“Bioluminescence,” Adara breathed. Her eyes were wide with wonder, ghostly light flickering over her pale features. “There are tiny creatures living in the water that emit a special light,” she told me by way of explanation. “That’s why the water glows like this.”
“Oh.” I stared hard at the rushing river, trying to see these creatures, but I couldn’t spot anything. They must have been extraordinarily small. “Are they poisonous?” I asked, suspiciously.
“No,” Tamil laughed. She wandered over to the edge of the river and hopped into one of the boats that waited for us, tied to a series of posts embedded into the riverbank. “And even if they were, we won't be swimming in the water, anyway.”
Adara and I made to follow Tamil into the boat, but the ice fae leaned over the edge and plunged her hand into the water. Layers of ice rippled out from the spot, racing down the river and disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel beyond. Within seconds, the rushing rapids gave way to a thick, shimmering layer of ice, the tiny, glowing beings trapped beneath its frosted surface.
“You want us to skate our way out of here?” I asked Tamil in disbelief.
“Yes.” She hopped lightly out of the boat and onto the ice. The frozen surface held her weight, and she slid forward a few feet before executing a perfect pirouette and spinning back toward us. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“I didn’t bring skates,” I grumbled.
“Neither did I.” Tamil took a few glided steps toward us and held out a hand toward us. “Trust me, you don’t need them.”
“Why freeze the entire river?” Adara asked, casting a puzzled frown toward the boats. “Doing so must have taken an enormous amount of magic."
“Because the boats don’t have oars, and my water magic sucks,” Tamil said. “I can’t control the currents to propel us through the tunnel like other water fae can. But I can freeze the river. Also, I didn’t freeze the entire thing—I don’t think even Lady Axlya has that much power. Just the stretch that leads through this tunnel. This river runs through half of Lochanlee—some people might get suspicious if the entire thing froze over now, when we are still weeks away from true winter.”
With no alternative, the three of us set out across the river, gliding across the frozen surface and doing our best not to crash into the walls. Or rather,Iwas doing my best not to crash into walls. Tamil and Adara were obviously pros at this, skating across the surface as if they were born to it—which, I suppose, they had been. They cast graceful shadows on the tunnel walls as they moved, and I did my best to keep up with them even though I felt like a fish out of water.
Eventually, the ice gave way to water. Tamil created a small ice floe for us to stand on, using it as a raft as we coasted out of the tunnel and into a densely wooded area.
“Thank the Radiants—” I started to say, then stiffened as my senses went on high alert. Slamming my mouth shut, I grabbed Adara and Tamil and yanked them behind a cluster of trees, and not a moment too soon. Seconds later, a troop of earth fae soldiers marched past us, mere feet from our hiding place. My heart thundered in my ears, nearly as loud as the sound of their thumping boots and clanging armor.
“They’re mobilizing their forces,” Adara whispered as the sounds of their marching faded away. The blood had drained from her face, her knuckles white as she dug her nails into the bark of the tree she was hiding behind. “They’re really going to attack the palace, aren’t they? This is my fau—”
“Don’t you dare blame yourself for this,” Tamil snapped. She grabbed Adara’s forearm, a fierce expression on her face as she spun the other fae around to face her. “You are not responsible for the designs Axlya and the others have set upon you, nor their petty squabbles. Besides, your presence is half the reason those three are fighting, anyway. The moment they realize you’re gone, they’ll stop fighting each other—”
“And devote their forces to finding Adara instead,” I said grimly.
“Yes,” Tamil admitted. “The sooner we get to Bala Oighr, the better.”
40
Adara
It took us the better part of a day to reach Bala Oighr. First, we had to make our way down the mountain the tunnel had deposited us out onto, which, unfortunately, happened to be the same mountain the earth and air armies had made camp on. We’d had to circumnavigate more than one troop of passing soldiers, and nearly ran headlong into army camps twice.
But even though the circumstances were stressful, I couldn’t quite keep the smile off my face. I was finally free of that Shadows-damned palace and those insufferable courtiers,andI’d learned my mother was still alive! There was still a chance I could save her after I reached the ice priestess and completed the ritual. The thrill of impending victory spurred me onward, banishing my hunger and exhaustion.
By the time we made it down the mountain, the three of us were so paranoid about discovery that we didn’t dare chance flying. Instead, we waited until nightfall for Einar to shift, then climbed onto his back and took to the midnight skies.
“I’m c-c-c-c-cold-d-d-d,” Tamil chattered. She was sitting right in front of me, bundled up in her furs. “W-why am I c-cold-d?”
“I don’t know,” I said, frowning. I felt the bite of the icy evening air, but as usual, I found it invigorating rather than cold. Feeling bad, I wrapped an arm around Tamil’s waist and pulled her against me. “Here, you can have some of my warmth.”
“Thank the Radiants,” she sighed, leaning into me. Her entire body seemed to relax as she soaked in my body heat. “I don’t understand how you’re not freezing.”
“And I don’t understand how you’recold,” I said, bewildered. I reached a hand behind me and pressed it against Einar’s hide, feeling the warmth radiating from his scales. “Einar’s body heat should be more than enough to keep you warm. He’s like a furnace!”
“A furnace?” Tamil echoed. “Are you kidding? His scales feel ice cold! It’s like they’re leeching the body heat right out of me!”
I looked down at Einar’s scales again, at the purplish iridescence shimmering atop their ruby surfaces, and something dawned on me. “Ironhide,” I whispered.
“What?” Tamil said.
“Ironhide,” I repeated. “Dragons have always been impervious to fae magic while in their beast forms, because of the iron in their scales. That’s why you’re feeling the chill, even though you should be impervious to the weather as an ice fae. His ironhide is nullifying your magic.”
