Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1) ✔

Chapter 31: Spirit of the Lake

Tension drew us together, gluing us to Ace, like on some deeper, primal level we were aware he was our best chance of survival. Also, he had information which none of us did.

"What do you mean?" I whined.

Rixen cut in, "Who's following us?"

"Show me where they are!" Nick shouted. "I'll kill them."

"We need to think rationally about this." Danilo shook his head.

"Ugh."

Ace's eyes shot up, "Shut up. All of you. Mathilda is speaking."

The crow, still sitting on Ace's shoulder, cocked her head, obviously offended. She focused on Ace, not letting out even a sound, but the mage nodded, understanding her perfectly. His facial expressions changed too quickly, jumping from surprised, to mildly annoyed, to concerned.

"Alright." He looked up. "We have a problem."

The group scattered around the cliff, frowning and cursing. I stayed near Ace, hoping the bird was messing with him. But the crow looked trustworthy.

"Ace, who's following us?" Rixen asked.

Ace swallowed, "Remember those sellswords we ran into on our way to Balr? Turns out we didn't quite get rid of them. They know who we are and they're tracking us."

"Mercenaries from G'Dertha?" Danilo cut in. "What do they want with us?"

"They're doing someone's bidding." Ace walked past our group to the dense forest in front. "They're five days away from us. Considering we need to rest, I suggest we hurry."

Rixen buried his feet in the ground, "You're not telling us everything, wizard."

Ace turned around, loudly blowing air through his nostrils, "Maybe. Maybe I think we need to get to safety before we can talk. I hope you all have your wishes ready for Liu Raj."

My breath hitched. In between thinking about survival, secrets and my sore muscles, I found neither time nor will to ponder over which wish I was ready to give up. Liu Raj's desire to take our wishes seemed incredibly cruel, though, like abusing power.

"What do they even want with our wishes?" I looked up at the snow-covered mountain tops, too high to climb, and limped after Ace.

The mage continued on his way, "Spirit territory has been independent ever since the Shadow Rule. Five hundred years without kings, rules or laws. To remain that way you need a certain code of honour that transcends petty human laws."

Nickeltinker glanced at me sideways, "He gets a kick out of speaking in riddles."

Ace ignored him, "If you wish to enter Spirit territory, you must share something with it and you must give something up, it's a sort of social contract. It keeps the spirits from turning against one another and strengthens their bond."

The dry branches almost snapped in my face, "What's a Shadow Rule?"

Ace let out a laugh, "You better explain that one, shadowman."

Rixen moved the branches out of my way, allowing me to pass, "Shadowmen used to rule the Spirit territory, a long time ago."

"The castle is still there." Ace added. "Abandoned at the edge of the plateau."

I glanced at Rixen, "How did shadowmen end up in Orathia then?"

Rixen stared at Ace's back, "You better explain that one, mage."

Ace chuckled, "Mages tried to take over the Spirit territory. Mind you, this happened before humans managed to tie two sticks together to create a weapon."