I tried not to dwell on that gaze as we rode, but images of the battle were all I could seem to replace it with. The cool night turned to day, but even the sun didn’t warm us. Camren had fallen. Avenging her husband, the boy’s father. Wind had saved us from the wall of water, I reminded myself, saved the boy as well. And Camren’s lifeless body lay among the rest as the fires set them to rights.
Anvil’s body took another hit as I relived the fight, and Steed’s face twisted as pain cut through him. And then Ruby’s face stared blankly up at me, the blood and mud surrounding her so dark against her pale skin. I shook myself, glancing again at her to confirm she was fine. Her cheeks flushed, her emerald eyes clear and bright.
Looking ahead once more, I saw Rhys and Rider leading and remembered their fearless efforts. It was as if I could see the power move between them, seamlessly shifting where it was needed.
“Freya.” Ruby’s voice cut my reverie and I was startled to realize how deeply I’d fallen from the others.
I blinked, and she smiled genuinely. I was pretty sure she was laughing at me. The sky was overcast, hiding what I estimated to be a noon sun. “Yes, Ruby?”
“Are you going to tell us where we’re going?” she whispered.
“We have to find Junnie.”
She waited. She already knew that, she wanted to know why, and what I’d meant by we had no time and no other choice.
I couldn’t stop myself from glancing around before answering. “We may have a slight problem,” I said.
Ruby’s brows shifted in a “what’s new” motion.
I watched Chevelle as I continued, and it dawned on me that he didn’t seem as anxious or surprised by my revelation. I guessed he’d seen the visitor as well. “There was a scout at the ceremony. A fire sprite, I think.”
Ruby’s nose crinkled. “Are you sure? Maybe it was just drawn to the action.”
I shook my head. “No. It was a warning.”
“But I thought you sent a message to Veil,” she said.
“I did.” I met her gaze evenly. “That’s why we have to find Junnie.”
Her brows drew together as she opened her mouth for another question, but a sudden call stopped her short.
It was the wolves.
Chapter Twenty-three
Unexpected
Suddenly, the rhythmic thump of our horses’ hooves turned to the hammering of so many drums as they pounded the dirt in a full run. The wind caught my cloak to whip behind me and I held fast, closing my eyes to find the wolves. My mind brushed theirs before reaching a falcon tucked within the cover of a tall pine near them.
They were running.
I swung wide, searching for their prey, then behind, for an attacker. When I realized they weren’t being pursued but coming for us, the falcon swooped down in front of them so they would know I’d found them. But instead of stopping to wait for us, they turned to run in the opposite direction. I opened my eyes.
I called out, “West,” and the others adjusted their course without slowing. We ran through the forest, dodging brush and low limbs, and then into another clearing before we began to catch them.
“What is it?” Chevelle yelled.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. They are alone.”
And then we saw the smoke.
“There,” Rider shouted as his horse narrowly avoided a thin oak.
We broke into a short clearing in time to see Finn and Keaton rushing through the trees ahead. At the next clearing, we saw why.
A large circle of ash covered the ground before us. Smoldering stumps and scattered embers were all that remained of a copse of what had been, from the smell, maple trees. It had burned fiercely, gone barely before we’d seen the smoke. The section of trees had been destroyed cleanly, nothing around it was disturbed, but the fire obviously wasn’t snuffed because another copse was already burning.
I scanned the scene as we ran, as we kicked up gray dust that still held heat, and saw two more patches of ash lay to the north. Understanding was slow to come. Someone was burning the forest in some fragmented, systematic way. Just south of us, two more pillars of smoke rose, but Finn and Keaton took us north of the older fires.
The underbrush became dense, and the horses struggled through briars and thickets. They’d been fresh when we’d left the temple, but they were nearly finished now, drawing deep, purring breaths as sweat drenched their overworked bodies. Thunder rumbled in the distance and I glanced up at the darkening sky.