óengus drew his horse to a halt. Something felt odd. Even the winged creature at the end of his tether had lifted its head to scent the air, its spherical eyes intent on something in the distance. His men all came to a halt behind him, muttering to each other, but not daring to ask their Captain what was wrong.
He inhaled deeply, tasting crisp moisture on the back of his tongue, yet the sky was clear. Then the first snowflake came drifting in, like a lazy fly fluttering up and down through the air. It landed on óengus’ cheek. Before it could melt, more snow began to fall. The sky suddenly grew dark.
óengus stared upward. He’d seen sorcery many times, and knew this was no natural snowfall. A mighty gust came in, pelleting him and his men with snow. The creature tugged at its tether, making a nervous chittering sound in its throat.
“Ride!” óengus shouted, right before the sky closed in on them. He kicked his horse forward, suddenly blinded by the stinging white snow. Judging by the initial flakes it was coming from the southeast. To ride north would be backtracking, so that meant they must ride west. He veered his horse to the right and hunched over close to his saddle.
One of his men screamed not far behind him. He turned, and could barely see enough through the snow to notice an oddly armored rider as he wielded a long sword against another of his men.
óengus turned forward again and kicked his horse. If these riders were somehow causing the snowfall, now was not the time to fight. He nearly toppled from his horse as something struck his shoulder. The creature’s tether tugged free from his half frozen hand, and she disappeared into the blizzard. Unable to chase after her, he lifted his blade to fend off the armored rider’s next attack. It did not seem that there were many of them, but the snow was causing great confusion amongst his men, removing the advantage of their greater numbers.
He slashed again, and the rider fell away. óengus kicked his horse forward through the trees, seeking cover from the blinding snow. Warm blood flowed down his back from the new wound in his shoulder, saturating his uniform. More of his men screamed behind him.
While perhaps in that moment he should have been fearing for his life, all he could think was, Keiren will not be pleased.
Chapter Thirteen
Kai flicked his eyes from side to side, one hand on his reins and the other on a dagger the Aos Sí had provided along with a horse. He wasn’t sure if it was the unfamiliar weapon, the dark surrounding trees, the crispness to the air, or something else that made unease clench his gut like a fist. He and his remaining party, who’d also been supplied the same, had eventually reached the Sand Road, but had opted for riding on a parallel side path. That way, they would hopefully spot any travelers on the road before they themselves were spotted. While the Aos Sí had equipped their new mounts with everything they might need for their journey, they were still now only three, just he, Anna, and Sativola, none of them possessing magic like Finn or Ealasaid.
The fist around his gut dug its nails in at the thought of Finn. His only comfort was that he knew Iseult would take care of her, but . . . he wanted it to be him. He wanted to be the one to race back and protect her from Oighear, but what could he do? He was a weak human, utterly useless in a world that now seemed to be overrun by magic. He lifted his hand from his dagger to stare at the scar on his palm. Though the skin should have been slightly deadened to touch, it felt more . . . alive than the rest of the skin on his body. Right now it was burning.
Anna abruptly halted her horse. “Do either of you feel like we’re riding into a trap?”
He turned and peered at her face, barely showing in the shadow of her hood. She rode with her back hunched, as if a great weight was on her shoulders.
“I’ve felt nervous since we reached Migris,” Sativola grumbled from her other side. “And I’ll continue to feel nervous until we reach a city where men still dwell. If we’re walking into a trap, well, it wouldn’t feel different than any other day.”
“You’ll learn to tell the different between nerves and traps,” Anna snapped, “if you have a wise bone in your body.”
Ignoring their bickering, Kai peered around at the surrounding trees. Though the air was chilly, there was no sign of snow. Still, he did feel an air of portent, and he could not decide if it meant something bad was coming, or if he simply expected something bad after everything else that had happened. He flexed his scarred hand uncomfortably.
They had ridden almost constantly since leaving Oighear’s domain, intent on reaching Garenoch. They didn’t want Finn, Iseult, and Bedelia to reach the burgh before them, and leave once they saw they weren’t there.
“Do you see that?” Anna hissed, pointing past Kai’s face. “Is there a stream nearby?”
He looked in the direction she was pointing, noting the subtle mist gathering above the ground. While it wasn’t an abnormal sight in their moist atmosphere, he was quite sure he’d never view acts of weather and nature as normal again.
“I say we take our chances on the road,” Sativola said warily.
Kai wanted to agree, but part of him hoped the mist was unnatural. Not all magic beings they’d encountered had been malevolent. Perhaps if this was such a creature, it might have crossed paths with Finn. The Trow, for one, seemed to flock to her.
“Go to the road if you wish,” he muttered. “I’d like to see what this is all about.”
As he watched, the mist increased.
Without another word, Sativola turned his horse and trotted in the direction of the road. Kai supposed he couldn’t blame him, especially after he’d been caught dancing half naked in the moonlight.
He startled as Anna stepped her horse up to his side.
He turned his gaze to her, though he still could hardly see her face. “You can wait on the road too,” he advised. “I know you’d rather not see anything . . . magical, if you can help it.”
Her shoulders slumped as she sighed. “Yes, the problem is, I can see such things, far better than you. I fear you won’t know what to do without me.”
He shrugged. “True.”
He would have said more, but the mist had reached their horses’ hooves, and had begun to climb upward. It hit his nostrils, and suddenly he felt overwhelmingly sleepy. He fought his eyes as they attempted to close. Perhaps this had not been such a wise choice after all. He slumped forward in his saddle, unable to remain erect, only vaguely aware of Anna slumping beside him, muttering, “You owe me for this.”
As hard as he fought, his world went dark, then it was as if the strange trance had never happened. He sat upright, blinking at the misty woods around him in confusion. He felt alert and in control of his body. He turned to observe Anna in much the same state.
“What happened?” he whispered.
“The gray,” she groaned. “We’re part way between the gray place and reality.”
He cringed at that revelation, but didn’t have time to reply as a cloaked form stepped out of the mist.
“You,” Anna gasped.
Kai peered at the cloaked figure. Its body was clearly feminine, draped in a silky black robe. Other than the determination of gender, he had no idea how Anna knew who it was. The face inside its hood was hidden from view.
“Yes, I,” the woman replied. “Forgive me for not properly introducing myself before. I am Móirne.”
Her voice sounded oddly familiar to Kai, yet he couldn’t quite place it.
“I see you have lost track of my daughter,” the woman continued. “Or perhaps you left her on purpose.”
Daughter? Kai thought. Could it be . . .
Móirne pulled back her hood, revealing a face almost the twin of Finn’s, save a more angular jaw, blue eyes instead of dark hazel, and brown hair instead of dirty blonde.
“Do you know where she is?” Anna bravely demanded.