“We can break this curse on the land. Together. I have seen it,” the witch said, smiling through a mouthful of dry, chewy, grainy meat. “And once it is broken, we can claim our places on Dakkar once more. We will be worshipped and respected. We will never be hungry again. We will livegildedwith Kakkari’s touch. Even theDothikkar, even theVorakkarswill not be able to strike us down again. It isusthat will strikethemdown. We will restore balance to Dakkar and it will bethemwho kneel before us.”
The witch’s words rang out strong and clear in the dark forest. She’d come alone but I knew there were others. Hearing her speak, hearing her certainty, hearing the humans behind me go still at her words, mesmerized by what she offered them…I understood why a coven of witches followed in her wake.
“And what do you ask in return?” Benn said, though his voice had gone soft. His gaze was rapt on the witch. “There is always a price.”
The witch smiled and it was blackened withrikcrunmeat.
“All I ask is that you bring me the heart of a horde king.”
There was a gasp behind me and I stilled, staring at the witch in frightened disbelief.
“To break this curse, that is what I require.”
As if sensing my stare, the witch turned to me. Her eyes moved over my body, calculating and assessing. I didn’t know what she was searching for but when she met my wide gaze, her smile widened.
“And I know how we can get one.”
Chapter Two
Okan was restless beneath me, stomping his taloned claws into the rocky earth, wheeling around before I clamped his chained reins tighter.
“Pyroth,” I growled softly.
Hearing no give in my voice, mypyrokistilled, obeying the command. I pressed my palm to the side of his long neck, feeling the strong heart beating rapidly beneath it.
“Pyroth,” I said, though gentler this time, before narrowing my gaze back over the Dead Lands. I could not see a single thing past the heavy red fog that blanketed them. The color of it was likevekkiriblood. Every passing day, as it got thicker and thicker, choking all life from inside it, it blackened.
The sun was rising over Dakkar but the rays of light would not penetrate the fog. Before dawn, I had guided Okan up to the cliffside, one of the smaller mountains that dotted this land but one that offered a view of the eastlands in their entirety. Just like yesterday morning, the sight of the red fog made my shoulders tighten, made a grim scowl cross my features.
I maneuvered Okan to the right, taking the narrow, steep trail that led down towards the fog. My horde lay to the west, enough of a distance away where I didn’t fear that it would be swallowed by whatever consumed the Dead Lands.
Once we reached the base of the mountain, I dismounted, swinging down and landing with a heavy thud on the hard earth.
“Okkai,” I rasped to Okan, the weight of my sword sheathed against my back comforting. Mypyrokiobeyed me once more, sticking to the black rock of the mountain as I ventured towards the fog.
The edges of it swirled and swayed, as if being blown by a breeze, though none ruffled my hair or drifted across my flesh.
Like little fingers, I thought, watching the fog reaching out towards me, growing in small increments, right before my very eyes. The growth had started slowly when it first appeared. But now, months later, every day it consumed more and more.
I felt the tendrils of the fog reach my legs. Behind me, I heard Okan give a warning, displeased huff, heard the way his claws stomped in irritation.
It felt cool, like it always did. It swirled and drifted through my trews, through my boots, and my fur cloak. I gritted my teeth, my hand flexing instinctively for the sword at my back.
This is reckless, I knew. But I had been tasked with keeping watch over the Dead Lands after theVorakkarof Rath Kitala left. He had been the first. I had been next in rotation. And as such, I would do whatever I could to learn about it, even at the expense of my strength.
As if alive, as if sensing what nourishment I could give it, the fog rippled around me. My vision went red with it. I could no longer hear Okan behind me. A dull rushing sounded in my ears. My heart throbbed. My lungs began to squeeze tight. My mind went heavy.
I grunted when my strength left my legs, when they began to feel like they weren’t a part of me anymore, when I couldn’tfeelthem at all.
I spied movement out of the corner of my eye.
For a brief moment, I forgot that I couldn’t stay within the fog much longer. Because for a brief moment, I swore I saw a small figure, silhouetted amongst the swirling shroud. I stilled, wondering if I was beginning to hallucinate or not.
I blinked, heavy and slow, and then the figure was gone. Melted away, or perhaps it had never been there to begin with.
My limbs were like boulders as I flung myself away from the fog’s grip. I surfaced through the other side of it.
Sound and smell and sight returned to me. Okan chuffed upon seeing me emerge and, disobeying my command, sprinted towards my side, my loyal beast quaking the earth with his bulk.
