Chapter Sixteen
“We should be right about… here,” Laurence said, pointing toward a spot on the map before us, his finger resting on the outskirts of the northern part of Wittuck Woods.
The Northern border patrols had lessened slightly, but we’d still decided as a group to pair up and shadow wield across while it was dark out—just in case.
The section of the forest we stood in was across the border that separated the North from the South.
A border that I had—once again—crossed.
Sometimes I found it difficult to believe that I had, at one time, never wanted to leave Hollis. I’d still only seen a portion of our world so far, and yet I couldn’t imagine going back to having such a narrow view of life and our realm as a whole.
“We’re almost to our rendezvous point,” Rayven added, motioning to a small dot just above Laurence’s finger that signified where we would be setting up our collective group meeting place.
We’d left Cairnyl about a day ago. Quinn had stayed behind to care for Ezra—with very detailed instructions from Chess, of course. Besides Quinn and Ezra, we were also missing Teagan, who had stayed behind to not only keep an eye on Margo, but to hold down the fort while the rest of us were away.
The remainder of us—Callum, Caelia, Rayven, Matea, Chess, Laurence, Byn, and myself—were going to find our own clues about our missing fae.
No matter what it took.
Just then, a dark form flew out of the shadows of the thinning trees, heading straight toward our group.
We all looked up from the map we’d spread out on the soft grass toward the shadow, watching as Caelia took on her physical form.
She got back from scouting the path ahead super fast, I thought.
“You were all incorrect,” she said matter-of-factly. “We’re closer than you all thought. The spot we’re heading towards is straight ahead, not even a ten-minute walk.”
Laurence and Rayven turned to look at each other, looking sheepish, before Rayven cleared his throat and folded the map.
“Lead the way,” the spy said to Caelia.
Caelia, whose hands rested on her hips, smiled, revealing a false level of innocence before melting back into the shadows and leading the way.
I shook my head, but couldn’t help the small smile that played on my lips as I felt Byn drawing nearer. A moment later, my hand was in his, and our large posse was racing to keep up with Caelia, who suddenly seemed to think it would be funny to travel as fast as she could.
“How’s the wing feeling?” Byn asked as we cleared a fallen tree.
Flexing both wings equally, I responded, “Good as new. Chess would have chewed me and you out by now if it was anything less than. We both know how strict his herbal routine has been.”
Byn chuckled, then looked toward the blond male up ahead, who was doing his best to keep up with the crowd, even though his multiple trokav kits seemed to weigh him down.
It had surprised me when the trokav had insisted on joining us on these scouting missions. While he could fend for himself, Chess was a creature of kindness and empathy; if it came down to it and we were caught, I wasn’t sure he could do what it took to get himself out alive.
I believed he felt some level of guilt for not being there sooner for Ezra. I wished to the Stars nobody got harmed that badly on these missions, but Chess seemed to be taking no chances.
I found that I admired him for it.
Soon enough, our group reached the small, hidden opening in the side of a short rock wall.
The terrain had become more and more rocky as we’d walked farther North—closer to the Salic Mountains.
That worked in our favor, though, because we could set up camp in caves like the one we’d just walked into.
That specific cave, still being a part of the edges of the forest, had a plush, moss-covered floor and some sort of winding vines running all over the ceiling and walls.
A small trickle of water could be heard from somewhere within, making the air warm and wet.
And if one really searched, the roots from the trees outside could be seen in between the vines overhead.
Callum whistled at the sight, then said softly, “Maybe I will miss the continent just a little, once all is said and done.”
“I won’t,” Caelia, his sister, said without missing a beat.
Rolling my eyes, I walked toward one of the far crevices in the rock, setting my bag down.
“Alright,” Byn said, after placing his pack next to mine. “Let’s go over this one more time.”
“We’ve already gone over this six times,” Caelia groaned.
I watched as Callum snapped at his sister, causing her to quickly clench her jaw shut.
“We do remember, my king,” Laurence stated reassuringly.
Chess, seemingly wanting to prove himself, added, “We’ll break off into pairs to scout out Acrynd, and if we find nothing there, we’ll break off into two groups from here. One will go to Neokell, and the other to Jackton.”
“And what’s the most important part?” Byn asked, looking out across our small group.
“Do not engage. We have no backup, and we have no idea what we’ll be walking into. We’re here to scout, study, and report back. Nothing more,” Matea spoke up.
Byn nodded. “Correct.”
Matea met my gaze and winked playfully, obviously proud of herself. I couldn’t help but smile in return.
“Alright then,” I said, clasping my hands in front of myself. “Let’s break off into pairs. Remember, make sure at least one of you has shadow zirilium.”
The group began dividing themselves up, Callum heading over to Laurence and clasping forearms. I wanted to watch to see who would be paired with who, but Matea’s form blocked my view as she marched over to Byn and me.
“If I get stuck with him,” she pointed toward Rayven, “I’m going to start screaming.”
I met her gaze and, realizing she was completely serious, I didn’t know if I should laugh or scold her.
In the end, I simply sighed and shook my head. “You and I can go together—on one condition,” I said, holding up a hand.
“Anything.”
“I get to give you a nickname. More specifically, Matty,” I offered.
“No,” she said, her voice an octave higher than usual. “Anything but a stupid nickname.”
Now, I couldn’t help but laugh at how easy it was to get under her skin.
“She’s paired with me, anyway,” Byn said, having been watching our conversation play out.
“I’ll start screaming in three… two…”
“Alright, alright!” I laughed. “Byn, I’m sure Rayven would be more than happy to have you.”
My husband sighed dramatically, slumped his shoulders, and looked at me with puppy eyes I had previously thought only Margo could pull off.
In response, I hopped up onto my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. I felt as his emotions swelled at the contact, but just as he reached for me to pull me closer, I stepped back.
“Later, Thorntier,” I reassured him when a playfully hurt expression passed over his features.
And with that, we headed out, stepping further and further into enemy territory.
***
Everything was dirty.
It was like a perpetual layer of either mud or dirt covered every surface in that part of Acrynd.
The city itself was much closer to sea level than Genisyn had been, resulting in more storms rolling in off the Anvali Ocean to the east. Because of these extra storms, it seemed as though the packed earth underfoot never fully dried out—meaning mud and dirt everywhere.
Fortunately, I had seen earlier that only the sector of Acrynd that Matea and I had been assigned to was like that. It seemed we drew the short end of the stick, having to once again explore the poverty-stricken area of the city.
Matea and I had already been there for about two hours, slinking from shadow to shadow, determined to remain unseen.
We were simply observers.
That was, until somebody caught my eye.
“You don’t understand—I need that lead!”
I tugged on Matea, our shadow forms linked, pulling her to a stop at the mouth of a dark alleyway. The space was full of overflowing trashcans, and unsurprisingly, more mud and dirt. Piles of it, oddly enough—as though somebody had tried to clear a nearby path and left the remains in that alley.
“I understand well enough. You can’t pay for what you claim to need, so I shall give it to the next highest bidder.”
Moving closer, I could make out that the fae who had just spoken was a fairly short, older male with hair the same color as the mud below—and wings to match.
But in front of him was the female in distress.
She wore a scarlet cloak with the hood pulled back to reveal lovely, deep blue eyes and short hair that was a soft, nutty brown. She was built like a fighter, and by the way her hands were slowly clenching into fists, I knew that to be true.
“I have to find him,” she said sternly, then weakly added, “He’s all I have left.”
I watched as the male’s face softened a degree. Then he sighed.
“Remind me again what happened.”
“I had been… away. I shouldn’t have left him to fend for himself in Hollis, but I needed to take the job—we needed the money.
By the time I came back, he was gone, and all of our stuff had been moved out or thrown away.
I asked our neighbor what happened, and she said he’d gotten into trouble with the guards.
That they’d had enough of him, and had taken him to the camps.
The camps! He’s only ten!” Her voice grew louder with each word she spoke, her panic and concern so genuine it hurt to listen to.
“Quiet down, would you?” The male pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can give this to you, but you owe me one. And I mean it this time.”
The female began nodding and softly thanking him repeatedly.
“I… got a new job, so I might not be as easy to find. But when you need me, you’ll know how to get ahold of me,” she stated after taking a small group of folded papers from him.
“Bah! I’ve always known how to find you. Now, if you’re done blubbering, I have to be home for dinner,” he said to her. There seemed to be a deep level of familiarity between the two of them, which struck me as odd.