Chapter 15 Follow the Hunter
Follow the Hunter
Zayne
The Hunter is silhouetted against the snow. I can’t make out his features from here, but I know he’s watching us. Then he turns slowly and walks away.
“Come on,” I say, grabbing Holly’s hand again. I like to touch her. We head off, with Josh and Grimlet on my other side.
He’s walking fast, but not so fast that we can’t keep him in sight. I suspect he wants us to follow. We just have to hope that he’s leading us to the children.
A little voice niggles inside me—why? But we don’t have much choice; this place appears vast, and we have no clue where to find Tansy and the others.
“Hold on, Tansy,” I mutter. “Don’t give up. We’re coming.”
I consider shifting, but I need to keep my wits about me, and while Raze isn’t stupid, he tends to act on instinct rather than insight.
So, I trudge on, following the dark figure.
We seem to go for hours. Maybe he’s leading us away from the children.
Maybe he’s keeping us busy because he knows they’ll die if we don’t get them out of this place soon.
And he wants them to die. I mean, this guy used to get his kicks hunting humans for fun.
But I don’t know what else to do but follow right now.
The silence is the worst part.
Not the cold. Not the endless ice cutting into the sky like broken blades. Not even the twisted mirrors that keep throwing my own face back at me—older, younger, contorted, sometimes not even mine at all.
It’s the silence.
Because if the kids are here, if Tansy is here, I should hear something.
A cough, a cry, a goddamn shuffle in the snow.
Christ, I want so much to hear some sign that we’re doing this fucking right.
But there’s nothing. Just the crack of our boots on ice and the low hum of magic vibrating in the air, like the whole world is a heartbeat away from breaking.
Holly walks beside me, her breath fogging, her silver hair catching the weird light from the ice.
She looks fragile here, like the place is trying to swallow her whole.
And part of me wants to wrap her in my arms and fly her straight back to Elderfell.
But I can’t. Tansy’s here. The children are here.
They have to be. Because I suspect if we’re too late—if I’ve already lost Tansy—then this frozen hell won’t just be Khazim’s prison. It’ll be mine. And Josh's, Grimlet's, and Holly's. I can’t let that happen.
I spread my senses wider, reaching with the basilisk’s instincts. And there—faint, so faint—a cluster of heartbeats, thready and weak.
“Got them,” I mutter.
I break into a run, not following Khazim but following those heartbeats.
They grow clearer; I know they’re close, but I can’t see the children. I stop and search the area, but all I see is more ice and mirrors.
I turn to Holly. “Are these magical mirrors?”
“I don’t think so. They don’t feel right. I think this place is a manifestation of Khazim’s mind. He made his own prison. He’s been thinking about mirrors a lot and so…” She waves her hand at the landscape.
That makes sense. “Where are you, Tansy?”
“We’re running out of time,” she says.
“I know.”
Josh is staring into the distance, that weird faraway look in his eyes. Then he points at a sheer ice cliff directly in front of us. “There,” he says.
I close the short distance to the ice cliff. I still can’t see any children, but I press my hand to the ice, and I feel them.
Shit. He’s trapped them in a prison of ice.
But they’re still alive.
I take a deep breath. We can do this. “I’m going to shift.”
No one argues; they just back away. A moment later, Raze stands in my place. He knows what he has to do. He roars out a stream of fire, and the ice doesn’t just melt. It screams—a hiss of steam and a thousand reflections shattering across the mirrors like broken glass.
Careful. We don’t want to burn them.
He snorts, then breathes out another bout of flame. He steps back, studies the cliff face, moves closer, raises a clawed foreleg, and tears at the ice. It gives way, and we’re through.
Back away.
I’d hate to find them just for them all to die of shock when they see Raze. He does, and I shift back and hurry to the opening. The others are already there. Holly squeezes through the gap, then Josh and Grimlet, and I follow.
I’m holding my breath.
And then I see them.
The sound that comes out of me isn’t human. It’s a broken thing, part laugh, part sob, because there she is.
She’s pale, lips blue, huddled on the floor, arms around her knees. For a heartbeat, my vision goes black because she’s not moving. Then her lashes flicker. She sees me.
“Tansy,” I whisper.
“Zayne?” Her voice is small, hoarse, but it’s hers. She remembers me.
I’m already there, pulling her into my arms, holding her against me like I’ll never let go. She’s so cold, but she’s alive.
I open my jacket and wrap it around her as well. “I’ve got you, little sister. I’m here now. I’m not leaving you again.”
Her head tucks under my chin. Her teeth chatter against my throat, but for the first time since stepping into this nightmare world, I let myself believe we might actually win.
I stand like that for long moments, then give myself a shake. We’re not out of this yet. We still have to escape this prison. I can’t help but think that Khazim is going to try to stop us. I keep expecting him to appear.
Holly is handing out blankets and chocolate. I shrug my own rucksack off without letting go of Tansy, and Josh opens it and hands me a blanket, then gives out the rest.
Holly crosses to where we are standing and holds out a chocolate bar. Tansy takes it.
“Let’s get out of here,” Holly says in a low voice. “They’re weak—it’s going to be slow.”
“Can you make a mirror?” I ask.
But she shakes her head. “I can’t feel the magic at all. It’s like there’s something in here blocking it. I might work out how, but it could take time and…”
And we don’t have time. “Damn.”
She looks away for a moment, then back. “If you want to shift and take Tansy and Josh to safety, then I understand.”
I know what she’s saying. I can’t take all the children. And I know for sure that Holly won’t leave them and come with me. But even if she would, I won’t leave them behind. It’s all or nothing. I shake my head. “We all go together. But we have to go now.”
I make sure Tansy is wrapped up warm as she snuggles against me. “I knew you would come,” she says. “You told me if I ever needed you, you’d be here.”
“I’ll always come,” I say.
I take the lead and head out of the cavern.
Holly is carrying one of the little ones, and Josh is holding hands with two more.
I pause for a moment, searching for any sign of Khazim, but he’s gone.
A sense of unease fills me. Maybe he’s hiding, waiting to ambush us.
I need to be ready. I’ll shift if I have to, but right now we need to get the kids out of here. It’s going to be close.
Grimlet flies ahead, searching for the fastest route, and it becomes clear that Khazim was playing with us, leading us on a roundabout path. We’re going to make it, and we’re going to shut that fucker up in here so tight he’ll never get out again.
The children are flagging by the time we reach the mirror, but they’re all still alive, and we’re nearly there.
By the time we reach the mirror, the kids are staggering, but still alive. My arms ache from carrying Tansy, but I don’t care. She’s warm now, pressed tight against me, and that’s enough.
Grimlet swoops down and lands on my shoulder. “Grimlet not like this.”
Not like what?
Then Holly freezes. Her face goes pale.
“What?” I demand.
She points.
The mirror stands where we left it, a sheet of blue-black glass, breathing cold. And in the snow before the mirror, gouged deep into the ice, are hoof prints. Massive. Brutal. They lead right up to the mirror. And vanish.
Her voice is low. “I left it open.”
The world tilts. My vision tunnels, rage surges, a snarl ripping from my throat.
“He’s gone,” she whispers.
No.
Fucking.
Way.