I take note of the tree trunks and undergrowth, all of it brittle and brown. No black trails in sight.
“We should sleep while we can,” Gallium says. “I’ll take the first watch.”
I’m so tired I can barely nod.
It’s only because of my power that I’ve kept going, and I’m certain Gallium is the same. We haven’t slept for the last thirty-six hours and we can’t ignore our sleep deprivation much longer.
Thaden, too, wears dark circles under his eyes, but he shakes his head at Gallium’s suggestion. “I can draw on the dragon’s energy to stay awake longer,” he says, dropping his pack at the base of the nearest tree. “I’ll wake you in three hours to take over the next watch.”
Allowing Thaden Kane to guard us while we sleep isn’t a good option.
I was already sliding my pack from my back and now I grip the handle, desperately trying to think of an excuse to stay awake, too.
A brief glance at Gallium and the close-lipped smile he wears tells me it’s no use.
“Thank you,” I say to Thaden. “Both of you. Wake me if you need me.”
Within minutes, I’ve settled against the tree nearest to Gallium, eaten a little of the food in my pack, wrapped my fur around me, and tucked my hammer firmly against my side.
My eyes close.
What feels like seconds later, I wake to a light touch on my cheek.
My eyes fly open, but I relax to see Gallium crouching beside me.
“It’s morning,” he says.
My brow creases as I take in our gloomy surroundings. “But it’s still dark.”
He gives me a firm nod. “Yes.”
As he rises to his feet, moving back through the undergrowth, I untangle myself from my fur, my hammer firmly gripped in my hand.
Around me, the trees are shrouded in shadows. Not a glimmer of sunlight makes it to the ground, even though the canopy of branches is sparse.
Black clouds boil above us.
The air smells like copper, filled with the heavy scent of blood.
I gasp. “If it’s morning, where is the sun?”
On the other side of the clearing, Thaden Kane stands with his head tilted to the sky.
“The blight is surging,” he says, his voice sharp.
He turns to me, his gaze piercing and the tension around his eyes growing. “Your presence is drawing the darkness to us.”
Chapter 6
Mypresence?
For a moment, I think Thaden means both Gallium and me, but his focus is so finely pinpointed on me that I’m not sure…
I take a deep breath, only to inhale the heavy scent of copper again.Blood. It coats my tongue and makes breathing difficult.
Every instinct in my body is telling me to move, to get away from the copper scent in the air as fast as we can.
“We need to move faster.” Thaden bursts into action, striding toward me, pulling the fur from my stiff shoulders and rolling it up. “There’s a rocky path along the mountain ridge up ahead. We can follow it.”
