Chapter List

eina very slowly picked her way down the gentle slope of the gully step by step. She was rewarded with stabbing pain in her knees and hip as she placed each footstep. Her arms trembled as she jabbed the ground with her staff. Without the extra support, her path would have been impossible.

The leaves, twigs and small stones made a relatively rugged and unpredictable surface. Reina’s feet slipped on almost every step, and her legs trembled each time she managed to avoid losing her balance. Her breath came in short gasps. The gloom of the Mudwood forest made her task far more difficult, but she could not risk attracting any unfortunate wildlife with a bright light.

Finally she stopped near where Cici had fallen and very slowly began to crouch down. Using her staff for support, she allowed her hands to slide down the smooth twisted wood bit by bit. She winced and groaned in pain several times before coming to rest on her knees. The Vicereine sat hunched over for a moment as if exhausted, clutching her staff to the side of her head and trying to catch her breath. Her cowl hung down, covering her face. So far, Reina knew she had only succeeded in stranding herself at the bottom of the gully. Ascent would be impossible, even with Cici’s help, and none of Reina’s alternate forms could carry the weight of another human being.

Cici tried again to stop crying, but her ankle was very swollen by now, and her shoe was beginning to hurt her foot.

After a few moments, Reina finally placed the staff flat on the ground next to her. Cici felt a hand under her own and turned her head. She gasped as she saw a grayish slender hand with jewel-encrusted rings on all four fingers reach down and take her by the wrist. Cici sniffled and looked up. The woman seemed to be busy concentrating on something.

“Do not pull against the tree trunk.” Reina said.

Cici sniffled again. She didn’t know what to think. She was sure the robed woman was really mean, but now she sounded different. Reina looked at Cici’s dirt-streaked and astonished face. The woman’s gold-colored eyes and pleasant expression made Cici feel better, even though her skin was a strange grayish color. Maybe she wasn’t an old witch like Cici had feared. She looked like she wasn’t much older than Alanna!

“I am not your enemy,” Reina said. “Sit up.”

Cici realized she wasn’t really stuck. She was just snagged on the tree and had been pulling in the wrong direction. She stopped and gradually crawled sideways far enough that she could push herself up. The moment she tried to move her foot, however, a stab of pain rushed through her ankle. Cici yelped and pulled her foot up to her hands and immediately started crying again.

“Will you help me cast a healing spell?” Reina asked. Cici looked down through the blur of tears at her right foot. Her ankle was swollen and the skin around it was darker. She sniffled and looked up at Reina, then nodded.

“Sit up slowly this time,” Reina said. “Place your foot flat against the Earth. Gently.” Cici gingerly pushed herself up with one hand as Reina reached over and retrieved the Chronicler’s Lantern lying sideways on the ground.

Continue to Chapter Fifteen