Page 104 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

But the strangest part of all is the colors.

There are normal green leaves, of course. But a lot of the trees also sport foliage in colors that simply shouldn’t be possible. One twisted and gnarly tree that we pass has leaves in a bright pink color. Another, a tall and proud tree with a straight trunk, has leaves the color of a roaring fire. Yet another displays leaves that glitter silver in the daylight.

I gaze around me, wide-eyed, as Draven and I travel deeper into the forest.

How these trees can even grow down here is beyond me. Daylight filters down through the layers of thin trunks that make up the ceiling above the entire forest. It illuminates the landscape and paints it in a warm glow. But there are no direct rays of sunlight that reach down here.

“Do you hear that?” Draven suddenly demands.

Stopping dead in my tracks, I whip my head from side to side. Then I hear it too.

“Water,” I say, relief washing over me. “Running water.”

We hurry towards the sound and find an entire river cutting straight through the forest. I drop to my knees at the bank and gulp down water. Draven does the same.

Once we’ve slaked our thirst, we push to our feet again. A considering look blows across Draven’s features as he looks up and down the river.

“This is the River Andunir,” he says, staring out at the water.

The River Andunir is the river that runs through the thorn forest and into Lake Andun outside our city before it continues into the woods on the other side.

I squint at the water too. “How do you know?”

“It runs all the way from the Peaks of Prosperity to your city, and it cuts underground in several places.” His eyebrows are furrowed as he looks up at the strange forest around us. “I had no idea that there was something like this down here, though.”

“Huh.” I glance in the direction that the water is flowing, which must then naturally be south since the river runs that way. “So if we just follow the river, we will eventually reach the part where it flows back up again.”

“Exactly.”

Excitement ripples through me. Alright, we finally have a way out. Now, I just need to figure out how to steal the ring before we get there.

After drinking some more water, we set out along the river.

Neither of us speaks. I can almost feel the tension vibrating through the air between us. But I also don’t know what to say. After what happened this morning, I suddenly feel uncharacteristically uncertain around him in a way that I never have before.

Draven’s gaze flicks to me.

I glance towards him, but by the time my gaze finds his face, he is already looking at the grass and trees ahead. But I know that he was glancing at me. I could feel it.

Only the sound of softly running water fills the air as we continue walking.

Draven glances at me from the corner of his eye again.

“What?” I huff, turning my head to stare at him while we continue walking.

He starts in surprise and then twists his head towards me as he echoes, “What?”

“You were staring at me.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Seriously? Now you sound like a child.”

“Why does everyone else’s dreams matter more than your own?”

I jerk back, stunned by the drastic change of topic. Frowning in genuine bewilderment, I hold his gaze and shake my head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He blows out a forceful breath and rakes his fingers through his hair. Then he slides his gaze back to me, his golden eyes now full of something like exasperation. Or maybe frustration.

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