The Wind's Call (The Broken Lands #4) - T.A. White Page 0,109

riding as if revenants were nipping at their heels. The rest of the Trateri followed suit. Those who were able-bodied supported the wounded. At the back of the pack were the litters and the wagon Darius had re-purposed to carry those too wounded to ride.

It clattered and swayed, belching black smoke and sounding like a pack of beasts as the throwaways driving it asked for more speed.

"Just ahead," Caden shouted over the pounding of the hoofbeats.

Eva felt hope surge as she spotted stone towers not far in the distance. The city wasn't like the ones of her homeland, which were vast, she'd heard. Things of beauty built where beasts were nothing but myths. This was humble and austere, much like the land that had given birth to it.

Built from stone, it blended with the subtle grays of the mountains beyond.

Eva didn't care. It had the most important thing; a sturdy rock wall surrounding it to keep out troublesome beasts. A single incline and a small stretch on the plateau were all that separated them from safety.

A cry went up behind them.

"Mist," was shouted down the line.

Eva chanced a glance behind her, her hair flying, the ends stinging her face. Two hundred feet behind the last straggler, a wall of pure white with patches of gray stretched to the sky. Primal fear filled her at the sight. She'd grown up on bedtime stories about the mist. She knew on an instinctual level that getting caught in it would be bad.

"Ride, Eva," Caden called. "Just ride."

She turned around as the fox poked his head above her shoulder, observing the mist. He yipped before using her shoulder as a springboard and leaping to the ground.

"No! Wait! Come back." She tried to catch the fox, nearly losing her seat in the process.

She went to pull back on the reins, not wanting her small friend to be lost. Caden grabbed them.

"No time." He didn't release the reins, spurring his horse faster and drawing Caia with him. Her stride lengthened to keep up as sweat flecked her coat.

Eva chanced one last glance behind her as the fox bounded toward the mist. She'd never heard of animals surviving the mist, so had no idea what effect it would have on him. He didn't seem worried as he raced into its depths, which were now only a hundred feet behind the wagon.

"Be safe," she whispered.

The gates of the city were open wide, welcoming the first wave of riders as they entered at a dead gallop. Reece pulled up, waiting outside as the Trateri thundered by. His worried gaze was on the mist as it steadily gained on the rear of their caravan.

He kicked his horse in the sides, guiding it toward them as he raced in their direction.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Jason shouted, looking over his shoulder.

They watched the mist as it snaked over the ground, rushing faster and faster. Eva caught sight of Ajari running along the ridge above as Sebastian danced along the mist’s leading edge, dipping in and out with wild abandon before swerving to dive back in. Deep, so deep, she wasn't sure what she was seeing was even real, Eva caught sight of flickers of orange and red as if fire was trying to escape the foggy depths.

"I don't think so," Drake shouted as the mist leapt over the ground before crashing down in plumes.

He and Caden shared grim looks, resignation on their faces.

Not all of them were going to make it, Eva realized. Not with how slowly the wagon was moving. There was little chance of it outrunning the approaching danger.

Even as she watched, Reece thundered closer. He wouldn’t reach the stragglers in time.

Ollie was on that wagon. Her first friend. The man who had made this life possible. He was injured. There was no way he would be able to escape in time.

Above, Sebastian wove through the white, tearing out of it as thin ribbons of mist streamed behind him.

The mythologicals didn't fear the mist. They played in it as the children had played in the snow this past winter. Whatever hold it had on humans, it didn’t have the same fear for them.

She knew without asking they would ignore any pleas for help. Not when they still referred to humans as mice. Ollie wouldn't even register for them.

None of them would lift a finger for the humans caught in its grasp—but they'd help her.

Eva came to a decision, not letting herself stop to question it. Sometimes you had