Page 23 of Keldori By Daybreak

I’d seen the dangers Skalterra had to offer, and I’d barely survived that as a Nightmare. Now I was in my real body. My real, broken, ulcer-ridden body that could hardly manage hiking rocky inclines and clambering over boulders, let alone fighting Magicians and monsters.

The sun sat directly overhead when Ciarán finally let the song die. Nervous humming at the back of my mind took its place, vibrating along the tether that connected me to Ciarán. He was keeping his thoughts to himself, but I could feel them like electricity coursing along the edges of my skull. Whatever it was he was mulling over in his head, it had his thoughts in a flurry, and their accompanying anxiety leaked through our bond to weigh heavy in my stomach.

We’d been walking for the better part of the day when Ciarán finally came to rest at a shallow cave carved into a cliffside. Its wide mouth offered a view of a glacier field, and we crowded around a crackling fire to stare at the Second Sentinel where it rose, steep and austere, into the sky.

“The glacier field is bigger than it looks from here.” Orla reached for her toes where she sat, stretching after a long day of hiking. “Probably another day of walking before we make it to the entrance, but the city is hidden inside the peak, carved out of the mountain.”

Fana whispered to herself, then clutched her pack tighter in her lap when we all turned her way. “Why are you all looking at me?”

“You said something,” Orla prompted.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Anyway.” Ciarán stood to better survey the landscape below. “Where’s the mountain entrance?”

“We came out behind a waterfall when Ferrin brought us to the Bay of Teeth.” Orla scanned the mountain, then pointed, but I couldn’t see the waterfall from where I leaned against Liam’s backpack on the cold floor of the cave. “Our city looks out this direction, so Ferrin will probably be watching.”

“Then he’ll definitely see us crossing that glacier,” Ciarán mused.

“The city is high enough that low clouds could cover us.”

“We can’t waste time waiting for bad weather.” Ciarán shook his head.

“What about Wren?” Orla asked. “Her grandma can make storms, so maybe she can too.”

“Wren can’t even make a proper sword.” Ciarán gave a low laugh. “If she tried to make clouds, they’d probably drop flails on us.”

I wanted to snap back, but he was probably right. Instead, I asked Orla, “Where does the water from the waterfall go?”

“All the way to the Bay of Teeth, I’m pretty sure, but we couldn’t see the river because the waterfall disappeared under the ice.”

“And if a river can run under a glacier, so can we.” Ciarán grinned. “Maybe you’ll prove useful on this journey after all, Blue.”

I sneered back as I snaked my hand up my shirt to rest on my bruised ribs. Sorcha had made healing magick sound simple. It was just about creating a matrix to help the existing cells grow.

I could do that. Maybe. I’d made mold once. This couldn’t be that much more difficult.

Heat flared in my palm, and I flinched at the familiar pain that always accompanied healing Magick. But it had to be a good sign that it felt the same way it had when Sorcha had tended to the injuries. Plus, I was able to tap into my own pain to guide the magick to where I needed it the most. I forced myself to relax against the stone ground, and the pain of the magick loosened.

“Once we’re in the mountain,” Ciarán continued, “how do we get to the city?”

I grimaced. I knew from experience how taxing of a walk up the inside of the Sentinel Second was.

“There’s a lift, but that’s out of the question if we’re sneaking in.” Orla sighed. “We’ll have to stick to maintenance shafts, and Wren and Fana can wait by the lake on the other side of the mountain.”

“What?” I tried to sit up, but my ribs protested, and I collapsed back against Liam’s backpack. Ciarán scoffed where he kept guard at the mouth of the cave, and I tried to glare at him from the corner of my eye.

“We’re grabbing Iseult and getting out,” Orla explained. “I’ll go because I know the way, and Ciarán can come with me in case things go south and I need the backup.”

I knew I was in no condition to sneak into Ferrin’s hidden mountain fortress, and a month ago, I would’ve been more than happy to sit out any adventures, but my palms itched with anticipation.

“Careful, Blue,” Ciarán hissed in my head. “You’ll catch fire.”

I curled my fingers into fists to snuff out the tiny blue sparks of Magick I hadn’t noticed coming off my palms. I pressed my hand back against my ribs to put the itching magick to a more productive use.

“But we want to help,” Fana asserted. “And what about Tiernan?”

“Tiernan?” Ciarán asked.