A part of me wanted to try linking consciousnesses with him, but since we’d never connected mentally before, it could prove difficult to find him. Still, I could try.
But as soon as that impulse hit me, it left. Kole didn’t know my magic could do that, and my attempts at reaching him could only end up alarming him since the feel of my magic brushing against his mind could be mistaken for an ailment or the feeling of going psychotic.
I sighed. Even though I knew his work took precedence, I still wanted to know if he was okay. But more than that, I wanted him with me. Having him at my side had made me feel much more secure in this region of the continent, but I tried not to worry about that and instead concentrated on making headway.
Hours passedas the day flew by. Throughout the afternoon, I stealthily checked the seekerill several times. Its needle stayed true to its course. North. I was growing closer to the Stone.
And when I checked it again as evening neared, my breath sucked in. The needle began quivering, alerting me to the fact that I was almost to where its endpoint lay.
When that happened, I snapped the lid closed. Breathscoming faster, I slipped the device into my pocket since my three friends were all glancing the other way. Apparently, I wouldn’t need to spend days in Silventine Wood searching for it. If the needle was vibrating like that, it meant the Stone was even closer than I’d thought.
A hill loomed ahead, and only low-lying crisilite shrubs surrounded us. When we crested the swollen land, the entire northern region came into view, and just beyond that, the glimmering and icy Brashier Sea waited.
My lips parted in wonder. The last time I’d seen that sea, I’d been traveling on a ship to the Isle of Song to retrieveLegends of Our Realm. It was hard to believe that had only been a few short weeks ago.
But at sea, there hadn’t been a deadly forest to contend with, only waves and potential storms.
“Dear Gods, there it is.” Jessip shaded her eyes in the early evening, staring straight ahead.
Nym and Felix swore quietly, and I swallowed the knot of anxiety that had suddenly grown in my throat.
Silventine Wood glimmered on the landscape, filling the area before the sea, and the eerie metallic shimmer along its border let us know that we’d nearly arrived.
I shuddered. The Wood’s name had come from that very perimeter. A silvery metallic haze enshrouded the forest, like a dome of gleaming metal. It was said that after one passed through the border, the color changed. Some days, the Wood’sinterior would be dark and sinister. Other days, it appeared vibrant and colorful.
But that was one of the reasons this Wood was so dangerous. It was alive in its own way. The soil was rumored to be incredibly magical and had a lifeforce all of its own. Plants writhed like fae’s limbs. Animals prowled beneath the ground’s surface. It was even said that the trees communicated, as though an all-seeing omnipresent consciousness controlled the Wood’s creatures.
“I’ve heard a god died here eons ago, and his soul lives on in the ground.” Jessip toyed with her fingernails, picking and scraping at them. “And that’s why it’s so magical and so labile. Some say the god’s soul is unable to escape from here, and when he’s slumbering, the Wood is dangerous but still survivable, but when he awakens, dark acts occur.”
“That’s just a rumor.” Nym elbowed her. “There’s no proof of that.”
“Yet it would be wise to take heed,” I replied. “I’ve heard the same.” I didn’t elaborate that I’d read details about this Wood many summers ago when I’d still been at the university. Even though such rumors had never been proven, there’d been enough dangerous acts and enough fae had experienced such oddities that it did make me wonder.
“Are wereallygoing in there?” Felix’s playful tone turned cautious, his usual flirtatious nature curbed.
I arched a questioning eyebrow at the three of them. I wasdefinitely going into the Wood, whether I liked it or not, but all day we’d been carefully avoiding the topic of how long we would stay together. It was as though the four of us knew that while we might be friends now, soon, we would be rivals.
Jessip offered a wavering smile as both of our carpets sailed down the hill.
“Well?” Felix pressed. “Are we?”
“My dream showed us here, so I guess,yes?” Jessip shrugged.
“Dreams can be wrong,” Felix countered. “Come to think of it, I cannot believe we came all the way up here because of a damn dream.”
Nym huffed. “Well, we didn’t just bloody traverse the entire continent to turn back now. I say we go in.”
“Even if we getkilled?” Felix slugged him in the shoulder. “Think about what you’re saying, Nym.”
I eyed the three of them. “Felix is right. It would be wisest to go home now and not venture in there.”
Jessip scoffed, then elbowed me lightly, her gesture easy since the distance between our carpets wasn’t far. “Sounds like you’re hoping to keep the Stone all for yourself, Prim.”
She said the words jokingly, but a gleam had entered her eyes. It was the same with Nym. I knew that despite the two of them being concerned about venturing into the deadly Wood ahead, they would do it. They were going to see this through until the end. And while Felix seemed the most apprehensive,I would have been shocked if he were able to talk them out of it, because Nym was right. They’d come a long way to turn back now.
I watched the energy change around my Faewood friends. Slowly, the joking and laughter subsided, and I knew the time had come.
My lips downturned, because my concern that we would become rivals was occurring right before my eyes, and the last thing I wanted was to end up in a race to the Stone or worse, have them follow me as I led them right to it, and then have us directly fighting for it.
