Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Kaelan gave her hand a gentle tug. “We need to keep moving.”
Bria remained where she was for a moment longer, unsettled by how easily his calm had slipped through her, easing fear that had moments before threatened to consume her.
“The deeper we go, the more difficult it will be to find our way out,” she warned.
His gaze drifted briefly through the trees surrounding them before returning to her. “Standing still will not serve us any better.”
Something in the way he said it sent another chill through her.
As though remaining in one place carried dangers of its own.
Bria glanced uneasily around. The forest had grown strangely quiet again. Even the ravens had gone still, watching from their branches with unsettling patience.
“Then where are we going?” she asked.
“A place where we will be safer once darkness falls.”
Her stomach tightened instantly. “Darkness falls?” She shook her head. “Nay. We are not remaining here through the night.”
Kaelan did not argue. But neither did he agree. He simply started forward again, drawing her along beside him.
Bria followed reluctantly, though not because she trusted Driochmor any more than before. She followed because remaining alone in this place frightened her far more.
The forest thickened steadily around them. Roots twisted across the ground in thick coils, forcing her to watch every step while Kaelan moved with unnerving ease, avoiding hidden holes and tangled growth as though he already knew where they lay. Once, his arm swept suddenly across her path, halting her just before her foot touched a patch of pale vines creeping low across the forest floor.
The vines moved, not by wind—by themselves.
Bria jerked back with a startled gasp.
“They feed on warmth,” Kaelan said calmly. “Step into them and they tighten until nothing remains.”
Fear stirred harder inside her, though not entirely of Driochmor. How did he know that? How had he known about the silver hugger snake? How was it Kaelan never hesitated, never searched for direction, when the forest around them grew steadily stranger?
She kept a wary watch as they walked. Pale mushrooms clung to rotting trunks in thick clusters that gave off a faint silver glow. Bones, small and brittle with age, hung tangled among low branches as though placed there deliberately. She spotted markings carved into the bark of a massive tree, deep jagged symbols she did not recognize. Uneasy over what evil they might represent, she looked quickly away from them.
The farther they traveled, the more she became aware of something else.
Nothing approached Kaelan.
The crawling creatures vanished before he reached them. Ravens watched but did not swoop low near him. Even the forest itself seemed to shift around his presence rather than against it.
And Kaelan noticed everything. A broken branch. A disturbed patch of earth. A sound so faint she heard nothing at all. Each time, his attention sharpened briefly before he moved on.
He knows where he is going.
The thought almost caused her to gasp, but she caught it before it could slip out. That could mean only one thing. He had been here before and with how easily he maneuvered through the forest, she would think it had been often.
Kaelan slowed, catching her attention and she saw that the trees ahead began to thin.
The change came gradually at first, the tangled growth giving way to a small clearing swallowed in shadows and silence.
Then she saw it… stone.
Massive weatherworn stones rose from the earth ahead, some broken, others still standing tall despite age and ruin. Thick vines twisted around them, and moss covered nearly every surface, though strange markings remained visible beneath the growth.
At the center stood the remains of what had once been a structure of some sort, little more now than crumbling walls and a partially collapsed roof overtaken by the forest.
Bria stopped walking entirely. Her pulse quickened as her gaze moved slowly over the ruins.
Kaelan finally released her hand and glanced around.
A terrible realization began to settle over her as she watched him. He looked at the area as if it was familiar to him, as if he was glad to see it again.
He had not been wandering blindly through Driochmor. Not even close. This had been his destination all along. But was she meant to come here with him, or had she stumbled into his plan, and he had no choice but to take her with him?
Suddenly, standing among the ruins of the forbidden land, Bria no longer knew whether she should fear Driochmor most… or the man beside her.
Chapter Seven
Deep in Driochmor
Land of Sorcery, Secrets, and Exile
Bria remained near the entrance of the ruined structure while Kaelan moved quietly through it, his broad shoulders nearly brushing the crumbling stone walls as he checked the shadowed corners and broken openings. The fading light followed him in pale fragments through the gaps in the roof, catching briefly in his dark hair before vanishing again beneath the growing gloom.