She opened her eyes to see him unstopper a waterskin. He then lifted her head, cradling the back of it with one hand, while he raised the skin to her lips. It was an intimate gesture, and had she not felt as weak as a newborn foal, she’d have pushed himaway. However, she had more important things to focus on right now.
Lara gulped thirstily; the stale water tasted like summer ale.
“How are you feeling?” Bree’s face appeared then. Her friend’s brow was deeply furrowed.
“Weak,” she replied. “What happened?”
“You fainted after you severed the connection with fire,” Alar said, drawing her attention once more.
Lara wet her parched lips with her tongue. She was warm. That was to be expected though. She always came down with a fever and chills after wielding fire against the Slew. It took a lot out of her.
Her pulse stuttered then.Too much.
Fear slithered through her gut—a familiar sensation these days. She was tough, had proved her mettle over the past years, but she couldn’t fight whatever it was that now ailed her. She hated feeling so vulnerable. It was the last thing she needed, especially when the days ahead required her strength. She couldn’t let everyone down.
“Do you remember the attack?” Cailean asked. He too had knelt, next to Bree. They both had burns on their faces, minor compared to the one on Alar’s shoulder. Her gut clenched. That was her doing. She’d nearly immolated them all.
Lara nodded, even as her pulse started to thud in her ears. “I lost control … I’m sorry.”
Cailean huffed. “Don’t apologize. We’re all here because of you.”
“We are.” Mor’s voice intruded then, and Lara glanced right to find the Raven Queen seated, cross-legged, a few feet away. Eagal had returned to her shoulder. “Thank you.”
Lara held her gaze for a moment. “Did we lose anyone?”
“Not this time,” Mor replied, reminding her that one of her Ravens had fallen during the Circines attack. “Although some of us got scorched worse than others.” She glanced over at Alar. “That shoulder needs seeing to.”
“I can help.” Ruari approached then, mixing something with a small wooden pestle and mortar. “Our healer, Eldra, gave me this and some of her herbs for the journey. Boar weed soothes scalds and burns.”
The seer knelt next to Alar then before gently smearing the green paste over the blistered burn on his shoulder. He then turned his hands over and dressed his raw palms too.
Alar’s jaw flexed, and he hissed through his teeth. Ruari cast him a rueful look as he continued to work. “You can thank me later.”
20: NO SAFE PLACE
LEANING FORWARD, LARA let Bracken pick her way up the slope. Mercifully, The Gaulas didn’t plague them this morning. Just as well, for her defenses were low; she’d barely had the strength to mount her horse earlier. She now slumped in the saddle, sweating despite the cool breeze that feathered her face. The fever still hadn’t lifted. Every bone and muscle in her body ached.
But the physical discomfort wasn’t the worst of it. At the back of her mind, dread lurked. Sometimes it would prod at her, causing her skin to pebble. No, she wasn’t frightened about what lay ahead—but the beast within. There were few things moreterrifying than feeling as if your mind were betraying you. Her thoughts were woolly, scattered. Every time she failed to concentrate, panic grasped at her throat.
At this rate, she’d be demented by the time they reached The Shattered Crown.
They had just left the highway that wound its way north to Cannich. That wouldn’t be their road. Instead, they were taking The Hog’s Back—a narrow mountain path that led over the Goatfells. Cailean had told her it would take them three days to cross it. The road then dropped down to the west, on the edge of the Hallow Woods. From there, it would be another three-day journey to Crask, the largest of the crannogs that lined the eastern edge of Loch Glass.
They were in the heart of The Uplands now, yet still far from their destination.
Lara was painfully aware of time passing. When they’d set off from The Wolds, it had seemed they had many days ahead of them. But every night when she glanced up and saw the moon steadily growing fuller, impatience swelled inside her.
We have to keep moving.
Her fingers tightened around the reins. If she had to weather another night like that one, she wouldn’t make it to their destination. The Slew had been vicious, and that wraith—bigger and more substantial than the others—had come for her again.
The spirits were actively trying to stop them now. Did they sense that she bore theOrd-ree seal, and that she was carrying it back to The Shattered Crown? Were they afraid of what she might do?
The ring had been used to keep the breach open, and now it would close it. Forever.
The path was too narrow to ride two-abreast, and so Lara followed Cailean with Bree behind her as they made their way up the mountain. Eithne clung to the chief-enforcer’s back, her flaxen hair snagging in the breeze.
Misgiving plucked at Lara.
