“There’s no time to explain. I need you to go with Lyrea and the others.”
She pushes herself upright, hissing slightly in pain. “What’s going on?”
Carefully, I help her to her feet. “I’m not sure yet, but I believe something is coming.” Panic rises in my chest. Thedanger in the air feels unmistakable now, like the tightening of a snare just before it snaps closed. “You must go,” I say again, more urgently this time as we exit the tent.
It’s cold, so I drape my heavy cloak around her shoulders to make sure she’s warm. In the dim firelight, I see the hesitation clearly in her eyes. She doesn’t want to leave.
Lyrea appears behind her, carrying Ailyn on her hip. I notice Olly is in Ailyn’s arms, asleep like all the other wolves.
“Let’s go,” Lyrea whispers.
Vivienne turns to me. “Be careful.”
Foolish hope surges through me that she might be worried for me, even now after everything I’ve done.
I watch her disappear into the woods with the others before I walk back to Dain. “Tell the warriors to—”
Green light erupts from the earth in a violent wave. The air escapes my lungs in a forceful rush as powerful energy slams us to the ground. Magic shimmers around us, rising into the trees. My pulse spikes as it flares brightly, creating a glowing barrier, locking into place.
Vaelen and the other wolves jerk awake with furious snarls, their ears pinned back as they face the woods, growling at the darkness. Relief fills me when I realize their attention is fixed on the opposite end of the camp, away from where our families retreated.
Instinctively, the wolves position themselves between us and the edge of the magic barrier, fur bristling as they pace back and forth.
Beyond the glowing wall, something moves between the trees. And as the first dark figure stalks toward the firelight, a cold certainty settles over me.
We walked straight into a trap.
Thank the gods that Vivienne and the others are safely outside of it.
CHAPTER 39
VIVIENNE
Idon’t want to leave him. The thought presses so fiercely in my chest that it almost stops my feet from moving at all.
But Lyrea’s hand closes around my wrist and pulls me forward into the woods while the others hurry ahead with the children, their footsteps as quiet as possible as we retreat into the shadows.
I’ve only taken a few steps into the trees when a brilliant explosion of light erupts behind us. The clearing blazes as shimmering green magic rises, soaring upward into a glowing wall, sealing the warriors inside.
Inside the glowing circle I see Auren and the others reaching for their weapons, growling in frustration as the barrier closes around them.
“It’s a rune trap,” Lyrea whispers, eyes wide.
“What does that mean?” I don’t like the fear in her expression. “Can they get out?”
“When activated, the runes prevent us from using our magic.” She points to a large boulder with a green symbolilluminated on the side. She lifts her hands, and a soft glow flickers along her fingers as she tries to summon her magic, but it quickly sputters and dies. Lowering her hands, she curses under her breath. “Anything cast near them collapses.”
Inside the circle one of the warriors tries the same thing. A bolt of power leaps from his palm but vanishes the instant it touches the glowing boundary.
Another soldier tries to approach one of the runes, but as soon as he draws close, he falls to the ground. I gasp as he writhes in agony before the others quickly grab him and pull him away.
“What happened? Why did he collapse?”
“The spell used for this snare must have been laid specifically for Elves,” Lyrea snarls. “We cannot get near the rune stones to break the barrier.”
Movement stirs along the edge of the clearing, and several Goblins step out of the trees.
They’re of similar build as the Elves, but with varying shades of green skin. Their ears are also longer and more pointed. Their armor is a mismatched collection of stolen pieces, and their cat-like eyes gleam with a greedy kind of curiosity as they circle the glowing barrier.
