They’re roughly the same size as a horse, with short white pelts and eyes the deep violet of a dusky sky. Their paws are larger than my head, their claws capable of carving solid ice. In the Lustrous Age, Izarius taught me packs like this helped excavate the Ice Steps on the Astral Mountain, enabling the creation of the Starfields. But that was before the Sickening drove them from the peak, and close to extinction. Who’s to say if they’re still friends to us?
Astrophel grabs a fistful of the cragstalker’s fur in one hand, anchoring himself. He reaches his other hand out to me.
I step back. We’re not seriously going to ride them? But the others are mounting the cats too, and I realise they’re laden with packs. Blayze and Tansy ride alone; Maris sits with Delphine, who looks on the point of collapse. Briar is too weak for anyone to ride. Indeed, she’s so wasted and maimed, I doubt she’ll be able to support her own weight for long.
Horns sound again. Louder this time. Closer. I can’t see the guards yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Swallowing, I place my hand in Astrophel’s, allow him to draw me up behind him.
I’m prepared for the cragstalker’s heavy musk, but its coat feels nothing like I expected. It’s coarse and wiry, where I envisaged sleekness.
‘Keep hold of my waist.’
I do as Astrophel says, conscious of how closely pressed our bodies are. There are so many questions I need to ask. So many things I don’t understand.
Opal flames shimmer in the trees ahead of us. Orthriel materialises out of the darkness.
‘I’ll hold them off as long as I can.’
The deep peal of my Guardian’s voice hits me like a glancing blow. I haven’t heard them speak aloud, haven’t even seen them, for so long. I thought… I feared… But they look all right.
Their semblance of a body is wavering worse than ever and their heartcrystal is dim, but it’s still aglow.
Confusion clouds my relief. Orthriel is involved in Astrophel’s schemes? How long have they been plotting together? How did I not see any of this? Isn’t my magic supposed to be strengthening now I’ve come of age? So much for being Arcelia’s prophesied saviour, the last Starborn Seer. I’m still just as blind as ever.
I search Orthriel’s face.‘You’re not coming with us?’
‘I’ll see you have a head start first.’They look to Galtair, to the guards spilling through the gateway. Their lips thin.‘I’ll explain later. You must go.’
The cragstalker carrying us slides onto its haunches. Its tufted ears flatten. Fur and muscle flex beneath my thighs as it springs forwards, catapulting us down the hillside.
‘You owe me an explanation.’ I have to shout over the wind. ‘I thought you’d betrayed us.’
Astrophel is close enough I could read him, but after tonight’s revelations, I have no faith in my supposed powers of insight. I need to hear him say it – to hear him deny it.
Astrophel looks over his shoulder at me. ‘It’s what I wanted you to think.’ His hair is wind-mussed, silver strands falling across his eyes. ‘But now’s not the time to explain. Later, I promise.’
With that, he turns away.
Legs undulating like crashing waves, the cragstalker lopes down the hill, moving north, carrying us away from Galtair. With every lurch, my stomach leaps into my mouth and I tighten my hands around Astrophel’s waist. I’m surprised he’s still able to breathe. Pine trees streak past, and snowflakes swirl like ashes through the air. Ahead, the moonslight reveals flat plains and, looming in the distance, the spine of the Desolate Peaks.
Seven vertebrae leading straight to the Astral Mountain.
PRETTY WORDS
ASTROPHEL
LEILANILOOSENSHERgrip on my waist. ‘We should make camp for the night.’
I turn to look at her. She’s scanning the mountainside, eyes flitting left and right.
I search along with her, watching the rock face rush past us, patches of purple heather blooming here and there like welts, as the cragstalkers plough through the swirling snow, driving us higher into the Desolate Peaks.
The faint whine of horns carries on the breeze. We’ve been travelling almost a full moonsrising but the guards are still in pursuit. We can’t stop yet. We’ll lose what scant lead we have.
‘We can hide in there,’ she says, pointing out the mouth of a cavern barely visible in the overhang. Her teeth are chattering, her lips starting to pale. There’s a desperate edge to her plea. Searching behind the exhilaration still thrumming my body after our escape, I can’t ignore the drag in my own lungs, the vicious bite of the wind whipping past us.
‘Tell me you saved it?’
Knowing Leilani means the tincture, I nod. ‘I took everything I could, everything that looked important.’
