keep your friends close

(19)

A blast of icy wind tugs loose hairs from Sophie's braid. She hunches over in her cloak with a shiver as a lonely howl echoes in the distance.

"I can't believe I finally got approved for field missions, and then I get sent to the Himalayas," Maruca grumbles from beside her. "How are we so sure that there was an Everblaze fire here, of all places?"

"We don't," Sophie admits. "That's what we're looking for."

"Cheer up girls, look at this beautiful view!" Juline calls over her shoulder. She seems perfectly at ease with the raging snowstorm around them.

"Easy for a Froster to say," Marcua groans.

"We're in the middle of nowhere," Sophie remarks. Again. They can't even see the Sanctuary from here, which reassured her that the animals aren't being threatened.

But the realization just puzzles Sophie more. If the Everblaze fires aren't meant as an attack, then what are they for?

"The only thing dumb enough to be out here in a blizzard is us and the Neverseen," Marcua mutters. Sophie bites back a laugh.

"Watch your step here," Juline warns. "We're going to have to channel-jump across."

The pathway stretching ahead of them slopes downward into a steep gorge. Sophie cautions a glance over the edge, where an icy river rushes by at the bottom. The other side is a long way away—and Sophie isn't sure she wants to risk jumping into the icy rocks to teleport.

Juline goes first anyway and lands gracefully on the other side. "That wasn't too bad!" she calls back.

Maruca peers over the edge, looking more than a little nervous. "Uhh," she stammers, "I don't think I can channel a jump that far."

"You can do it!" Sophie assures, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

Maruca rolls her eyes affectionately. "You sound just like Biana," she mutters.

"Optimistic?"

She gives Sophie a measured look. "Naive."

Maruca's uncharacteristically guarded response throws her off. Sophie's unsure how to respond. "Are you and Biana—"

Sophie stops in the middle of her sentence and tenses up. She whirls around to find a knife hovering in midair, pointed at her face.

It's sleek and silver, like a deadly icicle, and would have gone directly through her if not for her quick-acting telekinesis keeping it at bay. But there's another force working against her, someone urging the knife's trajectory towards her.

She's oddly reminded of the splotching tournament from the other day.

"Someone's here," she whispers. The knife strains against her mind's hold, inching closer.

"Watch out!" Maruca yells, yanking Sophie to the side as a second knife whizzes by them.

A searing white light blinds her vision. When Sophie's eyes refocus, she finds herself underneath the glowing dome of one of Maruca's force fields. Safe—but trapped.

The next thing she sees are the wolves—two of them, white-fanged and white-furred, as large and sturdy as horses. They leave massive pawprints in the snow as they circle the glowing dome, their breath fogging in clouds.

Sophie would have marveled at their beauty if they didn't seem intent on killing her—and if they weren't accompanied by hooded riders, each one swathed in black cloaks. Neverseen soldiers.

"I jinxed us, didn't I," Maruca mutters.

"Probably." Sophie unsheathes her sword. She glances across the gorge to where Juline had landed, but there's no sign of her.

Another throwing knife hurtles towards them, hitting the force field square on. It bounces off harmlessly, but Maruca gasps at the impact. The bubble flickers in and out.

"What happened?" Sophie exclaims.

"I'm fine," is all Maruca says through gritted teeth. "What's the plan, Moonlark?"

She's clearly not fine, as the force field continues to blink in and out. There's only one thing that could disable a Psionipath like that. Shadowflux.

These are no ordinary Neverseen soldiers, Sophie thinks.

She glances up at them. They sit cold and unbothered atop the wolves, waiting tauntingly for her next move.

"Drop the force field," Sophie says.

"What?!" Maruca exclaims. "Are you out of your mind?"

The wolves bare their fangs, their teeth startlingly bright against the white landscape.

"Just do it!"

Maruca thrusts her hands in front of her. The force field dissolves around them, then bursts out of Maruca's palms as a glowing beam of energy. The wolves scatter away with frantic yips.

Sophie squeezes her eyes closed and unfurls the knot under her ribs, feeling the energy lash out at... nothing. They're blocking her inflicting somehow. She curses under her breath.

"On your left!" Maruca shouts.

Sophie whirls around as the first wolf lunges at her with a snarl. Its rider swings a dark sword at her, and she hits it away with a metallic clang that leaves her arms shaking.

"Thanks," Sophie says breathlessly.

"Thank me when we get out of this," Maruca retorts. She shoots another blast of energy at one of the riders.

If we get out of this, Sophie thinks.

Suddenly, the wolves let out a whine and flatten their ears. She watches, dumbfounded, as they run towards the cliff edge and leap across the gorge with ease.

"That's right, cowards! Run!" Maruca yells after them. "You can't handle us!"

"Well..." Sophie begins, and then the ground rumbles beneath her boots.

She turns to watch as a massive wave of white rushes down the mountainside towards them, as soft and swift as a cloud. Her eyes widen.

Maruca grabs Sophie, her other hand forming a force field around them right as the avalanche hits. Together they watch in quiet awe as the flood of ice and debris rushes past them and off the cliff edge like a snowy waterfall.

"I keep speaking too soon, huh," Maruca mutters.

"Just a little bit," Sophie replies, pressing her lips together.

"Girls! Are you alright?" Juline calls. She slides down the mountainside on the tail of the fading avalanche, her face etched with worry. "I came back as soon as I saw the Neverseen—you handled yourselves so well, though—and are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Sophie responds as Maruca releases the force field. She lets Juline fuss and gather them into a motherly hug. "Seems like this mission was for nothing, though."

"Not necessarily," Juline remarks. "Look."

Sophie follows her gaze across the mountains to where a thin trail of smoke curls into the sky. No regular fire would have been able to sustain itself long enough through a snowstorm like this one.

"That's definitely another Everblaze site. Just like the one in Australia," Maruca comments. "What a coincidence that we ran into the Neverseen here too."

"It's not a coincidence. It's a pattern." Sophie narrows her eyes. "The Neverseen are lighting these fires intentionally. We have to find out why."