here with you.” His smile was bright and charming, enhanced perhaps by his natural glow which he no longer bothered to dampen.
Looking at him was almost painful—he was beautiful, to be sure, and so different to anyone else she’d ever met. But his carefree nature and indifference to duty rubbed her the wrong way.
“Well, the faster you’re done here, the faster you can leave and continue your travels,” she said.
“Oh, but I like it here.”
“On the top of this cold mountain?” She raised her brows.
“There are very pleasing things to look at.”
Mooriah turned away, flushing at the compliment he obviously intended. “Well, I need to finish. So I can go back.”
She had brought a large pot with her today and used it to combine the ingredients for the spell she was working on. Blood magic could, of course, be done without all the additional elements stored in her satchel, blood and intent were all that were needed, but generations of shamans had come up with formulas to focus and amplify the spells. The ingredients, properly used, brought a level of refinement to the magic, which it did not have on its own.
She’d added star root for longevity, featherblade to measure a person’s heart, salt bronze as a calming agent for those who would trigger the spell. She was finally doing something she’d been longing to for her whole apprenticeship—creating a new spell. Putting her years of studying to the test was oddly gratifying, and it somewhat made up for the fact that her father was just as distant as ever.
An hour ago, he’d pronounced his Song drained and had gone off to his campsite nearby to rest. An Earthsinger’s power needed to regenerate after heavy usage. Mooriah wasn’t sure if hers did as well or if she’d just never used her Song for long enough to exhaust it.
She’d tried telling Yllis about her spell, explaining how novel and original it was. But he’d just smiled absently and given the verbal equivalent of a pat on the head. She willed herself to not let it bother her. Later, when she returned to Night Snow, she would tell Murmur and he would be appropriately impressed.
As her thoughts veered back to her working of blood magic, Fenix interrupted again. “Pretty lighting and calm lakes can’t be the only reason you stay locked away down there. They have all that and more out here.”
She shook her head, focusing on her work—the mixture had to be right or it would not work as intended. “It’s my home. I like it there.”
“Even though the people barely accept you. They consider you an Outsider, isn’t that right?”
She pursed her lips. “For now. But once I’m initiated into the clan, things will change.”
“Just like that?” She looked up to find his gaze intense. For once, the smirk gone from his lips. “Do you truly think you’ll ever be one of them? That they’ll ever really accept you for who you are?”
That gave her pause. But the other unclanned who had become full members enjoyed all the rights and privileges that every other Night Snow member did. No cutting remarks or stares. That would be her too, she was sure of it.
“I realize that you were eager to leave your home, Fenix, but not everyone is like you.”
He shrugged. “Home is tedious. You should come with me and explore. See what this world has to offer.”
She grit her teeth. “Have you forgotten why my father brought me there in the first place? My Song is dangerous to those not warded against it.”
He scoffed and her temper rose at the sound. He wasn’t listening to her. Not only was he irresponsible, he was self-centered.
He opened his mouth to reply and then froze, tilting his head. Then he jumped to his feet. “Your father is in trouble.”
“What?” She leapt up as well.
“Follow me.”
They raced down the trail leading to the plateau where Yllis had set up his camp. He had not yet had enough time for his Song to restore itself. If there was some danger, he would not be able to defend himself.
Fenix raced ahead of her and stopped. She reached his side and her heart froze. Yllis stood with his back to them as a mountain lion prowled just a dozen steps away. It was a male, and the biggest one she’d ever seen, easily twice her father’s weight. Cool green eyes never left Yllis’s still form.
A long dagger lay on the ground just out of her father’s reach.