They passed through the wards. The magic was cold on her skin, tickling her cheeks and nose. It felt like a bubblepopping.It felt like …
Like Ezer could breathe again, without the weight of magic.
The forest around them was calm, quiet, like there was no war at all.
Six walked a few paces into the small clearing and paused, sniffing the snow.
‘You were here,’ Ezer said gently. She glanced over her shoulder at Kinlear, who looked at her, puzzled.
‘How do you know that?’ he asked.
She shrugged. ‘Six remembers. Sometimes … she shows me things.’
To his credit, he didn’t prod any further. ‘We captured her mother here,’ he said. ‘A perfectly executed trap, with runes and war eagles well placed. We didn’t know she carried the pups until she’d already fallen. A happy accident, I suppose, because it brought us Six.’
The raphon’s tail twitched twice.
Ezer pursed her lips, running her hands down the side of Six’s neck, as if to say,I’m here.
In the distance, a raven cawed.
‘She’s seen the spot. Now we need to go back,’ Kinlear said. ‘This isn’t safe, Ezer.’
But something in Ezer’s belly told her to stay.
And Six seemed to sense it, too.
‘Ezer.’
The wind blew, rushing past her.
She urged Six a few more paces forward, past a grouping of fat evergreens perched in the snow.
And there, just on the other side, was a graveyard.
‘What … is this place?’ Ezer breathed.
Kinlear looked down at the old stones. ‘Many ancients were buried here. The tradition is lost to us. We burn the Sacred now, plunge their swords into the ground around the Sacred Tree.’
Ezer slid down from Six’s back.
‘What are you doing? We need to leave,’ Kinlear said.
‘Just a second,’ Ezer mused.
The sky was darkening. It must have taken them hours to get down the cliffside. It was getting too close to sunset, but she couldn’t stop herself.
And neither, it seemed, could Six.
The raphon walked about, sniffing the ground. The stones were ancient, old enough to be dated several Realmbreaks past.
She read countless names, all of them half-buried by snow. For some reason, she kept going. The wind whisperedyes,as if it were urging her on.
Six paused at the same time Ezer did.
Atop a grave that was old and broken. She knelt and swept the snow aside as best she could. The date in the stone had since worn away, but the name …
Ezer’s eyes widened.
