27. Aramis

Chapter 27

Aramis

F ourteen days have passed since we left the rebel camp, and I don't feel like we are any closer to the dragon's lair.

I am beginning to wonder if Axton is all fable and no truth. After the events with the kidnappers, we returned to the road with our spirits slightly dimmed. Marcelene's experience with the corylorisis mushroom left her shaken up. The tea helped, but the terror of seeing her friend being taken and not being able to do anything to stop them had left an invisible wound on her. After hearing about the radical shifters, she recalled an incident at the village where she had noticed a man behaving oddly. He seemed to linger around the council tent, which caught her attention. Curiosity compelled her to confront him, but he swiftly fled. It was only in the aftermath, while she was recuperating that she realized the man with the yellow eyes was the same shifter who poisoned us.

Nero now carries her pack and always walks only a few steps behind her. I see their stolen glances and wonder if something else happened after Marcelene's paralysis ended.

Aries and Phoebe were shocked to hear that another group of shifter rebels was attempting to overthrow Tricella using less conventional methods. The defeat that, even in a time of need, people could not come together under one banner was hard to accept, especially when the efforts of The Council of Thorns had made a significant difference to so many shifters.

My mind wandered back to Errik's story more times than I would have liked. The people of Shadowvale are desperate enough to be driven to murder to save their families—condemned to a life of hardship, to abandon their homes. There's nothing I can tell these people when I sit on the throne that will make up for their suffering. But I will try to make it right, should it be the last thing I do.

Sybil and I walk hand in hand. The group had settled into a routine, hiking as far as we can during the day, then camping at night under the trees with strict guard rotations to keep the beasts at bay.Food has become scarcer and the enchanted water satchels Evolet gifted us have started to waiver.

"How far away did ye say this dragon was?" Nero asks, shading his eyes as he looks upward through the canopy of trees. Murky gray clouds are beginning to roll in from the east, and we all wonder if it means there's more rain on the horizon.

"I'd say maybe another week east through the forest and then deep into the Rocheux mountains," Axton says as he rubs at his lower back. "This storm rolling in will hinder our progress and ache my joints. I bet that mushroom is still in my system. And I'm feeling a bit weary in my old age."

"You're lucky we didn't leave you to rot after forcing the coordinates out of you." I hoist the bag higher up on my shoulder.

"Now, where would the fun be in that? I'd miss out on such beautiful company," he says, turning to the three girls.

"Oh please," Marcelene says, rolling her eyes.

"What made you choose the life of a thief?" Sybil asks as he slows his pace to walk by her side. A muscle in my jaw ticks as I clench my teeth together, staring at his swaggering gait.

"Oh, I didn't choose the life of a thief. I set out to be an adventurer, but times are hard and food doesn't grow on trees," he says, winking at her.

"Food literally grows on trees. The saying is gold doesn't grow on trees," I say as I flick my gaze skyward.

"How did Tricella find ye, anyways?" Nero asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well I was–"

The air crackles with electricity as a brilliant bolt of lightning slices through the darkness, casting an ethereal glow on the dark sky. A burst of crackling energy slams into a towering tree just twenty feet ahead and it explodes in a deafening boom. Flames erupt along the branches, their fierce glow devouring the wood before leaping hungrily to another nearby tree.

"Run! Stick together!" I yell, my voice drowned out by the raging wind. Pushing between Axton and Sybil, I grasp her wrist to pull her toward safety. Adrenaline surges through my veins, a tightness clawing my lungs as we scramble up the next ridge.

Sybil bends over, hands braced on her trembling legs, gasping for precious air. The wind whips her dark brown hair around her face, strands sticking to her sweat-drenched forehead. Lemon, her loyal companion, peeks out from her pocket, his curious eyes fixed on me.

"Are you okay?" I manage to ask, my breath ragged as I attempt to regain control. Tenderly, I run my hands along Sybil's arms, searching for any signs of injury.

"I'm alright," she replies, strained but determined. She wraps her arms around my waist, seeking solace in our embrace, her head finding refuge against my pounding chest. I release a deep exhale but it's only for a moment.

"We need to find the others," I say with urgency. The flames keep growing, the searing heat makes me wince. If the rain does not start soon, this will become an inferno.

"Nero! Marcelene! Phoebe!" my voice echoes through the dense foliage as I try to keep track of the howling wind's direction to predict the flames movements. Charred branches are starting to fall from above; I take Sybil's hand in mind and look up at the sky. The green of the canopy is slowly turning into shades of yellows and reds. Fiery leaves start falling from the sky in a rain of embers. One lands on Sybil's shoulder and I immediately whoosh it off with one sweeping gesture before her clothes or hair catch fire. I pull Sybil toward me as a branch falls and impales itself on the ground before shattering into pieces. We keep running, trying to find a moment to cross over to where the rest of the group have run. The wind fuels the flames, which have created a deadly route through the forest, greedily consuming everything in its path.

I pull at the cuffs at my wrists.

"Get off," I shout, knowing my wind could contain this disaster instantly. "Fucking, come on!"

"Aramis," Sybil's soft voice breaks through the turmoil in my mind, her hand resting gently on one of the confining bands. "It's not forever. You will prove your worth. I know you will."

"Aramis!" I hear Nero's familiar brogue call out from our left. The flames start crawling up trees. The heat is so scorching I struggle to keep my eyes open. Sybil starts violently coughing as the smoke thickens around us. I pull out my water canteen and a bandage from her healing satchel and drench it in water. She looks at me with reddened eyes full of tears as I rest it over her nose and tie it behind the back of her head. Gesturing to her to breathe slowly, she nods. I pull the collar of my tunic over my nose, hoping it'll stop me from breathing in too much smoke, and scan what's left of the forest floor when Nero comes crashing next to us, wings spread open.

I push Sybil into his arms and gesture for him to fly her away from here. When she realizes my orders, she shakes her head, hands flailing in my direction. Nero wraps his hands around her waist and pushes himself skywards.

My eyes are stinging but before I can find a path out of this inferno, I see a fox. Hoping I am not hallucinating, I walk toward it, ducking and turning to avoid the fiery obstacles falling from the sky. Then, I see a wolf.

Aries and Phoebe.

My knees buckle and Aries comes rushing to me, urging me with his nose to get back up. Positioning himself to my right side, I sink my hand into his smoke blackened fur and use him to push myself up. We both run after Phoebe in her fox form as she finds the best way out of the fire.

When we reach a clearing, I let myself fall to the ground, exhausted and short on oxygen. Slowly, I turn my head to the right. Axton and Marcelene sit on the ground; their clothes are burned in places but otherwise, they look safe.

"Aramis!" Sybil runs to my side, pushing my tunic down and pouring water in my mouth, making me cough. My throat is sore and it feels like a clawed hand is squeezing my lungs.

"Breathe in, slowly," she commands, and I do as she says. When my eyes stop watering and my breathing regulates, Sybil gently punches me in the shoulder.

"Don't ever do that again, you hear me?" She says, pointing a finger at me.

I smile and feel a raindrop fall on my face.

Bloody brilliant.

The rain begins to pelt down upon us, and we all start laughing at the Goddess' questionable sense of humor. I turn to my right and meet Aries' eyes, still in his wolf form. He comes near, and before I can so much as thank him, he lowers his head and with a sudden, explosive energy, he shakes from head to tail, sending droplets of rain flying in all directions.

What have I done to deserve this?

"Now I'm soaked," Axton complains, shaking the water from his hair; I wonder if he took inspiration from Aries.

"Better wet than dead," Nero replies, his face streaked gray from the water mixed with ash falling from his hairline. "Phoebe was singed by some floating ash, but otherwise, we are safe. Are ye and Sybil unharmed?"

"Phoebe, let me see your burn," Sybil says, approaching the fox shifter, who stands to the side, cradling her arm. Pushing up the girl's sleeve, she lays a hand over the singed skin. A faint glow covers the burnt skin, and then she steps back.

"Wow, it doesn't even hurt anymore. Thank you so much," Phoebe says, examining the newly healed skin.

"The fire has pushed us away from the path. We have to find shelter before we catch our death of cold."

As if urged on by her words, the wind shifts and the raindrops turn into hail and sleet,pelting at the bare skin of my face and hands.

Nero lays his pack down at my feet before launching into the air. Moments later, he drops to the ground, his boots crunching in the snow and slush.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news," he says, slinging his pack over one shoulder. "We've veered off the path by a lot, and the path ahead looks blocked by a rockslide. We'll have to climb instead of going through the valley."

"That all sounds like bad news," Axton whines, pulling his cloak tighter around himself.

"Well, the good news is that there seems to be a cave at the top of the next peak. We might be closer to the dragon's lair than we thought."