No matter what it took.
Just then, a dark form flew out of the shadows of the thinning trees, heading straight toward our group.
We all looked up from the mapwe’dspread out on the soft grass toward the shadow, watching as Caelia took on her physical form.
She got back from scouting the path aheadsuper fast, I thought.
“You wereallincorrect,” she said matter-of-factly. “We’recloser than you all thought. The spotwe’reheading towards is straight ahead, not even a ten-minute walk.”
Laurence and Rayven turned to look at each other, looking sheepish, before Rayven cleared his throat and folded the map.
“Lead the way,” the spy said to Caelia.
Caelia, whose hands rested on her hips, smiled, revealing a false level of innocence before melting back into the shadows and leading the way.
I shook myhead, butcouldn’thelp the small smile that played on my lips as I felt Byn drawing nearer. A moment later, my hand was in his, and our largepossewas racing to keep up with Caelia, whosuddenly seemed to thinkit would be funny to travel as fast as she could.
“How’s the wing feeling?” Byn asked as we cleared a fallen tree.
Flexing both wings equally, I responded, “Good as new. Chess would have chewed meandyou out by now if itwasanything less than. We both know how strict his herbal routine has been.”
Byn chuckled, then looked toward the blond male up ahead, who was doing his best to keep up with the crowd, even though his multipletrokavkits seemed to weigh him down.
It had surprised me when thetrokavhad insisted on joining us on these scouting missions. While he could fend for himself, Chess was a creature of kindness and empathy; if it came down to itand we were caught, Iwasn’tsure he could do what it took to get himself out alive.
I believed hefelt some level of guilt for not being there sooner for Ezra. Iwished tothe Stars nobody got harmed that badly on these missions, but Chessseemed to betaking no chances.
I found that I admired him for it.
Soon enough, our group reached the small, hidden openinginthe side of a short rock wall. The terrain had becomemore and morerocky aswe’dwalked fartherNorth—closerto the Salic Mountains. That worked in our favor, though, because we could set up camp in caves like the onewe’djust walked into.
That specific cave, still being a part of the edges of the forest, had a plush, moss-covered floor and some sort of winding vines running all over the ceiling and walls. A small trickle of water could be heard from somewhere within, making the air warm and wet. And if one really searched, the roots from the trees outside could beseen inbetween the vines overhead.
Callum whistled at the sight, then said softly, “Maybe I will miss the continent just a little, once all is said and done.”
“I won’t,” Caelia, his sister, said without missing a beat.
Rolling my eyes, I walked toward one of the far crevices in the rock, setting my bag down.
“Alright,” Byn said, after placing his pack next to mine. “Let’s go over this one more time.”
“We’ve already gone over this six times,” Caelia groaned.
I watched as Callum snapped at his sister, causing her to quickly clench her jaw shut.
“Wedoremember, my king,” Laurence stated reassuringly.
Chess,seemingly wantingto prove himself, added, “We’llbreak off into pairs to scout outAcrynd, and if we find nothing there,we’llbreak off into two groups from here. One will go toNeokell, and the other toJackton.”
“And what’s the most important part?” Byn asked, looking out across our small group.
“Donotengage. We have no backup, and we have no idea whatwe’llbe walking into.We’rehere to scout, study, and report back. Nothing more,” Matea spoke up.
Byn nodded. “Correct.”
Matea met my gaze and winked playfully, obviously proud of herself. Icouldn’thelp but smile in return.
“Alright then,” I said, clasping my hands in front of myself. “Let’sbreak off into pairs. Remember, make sure at least one of you has shadowzirilium.”
