Then a warm wave of spring sunshine and living green dulled the pain as Kerrick pulled me into his arms.

Kerrick and I needed a couple days to recover. I fell into a deep healing sleep that lasted both days. When I woke, Loren cooked a big pot of stew. He rationalized that since we weren’t hunkering down in the foothills, we didn’t need to lug around so much meat.

When we were ready to continue up the pass, Loren scouted ahead even in the woods. We could no longer rely on Kerrick’s forest magic to warn of ambushers.

Each time Loren reported back, we’d climb another mile or two. The path narrowed as the trees disappeared. Rocks poked through the snow and we slowed so no one would twist an ankle.

The wind keened between the mountain peaks and cut right though my cloak. Just as Belen had said, when the trail was high and tight, we pushed on without stopping. Quain hugged the rock wall on our left. I didn’t blame him. The drop to the right made me dizzy.

We crested the pass. When the trail angled down, the ache in my calves transferred to my thighs. Loren’s injury throbbed. After a couple hours going down, I slipped, fell on my backside and slid down the path, gaining momentum. The trail ahead of me snaked to the left. If I didn’t stop, I wouldn’t make the turn. Instead, I’d fly off into the abyss.

Shouts echoed, warning me of the danger. I dug in my heels and stopped inches from the edge, but my heart continued its fast tumble.

“Were we going too slow for you?” Loren teased when they caught up to me.

“Hold on to me from now on,” Belen said, hauling me to my unsteady feet.

“Yeah, it would take an avalanche to move him off this mountain,” Quain said. “Can I hold on to you, as well?”

Belen ignored him, but tucked me in close.

When we reached the tree line, Kerrick led us off the pass.

“I thought you said Ryne was hidden within the Nine Mountains?” I asked Kerrick.

“We’re still in the mountains.” He pointed north. “There’s the next ridge.”

I groaned. “How many more of them are there?”

He smiled. “After that one, there’s seven more. Nine ridges in all.”

Quain paled. “Holy shit.”

“Why did you think they’re called the Nine Mountains?” Kerrick asked.

“I never thought about it.”

“Oh, man, Quain. You make it easy,” Loren said.

“I thought it had to do with the war with the tribes in the north,” I said, jumping in before Quain could dig himself in deeper. “My father told me the mountain chain kept the tribes from invading our land. But once they learned how to cross them, it took us nine years to push them back into the wildlands.”

“I thought it had to do with the nine gemstones that can be found in the mines underneath,” Belen said.

“That’s a better reason than war,” I said.

“Anything’s better than war,” Belen agreed.

As we traveled deeper into the woods, I noticed there wasn’t any snow on the ground. That night, we camped in a small clearing. Kerrick assigned two people to be on watch at all times.

I had no trouble falling asleep, but my dreams haunted me. The dead chased me as Tohon laughed. I woke with a start. My heart slamming in my chest. When I returned to sleep, the dream continued as if I hadn’t woken.

Come to me, Avry. Tohon’s voice held me immobile as the dead closed in. I thrashed and screamed, caught in their icy grip.

Kerrick woke me. “Nightmare?” He settled next to me.

Belen snored on the other side of the campfire. Loren and Quain must be on watch.

I clutched my blanket to keep my hands from shaking. “I wish.”

“Tohon’s dead?”

Come to me, Avry. I ignored the voice inside my head. “Yes. They’re a nightmare you can’t wake from.”

“I knew he was…depraved, but I’d never thought he’d resort to bringing the dead back to life.”

“They’re not alive. Or else you would have sensed them, and I would have been able to zap them.”

“Then what are they?”

I considered. “I didn’t feel any magic. Perhaps he found a medicine that animates them, gives them enough intelligence so they can be trained.”

“You might not be able to sense his magic. What else could have prevented you from zapping him when he held your hand?”

Reviewing my encounter with him, I hadn’t felt his magic, but my reaction to him had to be due to his influence. “I couldn’t feel it, but you’re right, he had me in a…thrall. Can you sense his power?” I asked.

“No, but I can’t feel Jael’s, either.” He stared at the fire.

Come to me, Avry.

No. Tohon, I won’t. You have to be stopped.

“Kerrick.”

He looked at me.

“Can Ryne stop Tohon?”

“He’ll find a way. Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“I’ll do it. I’ll heal Ryne.”

Chapter 19

I had thought Kerrick would be happy I’d decided to heal his prince, but he frowned instead.

“And it only took an encounter with Tohon’s dead. Gee, what a swell girl,” Kerrick said. His tone was sharp with sarcasm.

My initial reaction was to turn away, let him think what he wanted about me. I shouldn’t care, especially since he knew my fate and wasn’t upset by my impending death at all. Except I couldn’t keep quiet. “Did you ever wonder how Ryne obtained that list of healer names?” I asked.