“Stop,” I yelled, hurrying to catch up and nearly landing on my face when I tripped over a fallen branch.
Briar and Falin froze, but Remy took a couple more steps before turning.
“What’s wrong, Craft?” Briar asked. At the same time Falin said, “Alex?”
“We’re about to cross a ward,” I said, trying to catch my breath. Not that anyone else was breathing hard.
“Someone cast a ward in the middle of the forest?” Briar asked, glancing around.
I understood her confusion. Wards were typically placed on boundary points: doorways, fences, even small objects like boxes and bags, something that had a clear transition from one place to another, inside from outside. The magic stuck to those physical representations of transition best. A line or circle scratched or painted onto the ground could offer a temporary place for a ward to grab hold, but it wouldn’t last long. Creating a ward that held in a mixed terrain like a forest would be hard.
I narrowed my eyes and scanned the trees ahead of us where I could feel the spell. While it appeared like the trees kept going forever, it was marginally brighter just ahead of us. I could feel an illusion spell mixed in with the wards, and I would have put money on the fact that we were moments from stumbling through that illusion and likely into a clearing. The openness of a clearing compared to the woods around it would be an acceptable transition point.
“What does the ward do?” Falin asked, moving to stand beside me and casting his gaze to match mine as I stared at what I was now positive was an illusion of more forest.
“There is an illusion in the same spot, but I think the ward is just an alarm. It won’t stop us, but Gauhter will know how many people crossed it, and maybe if we are normals, witches, or fae.” I bit my lip, trying to search down anything else I could discern about the ward. When this was all over, I was going to have to spend some time with Caleb and learn a little more about the intricacies of wards. “It might detect weapons and carried spells too. I can’t tell. But it definitely will destroy any chance of surprise.”
Briar cursed under her breath.
“Are we aborting this mission?” Remy asked from up ahead. “Because I have no issue turning around and walking right back out of here.”
“Don’t give up so easy. No one is leaving,” Briar said. “Besides, you wouldn’t have your charm. I bet you couldn’t find your way back out.”
Remy scowled at her, and Falin smiled, looking down at me. “Come now, even a blind goblin could follow the trail Alex left on the way here.”
“Ha ha,” I said, but I didn’t mind the teasing. Besides, he was probably right. “So seriously, though, what’s the plan?”
“I’m assuming you’re taking us to a structure,” Falin said, looking over to Remy. “How far are we from it?”
Remy shook his head. “I’m . . . not exactly sure where we are. I’ve never been here before. I was told to drive to the rest stop, park, and then follow where the arrow pointed.”
“So, when we pass that ward, we might be right outside the designated meeting place,” Falin said, rubbing a thumb and finger along his jaw as he thought aloud. “Or this could be a distant-perimeter ward and you might follow that charm for another half hour of hiking.”
“I hope not,” Remy grumbled under his breath. Everyone ignored him.
“You’re right.” Briar nodded to Falin. Then she pulled her crossbow and checked its configuration. “We will have no idea what is across that illusion until we’ve already set off the ward. We can rush the place, hoping speed is enough to catch Gauhter unaware, but if that is a distant-perimeter ward, we’ll have lost all element of surprise and Gauhter will likely be gone. If he’s even there in the first place. Option two is to send Remy and the book over alone. He can communicate back to us what the terrain and walk is like, and how many people are on the other side.”
“Both those options suck,” Remy said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Out of those options, I vote we rush the place,” I said, though a raid wasn’t something I exactly had experience with. “There is less chance of Gauhter ending up with the book if we rush the place than if we send Remy alone.”
Falin shook his head. “But there is a higher chance of Gauhter slipping through our fingers or casualties if we run into something unexpected. I vote we send Remy to do some reconnaissance.”
Briar evaluated her crossbow for a moment, checking the resistance of the string. She was a kick-ass-now, ask-questions-later type, and I had no doubt she’d side with me. But after a moment she looked at Falin and nodded. “I agree. We need more information. There would be nothing suspicious about Remy walking over that ward alone.”
I wasn’t exactly outvoted, as Remy had yet to voice an opinion beyond the general suckiness of both options. Everyone turned to look at him.
“How would I communicate with you if I go in alone? I’m guessing you don’t have a police wire randomly on your persons out here in the woods.”
“And magic might be sensed by the ward,” I said, wishing I could give a definite yes or no on that, but “maybe” was as good as I could get.
Falin and Briar glanced at each other, some sort of private communication going on between them that Remy and I weren’t invited to.
“I have a hands-free device for my cell phone,” Briar said, pulling a small earpiece with microphone from one of her pockets.
Falin nodded. “I can hide that. I doubt the ward detects or dispels glamour.”
Briar dialed my number on her phone before handing both phone and hands-free earpiece to Remy. “Craft, keep that line open. Remy, I want these back, so don’t lose them.”
“Right,” he said, stuffing the phone in his pocket.
Once the hands-free set was secure in his ear, Falin cupped his hand over the side of Remy’s face. It looked oddly like Falin was caressing Remy’s face, and as that face was currently that of a pretty young woman, it was awkward to watch. I turned away.
While Falin worked on the glamour, Briar said, “When you cross the ward, just act normal. If no one is watching, mutter to yourself about what you see. If there are people, well, if they are that close, they might be watching now, but assuming they aren’t, do what you can to let us know what you see.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so safe. Here is a phone, go walk into a trap.”
Briar ignored him. “Your safe word is ‘apples.’ If things go wrong or you don’t think you can get back out, say it and we will come get you.”
As he was already dead, I wondered how quickly we as the cavalry would actually rush in if he reported overwhelming odds. When I glanced at Remy, Falin had finished and stepped back. He’d done a good job; there was no sign of the earpiece.