She slightly shook her head, then swung up into the saddle, reclaiming her perch on Pegasus. “You are certain you will be allright?”
Dylan opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The selkie princess brightened and smiled at Angelique before she folded over in a deepbow.
I hope this all works out for thebest.
“Take care, Dylan of the selkies.” Angelique clung to the saddle when Pegasus turned and started to walk off through thetrees.
A flick of his tail, and he rocked into a gallop, going faster andfaster.
Thankful for the saddle, Angelique clung to his back, trusting him to avoid trees and low-hangingbranches.
Mentally, she started down the checklist of spells she needed to activate once they hit the mountains: a heat charm, a wind charm to possibly help clear paths for Pegasus—for even this late in spring, the mountains were topped with snow—and perhaps anything she could think of that would invigorate a person. (Even though he was a constellation, climbing mountains at the pace Pegasus liked to adopt was taxing forhim.)
Once we’re over the mountains, I need to send word to the Veneno Conclave of what’s happening in Ringsted: of the sea witch, the humans that help her, and that faint whiff of bloodmagic.
* * *
Angelique pulledthe hood of her cloak tighter as she huddled on Pegasus’back.
Pegasus snorted with effort as he made his way across the rocky mountainside. Steam rose off his body even as snowflakes pelted them, and snow melted into water and hissed as he plowed throughsnowbanks.
No regular mount would be able to keep their footing in such icy and rocky conditions. But Pegasus made his way with ease. (Though Angelique’s heart nearly stopped when the tiny game trail they followed that wound around the mountain grew too thin and the constellation stepped intothin airfor several panic-inducing moments. However he stayed aloft, Angelique wasn’t going to dwell upon it, for only shapeshifting mages who took on bird forms had ever achievedflight.)
They were treading on the top third of the mountain. Above them was only gray rock and snow caps, but they were traveling above the tree line where only the most daring vegetation grew. (The only forests in these terrible mountains were in sheltered crevasses and the occasional slope that wasn’t covered in shadows by itsbrethren.)
Angelique would have happily ridden at a lower elevation, but given the unusual abilities of her traveling companion, the higher elevation let them cover a greater distance in this stretch of the mountains, where several peaks were huddled together in an almost conjoinedformation.
The wind screamed, and the snow raged, cold andunforgiving.
Angelique pushed more power into her heat charm and again used bits of her magic to tweak the weather around them, lowering the wind from painful gusts to an icybreeze.
Weather patterns this extreme were difficult to manipulate, but given that they were slogging along at a quick walk, Angelique had plenty of time topractice.
Angelique sniffed her numb nose and peered over Pegasus’ shoulder, looking down into the heart of the Chronos Mountains—an almost cradle-like valley, surrounded on all sides by dangerously highmountains.
If one looked on a map, it was a place where three borders met—the northern most bit of Ringsted, the southeast corner of Erlauf, and the southwest edge of Baris. In reality, the Chronos Mountains were no man’s land. Very little vegetation could survive the mountains’ harsh climate, and only a limited number of creatures called it home. No humans whatsoever lived in its peaks on any side. Between the avalanches, extreme weather, and occasional rumblings of the earth, it wasuninhabitable.
As the range extended north between Baris and Erlauf, it turned into the Arkane Mountains, which were more habitable; but here, in the heart of the Chronos Mountains, it was devoid oflife.
I was crazy to ever ask Pegasus if he could get me to Ringsted. Though in my defense, I didn’t think he’d actually sayyes.
Angelique rethreaded her gloved hands through Pegasus’ flaming mane, keeping her fingers warm as the horse pawed another snowbank, melting it on contact with his hooves—which temporarily sported blue flames similar to his mane andtail.
But at least this time, it’s easier going than our initial cross in early spring. The only nice part in that entire ride was when we crossed aglacier.
“Thanks, Pegasus,” Angelique meekly said as he carried her on, his muscles taut witheffort.
He snorted again and stopped his forward progression long enough to turn and flex his neck so he could bump her foot—hidden behind a cloak Stil had enchanted forher.
Angelique smiled and leaned over to fix the edge of her cloak, pausing when she realized she saw movement farther down the mountainside.
She squinted and was able to make out a line of green smudges. “Are those…goblins?”
Pegasus also looked down the mountainside, halting when he saw where shepointed.
Angelique dug into the saddlebag attached to Pegasus’ saddle. It was another one of Stil’s creations, so it had nearly unlimited space in it, though that made it a little hard for her to blindly feel through her bag for hertelescope.
When she finally found it, she pulled it out, fitted it to her eye, and fussed until it reached the proper focus, magnifying the green smudges so Angelique could clearly make out twelve green-skinnedgoblins.
