The sky was shrouded from view by the thick fog that covered the swamp, but I found myself glancing upward all the same. I had been shocked when I first saw the dark blue veil that almost blocked out the sun from shining down on the Southern Realm. The fact it was a veil of magic caused by an ancient battle was unbelievable. I could only imagine the amount of power that must have been used.
“What caused the destruction?” Dash asked.
“People believe that the yule gods were at war with each other and that the South Pole was destroyed because it was a place beloved by one of the gods.”
“We don’t even know if the gods exist,” I replied. “They’re a myth used by parents to make their children behave. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve heard people tell their kids to be good or one of the yule gods will come down and smite them.”
“Perhaps,” Roan replied. “I, for one, believe in them though. What else but a god could cause this much destruction?”
We all fell silent at his words. Roan’s explanation was all so steeped in myth and fairy tale that I wondered how much truth there was to it. It seemed ridiculous to think that gods had battled here and brought down an entire city.
A small part of me was beginning to wonder if perhaps the gods weren’t quite as make believe as I’d always thought though. I had been skeptical when Jack had told me that Bethalial was a god because it didn’t fit with the stories about the nine yule gods I’d always been told. Roan seemed convinced the gods were connected to these lands and the palace ruins. Maybe the magical chest we were searching for really did belong to a mystery god.
I wasn’t quite sure what to believe. I did feel like something truly terrible had happened in the Dead Lands, and I pushed down a shudder as a cold chill crept up my spine. As I looked at the darkening world around me, I could almost feel the sense of loss in the air. I didn’t know if it were gods or Christmas beings or even nature that had destroyed the city that had once thrived here, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to find out.
There was one thing I did know for certain though: the sooner we got the chest and got the hell out of this place, the better.
Chapter Fifteen
I slept soundly that night, which was surprising considering the cold air of the Dead Lands had chilled me to the bone and I’d fallen asleep on a muddy rock. I guess it was an improvement since the previous night had been filled with the slobbering and snarling sounds of the yule cats. The unnerving silence of the swamplands was almost a welcome relief.
Unfortunately, despite a good rest, my body was in a poor state. My muscles were aching, and the thought of another day of riding Adara made me grimace.
“We’ll have to be more careful today,” Roan said as we got ready to ride out. “There are more acidic mud pits closer to the ruins.”
“Are you telling me that we’ve already been passing acidic mud pits?” I replied.
“Sure.” He shrugged. “I told you some of the land was toxic. I’ve been doing my best to avoid the pits, but sometimes, we came pretty close.”
“And you didn’t think to point them out to us?” I asked.
Roan hoisted himself onto his mount’s back. “Well, I didn’t think you’d be foolish enough to touch any of the bubbling acidic mud, and the mari lwyd know to avoid it.”
“A warning might have been nice,” I muttered.
“The elf is right. I will keep you safe,” Adara promised me.
I smiled at her and patted her neck with gratitude. She was so loyal to me even though we’d only just met. I was going to find it difficult to part ways with her once we were done with the ruins and had found the chest.
Glancing at the tattoo on my wrist, I could have sworn it seemed brighter today and the golden color was more intense. I rubbed at it, hating the way the tingling never seemed to go away. It was a constant reminder of my favor and what I needed to achieve if I wanted to be free.
We rode quietly for most of the morning. Dash had a hard expression on his face and seemed deep in thought while Roan appeared quite at ease and often hummed to himself as we went. I spent a lot of the time trying to see if I could sense the magic that Roan said came from the ruins we were searching for. Other than the elf, the shifter, and the three mari lwyd near me, I couldn’t sense much else though, so eventually I gave up.
I wondered if perhaps it took days of wandering the lands before you could become attuned to the powerful magic of the ruins or if you needed to be closer to them. I also considered that it might be something that only elves could sense.
“Are we making good time?” I asked Roan when we’d been riding for several hours.
“Yes,” he replied, looking over his shoulder and giving me a smile. It was the first time the elf had given me a genuine smile that reached his eyes. His smiles were usually because he was not-so-secretly laughing at me. “I think we should arrive at the ruins by…”
Roan’s voice trailed off and he started to frown. He drew his mount to a sudden halt and motioned for Dash and I both to stop. He cocked his head like he was trying listen for something. I focused keenly on the sounds around me and tried to sense what had spooked Roan, but I had barely stopped when he screamed, “Ride!”
He took off in a burst of speed, and Adara hurtled forward right after him. I heard a rush of movement in the dark waters behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder just as a series of tiny darts flew out of the fog and hurtled toward us.
“Press your body close to me!” Adara urged. “I will get us free of the grýla.”
I did as she said, lying flat against her back, as she picked up speed. She practically flew across the swamp, her hooves barely touching the ground as she galloped. I risked another glance behind me and saw Dash was close by. Beyond him, a hoard of creatures was rising from the muddy swamp. Their forms were humanoid in shape, but huge horns curled from their heads, and long, pointed noses protruded from their faces. They were completely covered from head to toe in mud, so it was impossible to discern any other features. I watched in horror as they lifted long pipes to their mouths. With practiced motions, they aimed the pipes in our directions, and another round of darts were spat toward us.
“They’re firing again!” I called as the darts shot through the air.
Adara dodged and swerved as she ran, somehow managing to escape the darts that landed near us. They hit the ground instead, disappearing into the mud as they missed their targets. My heart was racing and my palms were sweating as we continued to gallop away from the creatures.
“Why are they attacking us with darts?” I shouted.
“The darts are poisoned with lethal doses of their venom. It is how they hunt their prey,” Adara answered.
It was the answer I suspected was coming, but it still wasn’t easy to hear. I didn’t want to be dinner, and I was guessing that was exactly what the creatures had planned for us. On the upside, I probably wouldn’t have to wait long for it to be over if we were caught. Since Dash was so much bigger than me, I’d likely end up as an entrée rather than main course.
“You won’t be main or entrée,” Adara promised me. I hoped she wasn’t suggesting I’d end up as dessert instead.
Adara hesitated for a moment when we reached a muddy body of water. Roan and his mari lwyd were already halfway across the pool, but something about it had Adara rattled.
“We should try to go around,” she said.
But we didn’t have time. The creatures behind us were catching up, and the quickest escape route was straight ahead. Adara must have come to the same conclusion because she started into the water after Roan. We’d barely gone two steps when three grýla burst from the mud at Roan’s side.
“Watch out!” I screamed as they reached up and swarmed around Roan’s mari lwyd, dragging him down from on top of his mount and into the dark waters. Magic swirled at my fists as I summoned a dagger into each hand. I reared up on Adara’s back and sent the two blades through the air. The first one landed right in the back of one of
the grýla, and it fell into the muddy waters around it. The second one hit the other grýla in the shoulder. It turned and started to lift its dart blower in my direction, but I summoned a third dagger and sent it spinning right at the creature’s forehead, finishing it off before it got a chance to bring its weapon to its lips.
Roan was fighting back too, and magic swirled at his hands as he reached out and grabbed hold of the final monster’s arms. The grýla was covered in mud, but as Roan’s magic flowed over the creature, the thick dark liquid began to harden until it turned to stone. Within seconds, the grýla went rigid, and Roan let it fall backward into the swamp. Now encased in a tomb of solid rock, the beast slowly sank back into the muddy depths.
Roan was puffing as he backed away from it toward his mari lwyd. Dash and I both caught up with him as he clambered back onto his mount.
“Are you injured?” Dash asked.
“I’m fine!” came Roan’s short response. “Come on, we better go before the rest of them catch up.”
He took off ahead of us, and Dash shot me a concerned look before he followed. I looked over my shoulder once more before instructing Adara to ride. The grýla were still chasing us, and as they raised their dart blowers to their mouths, Adara took off once again.
We splashed through the final stretch of black water and continued through the muddy swamp. None of the darts came near us again, but we continued racing across the terrain, putting as much distance as possible between the grýla and us.
I looked over my shoulder to see if the creatures were still giving chase. I couldn’t see them anymore, but the fog behind us was thick, and it was impossible to know what lurked beyond the mist. The three mari lwyd continued to thunder across the swamplands, and I kept my body tucked close to Adara’s back, not sure if we were out of danger yet.
“We’re safe now,” Adara said when she finally slowed to a more comfortable pace. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, as I took a moment to process the relief I was feeling, before I sat up.
The fog around us seemed slightly thinner than it had been for most of our journey, and I realized I could see more than a few meters in each direction. What the open air revealed caused me to freeze in my saddle. Through the fog, I could see the remains of crumbled buildings lining our route. The stones were whitewashed with age and nothing more than rubble, but the dark and muddy swamp almost completely receded and gave way to rough paved ground.
I started to smile as I realized where we were. “You guys, we made it!” I exclaimed, bouncing up and down on Adara’s back and patting her affectionately on the neck.
“Yes, we are at the entrance to the ruins,” Adara confirmed.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Dash’s reaction. He was covered in dirt, and his face was grim as he returned my stare. He didn’t seem nearly as excited as I was to have reached our destination.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
I shook my head. “You?”
“I’m fine.”
I heard a deep moan, and as I turned to check on Roan, he fell from his mari lwyd and crashed to the ground in a heap. I launched myself off Adara and raced over to him.
“Roan, what’s wrong?” I fell to my knees at his side. He moaned again, and I finally saw the dart protruding from his neck.
I swore under my breath. “He was hit!” I yelled to Dash.
I grabbed the dart and yanked it from his neck. “I’m a goner,” Roan said. “They’re poisoned with the acid from grýla fangs.”
I glared down at the dart in my hand. “What do we do?” I said to Roan. “Is there an antidote?”
He only groaned in response. His forehead was sweating, and his skin had gone so pale. His eyes were barely open, and he was struggling to stay awake.
“Roan, stay with me. I need to know if there’s an antidote so I can summon it!”
“There’s…” His voice trailed off as his eyes fluttered shut, and his head lolled to the side as he lost consciousness.
“Roan.” I lightly tapped his face, trying to wake him up, but he didn’t even flinch at the contact. If we were going to fix him, then we were going to have to do it without his help.
“Clio, I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” Dash murmured. “My mari lwyd told me the darts were lethal, and the poison is working so quickly.”
Adara had said the same thing to me, but that didn’t mean I was ready to give up.
“We can’t just let him die,” I replied. “Maybe I can try to summon something that will work.”
Dash looked highly doubtful I could accomplish such a feat. He was probably right to feel uncertain. I had no idea what to summon, but I had to try something.
I closed my eyes, and my magic rose up within me as I attempted to imagine something with healing properties that might be able to cure Roan appearing in my hands. As I sent my power out to summon what I needed, everything about what I was trying to do felt wrong. My magic worked by drawing an object from one place to another, but in this case, I was trying to summon something that I couldn’t be sure even existed. It was impossible to picture an object to summon, and as I reached out my power, searching for the antidote, I felt nothing.
When I opened my eyes, my shoulders slouched with disappointment. All I had in my hands was the dart I had pulled from Roan’s skin.
“What happened?” Dash asked, his voice filled with worry.
“I don’t know,” I replied, still looking down at my hands. “I couldn’t summon anything.”
“I’m sorry, Clio. Maybe there’s nothing we can do.” I looked up at Dash and could see my own sadness reflected in his eyes. He was acting like Roan was already gone, and I couldn’t give up so easily.
“No, I have to try again.”
I shut my eyes once more and focused on the dart I still gripped in my hand. I thought of the poison on the tip of it and concentrated on trying to summon its antithesis. I thought of Roan healthy and strong and willed away the sickness that was poisoning his body so quickly. I could feel magic swirling strongly around my hands. It pulsed and throbbed with a kind of intensity I’d never experienced before when trying to summon an object. Instead of reaching out to grasp something to summon, my magic felt like it was flowing to my hands from deep within me. Power was churning throughout my entire body, and with one strong surge of energy, the magic exploded out of me, and I felt something appear my hand.
I slumped weakly as my power dispersed, exhaustion aching through my bones.
“Clio…” Dash said. He sounded even more concerned than before, so I wearily blinked my eyes open and was shocked by what I found. In my hand was a small flower. Its petals were white, and it had a large bright purple center. It looked a like a tiny sunflower, only I’d never seen anything quite like it before.
“Clio, look around you,” Dash prompted.
With a deep frown creasing my forehead, I lifted my eyes to see what he meant. I gasped and raised my hand to my mouth as I looked around me. I hadn’t just caused one flower to appear; I’d surrounded myself in them. They grew out of the ground in a large circle that enclosed Roan and me. It wasn’t just flowers though. Grass had sprouted from the ground, covering the old stone pavement of the ruins, and the fog and clouds had lifted from over our heads, sending a few rays of bright light down upon us.
“What did you do?” Dash asked. “Those flowers didn’t just appear. They grew right out of the ground as you worked your magic…”
I shook my head. He had to be mistaken. I couldn’t make flowers grow out of the ground—that just wasn’t possible. The summoning had felt strange though. Normally, I simply focused on an object, but this time, I’d used emotion and desire to guide my magic. Something had been different.
“I don’t know what I did,” I replied. “I just tried to summon the antidote. Perhaps I just used too much magic and summoned more than I meant to?” I wasn’t sure if I believed my own reasoning, but Dash was nodding like perhaps that was the right explanation for why I was now
sitting in a small field of flowers.
I shook my head, trying to focus on the flower in my hand rather than the ones that surrounded me. “I think we need to give this to him,” I told Dash, showing him the tiny white and purple flower I held. “I think this must be the antidote.”
There was still so much shock in Dash’s eyes, but he nodded in reply. “What’s the best way to do that?”
“No idea,” I replied. “Do you know much about poisons or antidotes?”
Dash’s brows pulled together as he considered the question. “No,” he eventually replied. “I have an idea, but I’m not sure if it will work.”
“We don’t know if this is even going to work.” I lifted the flower to show him. “Anything is better than nothing.”
Dash nodded and let out a breath. “Well, I saw how Agatha prepared the medicine that cured you from the effects of the fairy dust. Perhaps we could try that,” he said. “She grinded the plant and placed it in a glass of boiling hot water before she gave it to you.”
I nodded and immediately summoned a mug of steaming hot water. I felt breathless after summoning the flowers, and my body ached with exhaustion from using too much magic. I ignored my body’s complaints though and crushed the flower up before placing it in the water.
Dash gently slid his hands under Roan’s limp body and lifted his head up as I brought the cup to his lips. It was still burning hot, but we couldn’t risk waiting for it to cool down a little. “We need you to drink this.”
I didn’t receive a response, which only meant we were running out of time. I took a breath in and sent up a desperate prayer that our plan would work before pouring the concoction down his throat. I made sure that Roan drank every drop of it before finally pulling the cup away.
I sat back on my haunches and looked at him. “Do you think it worked?”
Dash held Roan’s head on his lap, and he looked up at me with sadness and concern clouding his amber eyes. “I don’t know,” he replied. “He’s just about still breathing, but beyond that, it’s impossible to know if the potion is helping. We can’t know if that flower you summoned was even the antidote.”
Christmas Chaos (Christmas Magic Book 2) Page 16