21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter twenty-one
Felix gives me a curious look as he helps me brush dirt and sticks from my hair and leathers. "Everything ok? You look pale."
I nod, swallowing the chilled water and quickly throwing my pack on when I notice Nav and Hendrix waiting to lead us out of the pine forest and up a narrow trail buried under a thick blanket of snow they're kicking aside, clearing the path for the rest of us.
Obviously not tired even after all that physical exertion. Nice for some.
"How's the little hike going?" Aven asks sarcastically, thankfully not insisting on restarting the conversation about Varistia and her magic. "Can I relax knowing you survived your death climb?"
"Very funny" I reply, avoiding a section of ground nine other sets of boots have turned to grey slush. "Yes, we're off that damn wall, and not a moment too soon."
"Your energy feels very weak. I can hardly hear you. You should stop and rest, eat something."
"There hasn't exactly been time for snack breaks on this little hike, as you called it. We're completely exposed on the side of a mountain right now. Not ideal for picnics."
He huffs in annoyance. "You do realize you'll need to eat properly if you're going to keep expending so much energy?"
I so don't have the patience to deal with this right now, even if he's right. "Yes, I know, and I will. I already took longer than everyone else to get up here, I'm not going to slow them down even more by asking for a break."
"You think that's more embarrassing than passing out face first in a pile of snow? How odd."
"As much as I appreciate the...concern, I need you to let me concentrate right now, or I really will end up falling.
" My full focus has to be on the uneven, wet ground and keeping up.
Plus, I can feel the way keeping this connection open with Aven is draining my energy, and I don't have any to spare right now.
"Earth to Aly." Felix clicks his fingers twice, and I realize he must have been talking to me. "Where did you go just now?"
"Sorry, I was talking to Aven. He thinks I need to…" My voice trails off when Willa looks at me in surprise.
"You guys talk when you're not together?"
"Not all the time or anything, but yeah, we do. Don't you talk to Marley?"
"We talk when we're together, when I'm riding or brushing her.
We don't chat or anything. That's why we spend a lot of time together when we first attune, to make sure the bond fully develops.
" She pauses for a few seconds, obviously thinking about what she just said.
"I guess you wouldn't know about any of that since you went about it in such an unconventional way. "
Felix jumps in, probably bored with nothing to contribute to this conversation. "As I was saying, that climb was horrendous, right? I almost fell at least twelve times."
"I did fall," I say with a laugh that's supposed to sound casual. Not that it's remotely funny remembering the feeling of tumbling down the wall or the way Cayzenn's caught me. The memory has me rubbing at my throbbing shoulder again.
"You what?" both of them say in unison, stopping to look at me. The sound carries on the wind, making half the squad turn around to see what's going on.
"I'm fine, seriously. I slipped, and your brother managed to catch me before I fell far. His reflexes are insane." The twins share a strange look before nodding in agreement, starting to walk again.
"What do you think they're looking for up here anyway?" I ask quietly, more than ready for a subject change. It seems strange there's even a path so high in the mountains when nobody should have a reason for being out here, other than us, I guess.
"No idea," Willa whispers back. "I tried asking Jeska and Xaavi about it while we were waiting. All they would say is they have a mission to complete, and if they find what they're looking for, we'll be making camp for a while."
I shoot her a sideways glance. "How long's a while?" I can't stay in the mountains for weeks on end. I need to get to Bri.
"Who knows?" she replies. "They're careful not to say much of anything with us around.
Guess Zenn wasn't kidding about leaving us behind while they search.
" Giving me a sympathetic look, she adds, "I doubt we'll be out here for ages, though, or he wouldn't have let us come.
You know he's not exactly happy we're missing out on things back home. "
"Jeska was saying just past this next stopping point is as far as they've ever been.
Last time they made it up this far, they got snowed in and had to turn back after a week because they got low on supplies," Felix tells us over his shoulder.
"They can only carry so much food, and it's not like there's a whole lot to hunt out here.
" He gestures around at the endless expanse of white, interspersed with the occasional tree and a few dark spots that could be black ice.
He's not wrong about the animals. I don't recall seeing so much as a bird while walking through that stretch of forest. The path narrows between white-dusted boulders, and as we round the first one and lose sight of the dark strip of trees in the distance behind us, a shiver races up my spine.
I sense movement above us, coupled with the sensation of being watched.
Spinning, I scan our colorless surroundings and find a pair of unblinking, icy blue eyes in a dark feline face staring at me.
A snow lion stands on top of a boulder, brown ears pricked with interest. I marvel at the full, glossy white mane and coat, stark against its fluffy mahogany tail.
I whisper a silent prayer to the Goddess and back away slowly, thankful it doesn't make a move to pursue.
With some effort to trek through the melting slush, I catch up to the twins as Jeska calls out for us to hurry.
When we squeeze through the gap between two huge chunks of stone, I see why.
The squad is waiting for us near the edge of a steep drop, arms crossed over their chests while they fight to keep their balance in the strong winds whipping at hair and exposed skin.
Deep in conversation with Hendrix and Cayzenn, Nav tucks his two hot pink braids behind his ear before pointing to a ridge skirting the edge of the mountain that can't be more than three feet wide.
It's more ledge than path and looks better suited to the hooved, horned animals usually found scrambling up sheer cliff faces.
They can't be serious.
Surely, we're not going to try and cross that, especially in this wind tunnel. We'll be blown straight off before we can make it five steps, although, looking around, I'm not sure where else we'd go except all the way back to the forest.
Drea and Xaavi step closer to the edge, and I watch in fascination as ribbons of orange magic trail from their fingertips, stretching out across the ravine to brush away feet of piled snow and reveal the rocky terrain beneath.
While I'm grateful we won't have the snow to contend with on top of the arctic blasts, watching it tumble down the steep mountain side is nauseating.
Djalira passes around a tube of sunshield for us to dab near our eyes, protecting them from glare and water droplets, as Cayzenn scans us, determining if we're fit to battle the elements.
"How are reserves? Everyone doing ok? I know it's been a long day, but we need to get across here before we lose the light, and we don't stand a chance without using the citrilode to tether.
Once we're connected, I'll raise a shield to block most of the wind.
Don't overdo how much you put in; you don't want to be any more depleted than you already are out there. "
He pulls a chunk of rough grey stone, swirled with veins of bright yellow, out of his pack and hands it to Nav.
"Take small, shuffling steps; it's better to lift your feet as little as possible.
" He looks to the twins and me, making it clear this is mostly for our benefit.
"Keep space between you and the person in front.
Go as slowly as you need to, and do not let yourself stumble or fall.
We'll be shackled via our magic in the stone while the shield's in place, so if one of us goes down… "
The meaning is clear, especially when he looks pointedly over the side of the cliff.
Basically, you fall, you take everyone over the edge with you.
Shivering at the thought, I look back to Nav and see spidery silver lines crackling from his fingertips being absorbed into the chunk of rock, making the yellow lines glow.
After a minute, he presses his thumb hard against it, and the stream of power stops flowing, lingering like a thread between him and the stone for a few seconds.
Xaavi takes it from him, and his burnished orange power starts spooling into it next, followed by Hendrix and his steely grey.
Then, he passes it to me, my turn to connect.
I'm going to have to try my ring and hope like hell it has enough to still work.
Even if I can make the illusion last long enough to be believable, there's a critical reason they're using the stone to bind them together before they'll risk crossing the ravine. And I won't benefit from it, because I won't be tethered like the rest of them.
There's no time to even consider any alternatives.
I activate the green smoke with a trickle of my blood, letting it flow for seconds then passing the stone to Willa as quickly as I can without calling attention to myself.
The ring feels terrifyingly light and hollow compared to normal, considering I barely used it.
The smoke seemed paler too, a sure sign it's down to the dregs.