Page 15 of The Bones of the Cursed

He squints at me. “Don’t make me regret this,” he snaps and turns, leading the way deeper into the forest.

- KAILU -

“We will head in the same direction they were taken,” I say, checking my saddle girth. My pitch-black horse Zephyr flicks one ear back at me as I click my tongue in greeting. I won him in a game of dice when I was younger, and he’s been a loyal friend for over a decade now. “We’ll see if there are any clues the soldiers may have missed. If that fails, we’ll head through Bone Valley. And since you don’t have horses, Alanis, you’ll ride with me. Hendrix, you take Hannah.”

“I’d much rather walk,” Alanis declares, even as Hannah walks toward Hendrix.

“I thought you were in a hurry, sweet cheeks, so let’s get amove on.”

She growls at me, actually growls.

I smile, flashing my sharp canines. I must give her credit, though, since she doesn’t balk or shy away from me. Most humans are hesitant when it comes to getting near the Fae—especially humans from the Caselian Realm. I’m not sure what they’ve been told, but some stare at me like I might eat them.

When I simply continue holding my hand out to her, one foot kicked free of my stirrup, she sighs and stomps over. When Zephyr swings his head around to look at her, she stops and carefully offers one hand, palm flat. He takes a sniff, then nuzzles into her palm and blows out a breath. When she smiles, I glare at my traitor of a horse but still help Alanis up into the saddle.

I give my soldiers the signal and we take off at a slow and easy trot. The Obsidian Hills loom in the distance, but instead of climbing upward, I lead our group to the hidden passageway that travels underneath. The temperature drops and the horses clomp through the puddles that have accumulated on the ground, water dripping from the hills overhead. Alanis sits behind me, her hands holding on to me, but just barely. If we have to make a sudden start, she might fall right off. Light filters in at the end of the tunnel as we travel up the gentle slope, warmth from the setting sun greeting us as we exit out into the grassy meadow. From the corner of my eye, I watch as Alanis stares wide-eyed at the wide expanse of knee-high grass and endless wildflowers before us. A warm breeze kisses my skin as I take in her look of wonder and awe.

“Have you never been on this side of the Hills?” I ask, although I already know the answer just by her excitement. Her hands flex on my waist, her fingers gently grazing my thigh as she situates herself into a more comfortable position. The movement causes my body to tense.

“I went to Elderwood once, but that’s about it. There everything was green and bright, but here…it’s like a rainbow.””

I take in the passing scenery, the town of Selianthe visible in the distance against the symphony of colors decorating the sky as the sun dips from view.

“We should be at the junction within the next hour, we don’t want to be traveling too long in the dark.”

I feel her move around, her body not as stiff as when we first started on this journey. The valley between the Obsidian Hills and the Sinwood Mountains comes into view. The torchlights from the campsite guide us in the growing darkness.

The scouting group is still there doing patrols. The grass in the valley is trampled down from heavy foot traffic through the forest closest to the Sinwood Mountains, dark and ominous as the torches flicker and cast shadows through the trees. A handful of tents are sporadically placed within the small valley, a weather-beaten table close to the makeshift campfire. Siveral, the soldier in charge, approaches me as I help Alanis dismount and tie Zephyr to a post.

“So these are the tiny humans causing a ruckus?” my best friend comments as he nears. “I received a letter from Captain Thelos about an hour ago, warning of Elion’s hard-headed sister.” He gives me a look. “Very pretty.”

His smirk makes me want to punch him, but I know that I will never hear the end of it from our mothers if I give him a black eye.

Siveral and I have been friends for decades. We grew up next door to one another, and our mothers were the best of friends. I chuckle. “Yeah, who knew that such a tiny woman would be such a pain in the ass?”

Siveral looks over at Alanis and Hannah who stand beside the campfire, talking to Hendrix. “Is that Elion’s sister?” He nods his head in Alanis’s direction.

“That’s her.” I can’t but help admire the way her body moves as she helps set up a tent. Her body is muscular but her movements are graceful, almost feline.

“Elion always talked about her. Was doing research on this weird pull he said Alanis felt towards this realm.”

I frown. “Did he find anything?”

Siveral clucks his tongue, leading us towards the campfire that crackles and pops sporadically, lacing sparks into the darkness. “I overheard him talking to another of the soldiers, Levi. Said he found a scroll in Selianthe’s library. The night they were taken, they were poring over the thing. Murmuring about prophecies.”

I smirk at the Fae next to me. “Quite the eavesdropper, aren’t you?”

Siveral scoffs. “I was wondering why they weren’t at dinner with the others. Not my fault my hearing is good.”

I look at Siveral, but his eyes are focused across the field at the torches that are slowly burning out, unattended as they are. The torches surrounding the camp provide a magical ward to keep everyone inside the circle safe from creatures. Siveral barks an order at his soldiers to maintain their light.

“Problem is,” Siveral says to me when the soldiers have hopped to it, “the scroll went missing when Elion did. Seems a little suspicious to me.”

If Siveral is bringing this to my attention, it’s for a good reason. What my brain is screaming and what I want to believe are at war with each other. I look to the blue-eyed human just as she tucks her rich, chocolate-colored hair behind her ear and makes eye contact with me.

What exactly are we walking into, and what use is a scroll to a group of ghouls?

- MALAKAI -

---