Kyron stood nearby, dressed in iron armor like hers, the morning light catching along the worn edges of the metal. His gaze met hers.
“You ready?”
Sorcha turned to Cat, offering her lap as a seat.
He recoiled instantly, tail flicking in irritation. “Do I look like I have a death wish? I’m not about to sit on iron.”
She exhaled, shifting to place him in the side saddlebag, but before she could, Kyron stepped forward, hand resting against a newly fitted saddle on her horse one she hadn’t seen before.
“Figured this would be an issue,” he said, patting the small, reinforced seat built into the back of the saddle one perfectly sized for Cat. “I told you if he was coming everywhere, you should do something about it. So I did.”
Sorcha blinked, stunned for a moment. “You actually—
Kyron shrugged. “Better than him clawing his way out or jumping out mid ride.”
Cat narrowed his silver eyes, leaping gracefully into the seat. He sat up, curling his tail around his paws, surveying the setup. “I suppose I can tolerate this.”
Sorcha shook her head but couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips.
She swung onto her horse, gripping the reins. “Move out,” she called.
And with that, they rode. The ride stretched long beneath the shifting autumn sky, the wind brutal with the bite of encroaching winter. Sorcha pulled her cloak tighter, feeling the chill seep through the fabric, creeping beneath her armor like an unwelcome whisper.
The world around them had turned brittle with frost. The trees, once golden with the last remnants of autumn, now stood bare and skeletal, their branches rimmed with ice. Patches of snow clung stubbornly to the earth, spreading in thin sheets where the ground had frozen overnight. With every breath, clouds of warmth curled from the riders’ lips, vanishing into the air as they pressed forward. The road to Cailleach’s Keep had always been anunsettling one, but under the weight of Samhain and winter’s first grip, it felt wholly unnatural.
Mist slithered along the frozen ground, coiling around the horses’ legs as they moved. The hooves of their mounts struck against hardened earth, the sound swallowed by the thickening fog that stretched like a second skin over the landscape. Cat let out a slow breath from his perch, his eyes focused at the endless fog.
Mason was the first to speak. “Anyone else notice it’s gone eerily quiet?”
As the road curved along a rise, a figure appeared ahead.
A woman stood alone in the path, her dress torn and stiff with frost, her arms hanging limp at her sides. She swayed slightly, as if caught between waking and sleep.
Sorcha slowed her horse. “Hello?”
The woman lifted her head. Her eyes were gone—hollow pits, black liquid spilling down her cheeks. It was the same woman from Meadowrun.Before anyone could move, she screamed and charged. The horses reared, their panic cutting through the screams. Sorcha was thrown from her saddle just as the woman hit her, slamming her into the ground. The impact tore the breath from her lungs.
The woman’s hands clawed at her leather, black veins threading down her arms. Her skin was cracked, her mouth full of blood and soil.
“Get off her!” Eirin roared.
He lunged, striking with his blade, but elderly woman twisted with unnatural speed. The sword grazed her shoulder, and she shrieked, thrashing wildly. Sorcha rolled aside, dirt scraping her palms, and gasped for air.
Drystan rushed in, dragging Sorcha to her feet.
Mason took a defensive stance, shield raised. Rhosyn began murmuring an incantation, her hands glowing faintly green.
The woman’s movements were erratic, she snapped and bit at the air, nothing about her human. Herhead jerked at impossible angles, her body twitching and jerking. She lunged again.
Cat hissed sharply. “Sorcha—your left!”
Sorcha spun just as the woman lunged again. Steel met flesh. The creature’s strength was monstrous, forcing Sorcha back step by step until her boots slid on the frozen soil.
The moment the creatures blood touched her skin, Sorcha’s runes flared. Erupting light through her leathers. The glow spread, rippling across her skin in waves.
The creature shrieked and stumbled, her body smoking where the glow touched her.
Kyron moved in fast, sword arcing clean through her neck. The body hit the ground with a dull thud, twitching once before falling still.
