems curious… and he seems to know more than he's letting on. So why isn't he wanting more?

He pauses and listens a moment before holding a hand up. It stills Dandelion as the red bird dives quickly, but it's not fast enough to avoid the arrow that strikes it. The bird immediately turns to dust, likely being dismissed by Markson who wouldn't want someone to use it for information.

"They've found us," Silas says as he rushes for Dandelion. He swings up onto Dandelion's back and nudges him with his heels.

Dandelion bolts, rushing straight into the thick trees. He dodges brush and branches with ease as Silas leans forward so he can pull at the pack he has tied to the back of Dandelion's saddle, where he currently sits. With both of us on here, he's half on the bag he's trying to get something out of.

"I can kill them with poison," I assure him.

"No, if we slow enough that they catch up to us, then we can deal with it, but for now, I want to stay away. I'm afraid they're from the Langsten kingdom because of the number of necromancers in control. I can feel another one following us. Poison does nothing against the dead."

I hesitate, not having realized that. Against the dead… what the hell could I even do? My swordsmanship skills are lacking, and I can use a slingshot to kill little animals to eat but it's not like it'd do much against the undead.

"I can part the path in front of us… and with enough concentration, block the path behind us," I say, knowing I need my magic to work fast. It's harder to clear the path when Dandelion is moving at such a quick speed, but as my magic reaches out to it, the plant life draws back, separating to create an opening that allows him to go straight through.

And to keep them from following our trail, I call for the vines to reach across the opening we've created, sealing it off and disrupting their path.

It's hard having my magic split, but it'll slow them significantly.

"Your control is astounding," Silas says as I slump back against him.

Even though I'm feeling better, my body wants to tell me that I'm still not quite back to normal.

Dandelion breaks through the trees and I drop my hold on the plant life as he races across the thick grasslands toward more cover. He's faster than any horse I've ever been on, which means he's running nearly too fast when we realize that what we've been racing toward is a ravine. He slides to a stop, feet nearly going out from under him as I get a good look at the drop below. There's water beneath, but the fall is far too great to make.

Dandelion bolts, rushing along the edge as the ground begins to shake. There are too many of them for him to head more inland. The ones I'd slowed in the trees are immediately replaced by others, both undead and living, who fill in around us.

"I'll get off and hold them back before meeting up with you," Silas says.

"Absolutely not. You're staying with us. We're doing this together or not at all," I counter as I see them cutting us off in the direction we're going as well. They're closing in on us from atop the backs of horses and other creatures, blocking any chance of escape. I'm trying to think of what we should do when the ground just breaks out from beneath Dandelion's feet like it's being peeled back, probably from someone whose magic revolves around earth. The impact is so fast and hard that I'm thrown from the saddle, but Silas grabs on to me, hand wrapped tightly around my wrist as I'm snapped to a stop from where I dangle above the deep ravine below.

Dandelion's rear feet drop out into the opening that's been created, his claws grasping desperately on to the ground that's crumbling away as he begins to slip, but our weight is pulling him down. He drops down, catching the very edge, nails sunk deep into it as Silas clings to the saddle, but he only has one hand to hold on to it when his other is on me.

I need to call for some roots, something to grab on to as my hand begins to slip down Silas's arm. I can feel the vines reaching out to us; they just need a little bit more before they fully latch on. Desperately, Silas's fingers dig into mine as he tries pulling me up when a root reaches over. Dandelion lifts a paw, trying to sink his nails into the root a moment before a blast of magic throws us back from where Dandelion had been clinging. I lose my grip on Silas as I realize that they're going to fall… they're going to die because of me. They're going to?—

"Callisto!" Silas shouts as I lift my hand and call for the roots. One snakes around Dandelion's paw, and since Silas is still holding on to the beast, it snaps his plummet to a stop. And that's when he makes the foolish decision to jump for me. What's he going to do? Die with me?

Before he can, the root snakes around his ankle, abruptly halting him as he dangles from above.

Relief washes through me as air whips past me. If I call for a vine at this speed, it'll probably kill me… whereas if I hit the water, I at least have a chance to live through it.

And with that thought, I slam down against the cold water, instantly being torn under and swept along by the current.