Heady power strummed around me, and as I sprinted, my magic assessed every living thing in my vicinity just waiting to take control of them, command them, and force them to do whatever I wanted at my slightest bidding.
Lifeform after lifeform registered in my mind.
A home with four souls I’d never met before was off to my right.
Three sleeping smaller souls, likely children, were asleep near a home’s hearth to my left.
One soul was awake, and he was doing something in the home around the bend.
My feet pounded into the thickening snow as I searched for the essence that my magic had registered asKole. Each life, each flicker of a heartbeat, had its own magical flavor. I’d encountered thousands of fae in my lifetime, most of whom I couldn’t recall or identify.
But Kole’s soul was new and fresh, and his magical flavor had been strong, making him easier to seek.
Wind whipped through my hair, tossing my braid behind me as my cloak’s hood flapped against my back. The end of the town’s street neared, and the dark Wood lay ahead.
Another snarl rose in the distance, carrying through thenight sky. It was faint but eerily similar to what I’d heard earlier.
Wherever it’d come from, it was no longer near the village. Perhaps Kole had chased it into the Wood. Or maybe it’d already attacked him, and Kole lay dying on the Wood’s floor as the creature devoured him.
My stomach heaved, and my pace picked up. Arms pumping, I shot forward, thankful once again that pants adorned my legs.
The Wood grew closer, and my magic searched and sought. Concentrating, I pushed it farther ahead of me, stretching my mental fingers all around me and in every direction. Dozens and dozens of magical lifeforces answered my call. Animals. Wildlings. Siltenites. Within seconds, I had a location on every single fairy within the village.
I extended my reach even farther.
I filtered through everything, shifting through each magical essence as I sought Kole’s.
A hum of familiarity abruptly hit me, nearly making me stagger.There. He was just northwest of me in the Wood, about a quarter mile away. He was alive—my magic was able to tell me that much—but around him, I detectedsomething...
Prodding, my mental fingers assessed the creature more just as the Wood loomed. I’d never felt anything like it. Darkness. Evil intent.Unbelievablepower. And...no heartbeat?
I struggled to understand that, especially since my magictold me it was alive, yet I couldn’t get a firm grasp onwhatit was and how it could be alive without a beating heart.
Still, I assessed it more and immediately wanted to mentally recoil given the icy film that encased the creature’s mind.
Eww . . .
One thing I was certain of was that whatever Kole was stalking through the Wood was not something I’d ever encountered before, and the warrior was progressively moving closer to it, not even hesitating, and he was entirely on his own.
I reached the Wood and leaped into the foliage in the same beat, activating my sensory magic simultaneously to sharpen my eyesight and allow me to see more easily in the swamp of trees so I could increase my pace.
Leaves tore against my calves. Vines tried to obscure my path, but I ducked and moved, not slowing.
My lungs burned from my continued sprint, but I kept it up. I was growing closer to Kole and the creature, likely making a racket in the process, but maybe whatever that thing was, it would think twice before pouncing on Kole if it knew that two powerful fae were in its midst. Because, while I didn’t knowwhatit was, my magic told me that it wasn’t stupid. The opposite, in fact. I would have bet rulibs that the creature was quite intelligent.
I closed in on their location. Kole stopped. My magic locked onto him, monitoring his every breath.
The warrior’s aura soared, and I knew he’d either heard mecoming or somehow detected me. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to retreat, but I did slow down. Barreling toward the strange creature wasn’t wise. For all I knew, before I got a firm grasp on its mind, it would leap right over me and attack me from behind.
I slowed to a jog, then stopped completely. Harsh breaths lifted my chest, my gasps audible, and it nearly killed me, but I quieted those too until I breathed silently. Still, my heartbeat pounded painfully.
Keeping my sensory magic activated, I scanned the area.
I stilled.
There it was.
Whatever thethingwas, it’d stopped in the Wood, standing frozen, and it was only fifty paces ahead of me. Brush obscured some of it, so while I knew it wasthere, I couldn’t see it clearly.
