Wicked Path (The Daath Chronicles Book 2) (15 page)

I knelt and lifted him over my shoulder, then clasped the bracelet back on, making both of our bodies invisible.

I’d rather not go off course, but the boy would need to appear the victim of a drowning. The closest bog took a bit to get to, but when I tossed the boy in and his form disappeared beneath the murky surface, my chest swelled with relief.

With the first part of my task completed, I left quickly, the still-sleeping townsfolk oblivious to my presence.

o, go.” Cael rushed forward, and we ran into the icy pass.

I stopped, hypnotized by the sheer size of the walls on either side of us. Sheets of jagged ice reached to the clouds. “What is this?”

“The pass. It’s the only path through the mountains.” Cael lit our torches. “Keep the fire going. It’s the only weapon we have against the spiders.”

“Did you say spiders?” A chill ran through me and not from the cold.

“Ice spiders.” Cael walked slowly. “Bigger than the size of men. Fire keeps them at bay.”

I
hated
spiders. Their legs and beady eyes were out of place on their big bloated bodies.

It had to be spiders. Anything else I could’ve handled.

“Walk slowly and quietly. Avikar, cover our rear.”

I nodded, pretending my heart wasn’t racing. I’d fought plenty of beasts. Spiders shouldn’t scare me. They were just insects.

Light from the suns glinted off the ice, burning my eyes. I squinted, but a white fog blocked the distance. We walked at a steady pace in silence. Cold air swept through the pass, lifting snow into the air. Raven held a torch in one hand, her dagger in the other.

I shouldn’t have brought her.
Lucy would’ve come for me, only me. Raven would’ve been safe at Jericho’s. Why didn’t I tell her to stay?

Raven trudged through the snow, face hard and determined. She was more than just a girl I loved, she was a partner. If we were attacked, she would protect my back, better than most men.

Crack.

I whipped around. Nothing. Just the wind echoing off our steps. This place distorted noise and made every single sound more ominous. I waited a few moments, examining the white fog around us. Nothing seemed out of place, but the hairs on my body stood upright. I’d spent enough time tracking animals to sense when one followed me.

Please don’t let it be spiders.

“Avikar.”

Raven waved me over. She stood a good distance in front of me. I walked toward her, looking back over my shoulder every other step.

Cold seeped into my boots. We had to get out of this weather and into warmth before nightfall. There was no shelter in sight and I didn’t think we would survive the night out here.

That gnawing feeling of being watched hit me again and I stopped.

Where are you?

I took out my bow and strung an arrow. Wind whipped the snow around, making everything white.

“What is it?” Raven whispered.

“I don’t know. Something’s out there.”

She didn’t question me. Instead, she whistled for Cael to stop.

All three of us stood, waiting. Moments passed, and no signs of life or danger appeared.

“We need to keep moving if we want to clear the pass before night.” Cael turned around and started walking again.

Come on, I know you’re out there. Show yourself.

Turning around, I aimed the bow forward into the white fog, and then I saw it, a place where the snow didn’t fall. At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks, but they weren’t. Big fat snowflakes fell everywhere but this one area, an area that had nothing in it.

On a hunch, I released the arrow.

Thump.

The arrow stopped in mid-air. Around the arrow, the air distorted until an armed figure, taller than my father, appeared. My arms moved quickly, notching another arrow and releasing it.

“They’re invisible!” I yelled to Raven.

“What do we do?”

I shot arrows at the same figure who howled and fell, then switched to my sword.

“Run.” I grabbed her arm, pulling her alongside me.

Cael dropped his pack. “Behind me.”

“What are you doing?”

He pulled out a long tube.

“Once this is lit, run, and don’t stop.” Frayed cloth stuck out of the tube and he lit it, then threw the tube in front of him. “Go!” He snatched his pack, and we ran.

Boom.

Noise and heat vaulted us forward, tossing us onto the ground like dolls.

My ears rang from the noise and I shook my head trying to make it stop. I lifted myself onto my knees and looked for Raven. She lay on her stomach, face buried in the snow.

“Raven!” I crawled over to her, rolling her onto her back.

“Wake up.” I patted her cheek.

She moaned, and I helped her sit.

“What was that?” She rubbed her head.

We both looked behind us.

Cael lifted himself to his feet, and behind him, on the ground, also rising, were our pursuers.

Five armed figures. Their faces and skin completely covered in black armor, except one.

Lucy.

She dressed in a similar armor, smooth and shiny, and it molded to her body like skin, but her headgear didn’t cover her face, and the morning suns shined on her bright blue eyes. At this distance, I couldn’t hear her clearly, but she had a hunger in her eyes and a smile on her lips. She lifted a sword and pointed to us.

I reached for my bow, but it wasn’t there. It lay on the ground, out of my reach. It must’ve fallen off when the blast hit. I ran to it, sliding on the ice, and crashed into the clear legs of a giant spider.

“Ahh!” Grabbing my bow, I rolled as one of the eight terrifying legs tried to jab me.

“Avikar!” Raven yelled my name, and I rolled again.

The spider’s legs rose, then slammed down, each spindly leg attempting to stab me. I rolled back and forth, just out of way of the gigantic fangs. My bow was useless at this angle; I had to get my dagger.

I waited until the arachnid raised its fat body and came at me. Crouching, I grabbed my dagger, in a reverse grip, from my ankle sheath. I dove into a roll as one of its chitinous front legs tried to impale me. Completing the roll, I pivoted to a half spin and drove the dagger deep into its underbelly. The blade easily cut through its icy coat.

Raven charged in from the left, her swing true and firm. Her dagger rang off the spider as if she had struck solid steel. The creature leapt back. Raven grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet, then we backed away from the insect.

The bug’s head had twelve black eyes. All twelve focused on us. Blue trickled from the spot where I cut its skin. My heart raced faster than my feet could move.

“Where’s your sword?” Raven said.

I walked backwards, away from the advancing spider.

This can’t be real
.

After facing Daath’s guardian snake, and then Lucino, after everything it took to save Jeslyn, nothing should surprise me, but it did. Fangs from the spider’s mouth worked back and forth. Webbing shot out from the spider, and I had just enough time to shield my face with my arm.

Numbing cold ran across my skin, making it feel like solid ice. I dropped to the ground and the dagger tip caught on one of the strands, dissipating it.

“Avikar!” Raven screamed.

Cael fought one of Lucy’s comrades while more ice spiders descended around us. Lucy fought off three of them. We had to get to Cael and get out of this pass.

However, we weren’t going anywhere with the biggest spider coming after us.

“Flank it,” I finally said to Raven while spinning the dagger in my hand. “You go left, on three.”

She nodded, her front foot adjusting into position.

“One… two… three.”

On three, we separated, dashing to each side. Not knowing which way to go, the spider turned toward me, and I was ready.

I dodged the spider’s attack and swung at its leg. The spider zipped to the left, dodging my hit. Raven had an open shot on its flank. Her blade swept in a vertical arc, stabbing between its body and legs.

Her blade shattered into frozen shards of metal.

The spider spun around, Raven staring at her blade in disbelief, and clamped on her shoulder.

Raven screamed as the spider’s dagger-like maw dug into her.

“No!” I launched myself on top of the insect’s body. It released Raven and shook frantically, trying to dislodge me. I punched the spider’s eye with my free hand. Ichor covered my skin. My hand went numb as I dug it into the empty socket. The numbness turned to fire.

Raven lay on the ground, unconscious, and if the bite was poisonous, she could already be dead.

Raven could be dead.

Rage filled me. My hands burned, but I punched harder, stabbed again, and again, until the spider fell onto the ground and stopped moving. I slid off its body and ran to Raven.

Blood dripped out of the two large holes in her fur. “Raven?” I put my ear to her lips. She was still breathing.

With his opponent on the ground, Cael ran to us while the remaining spiders attacked Lucy and her men.

Lucy danced around the spiders, none of them scoring a hit. A strange fire surrounded her arms, singeing the beasts whenever they came too close. In that moment, I could’ve sworn she looked at me and licked her lips, acting as if this was a game.

“She’s still breathing,” I said as Cael bent beside Raven. “But we need to get out of here.”

Cael slid his arm under her body. “We’re close to the end of the pass. We can make it as long as those spiders and our guests continue fighting each other.”

I lifted Cael’s pack onto my back. The weight of both our packs crushed against me. Cael slung Raven over his shoulder. “Keep that bow ready and cover our backs.” Cael started running.

I notched my bow. I took one last look at the carnage behind me. One of the armored men had fallen, and another looked seriously injured. If we were going to escape, now was the time.