He shot past the house, fast enough to stir the air in his wake, locked onto whatever he had sensed.
I ran after him.
My boots hit gravel, then dirt, then roots. The ground blurred beneath me. My lungs burned almost instantly, my body lagging far behind his speed.
My thighs turned to lead, my shins burning with the sudden exertion.
That’s when I saw it.
A figure.
Wrapped in a flowing burgundy cloak, the fabric snapping violently behind them. The hood was threaded with thin bronze chains that clinked and shimmered with every stride.
They veered left, and I forced my legs to follow. My breath came too fast, too shallow. My chest burned, a metallic taste coating my tongue as harsh wheezes tore from my lungs. It only made me push harder.
I sped up. Steps turned into yards, yards into what felt like miles. Just as I began to close the distance, a sharp pain lanced through my side, and a coughing fit dropped me to the ground.
I couldn’t get enough air.
I dragged in breath after breath, forcing my lungs to cooperate before pushing myself upright and stumbling forward in the direction River and his target had disappeared.
I was a failure. No wonder River didn’t want me anywhere near danger. I would only slow him down.
Who was that? And why hadn’t River simply called out instead of giving chase?
Birds sang above me, oblivious to everything below. My heartbeat eventually steadied to their bright, careless rhythm. Though it slowed, it remained heavy with fear. This had to be connected to the murder.
A glint of light, four acacia trees to my right, caught my attention. It flashed in the sunlight, drawing a circle of starlings above it.
Uncanny.
Something I could only associate with… witchcraft.
Shivers ran down my spine. No way… witches couldn’t be behind everything bad that had been happening in the realm. At least, I hoped not.
The closer I got, the clearer it became. A moonstone. One of the most versatile crystals in witchcraft.
I glanced around and shooed away the hovering birds. Whatever it was doing couldn’t have been harmless, or it would have repelled them.
I reached into my pocket, but there was nothing I could use. With no other choice, I snagged my T-shirt on a sharp branch and tore off a strip of fabric. Muttering a quick barrier spell over it, I carefully wrapped the crystal before slipping it into my pocket.
I wasn’t risking whatever energy exchange this thing had been meant to trigger. The way Ortensians used crystals in the war was only a fraction of what true crystal magic could achieve.
Something rustled behind me. Leaves crunched under heavy footsteps.
‘You okay?’ River asked, a little out of breath.
It shouldn’t have, but it made me feel better about myself.
‘Yeah. You?’
‘Fine. Who the hell was that? It’s like they vanished,’ he said, baffled.
‘Why did you chase them?’ I asked before noticing what he held. ‘What is that?’
River’s expression tightened. ‘A dagger. I saw them stabbing it onto the side of the house.’
He held it out for me to inspect. The hilt bore markings I’d never seen—shimmering specks of silver energy trapped within carved grooves of the bronze.
