My heart pounded at the thought of him. He still hadn’t returned, and surely, if hecouldn’treturn, he would have sent a dillemsill.
I tried not to worry over it, but evening had arrived, and while I didn’t relish the thought of venturing into the Wood at night, I also didn’t want to spend the night sleeping alone out here either. So far, I hadn’t found any suitable shelters. Just endless brush and ground cover between the forest and the Adriastic Sea.
I couldn’t even use the carpet for safety. Commanding the carpet to rise high in the sky, so I could sleep upon it well away from the ground was dangerous. Carpets didn’t stay activated indefinitely. It was possible while I was sleeping, it would deactivate, resulting in me falling off and plummeting to my death.
I groaned. None of my options seemed ideal.
I studied the landscape more, and my usual cheer waned. It was either sleep out in the open and hope that I avoided being killed at night or stay awake until sunrise and hope that Kole had returned by morning.
Nibbling my lip, I slowly realized that it was best to keep moving forward. Uncle Timith was dying, and I didn’t have time to wait.
But all of my fears were coming to a head.
I was by myself.
The Stone was in Silventine Wood.
And from the looks of it, I would be venturing into that magical forest on my own. Tonight.
Two fae would have been better than one when venturing into the Wood, but Kole was also on duty. For all I knew, his commanders had sent him to an entirely new portion of the continent, and they hadn’t allowed him the time to alert me to his delay.
My stomach bottomed out. I had no idea when I would see him again, or evenifI would see him again.
“You have to assume you’re on your own, Prim.” My brow furrowed, and I eyed the Wood, then pulled out my seekerill.
The needle spun, moving and quivering at lightning speed, then it abruptly stopped and pointed directly to the Wood. It vibrated so aggressively,eagerly, and that only meant one thing.
“Stars. I’m almost there.”
I weighed my options. If I followed it now and kept my wits about me, it was possible I’d find the Stone before sunrise. Given how the seekerill was acting, the Stone wasclose.
I glanced at the sky. It wasn’t that late yet. The sun was nearing the western horizon, but at least an hour of daylight remained, and I wasn’t tired. I was still mentally sharp.
I glanced behind me to the Wildland Mountains. Their dark peaks, while still tall, had grown distant. And nothing surrounded me but empty brush.
It was now or never.
With a whispered command to my carpet, I veered directly toward the Wood and didn’t look back.
Fierce determination bloomed through me. The time had come.
I was finding the Stonetonight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Wood’s metallic border glimmered. My carpet rushed toward it, and the closer I got, the more I couldfeelthe forest. Its border rose in a haze, like a pearly soup of gleaming silver. It was beautiful in its own way, but something about it screamedother.
Magic heated inside me, and I extended my mental fingers forward, intent on pushing through the border to seek any creatures that could be waiting for me on the other side.
But when my magic hit the Wood’s barrier, it scattered, and an electrifying hum filled my mind.
I hissed, the sensation bothersome, but not painful. Putting more of my magic into it, I pushed and surged until my mental extension reformed and began to force its way through the Wood’s encapsulating dome.
Breathing deeply, I concentrated more. As I neared the edge of the Wood, my magic finally penetrated the border.
On the other side, hundreds of lifeforces greeted me.
My breath sucked in, and I mentally spanned my magic out. There wereso manycreatures of varying degrees and sizes. Some were intelligent. Others weren’t. And some were so foreign that I didn’t even know how to categorize them.
