A Shade of Vampire 40: A Throne of Fire(27)
“We just need to go after them,” Tejus growled. “Again.”
I looked worriedly out to the forests beyond. What the hell had those idiots been thinking? Traveling with Ragnhild and the rest of the guards down to the cove? It was about as close to a suicide mission as you could get.
“We need to leave, now,” Hazel demanded, glaring at Tejus.
He let out a frustrated sigh.
“Of course. Ash, stay here, I can handle this.”
“No,” Ash replied firmly, “I’m coming.”
Our eyes met.
Thank you.
I squeezed his hand.
“Fine,” Tejus replied, clearly displeased. I could understand why; it wasn’t exactly the best strategy to jeopardize the life of the emperor for a couple of kids, but I was overwhelmingly grateful that Ash was still putting me and my friends first…and feeling a little guilty.
“Hopefully they won’t have gotten far,” I replied, looking at the minster for confirmation.
He looked away, staring at the floor. “They were due back before afternoon light.”
I looked up at the torn sky. The sun was just after its mid-point.
That’s not good.
“Let’s move out,” Ash commanded. He called over a pair of guards to travel with us, and we all hurried to the stables, saddling the bull-horses. Hazel and I were both riding solo so we had spare rides if we needed it.
“Everyone ready?” Ash called out. When we all nodded, he ordered the ministers to open the barriers once again. At full speed we galloped out of our protective bubble and headed back to the cove.
“Stay on Ragnhild’s tracks,” Tejus commanded, leading us down the pathway.
I followed Ash’s and Tejus’s horses, my riding almost mechanical. I felt like a ball of anxiety, desperately trying not to think the worst. There were a million reasons why they might have been delayed getting back. Ragnhild might have even ordered the kids to get back to the castle, and they had gotten lost on the way.
Please just be lost, I thought to myself, again and again as we continued on our journey.
We traveled along the main road, in the direction that would eventually lead to Hellswan Castle. The cove was a turnoff before that, less well marked, which might help us follow their tracks better. We rode on, neither hearing nor seeing anything amiss until Hazel cried out.
“Wait! Stop!”
We all came to a halt, looking in the direction of the forest on the right of the path.
“I think I can see something… Ash, Tejus?”
They both peered into the forest, using their better-practiced True Sight to make out what Hazel could see.
“It’s them,” Tejus confirmed, already heading for the forest. “I can see the red hair of the girl. They seem to be running in the direction of the castle.”
We all raced into the thickets. As we got closer, Hazel gasped next to me and I waited for her to tell me what she’d just seen.
“Hang on, Benedict! We’re coming!” she cried out, slamming her feet into the flanks of the bull-horse, urging the beast on faster.
Are they in trouble?
I picked up the pace, and after covering a few yards I could hear them calling out to us—desperate and terrified.
Tejus
I jumped off my bull-horse just as Julian flew toward me, his mouth set in a silent scream, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. I looked behind him, but all I could see was Hazel’s brother and his friend. Where was the danger?
“Behind us!” Julian gasped out. “We need to leave—now! They’re coming, they’re coming!”
I caught him in my arms, his entire body trembling with the exertion of the run and his fear.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“D-dead. Everyone’s dead!”
Benedict flew at his sister, dragging her by the arm back to her bull-horse that she’d just jumped down from.
“We have to go!” he screamed.
I kept looking out into the forest, seeing absolutely nothing that could have terrified them so greatly—were they suffering from some kind of hysteria?
Then I felt it.
A cold, dead feeling seeping through my body.
“The shadows,” Julian gasped out from my arms, “the shadows are coming.”
I looked down at him, gauging from his expression that he could feel the same sick sensation that was pervading my body.
“HAZEL! Get back on the bull-horse!” I cried out, feeling that something was approaching. I didn’t know what it was or what Julian meant by shadows, but I understood that we were in grave danger. I could feel it in every cell of my body.
I released Julian, and he ran back to the bull-horses. They were starting to rear and cry, sensing the same danger as we were.
“Ready?” Ash called out, unsheathing the Hellswan sword.