Chapter 32

Chapter

Thirty-Two

TAMAS

Our escape required my full concentration, but I was unable to focus on where I led Tressya. My mind remained stuck on the rock. Mercy on our souls. The Etherweave.

The Salmun's fury on learning what the Nazeen had done with the Etherweave was legendary. The Nazeen hoped to take the rock with them when they fled, but the Salmun attacked with brutal efficiency, wanting to secure the rock for themselves. During the battle, a piece broke off. What Tressya had in her pocket was that piece of rock.

This close to it, the call that had steadily grown stronger these last weeks, vibrated through my head and heart, messing with my attention for the task at hand; calling to me as bloodborn, one born from amongst the beast children of the north, as an augur had foretold many centuries ago.

The third day of the trials, and I intended to find Tressya, not Andriet. Knowing the manifestations were undefeatable on their own, I couldn't rid my concern for her safety. She was smart and bloody good with a sword, but I couldn't let go of the fear knowing she would face these beasts alone. Then, the moment I'd entered the Ashenlands, the pull of the Etherweave was so great, I felt I would lose my mind if I ignored it. I'd transformed into a bird and flown across the vast stretch of the forest, guided by the Etherweave's lure, to reach this point.

Only to find Tressya.

Perhaps I'd lost my sanity. Osmud was right. My attention was no longer primarily on my goal. For the first time in ever, something else came before duty. And that something else had a warm little hand, fitting inside mine like they were one.

And now she possessed a small fragment of the Etherweave. Still bound within the rock—waiting for the moment to rise—it had responded to her touch—I wouldn't dwell on the reason for that.

The noise above fell away, and a sudden quiet rang down the cave passage as a deafening silence.

"Not on my life do I believe it's left," I whispered.

"It's laying a trap."

She tried to slide her hand from my hold, but I instinctually gripped her hand tight, not letting her escape. She was mine to protect.

"It's a source," I said.

"Good. Then we can eliminate it."

Always courageous. I adored that about her.

"There's no telling how intelligent they are. I'll go first since it knows I'm here, though it might know you're here as well. They'll have a keen sense of smell and excellent eyesight in this gloom. Surprises likely won't work."

"If you distract it, I'll deal the killing blow."

I quirked a brow and smiled, which she would miss now we'd moved away from the filter of light in the cave. The darkness held us close, with the faintest glow from outside making its way this far in, but not enough to see each other's faces.

"The things a monster, so there's no need to get bold. It's probably best to aim for a wounding strike. It's likely all you'll get in first. I'll do my best to keep its attention. Go for the legs."

"Are you telling me how to win this fight?"

"I'm offering advice…that I really hope you accept."

There was silence for a heartbeat.

"Make sure you keep it confined. If it's a monster, then it'll have trouble moving around in those entrance alleys. That's our advantage, so don't draw it out into the open," she replied.

"Now who's telling who how to win the fight?"

"Are we doing this, or arguing?"

I'd kiss her silent if we weren't nudging death in the shoulder. Instead, I snapped my head away and increased my pace through the passage.

Annoyingly, I couldn't get the idea of kissing her out of my head. Especially after last night's spectacular kiss. Not even the sudden cascade of small rocks into the entrance of the passage drew all my attention away from the thought of pushing her against the cave wall and giving her something to really argue about.

What in the seven realms was I thinking?

Concentrate, Tamas .

I needed my wits on one task for now. Our survival. The kiss, well…maybe that would be her thank you at the end.

Stars above. I gritted my teeth.

"Stay on task." Meaning it as an admonishment to myself, it slipped out as a whisper.

"I am."

"Good. Quietly now."

She came up behind me, a light touch on my arm as she tried to whisper in my ear. "You're the one talking."

My thoughts lingered on the warm feeling of her small body touching my side as she leaned in. She would be standing on toes to reach up as far as she could so she didn't have to raise her voice. It was instinct, not of survival but another undeniable instinct that turned me toward her, so our bodies faced each other, so her face, her lips, would hover close to mine. But on feeling me turn, she moved away.

My mind floundering, I said nothing.

"What?" she hissed.

I mentally slapped myself. "It's likely planning to ambush us from overhead," I whispered. Not what I was going to say, but it worked to cover the awkwardness.

"I thought the same."

"Wait until I'm out?—"

Her hand pressed over my mouth, ripping my focus from the impending fight. "Don't tell me how to fight smart."

My lips tickled as they brushed against her palm while I spoke. "Best not to manhandle me before a fight, little princess."

I heard her gasp, and just when I was about to kiss her hand—without conscious thought of what I was doing—she snatched it away.

I leaned in so her warm breath tickled my lips. "You're very distracting."

"I believe the fight's that way." She pressed her finger into my cheek and turned my face to the entrance of the cave. Was she not even a little distracted? Rather than continue to make a fool of myself, I moved forward, feeling Tressya slip behind.

For a desperate moment, I wanted her to stay in the cave's safety while I dealt with the beast, but no way would I dare say such a thing aloud. I trusted her ability with a sword, her skill in a fight, but there was always that risk, that one moment when you made a mistake.

This time I did slap myself because I needed my head right here and now, not on the woman behind me. I ignored her small gasp and leaped out of the cave entrance, sprinting as far as I could to the wall of the giant pillar opposite as a heavy thud shook the ground at my feet.

I dodged left as a funnel of wind whipped past me, followed by the sound of cracking rock. I spun to see the long lash of its tail and the sharp spike of its tip pulling free from the rock. A tail like a mace. That made things tricky.

"Tail," I shouted, though I'm sure Tressya had seen it. "Not yet," was all I managed to get out, hoping she would listen and stay where she was a little longer.

The dusky gloom made it tricky to see the beast clearly, but there was no missing the tail. Without its glowing eyes, it was difficult to know where it was looking. Did it know Tressya was there?

It was massive, at least five times my height as a Huungardred beast, with enough clearance from the ground that I could slip through its muscular haunches.

Just not yet. I ducked as its tail, thick as a tree trunk, soared over my head, and swiped upward with one slice. To lop its tail off, I would have to land a blow closer to the end, but its roar of pain-laced fury was satisfaction for now.

With its tail caught on its sweeping arc, I dove forward, dodged the swipe of one arm, and aimed for its knee. Not stopping, I rolled out of the way as the beast lashed out with its leg. A claw the length of my arm flitted past my eyes.

"Lethal claws on its feet," I yelled. I didn't need to keep with the running narration, but I couldn't stop myself. "That tail's nasty."

In a fight, I remained silent, my focus entirely on the individual, attempting to preempt every move they made. However, this recital, though seemingly useless, calmed me. I didn't know Tressya's whereabouts, but it felt like my talking somehow connected us, keeping her safe. "I've landed a blow to its knee."

I raced across the small enclosure, hemmed in by the pillars, intent on keeping the beast's eyes on me. "Looks like I'll need to land a few more blows." It moved as if I had missed. But I don't miss—or at least rarely.

At a full sprint, I sprang towards the rock pillar, leaping up and using it as a base to launch myself, twisting mid-air as a stiff wind brushed past me, followed by the sound of claws grinding across rock.

I stabbed out with my sword, spearing the beast in the arm just below the elbow, then curled up, bracing for my landing. Rolling with the momentum, I was back on my feet, evading a stomp from its foot. Not missing the opportunity, I lashed out, swiping my sword across the back of its ankle.

The air filled with its vengeful howls, masking Tressya's movements, wherever she was. For that, I was grateful. I continued moving, darting and dodging. A creature of that size had half my agility and a slower response time. Nonetheless, its thick hide meant that any blows I landed were shallower than I would have liked. And being so massive, there was little hope of inflicting a lethal blow.

I stood my ground against its next swipe until the last moment, bringing my sword down on its finger as I dived away, severing the claw. A spray of black blood gushed from the tip, and the creature arched back, raising its arm into the air with a furious roar. I considered attacking its leg while it was distracted, but it swiped its arm down too quickly for me to close the distance. Instead, I dived sideways, only to be knocked off my feet by a heavy blow to my back. I crashed into the ground, shoulder first.

This was a dangerous position to be in. I tried to roll away and found myself pinned by my jacket on my side.

Fuck.

Over my shoulder was nothing but darkness, the creature blotting out the gloom of dusk. The killing blow would come anytime. Thank the stars, I held onto my sword as I jarred into the ground.

I turned as best I could and sunk all my force into my downward stroke, slicing it across its finger. A pump of blood coated my jacket, and I loosened from its hold. I rolled with the beast's roar in my ears and kept rolling across the ground a few more turns before springing to my feet to see it thrashing about, swiping its arm across its torso. Then it fell to one knee, punching an arm down to where I had lain only seconds ago.

Not missing an opportunity, I lunged forward and struck again. This time going for a more lethal place, only for the beast to crash forward, forcing me to dodge left or be squashed under its massive body. Not wanting to see it rise again, I speared my sword into its head, pulled it out and speared again. Repeatedly, until I collapsed beside it, panting.

Tressya. In seconds, I was on my feet.

She suddenly appeared beside me. "Are you hurt?"

"I was going to ask you that."

"Are you?" she demanded.

"My pride. I thought I'd be the one to kill it."

"Does that upset you?"

"I'm glad it's over." I wiped my blade along its pelt to clean the blood.

"You fought well," she said.

" Well . Is that the strongest word you could find?"

She sighed, so I knew it was time to shut up. "Are you often that noisy when you fight?"

"I find it adds a flourish to an otherwise grim moment."

"It's very distracting… But helpful." She mumbled the last.

If only I could see her face because I was sure, right now, she would fight another one of her smiles.

"I knew we'd work well as a team."

"Don't get too comfortable, Razohan, we're stuck together because you crashed in on my hunt."

I sheathed my sword. "We should get going. Staying in one spot only encourages the beasts."

I turned and headed for the passage that began the winding path out of this rock contortion.

"It was the bite, wasn't it? That's how you found me."

I stomped off down the passage. "Is this really important?"

"This is going to be a real problem. I won't have you tracking me down like this whenever you want."

The path wound back on itself, and I found myself desperate to escape the hemmed in walls of the rock pillars either side.

"Even after I rescued you?"

"I killed it, remember?"

"I seem to remember someone else there, running around like a man without a brain, shouting nonsensical warnings to aid you."

"Oh him," she sighed, which she was doing a bit of late. "He was more a hindrance than a help. But I don't want to mention it. I fear it will upset his ego."

I couldn't help but chuckle, which was wiped short when I spied the end of the labyrinth. "Things are going to get tricky. It's night-time. Who knows how active the Salmun's creatures are at night."

The glow of the Etherweave broke the dark as Tressya came up beside me and took my hand.

"I want to know, Bloodwyn. Is this your object? There could be no other explanation for you appearing here."

I avoided looking at the rock. Instead, I gazed at Tressya, her face alight with a blue glow, all the while the stirrings in my chest drove a wild desire to touch the rock.

Romelda, backed by the augur, declared the day it would rise free from its cage. That was not today, but it would glow blue under my hand as much as hers, and I wasn't prepared to deal with her persistent questions why that was so. I would keep my hands to myself for now. And try to ignore the fact it glowed blue for her.

"It's not. Bloodwyn has never seen the likes of that before."

Her expression remained challenging.

"Perhaps you have secrets to tell me. Why were you drawn to the rock?" I countered.

"I wasn't."

"Then why is it in your hand?"

There, I caught it. A flash of awkwardness, a shadow of desperation in her expression, swiftly concealed by straightening her features into a bland mask. "I stumbled on it by chance. And why would I need to tell you any of my secrets? If I had any to tell."

I decided it was best to ignore that question since I detected a hint of defensiveness in her tone. "Anything magical is precious. If I were you, I would keep it hidden from the Salmun."

I would thieve it at the next convenient moment or convince her to leave it behind. It wasn't much good to me now as it was, and Tressya was safer without it. The Salmun would do anything to keep the rock in their hands.

"I would say they already know."

I didn't doubt it. They were hardly going to bury something that precious all the way out here and not keep an eye on it. "Then I would advise you to leave it in the Ashenlands. Don't make the Salmun's eyes turn on you. Come, we should get moving." Before thinking better of it, I took her hand and led her away from the pillar of rocks and the cave. She didn't draw her hand from mine. And that made me smile.

If the Salmun had buried the fragment of the Etherweave in the Ashenlands, what else had they hidden here? It made me uncomfortable that Tressya continued to carry the rock in her hand, but it lit our way, and was a good deterrent to the many evil creatures using the night as a cloak.

Her next question pierced the quiet of the night. "Why did you come after me?"

"We're enemies, remember? I can't trust you." I guided her toward the thinner end of a large root, snaking its way from the base of a fat gnarled tree.

"Why not Andriet?"

"What're you hoping to hear me say?" That I couldn't bare the thought of you being hurt; that I wanted to be your hero.

She didn't reply, so I cast a sideways glance to see she was staring at the rock.

"You keep staring at that. and you'll—" Trip, which was what she did, losing the rock. Its light blinked out the moment it left her hand, leaving us stranded in a veil of darkness. I swiped an arm around her waist and hauled her to her feet.

"Thanks," she breathed. "But I lost the rock."

She struggled out of my hold and lowered to the ground. "We can't go anywhere without it."

The thought of the Salmun descending on Tressya for possessing the rock made me shudder. I'd rather see the rock left behind. Who knows what they would do, but the moon's glow failed to penetrate beneath the canopy, so I joined her, crouching down and running my hands across the ground.

"We have no hope against the beasts without it." I heard the tinge of urgency in her voice.

"It can't have gone far."

"Wait." She grabbed my arm. "Can you see that?"

I raised my head, looking ahead, and, sure enough, spied a dim light in the distance, its glow reflecting off the trunks of the surrounding trees.

"Now that's an interesting coincidence. Let's go see what this new find has in stall for us."

She held onto my arm as I went to rise. "We have to find the rock."

I hauled her to her feet. "We're going to be a lot safer over there than crawling around on our hands and knees in the dark."

"But the rock's special. The Salmun wouldn't hide it there and keep a magical eye on it, otherwise."

I froze. "Wait. What? A magical eye?"

"It doesn't matter. We need to find it."

"You saw a magical eye? In what form?" It didn't surprise me to hear it, but I was alarmed all the same. I loathed the idea the Salmun would know who had taken the rock. Tressya wasn't safe now.

The darkness swallowed her expression. "It's of no consequence. The rock matters. Help me find it."

Hearing her breathing close beside me, I feathered my hands through the darkness until I found her, then gripped her waist, making sure she didn't drop to the ground and continue her search. "It's too dangerous for you to keep. Don't think you're smarter or stronger than the wizards. You'll live longer that way. Let's get to the light. That's our safety."

She huffed, then said. "You're right."

I blew out a silent, relieved breath as I heard her running her hand over the root in front of her, feeling her way forward in the darkness.

About to follow her, I kicked something with my foot. A muffled thunk followed as it hit the root in front of me. Tressya was already on her way, so I bent and felt around the base of the root. The moment my fingers touched the solid edge of the rock, the blue glow flared to life. I snatched my hand away and glanced ahead. Tressya was indiscernible in the darkness, but I could hear her fumbling her way forward, so I swiped the rock up and buried it in my jacket pocket, then hurried as best I could after her.

"It feels like it's getting warmer," Tressya said from up ahead.

I quickened my pace, catching her up. "My guess is we're about to stumble on your object."

"What about you? I suppose you'll transform into a bird and fly out of here."

"Don't worry about me. Let's see what this is."

What we found was a giant gaping hole in the ground. It was as if someone had come along with a pail and scooped the floor of the forest away to reveal a deep pit. Standing at its edge, looking over, heat washed our faces, radiating upward from the swirling pool of liquid flames bubbling at its base. Every so often, a spurt of liquid fire shot skyward from the boiling pit.

"What in the seven realms?" Tressya said.

"It's as true as the Ashenlands and beast manifestations. Nothing but wizard conjurings."

"And both are deadly, conjured or not." After a moment, she said, "It smells real, not like burning wood…but it's weird. I can't describe the smell."

"We have no choice but to descend. See the path spiraling along the wall? I'd say that cave halfway down it is where we need to head."

"I can't wait to see what they give me for my third trial."

"Aren't you glad I found you?" I took her hand and headed to the start of the path.

It turned out to be a narrow, treacherous descent. I led the way, using the exposed roots jutting from the sides of the pit's walls as an anchor. Some were so large, they blocked our path, forcing us to duck beneath or clamber over. All the while, waves of heat baked the sides of our faces.

It was a long descent to reach the cave. The thin path wound around the side of the gaping pit as it spiraled downward. Halfway down, I questioned our sanity. But I was sure this was Tressya's only way out of the Ashenlands. I could transform into a bird and guide her out once I soared above the tree canopy and learned the direction, but that would mean wandering the Ashenlands in the oily black of night…or we could use the rock. I shied from that thought; the questions it would raise should she find out I'd secretly pocketed it. Her sharp mind would dig until she discovered the answer—or got it out of me.

I failed to miss the irony of what I was doing. If Osmud were in my place, he'd push her over the edge. Garrat would've taken Bloodwyn's object and disappeared back to the tent city. Romelda would've stabbed Tressya long ago. Yet I was sticking close to ensure she made it out alive. The idea of Tressya dead…I couldn't contemplate it.

I shook my head at my failings moments before Tressya shrieked. The sound of falling rocks seized my heart. I spun to catch her going over the edge, a small black creature, its spiked tail lashing like a whip, clinging to her hip.

Before I breathed, I leaped the short distance and snagged her wrist, suspending her mid-air as I anchored myself on another root jutting from the wall. She banged against the side of the ravine wall with an oomph , but I'd saved her fall into the boiling liquid fire below.

Her smashing into the wall dislodged whatever disgusting creature had clung to her hip by its teeth, which was a boon, but already, I could see the blood discoloring her jacket.

Osmud's voice rose in my head as if he was whispering in my ear. ‘Let her go,' it said. The same words I would find echoed from all my men if they were here as witnesses.

Tressya arched her head and looked up at me. She made no plea for help, even though the fear was real. Instead, her eyes locked with mine, and she waited to see what I would do. Grabbing her arm was instinctual, but now my wits had caught up, whatever I did going forward would be a conscious decision. For the north, I should let her go.

For my heart, I couldn't.

A sharp pain speared through my wrist. I glanced over my shoulder to see another small creature clung onto my skin. Small it may be, with ribs jutting through its leathery hide, its wide mouth contained ample blade-like teeth, capable of gouging me to pieces. Glowing eyes. Dammit. This was not the source.

I growled, feeling my grip on the root weakened through the agony of its bite. I gritted my teeth and hauled Tressya up the side and back onto the path. The moment she was secure, she pulled her dagger and deftly sliced the creature's head from his body, avoiding my wrist.

"Obliged," I panted.

Then the wall beside us erupted. Nasty black creatures poured out of the crevices made by the exposed roots. In no time, they swarmed over both of us until we were nothing more than a wriggling black mass, swamping our hands, covering our weapons, eating us alive. Then, just as fast as they'd appeared, they vanished, leaving us oozing our blood through marks left by their sharp spiked teeth.

"I would say the source reached the end of its fall," I said, and we both looked down into the pit.

I caught Tressya wavering in my periphery and reached her just in time before she pitched over the edge once again and caged her body against the wall of the ravine.

"My head," she groaned. "I can't see straight."

"Dammit," I hissed. "The source had a poisonous bite." I swept her off her feet, cradling her close to my chest, and hurried my best along the path without throwing us both over the edge. "I swear, Tressya, if you die on me, I'm going to kill you."