them. To slink through the dark and slaughter Wynn. Drain him of blood and watch him beg for his life. I wanted it slow. Painful. And I wanted it now.
Teeth bared, I snarled. How do I get to her?
Winnow turned back to the invisible wall keeping me from Leena. The Kestral is coming. She can lift the barrier. In the distance, a faint light glimmered through a break in the trees. Too slowly it grew, crawling toward us, until a bird appeared on the other side of the forest.
Wings stretched wide, they barely flapped as the creature glided through the dark. Long tail feathers drooped behind it, and a serene glow stemmed from the core of its paper-white body. Oval blue orbs spied me, and the bird paused at the threshold. Cradling Winnow to my chest, I brought myself inches away from the searing wall.
How does this work? I glanced down at Winnow, but she only shook her head.
I don’t know. Leena didn’t have a chance to say. I found the Kestral, and she followed me here. She doesn’t speak, but I think she understands.
The bird flapped her wings once, and a dust of magic shimmered beneath her. Tilting her head to the side, she waited.
“Please.” I pressed my hand against the barrier, ignoring the searing heat. “Take me to Leena. She needs our help.”
A soft coo hummed from the back of her throat. She twitched her head from me to Winnow. My Gyss burrowed her head against my chest, hiding her face in the soft fabric of my tunic. I brought my blistering hand away from the wall to stroke her hair.
It’s okay, Winnow. You did everything you could.
She only cried.
I’d asked too much of my beast. First by having her remove the curse, second by having her search for Leena. Both tasks she’d executed perfectly, and both times we’d still come up short. If the Kestral wouldn’t let us through, we’d find another way. We’d have to.
“Noc, look.” Kost appeared beside me, his gaze glued to the now-retreating bird. Clenching my teeth, I raised my hand again to test the wall. And pushed right through. My heart lunged into my throat, and I followed the slow-moving Kestral with my forces in tow.
I wanted to speed through the thinning wood, but the beast floated at a consistently unhurried pace. Agitation mounted in me with every step. With every errant beat of the beast’s wings, Leena was being tortured.
As I gripped my hands into fists, my nails bit into my palms. Blood swelled between the cracks and dripped to my sides, naturally forming slick, hovering blades.
“Noc.” Kost placed a hand on my shoulder. “Put those away. We don’t want the Kestral to view us as a threat.”
It pained me to dismiss them when all I could think about was slitting Wynn’s throat. But I did—if only for Leena. Calem and Ozias stayed close on my left, each one occasionally tossing quiet commands to the creeping assassins at our backs. Like me, they kept their shadows at bay. There would be a time to sneak. A time to kill.
The barrier must have acted like a sieve because the air was crisper here. The cursed woods gave way to vibrant, healthy trees that grew to impossible heights the farther we traveled. The dark calls of monsters disappeared entirely, and we were left with a reverent silence, the kind saved for ceremonies before the gods. This was hallowed ground.
Blush dawn light sliced through the trees as we stumbled upon a river. An impossible mixture of green, blue, and orange, it trickled past us, and the Kestral turned to follow it north. The muddy banks were covered in ankle-high plush grass, and sturdy tree roots climbed over the edge to douse themselves in the babbling water.
Eyes tight, I watched the sunlight shift to warmer hues. Too much time. We were losing too much time.
Ozias stepped closer to me. “We’ll get her. She’ll be safe.” His words were steady, but strained muscles ticked along his neck. No matter where I turned, we all wore the same fear. Calem would clasp his hands together only to let them fall by his side. After a minute, he’d start up again, eyes straining for a city we couldn’t see. Emelia and Iov shared quiet glances and stuck to my heels. Kost kept clearing his throat. The rest of what remained of my family walked in silence, hushed murmurs occasionally shattering the quiet of the forest.