The day dragged on. We made sweeping arcs through our area, but only managed to scare a few rabbits, which Loren shot with his bow. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the trees, heating the air to a comfortable level—summer’s last gasp. Fall started in eleven days.
Memories of last fall came unbidden. Around midseason Kerrick and the guys had rescued me from the guillotine. Because of his forest magic, his eyes had matched the color of the forest with warm browns, gold, and amber flecks. I huffed. His personality hadn’t coordinated at all. He’d been cold, mean, and only cared about healing Prince Ryne, which had been why he’d freed me from jail.
Loren raised his hand in a stopping motion. We froze, listening. Hope surged, but died just as quick. The noise of the other searchers’ passage had carried. They weren’t as skilled in moving through the forest. Instead of their movements blending in with the forest’s song, it stood out like an out-of-tune violin in a string quartet.
My emotions had been on an endless seesaw over the past month. First Tohon’s vast army had surrounded Estrid’s and he’d demanded unconditional surrender. Cellina had acted as his liaison and Kerrick’s sword had hung from her belt. She’d claimed Kerrick had been torn apart by her pack of dead ufas. He hadn’t. But then Ryne had sent Kerrick north to fight the invading tribes and a messenger had reported he’d died in the attempt. He hadn’t.
So this was just another false alarm. Right? Kerrick was like a cat with nine lives. Three down, five left. I clung to that thin thread of hope because... Well, if I didn’t, I’d shatter.
We searched all day.
When the sun hovered over the horizon, Loren called it off. “We can resume in the morning.”
“You can go back,” I said, “but I’m staying.”
“We need to regroup and see if anyone has seen anything.”
“I agree, but you don’t need me for that.”
Loren exchanged a glance with Quain. Close to my age of twenty-one, Quain had teamed up with Loren before joining Kerrick. Their antics had earned them the nickname the monkeys. I’d once quipped Quain was the bald monkey since no hair grew on his head.
“Avry, you haven’t eaten all day,” Quain said.
“Really, Quain? Is that all you got? Do you think I have an appetite right now?” I regretted my harsh sarcasm immediately. It wasn’t Quain’s fault.
He stepped closer to me. His voice dipped low. “You’re not the only one hurting here.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
Quain paused at that, blinking at me as if no one had ever apologized to him before. “Do you think you’ll be able to help Kerrick if you’re passed out from exhaustion?”
“I know my limits, Quain.”
“And how effective can one person be stumbling around in the dark?”
I drew breath to blast him again, but Flea said, “I’ll stay with Avry.”
Flea’s face had paled to bone white. The only color was the dark smudges underneath his eyes. He swayed on his feet. Talk about passing out... If I stayed, Flea would insist on staying, as well.
Sighing, I said, “You’re right. I’d be useless.”
Quain showed an amazing amount of restraint in not gloating over my comment. Loren raised his eyebrows, but kept quiet.
As we headed back, I walked next to Flea and took his hand. He squeezed my fingers in silent support. However, I had another purpose for linking hands. I sent him a subtle flow of magical energy. Since I’d awoken him, we had a bond. He sensed when I was in trouble, and we could share strength.
Once we found Kerrick, we’d have to figure out the extent of Flea’s new magic. Was he now a death magician or a hybrid magician who didn’t fit in one of the eleven categories of magic? The fact that he could break Sepp’s stasis made for another weapon in our growing arsenal against Cellina’s army. Funny to think of the thousands of soldiers as Cellina’s now.
I slowed as Flea grew stronger.
“Hey! Stop that.” He let go, shaking me off.
“Stop what?” I acted confused.
“Don’t pull that on me. I didn’t ask for help.”
“Yes, you did. You just didn’t know it.” And before Flea could protest, I added, “Healer. Remember? It’s what I do.”
“But what if we find Kerrick?”
What if? Those two words had haunted me all day. And just like with Flea, Kerrick and I shared a bond. I reached for the bushes, touching the leaves. Still no ripple of magic. Yet a tightness deep down inside me wouldn’t let me despair. It clung to the notion I’d been wrong about his death before. In fact, it reasoned that until I had proof to the contrary, I should assume he was alive.
“When we find Kerrick, I’ll have plenty of energy,” I said.
Back at the cave entrance, the other teams milled about, talking in low voices. From their universal serious expressions, I guessed they’d been unsuccessful.
“I’m sorry, Avry, but there’s been no sign of him,” Odd said, joining us. “A few of the teams covered their entire areas. Are you sure he’s sick? I hate to be gross...but we didn’t find any vomit. And it’s hard to imagine him traveling farther if he wasn’t feeling good.”
“Kerrick can be stubborn,” I said, hoping that annoying trait had saved him.
“He had to be sick. Why else would he be out without his shirt or sword?” Loren asked.
“All right. So he goes outside thinking he’s going to throw up...then what?” Odd asked.
We’d all assumed he collapsed, but... What if he’d realized he was dying? I imagined his thoughts and feelings at that moment, putting myself in his place. He’d promised me he wouldn’t die. But it was inevitable. Yet Kerrick didn’t give up easily.
I gasped. “He headed to a Peace Lily!”
CHAPTER 2
“Of course,” Flea said. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
And I wished I’d figured it out sooner. Sick and dying, Kerrick must have done the only thing he could—head to a Peace Lily. He’d been there when the Lily had saved my life and he’d recently learned about Flea’s survival. A surge of energy coursed through me.
“Could he find a Lily at night?” Odd asked.
“Yeah, he’s a forest mage,” Flea said.
“Loren, where’s the map you used for the search areas?” I pulled out my Lily map, but the sunlight was all but gone.
“I left it with the captain of the watch in case anyone returned and needed to find us,” Loren said.
“Go get it and ask the search teams how much of their areas were covered today. Oh, and see if they encountered any Lilys and where.”
“Got it.” Loren dashed off.
Quain, Flea, and Odd followed me inside the infirmary cave. I knelt next to the fire and spread my map out. The locations of the clusters of Lilys had been marked on it.
Handy, except the markings didn’t indicate if they were Death or Peace Lilys. For once it didn’t matter, because Kerrick also couldn’t tell the difference. He’d head for the closest cluster since the odds were in his favor. A hundred Peace Lilys grew for every Death Lily. However, I still needed to know if the teams had found any Lilys. Since I’d been using the map, I’d discovered it wasn’t 100 percent