‘Okay, so what does this mean?’ Caz asks, her eyes locked on me. ‘What do we do now?’
‘Now?’ I let out a quivering breath, trying to ease the racing of my heart. ‘Now, we eat, rest, and get a good night’s sleep. Because tomorrow we’re finding what those illusions are covering, and my guess is we’re going to be heading directly into Issen territory.’
We standat the base of the mountains. One Sanning, five Morathkians, two dire wolves and whatever the fuck I am. All there in shared silence.
Kyor is the one to break it. ‘It looks like pretty solid rock to me,’ he says finally.
‘Me too,’ Ruben replies.
‘It might be,’ I say. ‘Most of the range is real, but some partsdefinitely aren’t. The problem is, we don’t know if all the illusions lead to a crossing.’
‘Well, no time like the present,’ Kyor says, striding forward, his hand outstretched. When he reaches the rock face, his palm flexes and he slaps the stone, the soft thud causing snow to flutter down from above.
‘This part’s definitely real,’ he says. ‘There’s no chance of walking through this.’
‘So I guess we just head to each of the illusions and hope there’s a crossing?’ My voice lifts in question
If any of the others have better solutions, I’m more than willing to hear them. After all, the range stretches for miles in either direction. If we pick the wrong lead, it could add days to our search, and with the clouds once again low and covering the mountain – both real and illusory – even Benny’s struggling to see where the phantom mountains are.
‘What if we go in different directions?’ Caz suggests. ‘Three one way and four the other, with a wolf accompanying each group. If you and Fen went in different directions, we’d be able to contact each other if we found something, right?’
Logically, it’s a good idea. And yet it causes a queasiness within me. I don’t want to be separated from Fen, and I certainly don’t want to be without him when we finally find the Issen. I wouldn’t have survived the Torailians without him, and I’m not going to take that chance here either.
You do not give yourself enough credit, Little Raven, Fen’s voice tells me. It must be a sign of just how distracted and fearful I am that I hadn’t noticed our bond was open.You’ve survived worse than them before. You have a great strength.
Maybe I do,I respond.But I don’t want to be separated from you.
‘No,’ I say firmly. ‘We’ve got this far together. We do this together.’
I look to the left and the right, trying to decide which way to go. What I need is a sign, but currently it’s lacking. Knowing that I need to make a decision, I start to walk left, only for a pressure to strike at the base of my spine. But does that mean I’m going the right way or not?
‘Rose?’ Kyor questions. ‘You okay?’
‘Maybe?’
I glance down at my ring as I continue in the direction I was heading, only for the pressure to deepen, almost to a point of pain. The minute I switch back and go in the other direction it stops.
‘This way,’ I say, pointing in front of me.
The others exchange a series of looks that they don’t even bother hiding from me.
‘You want to tell us what made you change your mind?’ Kyor asks, but I shake my head.
‘No. Not at the minute,’ I say. I amnotgoing to tell them the ring is picking our direction.
I speed up, aware of the release in my spine as I head in the ‘right’ direction.
We don’t talk. Not about the cold that bites our skin. Not about the warriors we are about to meet. Instead, our eyes remain on the rock faces. Occasionally, one of us will move forward and touch the rocks and, for a little while, Loch walks with his hand dragging along the stone, but the rock is always solid, and the longer it remains, the more doubt claws at the back of my mind. After all, maybe the pressure I felt was a sign we should have been going in that direction.
And maybe it was just a delusion caused by weeks on the road and more magic in my veins than any one person should have. But I don’t believe that.
It will not be long, Little Raven.Fen’s voice shifts into my mind as I try the base of another mountain and find it solid.Look at what you have done. How far you have come. It will not be long now until you have what you need.
What I need? What is that?
A cure for William.
A way to control my powers.
