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Radnor pulled back when Nox dove for a narrow clearing that looked almost like a crack in the center of a painting. How do we know he’s not leading us to our demise? Radnor asked.
We don’t, I said, feeling less sure about the blood oath, though the others were too focused on saving the children to question Nox’s loyalty as they followed the wyvern.
I don’t trust Nox, I projected to Tari and Ash. We should hold back.
I’m not waiting, Tari answered. Every second delayed could cost our children their lives.
Dread leached into my veins. Something was wrong. I could sense it in the marrow of my bones. So could a misstep.
Ash’s growl echoed in my skull. We don’t have time for fear when our children need us.
I swallowed at the way he emphasized ‘our children,’ a dig because the girls weren’t mine. That didn’t mean I didn’t care about them or the rest of my family. I’m staying up here to watch for threats.
Do what you want, Ash answered. The wyvern wouldn’t dare defy the blood oath.
He would if he found a way to break it, I said. Though I couldn’t identify what exactly was wrong, I had a dark, foreboding feeling we should be extra cautious.
We circled low over the trees, watching for any signs of trouble.
Nox landed, tucking his wings behind him while peering up at us. Come down, Prince.
I shook my head. Not yet.
A tremor coursed through me when Isa landed with Tari and Shiri on her back. My brother and Bea and Shiri’s mates landed beside them. The other wyverns landed on the tops of the trees, clinging to their spindly branches.
Nox’s eyes flared red before he threw back his head and let out a terrifying squawk that reverberated through the air.
Isa snapped at Nox as he jumped into the sky.
What are you doing? I demanded as Radnor flew lower circles around them.
Nox pumped his wings until he was level with Radnor. Alerting the demons.
“Get out of there! It’s a trap!!” I yelled to everyone below.
Radnor blew a stream of fire at Nox, but the wyvern easily dodged it. We lurched, and Radnor cried out when a thick vine shot up from the forest and latched around his leg. He blew a stream of fire at the vine, and it slunk back to the ground. The others weren’t so lucky. Dozens of tendrils had shot up from the air and snatched wyverns from their trees. The wyverns cried and kicked, aggressively flapping their wings before they were dragged beneath a canopy of mossy leaves, their voices suddenly silenced. Only Bea was lucky enough to fly away unharmed.
Isa let out an agonized roar, and I barely had time to grab the pommel before Radnor landed hard on top of a mountain of vines. My heart leapt into my throat. Those thorny vines had overtaken Isa, digging into her tail and scales while swiftly wrapping around her. Ignoring the thorns that dug into his paws, Radnor ripped vines off Isa with his teeth. My family was buried in foliage that swept over them like a rising tide, dousing the mages’ fires.
My heart thundered in my ears as I hacked at vines with my sword while desperately trying to reach my family.
A blinding white light, and the vines fell away, revealing my brother and Shiri’s mates protectively hovered around Tari and Shiri. The mages were covered in bloody cuts and welts, and Ash had shifted into a giant wolfish beast with fur matted with blood. White magic leached from Tari’s fingertips as her chest heaved. Blackened trees hovered over me, their long, spindly branches like ghouls reaching into a crypt. Radnor nudged Isa, trying to get her to stand while also swatting away broken vines that had left her wings in tatters. No way was she flying out of here with those injuries. I slashed through vines with my sword as they made their hasty retreat, slithering away like snakes.
But then a new threat emerged as a black wave rushed toward us like a swiftly moving tide. I shook my head, my eyes adjusting to the low evening light. And that’s when I saw thousands of red, glowing eyes.
“Where did Nox go?” Drae called out.
“I don’t know, but we have bigger problems.” I stood between the dragons, backing up while the creatures advanced toward us, thousands, perhaps millions of spiders about the size of my hand.
Drae let out a roar, and then the spiders froze. I blinked, an odd sensation in my head as if time had stopped still and restarted. Had it? Suddenly, the spiders were moving again. I looked over at Drae, who was hunched over, panting as if he’d just flown across Caldaria. A ring of fire encircled us. Had Drae done that? Shiri had told us he could stop time, but I hadn’t believed it until now.
A deafening scream pierced the air, and the ground split open. I lost my footing and fell to my knees when a giant, circular chasm widened between us and the spiders, leaving the dragons and us on an island in the center of the forest. Hissing spiders scrambled away from the fire at the edge of the chasm. Shiri hunched beside Drae, panting as if she’d just battled a giant. Had she split the earth open? Just when I thought we were saved, the spiders crawled over one another, hitting the flames with a sticky substance until the fire subsided. Then they shot strands of web across the chasm.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
They were creating a bridge!
Mm. A Fae prince. A deafening chorus of sibilant voices echoed in my head while they crawled across the filament. So tasty. Our mistress will be pleased.
