A wolfish expression entered the leonthor’s noble lion features.“A bargain: your secret keep we will, and your freedom we will grant you, in exchange for your vow to bring our Flame back to us.”
A lump formed in Aiden’s throat as he mulled over the consequences of agreeing to such a bargain. Yes, he needed to get out of there, and he’d be a lot faster if he were in full health and didn’t need to sneak out of the caves. Perhaps the leonthor would even give him directions. But there was a condition of his own.
The leonthor already had put up its secrecy in the bargain, but there was something else Aiden wanted to know because the fact that there was a living, breathing leonthor prowling the mountains was more than he could have imagined possible. They were the last creatures to challenge Ulder’s line alongside the Flames before the Great Purge, and something was definitely going on here, or there wouldn’t be human artifacts sitting around in the cave.
“I will agree to your bargainifyou tell me what this place is and who else lives here.” A glance at the fireplace and the blankets and bowls scattered around the dying flames.
For three long breaths, the leonthor said nothing; then it bowed its head.“Very well, Son of Ice,it eventually purred.“The last Flames of Brestolya refuge have found in these mountains, and this cave—mycave—still a few hosts. The ones who survived the attack of the traitor have.”
What traitor?Aiden wanted to ask, but his condition had been fulfilled, and a sensation of heat wrapped around his wrists like shackles of fire, burning into his skin. With a gasp, Aiden checked for flames, but found nothing but two thin, white lines on his wrists, the pain already fading.
“So not forget he will what he has promised,”the leonthor purred smugly, and Aiden wondered if he’d made a fool’s bargain rather than one that saved his life.“Leave he will tomorrow after meeting the Flames, and the rest of the story he will hear. Go he will, and back to us he will bring our Flame.”
The leonthor was already prowling away when Aiden found his voice. “Wait?—”
It stopped by the cave mouth, one paw already outside.“What does the Son of Ice want?”
“What’s your name?” Aiden didn’t expect an answer, but it was worth a try. All the more did the words trickling from the leonthor’s thoughts right into his startle him.
“Hodurac Fire Wing, Son of Ice, King of the Leonthors.”
Aiden wanted to call after Hodurac, but by the time he opened his mouth, the King of the Leonthors had evaporated into smoke and shadows.
Twenty people sataround the fire in the cave Hodurac escorted him to the next morning.Twenty; all of them dressed in clothes barely better than rags. They were all well enough nourished for people having been hiding in the mountains without any connection to civilization for years, and some of them sported weapons of fine making; Aiden had held enough poor ones in his hands before Ashthorn to tell the difference.
Twenty pairs of eyes stared at him as he stopped in the cave mouth, right where the tunnel ended.
“Son of Ice, meet the Flames.”
Aiden had no idea whether the people around the fire could hear Hodurac, but he waved all the same, one hand at his hip where his blade should have been attached.
“Good morning.”
Nobody greeted him back, but the man closest to him extended a bandaged hand toward his sword.
“I’m not here to harm anyone,” Aiden quickly amended.
“Good,” the man said, his full lips pulling back over his teeth like he was about to growl like a beast. “We’ve had our fair share of strangers showing up over the past weeks, and none of them truly came in peace.”
He wasn’t the only one reaching for his weapon. Half the Flames had picked up a knife or a longer blade; a womanwas clutching a carved staff that could do horrible damage in skilled hands. With a bow—for lack of a better gesture—Aiden stepped closer. “Hodurac wants me to meet you all.”
Beside him, the leonthor shifted, lowering his head so his antlers stuck out close to Aiden’s shoulder.
“Hodurac enjoys bringing in new people. Sometimes he collects rebels from the mountains and tries to convince them to work with us.”
Aiden didn’t dare glance at the creature beside him; too close were the sharp ends of his antlers. So this wasn’t the first time?—
“Not allow we will such talk,”Hodurac growled, silencing whoever had been about to speak.
Aiden wasn’t sure if the others had heard his words, though, or merely reacted to the sound coming out of that fanged maw.
“What is this place?” He lifted his hands, palms outward, and carefully stepped closer to the group, silently thanking Hodurac in his mind for healing his wounds the night before, as none of his movements ached. “I’m not here to hurt anyone,” he repeated. He sat down close by the cave wall, far enough from the group not to appear as a threat. In his left palm, he summoned a few ice crystals, playing with them until they melted in the heat of the fire. “I have magic of my own. Our interests are aligned.”
The woman at the far left of the fire cackled without humor. “We’ve seen magic wielders before who came to hunt us. They follow Ulder’s general and the ghost he sometimes sends into the mountains for spying.”
Lenya, perhaps.The Master of Whispers was the only person Aiden knew could project himself to other places—an image of himself or himself physically. It was unnerving, the knowledge that a ghost of the cruelest of them all could just pop up behind a random corner.
“He has magic, but he uses it to destroy. Tell me, stranger, how do you use your magic? Have you killed with it? Have you tortured? Have you betrayed?”
