Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(60)

Thom tiptoed through rubble as he led our way to the only remaining turret in the area. The tall pillar of stone still housed the large cathedral bell. The tower worked best as a guardhouse, which is what Thom had been using it as. The muscles in my face tensed as we climbed, the silence dragging on and on, leaving me to worry about what Thom had found.

I could desperately grasp at the hope of seeing Ovailia burst through the trees that surrounded the Abbey, Ryland’s body in her arms, but I knew better. Thom would have given me more information if it was good news.

The large wooden door at the top of the spiral staircase opened of its own accord, and I felt Thom move beyond it, up into the large opening. Moonlight filtered through the rounded stone opening, casting confusing shadows on the walls around us. The ancient bell hung from wound rope the size of my arm, dust sprinkling down around it as the rope creaked and moved in the breeze. I followed Thom’s energy pattern and the dust footprints that lined the floor until he came to a stop, our backs to the bell as we looked out on the forest.

“Are you there?” Thom whispered, his reluctance to be heard flushing through me like ice.

“Yes.”

“What do you see?” I fought the urge to command Thom to simply tell me, reminding myself it was not his way, just as commanding people to do my bidding should not be mine .

I scanned the trees in front of us at his request, the dark shapes of the trees barely visible amongst the black mass of nature. I looked above them in hopes of finding what he was talking about before returning to the trees, a bright light having caught my attention.

The yellow-gold flickers of a fire were nestled between the trees, casting a shadow through the dark stumps and making long bright fingers amongst the strips of black. Several bodies cut off the light as they moved around it, making the intimidating shadows flicker and move.

I watched the light for a moment, trying to make sense of it in a non-territorial way before another light flickered through the trees. One after another they appeared, disappeared, and re-appeared as bodies and objects moved in front of them, cutting off the light that reached my eyes.

My heart thumped heavily in my chest as I watched the lights flicker, the magical pulses going on and off. The magical current I had felt before washed over me again, the strength of it tingling up my spine. My muscles tensed as I focused on it, my eyes narrowed at the lights before me. The magical flow wasn’t one I recognized. The concentrated nature of the icy flow made it clear it was from more than a dozen of the same species, Trpaslíks.

I couldn’t help the wicked smile that spread across my face, the pulse of my magic as it alerted me to its wish for battle. I knew it had been foolish to give Ovailia our real location after her eyes had shaded over and her lies had given her away. But I had no choice; I wanted Ryland. Now, that want had turned into a need.

Unfortunately, that need was going to trigger the beginning of the war. I had foolishly hoped we would have at least a decade, but Edmund was obviously a very impatient man.

“How many camps?” I asked, making sure to keep my voice low.

“Eight,” Thom began, his frustration seeping into his deadpan voice. “They weren’t there when we first arrived, so they must have come sometime in the last few days.”

I sighed heavily. We hadn’t been keeping as heavy a guard as we should have been. Our first two nights here we had taken turns at watch while the others ate and slept but last night we hadn’t posted one at all.

I watched the lights for a moment more before turning to leave, using my magic to pull Thom behind me. I moved quickly, my steps much louder than they should have been but I was keen to put some distance between the assembling army and us. I separated the pulses that flowed through the air around me, my magic registering exactly what forces lay beyond us. Two dozen Trpaslíks camped outside the wall of the Abbey, waiting for the chance to strike.

They knew we were here, and no amount of tiptoeing could keep them from pounding down our door when the order was given to attack.

I could feel Thom behind me as I moved, his energy spiking as the anger that I felt brushed onto him and fed his deep rooted anxiety.

The second we moved past the open stretch of rubble, I released my shield, bringing my body back into sight.

“It was Ovailia wasn’t it?” I didn’t turn at Thom’s voice, the hardness of it expected. I could feel the same anger rippling through my body, just under the skin.

“Of course it was.” I kept my back to him, allowing my magic and my internal sight to keep him in my mind. I could see him standing, his hands flexing as his brow furrowed.

Thom stood still, the small movement of his hands the only sign of his anger. He kept it restrained, controlled and hidden, the way he had done since he had escaped our father, since Sain had shown him what his temper could cause.

“So what do we do?”

I turned to face him, my taller than average frame towering over him. He looked up to me, his eyes, so much like a child’s, wide and pleading.

“There is not much we can do. We stay here. We wait for Joclyn to wake and hope that Ovailia brings her mate to her.”

“Ovailia? You want to wait for her?” I nodded once, before turning away from him, my steps taking me back the way we had come.

I could feel Thom follow me, his steps quick as his shorter legs tried to keep up with my longer strides.

“Why, Ilyan?” he said as he came up beside me, his legs still working double time. The muscles in my neck tensed at his question. I really didn’t need to explain myself to him, but his question was understandable given their history.