“I’m not terrified.”Elora’s chin lifted.“I’m unsettled in a fashionably alert sort of way.”
Cassie’s amusement faded as another tremor stirred the ground.Her fingers pressed against her stomach without thought.She felt her child’s magic stir, too, no longer shy or sleeping, but aware.
“I’m just going to go out on a limb, slight pun intended, and say that the Chamber knows we’re not on our own anymore,” Cassie whispered.
The air trembled again, heavier this time.The pull that once felt like a somewhat invitation slammed into insistence.
Elora exhaled slowly through her nose.“Agreed, and it’s no longer making ‘gentle suggestions.’It feels more like a drill sergeant bellowing at us to ‘move our butts.’”
Cassie nodded, heart pounding like a drumline.“The timetable has obviously changed,” she said.
“Didn’t even bother to check if we had conflicts in our schedule,” Elora muttered.“Rude.”
“Yes, because a magical Chamber that seems to be sentient, or has something in it that’s sentient wanting to use us for some nefarious reason, cares about our schedule,” Cassie said dryly.
The trees leaned in as if to underscore her words.Branches bent as if bowing to an unseen current.
Cassie closed her eyes for one long breath and let herself feel it fully.Deep beneath distance and chaos, Trik’s power burned, raw, desperate, unmistakable.Rage braided with love until the two were indistinguishable.He wasn’t angry ather.But, by the Forest Lords, hewasenraged.And in that fury, he’d drawn every ancient thing’s gaze straight toward them.He wascomingfor her.
Cassie opened her eyes.“He didn’t intend to make this worse,” she said quietly.“This is Trik the assassin, and he’s not playing around.”
Elora’s mouth curved, not into a smile exactly, but into that fierce, battle-ready grin Cassie had learned meantlet’s go ruin someone’s plans.
“Okay, well then we keep ourselves alive long enough for him to get you,” Elora said, stepping closer, shoulders squared.“I’ve no doubt my man is right there with him.We’ll play along with the Chamber’s game, for now.”
The forest seemed to have an answer for Elora’s statement, no doubt influenced by the power of the Chamber.The pull returned, no longer a gentle herding, but a grip that seized and directed.The earth shifted underfoot.Roots wound upward to form solid lines of passage.Stones surfaced in pale paths, ancient and deliberate, symbols of movement carved by something sentient and done waiting.
“I feel challenged," Elora said, narrowing.“You know I don’t respond well to being challenged."
Cassie nodded once.“Maybe, just this once you can refrain from going ‘dark elf warrior,’ and lean into a newfound self-controlled state.”
“That’s boring.”
Cassie gave her a dry look.“Boring just might keep your ass alive.Own the boredom, Elora.Don’t make me give you a command as your queen.”
“Wow,” Elora said, her voice full of admiration.“A pushy magical Chamber has really turned you into a badass.”
Cassie let out a shaky laugh.“I was always a badass.I just like people to underestimate me.Makes me dangerous.”
“I love your optimism.”Elora’s grin was all sharp edges and loyalty.“Also, you’re welcome for not freaking out right now.”
“Yet,” Cassie said, stepping forward.
“Yet,” Elora agreed.
The forest closed ranks behind them, trees aligning in eerie precision as though saluting.The air thickened with magic and intent, old and powerful magic tilting its attention their way.Cassie could feel the Chamber stirring, its temper no longer masked.The shadows remembered.The light took notice.And the pull that had once been an invitation solidified into command.
The Chamber wasn’t using the forest to guide them anymore.It wasclaimingthem.Because the King of the Elves had stopped waiting, and every ancient thing in the realm had heard him.
CHAPTER11
“You’ve got his attention.Not sure that was the smartest play.”~ Rezer
Rezer felt it before the forest reacted.
Not sound.Not magic flaring the way lesser power announced itself.This went deeper, an alteration in the bones of the realm, a pressure shift that rolled outward from a single point and carried intent with it.
Apparently, Trik had taken notice of the wrongness in his kingdom.
