Raven Blackwood's Arc

Chapter 6 of 11

The crystal in Raven's bow glowed at breakfast. Not bright, but steady, in full daylight. She set the bow on the table and watched the blue stone pulse. Sylvara drew her sword. The stone in its pommel burned the same. "They're close," the tracker said. "In daylight. They never hunt in daylight." Raven thought of Florence's words. The valley bled magic upward, and the beasts drank it. The drained low ground had drawn them down early, before she and Sylvara had packed a single bag. They could not climb the pass tomorrow. They could not stay here with the stones glowing all day. "The pass is our only road," Raven said. "We have to move now, before more come." A knock hit the door. Both crystals flared white. Sylvara raised her blade. Raven nocked an arrow and aimed at the wood. The door opened, and a man stepped in with his hands loose at his sides. Tall, black hair, armor over road-worn clothes. A long sword hung at his hip, runes glowing faint along the steel. He looked at the two drawn weapons and did not flinch. "Isaiah," he said. "Florence sent me. She said two women were about to walk into a feeding ground with half a plan." He lowered his eyes to the glowing crystals. "She was right." Raven kept the arrow up. "How do we know she sent you?" Isaiah reached into his pack and set two matched backpacks on the floor. Thick, warm coats were strapped to each. "She packed these. Dry gear for the cold. Two sets." He pulled out a lantern with a green flame that burned steady in the draft. "And this. Rain won't kill it. Wind won't either." He looked at Raven's bow. "Your old one failed you on the ice. This one won't." Sylvara lowered her sword an inch. Raven did not. She studied his blade, the runes, the way the light along it answered the beasts the same as her crystal. "Your sword feels them too," she said. "It's saved me more times than I like," Isaiah said. "I hire it out. Florence paid the fee. The debt's hers, not yours." He glanced at the door, where both stones still burned. "We don't have time to argue. They're coming to the house." Raven lowered the bow. She picked up one pack and threw the other to Sylvara. The coats were warm in her hands, built for the climb she thought she'd have days to prepare for. She had none. "Then we don't wait for them here," she said. She lifted the green lantern. The flame held. "We climb now, together, and we meet them on the pass." They shouldered the kits and stepped out. The crystals blazed. Three shapes moved at the tree line, eyes glowing in the daylight. The feeding ground had come to them, and the only way clear was up.