The footprints in the muddy cliffside came to an abrupt halt, and I pulled on the reins to stop the horse, looking expectantly at Morton.
“Now we must search for signs that the grass has been trampled. It looks like he’s strayed from the path and cut through the grass right here.” Morton’s tail pointed away from the cliffs. “Do you see that smashed patch?”
I squinted. “Not really, but I’m going to trust you and head in that direction.”
“Good plan,” Morton said.
I steered the horse to veer off the path, letting Morton guide me as he sat on my shoulder, noticing broken grass blades and places where Wolfe’s boot prints smashed the grass, things I’d never have noticed on my own. If Morton hadn’t come along, I’d still be sitting at the top of the cliff, frowning down at the abrupt disappearance of boot prints, wondering what I was supposed to do next.
Morton gasped.
“What?” I asked, stopping the horse right next to a boulder. “What’s wrong?”
He pointed his tail toward rock archways in the distance. “I read about those in a book! Those are the Godwitch Archways, where the godwitches gathered to do rituals and sacrifices. They sacrificed quite a few humans in their day right under those very arches.”
I shuddered at the thought of human sacrifice, glad I lived in this time period and not the one of the godwitches. We certainly had our issues with the brotherhood and other power-hungry kingdoms, but Iwouldn’t have been able to stomach living in a time when it was okay to sacrifice the weakest in society.
I stopped the horse, hopping off and walking up to the arches, running my fingers along the rough stone. I’d have certainly been one of the chosen ones, everyone else perceiving me as weak. Except Wolfe. If Wolfe were there, he’d see my strength—he’d make sure I saw my strength. He’d tell me to fight back.
“Well, what do we have here?” a voice asked, and I whirled to see two men and one woman behind me, all of them wearing maroon cloaks with white masks that I immediately recognized.
A cold fear shot through my veins. The Brotherhood of Magic.
The woman stepped forward, auburn curls tumbling down from her hood, streaked with grey. “I smell magic,” she said.
Morton slithered up my leg and to my shoulder.
“You can’t smell magic,” I said.
“Oh, but I can.” I heard the smile in her voice. “A new potion we just acquired that lets us scent out magical objects. This one smells like...” She sniffed the air. “I can’t quite place it yet.”
“Probably like rocks.” I wasn’t sure what rocks smelled like, but I couldn’t think of any magical objects other than the stones behind us. “My companion and I were just talking about how these are the Godwitch Arches, where the witches regularly held their rituals. Maybe some of that magic from thousands of years ago has lingered.”
The two men looked at each other from behind the woman, both of them wrinkling their noses.
“No.” She smiled wide. “I don’t think that’s it. It smells like... books.” Her blue eyes flashed as she set them on Morton, and my entire body turned leaden.
“You can’t have him.” Morton slithered around my neck, his body trembling. “He doesn’t even do anything worth your time.” Bile rose in my throat at the thought of them taking Morton.
“Hey,” Morton whispered.
“Really?” The woman tapped her chin. “Because I thought I overheard a mention of him eating books and being able to know the entire contents of them. That sounds disgusting, but useful.”
“I really wish this entire conversation didn’t involve insulting my abilities,” Morton muttered.
“No,” I said, voice firm, even though my insides were quaking. I wasn’t some damsel in distress anymore, and I would fight back against these tyrants in my own way.
“Who’s going to stop us?” one of the men asked, his eyes behind the mask so large and protruding they reminded me of a bug’s.
“I am.” I stalked over to the horse and grabbed the shield hanging from its saddle, then opened my cloak to reveal a silver sword.
“You have a sword?” Morton asked in awe.
“Wolfe gave it to me. Just one of his older ones. He insisted I always carry it with me.”
“Do you know how to use it?” Morton whispered.
That part was debatable, but it didn’t matter. I would try. I raised my shield.
