Chapter 41
Ryker
“What beast could have caused this?” Elysia whispered, eyes wide and lips parted in shock.
The Viper preferred to cause her havoc from a distance. She never stuck around long enough to see the aftermath of death.
“A damn big one,” Calyx grumbled from the carriage. But there was an unnerved tremor in his voice, despite the bravado.
One I understood too well.
I’d never seen anything like this. It went against all of my better instincts, bile rising in my throat.
The entire village had been drenched in blood.
Splattered on the walls, seeping from the wells, drenching the earth.
It wasn’t fresh, though still metallic and shiny.
Whatever had been sacrificed had lost its life today, mere hours before. The trees and rose bushes, all coated in the thick liquid, had drooped, but hadn’t yet withered–but they would.
Nothing pure could withstand this.
No guts, no skin, no fur, no scales, no feathers.
Only blood.
From the way it had splashed onto the buildings, emanating from the center of the village, it had only been one gigantic animal.
“One of their snakes, perhaps,” I muttered, trying to solve this horrible riddle.
I thanked the gods again that Allie hadn’t seen this.
She was made of strong stuff–stronger than she realized, I knew–but I never wanted those beautiful green eyes of hers to witness such gore.
“Those are too precious for them. A monster from the forest,” Zandyr said, his steel eyes inspecting the area just like I did. “I saw one on the night I found Evie. No being should grow like that. I don’t understand how it even got here.”
“Or was lured here,” I said. “The how of it is unimportant. The why is what matters.”
Apart from the gore, everything else looked undisturbed.
No smashed windows.
No burned houses.
No open doors.
Neither one of us dared step foot on the drenched ground; this place had been desecrated beyond any mortal entering it again for an entire generation. But I could bet not even a single flower pot had been touched.
Just enough to add a sheer veil of innocence to the entire ordeal.
Invaders raided and pillaged.
The Serpents–and whoever in godsname was helping them, because they could not have planned this on their own–were trying to play with our minds.
This would be no ordinary war.
Ignoring the way my stomach lurched at the sight, I twisted my fingers and sent my power out toward the carnage.
Only a murmur greeted it, slow and sluggish, already hardening.
“I can’t control the blood,” I said.
Only whispers of sap from the wilting plants trembled against my senses, as if crying out for help. I dropped my palm and yanked my power back. There was nothing I could do to change their fates.
Zandyr furrowed his brows and raised his palm.
“I can’t either,” he said after a few shaky moments. “It’s cursed.”
“Or blood is too dry,” I said. “Blood that’s already been spilled can’t be cursed.”
“Or the creature was magicked before it was slain.” Zandyr’s gaze slashed to mine. “Which would mean…”
My fingers curled into fists, even as my chest burned. “They might be protecting their huge snakes.”
Gods above, I hoped that was impossible. Facing monsters we couldn’t freeze or control–
“Where–” Elysia gulped. “Where are its bones?”
I clenched my jaw. She was right.
I crouched low, gaze scanning the village, hunting down any wrinkle in this land which had already been forced to fold.
No indentations in the ground, no scratches, not even a sign of a struggle.
A sacrifice, nothing more.
“One of their snakes could have eaten whatever remained,” I said coldly. “The lack of explanation makes it that much more horrifying.”
“How can you be so calm?” Elysia asked.
Because otherwise, I would have retched. “It’s my duty as Commander.”
I had too many lives on my shoulders to let my mortal feelings take over.
Ryker would not be leading this war.
The Commander would–and it had to make some tough decisions, quick.
“The warriors can’t march this way,” I declared. It was bad enough the four of us had witnessed it. Let us be the only ones plagued with these memories. “It will mess with their minds.”
“They know we were supposed to camp here,” Zandyr said.
“Find an excuse. Any excuse. Stall them. I’ll go up ahead and find a new place for tonight, then we’ll take the army through the field, far away from…this.”
“The Serpents want to scare and tire us out.” Calyx spit on the ground. “Bastards.”
“Which means they know our path.” Zandyr’s voice darkened. “Someone has betrayed us.”
Perhaps the same traitor which had stolen my dagger. Which meant they were here with us, marching as if they meant it, and not back in Solkar’s Reach with Allie.
A comfort. One that made me feel relieved and guilty all at once.
“They made a grave mistake, then.” I rose, staring at the massacre with all the lack of emotion I needed right now. My power flooded my veins, quieting the sudden burn in them.
“We cannot investigate every single warrior while we march for war,” Zandyr growled.
“We don’t need to,” I said. “They’ll leave clues. Just like this one.”
“Yes, the Serpents don’t play fair,” Elysia said. “Shocking.”
“Sabotage has a way of turning into success if you know what to do with it.” I clenched my jaw, staring in the distance.
At the path we were supposed to take. The one someone else had studied as much as I did.
“Send scouts up ahead. Tell them to check the river crossing for anything amiss. If a brick sits sideways, I want to know about it.”
“You think the Serpents set up traps?” Zandyr asked.
“I hope they did.”
Elysia looked at me like I’d gone insane. “Has the stench rotted your brain?”
“If they haven’t, we’re heading for a graver danger than we realized.”