<b>Lyra’s </b><b>POV </b>
I could still hear the distant screams of the giants and smell the thick smoke from the fires as we walked away with the Aetherion. I forced myself not to look back, but the sound of their agony clung to me like chains–fading little by little with every step until the forest swallowed it entirely.
I jolted awake drenched in cold sweat, my chest rising and falling in uneven bursts.
The camp was still and quiet. Malric and his soldiers were asleep in the clearing where we had settled for the night. I saw the first light of dawn cresting over the hills and stood up slowly, stretching stiff muscles before pacing the edges of the field.
“Another nightmare?” a voice murmured behind me.
I turned to see Maxwell still lying on the ground, his head propped on one arm, eyes fixed on <ol><li>me. </li></ol>
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“I’m a light sleeper,” he said with a faint shrug. “And I know the look of someone running from dreams they’d rather forget.”
I nced toward the hills, the morning light turning them gold. “It’s beautiful here,” I said quietly.
“Yeah,” Maxwell agreed, sitting up halfway. “Too bad there are so many monsters out there ruining it.”
“That’s a shame,” I muttered.
“We should cover a lot of ground today,” he added.
“You say that every single day,” I shot back. “We should’ve reached the damn castle by now.”
“I know<i>,” </i>he admitted. “If we didn’t have to keep taking detours, we would’ve.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you dragging me in circles, Maxwell? Taking me on some wild goose chase?”
He shook his head firmly. “No. I know it feels like it, but we’re not. I promise.”
Before I could answer, I noticed an eagle perched in a nearby tree, its beady eyes locked on <ol><li>me. </li></ol>
:
C CHAPTER 82
“That bird’s been hanging around a lottely,” Maxwell said, following my gaze.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “It has.”
“Why’s it so interested in you?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m new here. Maybe I’m a novelty,” I said, half–joking.
“Right,” he said, clearly unconvinced. “We’ll deal with itter.”
“Fine,” I replied, though I kept one wary eye on it.
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It wasn’t long before the rest of the group woke up and we began breaking camp. I sat off to the side, watching as they packed up supplies. Malric nced at me more than once, as though trying to read me.
“Everything alright?” he asked atst.
“Yeah,” I said tly. “Everything’s great.”
“Then let’s get moving,” he said, turning to lead the way.
We set out across the open field toward the hills, the grass wet with morning dew. My attention wasn’t on the trail though–it was on that damn eagle still circling above us.
Malric looked up at it too and, without a word, kicked a stone hard in its direction. The bird let out a sharp cry and flew off, retreating to the distance.
I let Malric take the lead, hanging back to watch his every move. Something about this entire trip was starting to feel wrong.
We should’ve reached Morrigan’s castle two days ago. But every time we got close, Malric found a reason to veer off course–a “safer route,” a “shorter path.” None of it made sense
anymore.
And I was done with it.
I didn’t care about more detours. I didn’t care about more excuses.
I wanted to find the ck witch. I wanted to end her. And I wanted to go home.
Malric stopped abruptly, and I bumped into his back, his tail whipping around and smacking me across the face.
“What the hell are you doing?” <b>I </b>snapped.
“Your Majesty… is this you?” he asked, his voice tense.
:
< CHAPTER 82
“Is what me?” I demanded.
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I stepped around to his side and froze. A line of werebears stood before us, shoulder to shoulder, at least twenty of them.
“No. I was attacked by one of them once in my world. They were working for the ck witch,”
I said.
“Well, I think she’s sent them after you again,” Malric replied.
“Are you sure? They’re not attacking. Thest one I saw was savage. These are… calm,” I said, watching them carefully.
“One wrong move, and they’ll turn savage fast,” he warned.
One of the bears stepped forward, tilting its head slightly as if studying me. I <i>knew </i>instantly these were not like the werebears I had encountered before–something about them was
different.
“They’re not here to hurt us,” I said quietly.
“How can you possibly know that?” Malric demanded.
“I just do. But the flock of birds overhead? That might be a problem. By the way, what exactly is a Mage?” I asked.
Malric whipped his head toward me. “How the hell do you know about Mages?”
“Just answer me,” I shot back, ring at him.
“Fine. They’re people who can control animals,” Malric admitted.
“Like eagles… flocks of birds… and snakes?” I asked, ncing to our left where an entire field of snakes was slithering toward us, not attacking yet, but waiting.
“We’re in serious trouble,” Malric muttered.
“Correction,” I said, stepping sharply away from him. “You’re in trouble.”
His head snapped toward me. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything” I said coldly. “But I do have this little voice in my head telling me you’ve been leading me on a wild goose chase… because the ck witch asked you to.”
His eyes widened, but he stayed silent, scanning his soldiers, then the animals surrounding <ol><li>us. </li></ol>
< CHAPTER 82
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“Why don’t you stop screwing around and tell me the damn truth?” I said, my voice like ice.
He was still darting frantic looks around, and that alone told me what I needed to know–the Aetherion n had never truly intended to help me. They weren’t as peaceful as they imed, but I had expected as much. I didn’t trust anyone.
And right now, the lesser evil seemed to be the creatures closing in–the ones sent to pull me away from Malric.
“I guess you were right not to trust anyone,” Malric said atst.
“I usually am,” I replied.
“Well, no one ever said this was an easy world to survive in. We do what we must,” he said.
“It’s a shame you’re not even people. You really are Aetherion, aren’t you?” I asked.
His mouth twisted into a grim smile. “Too bad those things won’t reach you in time,” he hissed–then lunged straight at me.
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