I paused, my ears twitching.
I would have dismissed the sound, but then I heard it again. My magic, which had been quiet for most of the day, pulsed in my veins. It urged me forward, encouraging me to see what was outside. A quick glance around the cave told me the others were all occupied.
Wrapping my cloak around myself, I followed the sound. An icy breeze slammed into me as I exited the cave, but I barely noticed it. Near the entrance of the cave, sitting barely ten feet away from me, was a white hare. Its eyes were wide, but it did not move.
I inhaled, staring at the creature.
“Are you a gift from the gods?” I whispered.
It didn’t reply. Of course not. It wasn’t a shifter—their size was usually two to three times that of their animal counterparts—it was just a hare in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Maybe you’re just unlucky.” Pulling on my magic, I kept my eyes on the hare. “I’m unlucky, too, you know. Bad things happen to me all the time. But maybe you’re going to change that for me, little one.” Drawing my red ribbons out into the air, I met its gaze. “You’re going to help me prove that I’m not worthless. For that, I thank you.”
The hare did not say anything. It just stared at me as I crouched, slowly extending my palms.
“It’s okay,” I murmured. “I promise this will only hurt for a moment.”
The animal canted its head, its black eyes boring into mine as the red threads of magic left my palms. They swept over the snow, moving swiftly towards the creature before sinking into its white fur.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then I closed my fist, willing the hare’s life source to leave its body. It felt no pain as its heart slowed and then stopped. Its eyes closed, and it fell to the snow-covered forest floor.
Tears pricked at my eyes, and a burn lodged in the back of my throat as I moved towards the animal that had given its life to me. Bending, I picked up the small creature and held it against my chest.
“Thank you for your gift,” I whispered.
For the first time since embarking on this quest, as I presented my offering to the others, something sparked within me.
Maybe my father was wrong.
Maybe I wasn’t a failure, after all.
Too Quiet
AILEANA
The back of the cavern was little more than a hole. A tiny hole, now that I was seeing it in daylight. Or perhaps it was just the enormous silver-haired dragon shifter crouched in front of it that made it seem so small. Either way, I knew getting through it would be troublesome. The first thing I’d done this morning was to check the compass, hoping that somehow I’d read it wrong last night.
Alas, it still pointed toward the inside of the mountain.
On top of the rather frustrating confirmation that we would be going through the mountain—something I was looking forward to even less than hiking—this morning I woke up filled with nausea. I had barely kept down a piece of bread, let alone the dried meat Olwine had given us. Adding in the call of the earth, which was growing more dire by the day, and I was stressed.
The land was in pain, and the broken balance was affecting everything in Ithenmyr. Nevertheless, Xander’s worry came through the bond. He had a right to worry, but at this moment, I needed him to worry about himself and this quest. I only convinced him to stop asking me if I was alright when I threatened to stab him again.
I leaned against the cavern wall, sipping water and trying to calm my roiling stomach. The others had gone to a small stream nearby, filling their bottles and washing up as best they could. Now Xander and Daegal knelt at the back of the cave, their heads together as they held an animated discussion. The two males were easily the largest of our party, and if they could make it through the tunnel, the rest of us could, too.
If.
That was the question of the hour. If we couldn’t go through, I wasn’t sure what we would do next. That being said, I wouldn’t be averse to finding another way. My stomach twisted as flashes of our time in Vlarone, the capital of Ithenmyr, went through my mind. Our experience in the city built beneath the mountain had not been enjoyable. We had barely escaped with our lives, breaking Ryllae out of Nightstone Prison on our way out. I would have preferred to never step foot inside another mountain again.
Unfortunately, it seemed the gods—or fate—were playing games with us.
“What’s the plan?” Kysha asked, crouching beside me.
I eyed the two males. “It seems… tight.”
There were other words for it. Impassable. Tiny. Barely large enough for Xander’s shoulders. But I kept those thoughts to myself. At least for now.
More footsteps came from the entrance of the cave as Maiela and Ryllae walked in. Both of them looked refreshed, their faces clean of the grime that naturally accumulated after days of travel.