Ezra Larsen
The cool morning air had moisture gathering on every surface within its reach. My arm was left wet and chilled after brushing against a bush coated in condensation. It would be a few hours until the risen sun dried everything, the cool temperature making the process slower.
My teeth ground together in frustration as the sound of crunching leaves beneath my feet drowned everything else out. I clutched the Locator Stone in my hand tighter, adjusting my path as the light guiding me moved a few centimetres to the side.
A flake of Nea's dried blood drifted off the smooth surface of the milky stone. The bright red colour had faded to a brown as it had dried. I pulled out the small vile of blood I had collected from the target of my search when I had first treated her while unconscious. Collecting it had been an action done in caution, in case we needed to take drastic measures to protect ourselves against her. Now it served as the best aid in my search to locate her.
I strengthened the circle that I had cast around me. It had a radius of a few meters and would alert me to anyone approaching me. It was only a matter of time before whoever Cassius had sent to come after me caught up. He wasn't going to just let my insubordination go unchecked, especially not when it could draw unwanted attention from people like the queen. As much as he claimed we were family, he believed he was the head, a decision he made without consulting with the other member of our household.
Although I was using the Locator Stone, the faint scent of her blood that could be traced through the forest would be enough for whoever was sent to catch up. And anyone else who had above-average tracking skills. The thought didn't do much to quell my concerns.
My hurried steps dwindled to a stop when the light on the furthest side of the circular stone suddenly changed to the opposite side closest to me. I looked at the white light in confusion. It wouldn't have been possible for her to suddenly be somewhere behind me when she was somewhere in front of me. Not unless she had circled the planet and was coming up behind me.
What was more concerning though, was when the light flickered out of existence for a moment before flickering back to life. The glitch caused my heart to implode in panic. I didn't know what to do when it flickered again. My heart kicked up a notch when it went out once more, staying out longer, before flicking on again.
I looked up in front of me, in the direction the stone had been leading me in before acting strange as the erratic breaths leaving my mouth grew faster. I could catch Nea's faint trail continuing straight. It was hidden beneath the heavy scent of medical herbs and I had also been able to catch Jaxon and Zev's scents briefly too with my temporarily heightened scenes. Some of the potions I created may have been useless to the others, but they sure came in handy for me who didn't have as many predatory perks being a warlock.
I started forward, following the familiar scents, but I didn't make it far before I was stopped once more when a glance at the Locator Stone showed an absence of a marker. My heart skipped a beat in horror. There were only a few explanations why an indicator wouldn't show or would suddenly go out. The only possible one meant something I wasn't willing to even consider.
A Locator Stone couldn't locate someone that no longer lived.
Shoving the stone into my pocket, I took off in a sprint, following her scent. I didn't stop to investigate when the metallic scent of her blood grew at a particular spot. Instead, my pace increased along with the nearing cloud of anxiety that had been following me for days, leading me to a partially constructed campsite.
I only took a moment to stop and glance around, enough time to identify a few of Zev's blades skewed around the unlit fire. An alarming sight considering he treated his hidden blades with more care than he did anything else. The sight just made the panic that something was wrong increase. When I caught another trail of Nea's scent leading off in a new direction, I didn't waste a moment before taking off after it.
