52. Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Lea
L ea’s anticipation built the closer they got to Pontor. But instead of getting more nervous, she felt relief. All this would be over soon. Another petal had fallen, and now only five remained. She was one tick closer to being separated from her mate for eternity. She couldn’t allow that to happen. Eudora and Alaric were close, and in a few hours, they would find the encampment and have information to report back. And more importantly, she would find Alaric, and end him.
Lea watched Gray’s back as they rode, his strong, broad shoulders that had carried the weight of this kingdom for a century. For him, it would be over soon as well. She thought once again about her birth mother’s offer—to give her the magic Lea would steal from Alaric. Allow her to pay the cost of stealing so much power. It was so tempting, but Lea knew deep down she couldn’t do it. Even if she wanted to, Evangeline had suffered enough, and a painful death wasn’t something she could add to that list.
Obsidian slowed, his head swinging around as he pawed at the ground.
“What’s going on, boy?” Gray asked, leaning down to pat his mane as he sent his shadows out, searching for whatever his horse had sensed. Lea commanded hers to join him, and together they spread throughout the trees .
It was only a few moments before they felt what had caused Obsidian to pause. Lea and Gray met each other’s eyes as the earth began to tremble, the trees shivering and shaking.
“Run,” Gray ordered, and Lea didn’t hesitate. She bolted forward, the others following behind her as tree branches began to groan overhead.
A massive branch cracked above them, crashing into the ground with a boom that made Lea’s ears ring. Her horse jumped over the branch as she drew her sword, pulling its magic into her body and amplifying it outward. Lea formed a hard shield of air around them, gritting her teeth as she forced it to remain solid while they moved. Gray’s shadows reached out in front of them, picking up branches and throwing them out of the way. Branch after branch crashed against her shield, splintering it with every blow.
She threw more magic into it, clenching her jaw harder with every crack.
A fissure opened in the dry earth in front of them and Daniel’s horse tumbled, throwing him to the ground. He fell out from under the shield, only for a moment—but it was a moment too long. An enormous branch crashed down, falling from directly above him and hitting him in the head, killing him instantly.
“No!” Lea cried out, but Gray’s shadows urged her forward. She wanted to return to Daniel, to find a way to heal him, but it was too late. She didn’t need Emma there to know he was gone.
“We have to stop!” Lea cried, pulling her horse to a halt.
“No!” Gray shouted. “It’s too dangerous!”
“I can’t keep us all safe if we’re moving,” she said.
Gray’s eyes flashed, his shadows surging forward as if they could pull them to safety, but instead, he pulled Obsidian up next to her, and the others followed suit. Lea tightened the shield around them, the strain far less intense now that they were no longer moving and in much closer proximity to one another.
“Daniel— Can we get to him?” Cole asked.
A mix of pity and guilt settled behind Lea’s sternum, and she rubbed it, trying to soothe it away. “He’s gone,” she said softly. “I’m sorry. I know he was your friend.”
Cole’s face turned white, and he looked back, craning his neck to see his friend’s body. Lea commanded her shadows to wrap around Daniel, blocking the sight of his body. Cole didn’t need to see his friend’s brain splattered across the ground.
“I’ll burn him,” Lea said. “It will have to do for a burial. Okay?” she asked Cole.
Cole cleared his throat, nodding. Still holding the shield in place, Lea let her fire trail out from her feet, inching toward Daniel until his body was engulfed in black flames.
“May the gods hold you,” Patrick and Cole muttered together while Lea recited the prayer silently in her head.
“Do you think this is the god of the sun?” Gray asked.
Lea shook her head, anxiety swirling in her gut. “The goddess said the universe would try to correct what has been taken from it. The sun? That was him. But the wildfires…. This…” Lea trailed off.
What else would they face before they found Alaric? And if the universe was intent on killing her, and the god of the sun was punishing her, how far would they go to keep her from winning this war?