Page 123 of Cursed Shadows 4

Rune is silent, watchful, as Daxeel studies the scents that still linger in the air, those scents that these ruthless winds have not yet stolen away.

Plums… cinnamon… bitter almonds.

Arsenic.

His heart pins to his throat.

Nari.

“She was here.” That’s all Daxeel says as he rises to stand over the corpse—and let’s his gaze linger over the gouged eye sockets.

Vicious one.

How vicious you truly are.

He almost smiles.

“Samick, too.” Rune jerks his chin to the side, a gesture aimed at the black glitter in the tufts of foliage.

There, a familiar throwing star is nestled in branches, slick with crimson. Ateralum metal, chalky and glittered with the faintest hint of silver.

Its edges are serrated, its centre engraved with the circles of the winds from the Ice Mountains up north.

One of Samick’s own designs.

Daxeel runs his stare over the snowy terrain. He searches for any clue that might tell him who else was here.

And he finds it.

It was left for him, left behind with intent, not accident.

On a deflated boulder, in thick red blood is the sketch of a circle, bordered by arrowheads. A sun. Crudely drawn in blood, but the sign of a soul brother, one who must have sensed how close Daxeel was before this battle broke out.

Rune traces his stare. The softest breath escapes him, just a flitter in still air, but relief all the same.

He voices Daxeel’s realisation, “And Dare.”

Those two simple words hit Daxeel like a blow to the chest. A confirmation he didn’t know he needed.

Nari was here. On the plateau, arrows rained down on her—but she made it to the treeline. A litalf got his hands on her. She escaped.

Dare and Samick took down the others.

But…

Now where are they?

They got away, but did litalves survive and chase after them? Just because they aren’t here does not mean they are free of danger.

Daxeel sighs a breath that deflates him.

He runs his hands down his face.

It’s taking longer to find her than he ever expected.

Maybe it’s the mountain warping his skills of tracking, or the gods twisting the evate bond to be silent in him as though she is already dead.

This reassurance, that his brothers have her and fight to keep her alive, it’s enough to calm his heartbeats, but not enough to soothe the ache stirring in his chest.

---