Her expression softened. “Sorry, child, but to my knowledge, your shepherd boy hasn’t passed through here. Not many have. Sad to say, but only a handful of the folks from Nefarr reached this town. It’s likely most didn’t make it out.”
“And the fates? Have they whispered anything in your ears?”
Yaga winced. “They’ve gone quiet since the attack. Almost as if some darker force is silencing them. Shortly after Nefarr fell, I tried speaking with them to see how your shepherd and the others fared. But the path was muddied. All I could pick up was a sense of urgency. Like their time was running out.”
That didn’t mean that Speck wasn’t alive. He was smart and resourceful. One way or another, I would find him. I refused to believe otherwise.
“Those creatures, the wendigos, why did they attack Nefarr?” Could they somehow be connected to this presence Yaga sensed?
She tilted her graying head, casting me a curious look through milky eyes. “Didn’t your dragons tell you?”
“No.”
Yaga harrumphed. “Course they didn’t.”
She hesitated, lips pursed in thought. Then gave a solemn nod. “Those creatures that attacked Nefarr once served a dark and terrible force, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in a very long time. Born of mist and shadows, The Dark One survived by draining life from the living.
“There are few left who remember, but once there were dozens of sacred arbors. One after another, The Dark One’s armies invaded the Arbor Kingdoms. Kings and queens sworn as protectors of the trees fell. Anything connected to the arbors was devoured, leaving wastelands where magic once thrived. Eventually, the remaining kingdoms united and struck back. Together, they banished the beast into the darkness, never to return. Nobody has seen him since—until now.”
“You believe the wendigos came because of this Dark One, and not some isolated incident.”
“Sadly, yes.”
Her expression of concern ran a shiver down my spine. “If he was defeated, how is he here?”
“My guess is he sensed a surge in power when Carcerem received a new king and queen.”
Both Thorne and Alaric had spoken of their time in that place. In the kingdom that had imprisoned the dragon.
“This creature hungers for power,” Yaga continued. “That is why you must be especially careful.”
I blinked, startled. “Me?”
“Bah.” She tilted her head back, saying to the ceiling. “How could I have trained an apprentice this oblivious?”
Her gnarled finger flicked me between the eyes, and I flinched. What did I do?
“Yes, you.” Her frustration rushed over me, causing my ears to warm with embarrassment. “It was on your last birthday that your powers awakened. Didn’t you find it odd how flowers kept blooming under your ass?”
“You knew about that?” I winced, and the squinty, one-eyed glare Yaga sent me warned that I’d insulted her.
“I know about a lot of things. For instance, the reason you’ve come to me.”
“Yes, that.” I squirmed.
“Well, I’m waiting?” She arched a silver brow.
I huffed an exasperated sigh. “Yaga, you were right. I should have listened to you.”
“Good girl.” She plunged her gnarled hand into her skirt pocket, rummaging until her eyes brightened. “Ah. There it is.” She extracted a familiar cloth bag and tipped the hideous stone into her palm.
I leaned closer, examining the runes etched into the rock. Nervous anticipation skittered along my nerve endings. “How does it work?”
“I’ll show you.” She withdrew my arm from the tincture, drying my injured flesh with a soft towel, then leveled me with a look.
“Give me your hand,” she commanded, and given her mood, I didn’t dare refuse. I extended my palm, and she plunked thependant into it. The instant the stone touched my skin, a gentle vibration traveled up my forearm.
“Now hold it tight, as you did before, and place it over your injury.”
