Page 12 of Soul of Thorns
I don’t dare use my shadow walking power this time, so it’s just basic running. We pace each other, pushing each other. Yep, Prince Reveln of the Luminescent Court and I, practically frolic through the black mountains of fae hell.
What even is my life right now?
It’s dark in the alleys below the looming mountains made of what looks to be solid black rock with a sprinkling of red stones. Some splotches are so covered in the red stones it appears like a splattering of blood. Part of me wonders if this was some wraiths art project once upon a time or if the terrain is just that morbid by nature.
The air becomes thicker the farther we run, the heat rising. The sky grows redder and redder until it’s nearly glowing.
“Wow,” I finally say through quick breaths as we slow to a walk. The smoke is thick here, making it even harder to see than usual.
There is a small precipice at the end of our current trail. Only around twenty feet below us is the flat ground of a smooth gravel path.
“You think that’s the main trail through the mountain range?” I ask.
“I’m guessing that red glow up ahead is the flame wall. So yes, that’s a fair guess.”
“So, we should climb down, yes?”
Rev glances over his shoulder and then pauses. His eyebrows pull down.
“What?”
“I think one of the wolves may be following us.”
I groan. Of course they are. “All the more reason to change paths, then.”
I shrug. It doesn’t make too much of a difference if those undead wolves decide to try for a little revenge. We can beat them easily. I’m more concerned with spies keeping an eye on us. If someone is following us, it very well may be a Night Terror lackey.
I don’t like that we’re moving exactly the way the Night Terror wants us to. I hate that she anticipates our every move. But I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how to continue with the quest but not fall into her clutches.
Rev nods somberly, and I wonder if he’s thinking the same thing. The climb down only takes a few seconds, and we’re finally on the flat ground between two major mountains
We walk slowly now, knowing that if this is the main roadway, even the sunlight may not keep all wraiths from traveling here, and we are in open territory with walls of sloping stone on either side of us, where any manner of creatures could see us without us seeing them.
We keep close to the rocky edge of the mountain to our right, which limits our vision moving forward but also cuts potential sight of us.
Soon, it’s hard to breathe through the thick blanket of smoke covering the mountain range.
Sweat drips down my back. Heat presses down on the both of us, and soon, the sounds of a flickering fire catch my attention. Through the smokescreen, the flickering red flames shift and pop. I stop, breaths heavy.
We knew the next obstacle was called the wall of flames, but I hadn’t expected it to be quite so... literal.
The wall of flame stretches up into the sky at least a hundred feet high, and even beyond that, the plumes of black smoke rise farther than I could possibly see.
“What the hell?”
“Literally,” I murmur.
He doesn’t react to my cheesy joke, and I don’t blame him. Now, I understand why the maker of our cottage never traveled past this particular obstacle... I’m fairly certain no living being could pass through a scorching wall of fire uninjured. Unless you’re a fire fae, I suppose. Maybe they should have picked Brielle as champion just by default.
I’ve run through flame before and come out with only minor burns but that... well, this is different. That was a wall erected in a quick moment by an out of breath fae of average magical ability.
We are five hundred feet from the wall, and I’m already sweating. Heat radiates off of it. We won’t be able to get within a dozen feet before it starts literally cooking us.
I stop, staring at the glowing red and orange flames.
“Think there is a way around?” Rev asks.
Shadows drift in and out of the flames, crackling and popping.
