Page 27 of Phixmery

I force myself to push those thoughts to the back of my mind until I can sort through it more later. Preferably after we meet with our contact. I just need to send Hemmings and Featherington ahead to report back to Rune with a believable excuse on why we’re running behind. The excuse that we are going to hit up a local tavern and see if anyone has heard anything sounds good.

THE FOREST IS eerily quiet, but that’s to be expected when you have three enormous predators at your back. We’ve been waiting here for almost an hour for our informant and I’m beginning to get annoyed.

“Do you think he was caught and killed?” Jesper asks as he leans against Tisur’s leg, cleaning his nails with his blade, trying to appear unbothered.

It’s plausible, but he’s always been careful about getting us the information we need or want, much to Jesper’s dismay. “No, Evander is too sneaky to be caught. I’m sure he’s fine,” I murmur.

A branch snaps to our right and within seconds our swords are drawn. I strike my flint ring against the metal on the draw and summon a ball of flame in my free hand. Killian’s dual short blades are raised as he stands at my side and I feel Jesper’s magick seeping across the forest floor, searching for a victim to play with.

“Dawn is coming,” the voice says, revealing itself as Evander.

“The precious gem is north,” I reply smoothly. “It’s about time you got here. What was the hold-up?”

He steps out from behind a tree, his deep violet eyes taking us all in but lingering slightly longer on Jesper before turning back to me. He runs his narrow fingers through his deep red hair, striking familiar similarities to the male next to me. “Just had to be extra careful getting here after what happened yesterday. There’s a shift in the air, and I have a feeling it’s only the beginning.” His gaze shifts back to Jesper. “Brother, did mother pass along my message?” he asks calmly, as if he’s trying to anger him.

Jesper ignores him, continuing to clean his nails, and I watch as Evander’s shoulders slump in defeat. Those two really need to figure out their shit.

“What are you passing along to us?” I ask vaguely, and to break the tension before Jesp puts that dagger to use and regrets his actions later.

Evander straightens, his face becoming serious. “He wanted to say that it wasn’t them. Someone is playing with darker forces. Things that haven’t been seen since the ancient times when the mountains were still nothing but sprawling hills and the forest mere groves.”

His ominous words fill the air with dread, and my hair raises on end, reminding me too much of what Zaddro spoke of. “I’m assuming he doesn’t know who’s doing it?”

He shakes his head. “No, but I think we all have our suspicions. If it’s who we think it is, then we need to move up the timeline. Try to find out what you can. I’ll be back in two cycles of the moon. If something happens before then, you know how to reach me.” He gives a pointed look to his older brother, who just narrows his eyes and nods before resuming his task of nail cleansing.

I nod, so he knows at least one of us heard him. “Safe travels.”

Evander nods back, giving his brother one last glance before shrinking into a pixie right before our eyes, no bigger than the size of my hand, before zipping off into the woods. I always forget he’s half pixie, able to shift, thanks to his father’s genes. But it’s part of what makes him such a great spy and informant. Jesper just needs to get over the fact that his brother wants to help right this world. It’s dangerous no matter where you stand.

Taking a step towards my brother and friend, I say “Jesp—”

“No, I don’t want to hear this again. He’s just a kid, Talyn, and what he’s doing and what he’s now a part of will get him killed. I’m not going to stand by and watch it happen. Now if you don’t mind, I want to get back to Phixmery and crawl into bed before we have to deal with all the bullshit there.” He runs up Tisur’s slanted leg and hops into the saddle. In the next moment his blue beast is taking to the skies and heading west.

“Come on Killian, let’s go before he does something stupid.” I sigh and summon the air around me, floating myself into Zaddro’s saddle and following Jesper once Killian is settled in his.

Evander’s words float back to me. The realm is about to get extremely dark, and I don’t know if we will come out of this without a light to guide us. If onlyshewere still alive.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BLOOD COATS MY HANDS. Its sticky warmth drips down my flesh as a steel blade slices across my skin again, contrasting the frigid winter air. This time it was because they found my stash of dried food from my hunting excursions and didn’t share it with the rest of the village, on top of leaving without permission. It’s not like they’d give permission to me anyway, happy to watch me starve away to dust. It’s why I always had to sneak out.

The searing, dull blade rips through my flesh again. Only the fates and I know they purposely don’t sharpen these weapons for this exact reason. I’m only grateful that they aren’t using ones of iron this time, opting for blades of silver instead. Small miracles I suppose. At least these won’t scar unless he goes too deep again, and the healer doesn’t tend to them.

Elric stares at the blade, beads of ruby rolling down the stained metal. “Are you ever going to learn, null?” he seethes. “Maybe we should just leave you tied permanently to this pole. Maybe then you would get the idea that you can’t leave this village without permission.”

I don’t reply, I can’t reply.

“Maybe we should kill that nasty bird of yours that always seems glued to your side,” he taunts, watching my blood drip into the snow below.

Nero appears in his hand, flapping wildly, but Elric doesn’t let go no matter how hard he struggles.

“No, don’t kill him. Please. I’ll doanything!” I beg, pulling against the iron chains, trying to crawl towards them, stones cutting into my knees the more I fight to get closer.

Nero calls out to me, his panic overwhelming me, causing my pulse to hammer in my ears. I try to move closer again, my ripped tunic catching on my hands. I lose purchase and face-plant into the muddy snow, gasping with fear as I cry out for him.

Elric leers, his disgusting gaze dragging along my bloodied frame, stopping on the panicked expression etched onto my face. “No, because you seenull, you already have to do anything we require. Maybe this will finally break you of those pesky old habits and that sanctimonious sense of superiority.”

The knife drags across Nero’s throat, blood running down his dark plumage, splattering into the snow with a sizzle. His black eyes lose the light in them, fading to a dull hue, and his cawing quiets, only echoing in the recesses of my mind.

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