Page 118 of Court of Lies and Deceit

Frowning, I keep my magic searching for another few seconds before I let it fade out again. If neither team is in aposition to attack us, then who in Mabona’s name just shot at us?

“The other teams are not close by,” I say, silencing the confused discussion around me.

My friends all turn to me.

“Then who the hell was shooting at you?” Alistair asks, echoing my own thoughts.

Calling up my magic again, I once more throw it across the forest. But this time, I’m searching for yellow-green sparks of suspicion.

A jolt shoots through me, and I swallow as I look from face to face.

“Not sure. But they’re heading straight towards us.”

CHAPTER FORTY

“Shit,” Galen curses. But his violet eyes are steady as he turns to Draven. “Fight or run?”

“We’re already behind,” Draven replies, clenching his jaw in frustration. “We can’t afford to get bogged down by a fight.”

“So we run, then?”

“They’re coming from that direction,” I interject, and nod at the path towards the center of the dome. My heart slams against my ribs as I add, “Fast.”

The others snap their gazes between the direction I nodded and the area behind us, where the curving walls of the dome rise up from the ground and block any escape on all three other sides.

Draven lets out a low growl of annoyance and then jerks his chin. “Then run. Fast.”

We sprint forward.

Panic pulses inside me as we dart between the gnarled tree trunks, heading right towards our mysterious attackers. We need to make it past the cut-off point so that we can turn left before they reach us. But they’re moving fast. Incredibly fast.

“They’re coming,” I press out as we hurtle between the trees.

Dark purple moss sways around us as we shove the rippling curtains aside in our mad dash. I leap over a stone covered in yellow lichen and then duck under another tree. The group of attackers closes in rapidly.

“Hurry,” I plead.

Our boots thud against the grass, flattening delicate pink flowers and leaving a trail behind. Alarm shoots through me when I realize that. But we need to make it past the bend in the walls. Otherwise we’ll be trapped between them and our attackers. But if they can see our footprints in the grass, they’ll be able to keep hunting us.

“Isera,” I gasp out between rapid breaths as we sprint through the trees. “Our footprints.”

She snaps her gaze between me and the ground, realization sparking in her eyes. I catch her eyes beginning to glow for a second before she turns her head back towards the woods ahead. Then ice springs to life before her feet.

Lyra yelps, stumbling slightly, as she almost trips over the circular patch of ice that now hovers right above the grass. But she recovers quickly and jumps up onto it after Isera. Another patch forms ahead. And then another. And another. We all leap onto them, running in a line along the patches of ice. Isera creates new ones in front of her while letting the last ones disappear as soon as the final person has left them.

I keep my magic connected to the group of people up ahead. They’re closing the distance faster than I thought possible.

“They’re coming,” I hiss again.

We pick up speed. Sprinting so fast that the woods blur around us. My pulse thrums in my ears.

The group draws closer.

I suck air into my lungs.

We just need to make it past this point up ahead. Then the wall evens out, curving away wider in both directions.

Just a little more.

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