10. Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
Dynalya
S omething lurked in the trees.
It had been hunting them since they left Skelling Rise.
Dyna lay still on her bed mat, staring at the canopy above her. Their stalker was so quiet, she sometimes didn’t know where it was until a branch faintly creaked. They were skilled at hiding though, for not even Zev and Rawn had noticed yet. But she knew they were there.
The sky rumbled with a coming storm as the night wore on until the sky lightened with the beginning of dawn. A light drizzle of rain began to fall, pattering on the leaves. Lightning flashed in the distance, exposing a faint shadow passing overhead among the branches. It was so quick she nearly missed it. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest.
She heard it.
The flutter of wings.
Rawn eventually took his rest when it was Lucenna’s turn to take watch. She joined a mercenary named Alasdair on the perimeter, a polite bulky man with unruly brown hair. Dyna waited until they were distracted before quietly standing and slipping away in the direction the shadow went.
She had been trained in many things over the winter, and learning how to move soundlessly was one of them. The rain picked up, cloaking her rapid steps further.
With each strike of lightning, the canopy lit up, helping Dyna search for her stalker. A winged silhouette flew past with a rustle of feathers. Then she was running.
Was it...?
It had to be.
She could almost smell it. That divine scent that belonged only to their kind. Her boots splashed through a puddle, and in the center of it floated a black feather. The sight of it sent her heart leaping into her throat, her chest rising and falling sharply with shallow breaths. Something in her chest rose past the poisonous anger. Past the fog of exhaustion.
Something she didn’t want to give name to.
Dyna entered a clearing and shouted, “Are you there, coward? Come out!”
Her shrill voice reverberated through the still trees. A murder of crows burst from the leaves, cawing loudly as they took flight.
Dyna stared after them, then at the scatter of their little black feathers left behind. She sank to her hands knees and laughed. Her vision blurred as she kept laughing at her stupidity for daring to hope.
Cassiel wasn’t coming back.
Long had she accepted it, yet why did she continue to hallucinate his presence?
Dyna choked back a sob and punched the reflection of the weak, weepy girl in the puddle before her. How pathetic.
Her mind was unraveling, most likely due to sheer exhaustion, because she couldn’t sleep anymore.
The nightmares never stopped.
She simply learned how not to wake up screaming.
Every time she closed her eyes it was the same. Cassiel turned his back on her, then hands pushed her off a cliff. When she hit the ground, it was the most horrible sensation. She not only felt her body breaking, but she also heard her bones snapping and the echo of an agonizing scream.
The dream must represent her soul shattering when her mate betrayed her. And somehow, her mind couldn’t let go of that.
Maybe it had been a mistake to remember.
Wiping her cheek, Dyna got back to her feet.
She couldn’t fall to her death if she stayed awake. Sleeping only an hour at a time kept the dreams at bay, but that would only work for long.
“Dyna?” Lucenna called behind her. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be out here.”
“Nothing.” She moved past her. “I came to relieve myself, if you must know.”
Lucenna grabbed her arm. “Don’t dismiss me like that,” she said tersely. “What is wrong with you? You know how dangerous Troll Bridge is. We never go anywhere alone.”
Dyna jerked her arm away. “Well, I needed a moment alone, all right?” she snapped. “I have had enough of all of you hovering around me like I am made of glass. I’m already broken. Nothing you do now will prevent that.”
Her voice broke on the last line, and she angrily wiped her tears away before they could fall.
Lucenna’s glowing eyes softened. “Dyna … we do it because we care.”
“I know.” She exhaled a heavy breath and rubbed her face. “I’m sorry. I’m only exhausted.”
“Did you have another nightmare?”
Dyna nodded, merely to move on from the conversation and because it was partially true.
With a wave of her hand, Lucenna cast a shield above their heads. Rain pattered on it as she wrapped an arm around her. “Come. Let’s get you to sleep. We have another hour before daylight.”
They walked away together towards camp. The distant flutter of wings passed overhead again, but Dyna didn’t bother looking up. Her mind must be on the brink of unraveling because the faint sound of a flute emerged from deep in the forest, but Lucenna showed no signs of hearing it.
Her side ached where the geas was, and she pressed on her ribs.
When they passed by a thicket, Dyna spotted a plant she recognized. Its dark purple leaves stood out among the others. Perhaps it was chance or perhaps fate mocking her, but she no longer cared. She picked a handful of stems. Their bitter scent filled the air as she tied them together with twine, then stuffed them in her cloak.
“What’s that?” Lucenna asked.
“Medicinal herbs I will brew later,” Dyna said, continuing onward. “They will help me with my sleep.”