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  “This,” the female elder arbor said, quickly moving toward the creature and putting a hand on his shoulder, “is Rox.”

  “Rox is the name, making a deal is my thing. Need an enchanted weapon, a rare item? Perhaps a potion that grants you luck and money? Name your price, I’ll find it for you.” He wiggled free of the elder arbor’s grasp and approached Sophia. He sniffed at her and stared into her eyes before shifting his attention to the men and asking, “How much for her?”

  Sophia backhanded him. “I’m not for sale.”

  He rubbed his cheek as his eyes watered. “Fair enough. Fair enough. But if you change your mind, seek me first.”

  Sophia made a move to slap him again, but he scurried out of range before she could do so. “Listen here, you scurry little rodent, we were told you have information on the heirs of Nighthelm. What do you know?”

  “Yes, yes. Information. But such information comes at a price.” He stepped a little closer and held his finger and thumb together, rubbing them to insinuate a hefty fee.

  “First, I want to know that your information is useful,” Sophia said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not paying for useless clues.”

  “Yes, yes. Young heirs, hid in the mountain, some years back. I know of this.” He sniffed the air and added, “Now my fee.”

  Sophia looked to her men. She wasn’t convinced that she should pay for such little help, but her men seemed to give the go-ahead. Edric and Ezekiel nodded, and Andreas gave the sort of shrug that meant “why not?”

  “All right,” she said, facing Rox. “What is your fee?”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crystal vial. “Just a little power.” His eyes grew wide and greedy when she took the vial and focused some of her magic into the container. Once completed, she handed him back the vial.

  “Satisfied?” she asked.

  Rox nodded excitedly. “Yes, yes.” He dragged out the last part of the yes.

  Creepy little beasty.

  “Where are the heirs?” Sophia asked.

  He stared at her through one half-closed eye and said, “More answers. More magic.” He fumbled through his robes for more empty vials.

  “Rox, you have what you need,” the older male elder arbor said.

  “Yes,” the female elder arbor said. “Now is not the time for greed.”

  Rox eyed the elder arbors from over his shoulder and muttered under his breath. He replaced the remaining empty vials and reached into a pocket and pulled out a key. “This will unlock a hidden door within a mountain cave.”

  She took the key and settled her gaze on the unusual creature. “Keep talking.”

  “Stole it off a scary surface dweller that came here a decade ago,” he said. “All I know.”

  “And where is this cave, exactly?” she asked.

  Rox’s ears perked up and a strange glint entered his eyes. “I’ll take you. For a price, of course.” He winked at her.

  Sophia scoffed.

  Edric stepped forward. “You little cretin. You’d better not be suggesting what I think you are.”

  “You might as well ask to make my sword your bedfellow instead,” Andreas added.

  Ezekiel said, “Or a curse.”

  Rox darted his eyes between the three men and then settled them back on Sophia. “All I ask for is a kiss.” A few breaths passed and he added, “For good luck and good will.”

  Sophia narrowed her eyes on him, her eyebrows knitting together. “Why?”

  “Because,” he said, “even the bravest and strongest of people don’t go there. Something dark and nasty fills the place. Curse, methinks. A kiss will protect me.”

  Sophia wasn’t buying it. “Either you live up to your end of the bargain, and take us to the cave, or I’m going to take back that pretty little vial of magic back.”

  His face contorted over his pointed teeth and he snarled, clutching his robes tighter to him. “No take backs!”

  “Then you will take us,” she said.

  He looked between the four of them again and started to turn around and walk through the elder arbors. But they stepped closer together and blocked his way.

  He groaned. “Very well. Fine. I’ll take you.”

  She smiled. I knew he would see it my way.

  “Let’s go. I have other business to attend to.” Rox shoved passed them and took the path heading back to the enclave.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Sophia

  Silent as ghosts, they wound their way through a narrow path that was sandwiched between the base of two mountains. Once they were well past the beginning of the trail, Rox kept his voice low as he told of the sister mountains.

  “It is said that everything in life comes in two. This tale is no different. For long ago, there were two goddesses. They were sisters. Twins, in fact. Yes, yes. And they—I think they were sisters. These are them. Sister Mountains.”

  Sophia stopped listening. The mountain was devoid of any life, and the ground seemed charred in places where other spots looked as red as blood. What plant life grew on the mountain was black and held little beauty compared to the rest of what she had seen of Ripthorn.

  There was also a change in the air. Her magic hummed just beneath the surface, waiting to be released. She had a sinking suspicion they were being watched, followed, or both. That vexsnare was still after them, and she didn’t want to let her guard down, being distracted with a very confusing tale of how the mountains came to be. Her efforts were best suited to keeping an eye and ear out for any surprises.

  Rox muttered something she didn’t catch just before he took a sharp left into a crevice within the wall of the mountain that was wide enough for her and Andreas to walk through side-by-side. It narrowed toward the top which made Sophia wonder if it was created with a specific purpose or just happened upon itself naturally through weather and age.

  Upon entering, Sophia faced tumbled down rocks, as though something or someone attempted to seal the cave from ever being used or found. Though she wasn’t sure what the purpose of that was, she hoped that this place wouldn’t end up leading to another dead end or riddle for her to solve.

  Rox climbed over the collapsed rock with ease, while she and her men struggled to maneuver through the space without losing balance over the shifting debris. Once they finally made their way over to the other side, Rox reached into his robes and pulled out flint and steel, creating sparks against something along the wall. A bright light burst forth and Sophia noted that there were torches along the walls.

  She figured this was the place Rox came to for some of his supplies. He seemed to know the location well despite his resistance to coming. Perhaps something had scared him before. Either way, he pulled the torch from the wall and led them farther into the cave where it was too dark, and the air was too thick and cold.

  When they arrived at a spot where the passage narrowed, Rox stopped and handed off the torch to Ezekiel.

  “This is where I leave,” he said. “I refuse to go further. Not even for another ounce of Sophia’s magic.”

  Sophia agreed that there was something foreboding and unnerving about the place, but not enough to keep her from her goal. She said, “Thanks for your help.”

  He shrugged as he walked away, muttering something to the effect of “your death, not mine.”

  Ezekiel passed the torch to Edric and used some of his magic to conjure up some witchlight to go with it. Sophia allowed Edric to take the lead, since he had the torch, and Ezekiel took the rear. This way, if anything was down here, they would know of an attack beforehand. Around them was a maze of natural mineral crystals—stalagmites and stalactites—that led to a door at the back of the cave. All around them gold glittered, and things scurried from the light, deep into the shadows.

  As they drew closer to the door, the key began to glow. The aura brightened the closer they got. It seemed to react to some kind of magic on the other side. That brought excitement to Sophia, feeling drawn to whatever lay on
the other side of the door. She knew whatever it was, it was an answer. The very moment that door opened, she believed everything would change for her.

  Even as they arrived, she noted the door hummed with power. This place wasn’t so bad. She couldn’t see anything wrong with the cavern other than it being dark and murky. She almost giggled to herself as she inserted the key. The lock clicked, and the door opened into a room filled with massive jewels and treasure and gold.

  The men whistled at once and started to search through the items to find the clue they were promised.

  Sophia took the back end of the cave, finding a small alcove hidden in the shadows, beyond the jewels. Something glinted in the light as it shifted behind her and she was pulled toward that direction. As she drew closer, she realized it was a coffin made out of crystal. She stepped to the side and looked down at a girl, about sixteen. The coffin pulsed with dim light, slow and steady, reminding her of breaths spaced too far apart or of a heartbeat that pulsed in time to the minute versus the seconds.

  The girl was alive. She had to be. That was the purpose of the coffin, it seemed. Sophia wouldn’t accept any other reason. This girl was preserved with magic.

  Sophia examined the girl’s form, finding she was wounded, covered in deep gashes along her torso and arms. It’s almost as if the coffin had preserved her in the middle of a fight. Most telling of all was the crest on the pendant around the girl’s neck. The royal crest. And that of the royal family of Nighthelm.

  “I’ve found her,” Sophia said softly to herself, almost not believing her own eyes for a moment.

  She called her men to her, and they came running, stopping short and gaping at the girl in the crystal coffin.

  “You don’t possibly think…” Ezekiel’s voice trailed off and he ran his fingers along the edge of the coffin.

  “She’s the one,” Sophia said. “I feel it.”

  “Well what do we do now?” Andreas asked.

  Sophia said, “Obviously, we need to figure out a way to wake her up. But we also need to find a way to get her out of here.”

  Edric nodded. “What do you think, Zeke? Finding anything?”

  Ezekiel was busy muttering to himself and pulling out his book for notes and such. “I think these are the runes of the druids. Similar to the tablet we found. There’s a chance someone who can decipher them is still around here. They may know of a way to get her awake without the wounds killing her.”

  “You don’t think you could do it?” Sophia asked.

  He shook his head. “Whoever did this was much more powerful than I am. It would take much more than just me to get the coffin open. Even more to keep her from perishing from her wounds.”

  “First we have to find a way out of here,” Andreas said. “Won’t do us much good to resurrect an heir of Nighthelm only to perish within the mountain.”

  That was true. Albeit, apart from Andreas, her men were starting to show signs of fading again. They were growing weaker, and though she knew they would never admit it, she could tell the trip wore on them and took more energy to get them here than it would otherwise. As she studied the girl in silence, she knew she had a decision to make. Get her men to the surface or stay within the mountain and risk their lives trying to find a way to wake the girl. It wasn’t a fair choice, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to help restore the heirs if her men were to succumb to the mountain’s poisonous magic. Before she did anything for the girl, she needed to know exactly what she was dealing with, who she was, and who had the power to wake her and heal her. Not to mention what befell her and caused her to be placed in this coffin.

  “He’s right,” Sophia finally said. “We’ll have to come back when we can. Then we can wake her and find out if she’s an heir.”

  “It’s possible she is,” Edric said. “Few ever met the heirs in person and even fewer know what they would look like. Though we always suspected the heirs to be men.”

  “Maybe that was part of the point of keeping them hidden,” Andreas said.

  “Either way, we will have to come back. We can’t do her any good now,” Sophia said. She stared at the girl a little longer, something pulling at the back of her mind. There was more to this girl than met the eye. “Let’s not share what we’ve found here until we know for sure who she is and why she’s here.”

  The men agreed, and they turned around to head back to the enclave.

  Sophia couldn’t help but ponder the mystery of the girl in the crystal coffin. She finally had a lead. A promising one. She felt even closer to finding the heirs, and she had a feeling she was either an heir or was associated with them. First thing was first, get her men out of the mountain and fast. She didn’t think they could survive in the mountain much longer. There was only so much her magic could do, and the amulets did well at staving off the effects, but like the elder arbors said, it wasn’t a permanent fix and could only work for so long.

  Her new mission: to get her and her men out of the mountain before they died and to return once they were fully prepared to bring this girl back from her crystal-encased death.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Andreas

  After they returned to the enclave, Sophia was chomping at the bit to leave. She insisted on a plan of attack so that they could get out of the mountain and return as soon as they were prepared to take care of the girl in the crystal coffin. Something else bothered her, and he had a feeling it was the ever-declining health of Edric and Ezekiel. Andreas knew she blamed herself for it, and he was sure she wouldn’t hear of it otherwise. Instead, he offered to go on a scout to find a way into the castle.

  Torra almost begged to join him. He figured she still felt guilty with how things went down when they first came across Lady Naomi, but he insisted he would work quicker on his own. She nodded and said, “There are a few ways to get into the castle. You might find the side closest to the mountain worth pursuing.”

  “Anything more specific?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “You’ll know it when you see it. There’s a boulder.”

  Following the directions Torra gave, he went to the side that faced the mountain. There was enough of a space to walk through and archer windows lined the top wall of the castle. He found the boulder she referred to, but nothing that hinted at a way inside. Looking around and finding he was alone, he shifted to his wraith form. He felt weighted down still but was able to fly to the top of the wall and peek into the archer window. He was shocked to find it empty. Lady Naomi must have grown cocky in her power to leave her vulnerable areas unguarded throughout the castle. But there could be traps in place of guards.

  From this view, he caught sight of the boulder and saw that there was an iron grate behind it. He floated back to the ground and shifted back into his human form. Returning to the boulder, he found that it was movable. The grate hung on hinges and seemed to lead into the belly of the castle.

  “So that’s what she meant?” he asked himself.

  Since they needed a way to get to the sewers, this was the best option they had.

  Satisfied, he started on his way back, and then he sensed the vexsnare near again. He kicked himself for using his wraith form, knowing the creature would be able to track him much easier, but he also needed a way into the castle, and that was the only way he had access to it that would accomplish the goal.

  Man, they needed to hurry up and get the hell out of there. Hiding in the bushes, and controlling his breathing so that he wasn’t detected, the vexsnare prowled not too far from him, sniffing around and muttering to himself.

  “Finish dinner from thirteen years ago…”

  Finish?

  A pinch formed in the center of his forehead at that one. Something didn’t seem right. He thought the vexsnare had been after him all this time. Sure, it mentioned someone else the last time he came uncomfortably close to him and Sophia, but it hadn’t made much sense.

  “Ah, little Sophia… all grown up and delicious. Come to finish what we began…”r />
  Foreboding settled in his gut. Those words held a haunting history. If it was Sophia that he was after as well, then that meant that they were bound to cross the creature sooner rather than later. And there would be no escape without a fight.

  But more than that was his knowledge of Sophia’s past clicking into place and making more sense. She was found in the mountain. And it took massive trauma and agony to break someone’s soul. If this was the creature that had come after her all those years ago, it was possible that it wasn’t able to finish the job and what the creature had done was enough to break her.

  That had to be it. It made too much sense for it to be otherwise.

  He struggled with the decision on whether or not to tell her. He was overcome with the need to protect her and didn’t know enough about contritums to feel comfortable to tell her. He didn’t want to shatter what was left of the soul she had and undo all the progress she had made.

  For now, he would keep his realization to himself. At least, until he knew without a doubt, telling her wouldn’t irreparably damage her.

  Keeping as far away from the vexsnare as he could, he continued on his way back to his woman. Though he wished he could return to his wraith form, he knew the vexsnare would hone in on him. He missed being able to use his form and the power it gave him, but he couldn’t risk shifting again while so close to the vexsnare. A move like that would lead it directly to the enclave and put everyone at risk. Especially Sophia, and the two men he had come to know as brothers.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Sophia

  Sophia had busied herself with gathering weapons and rations. While she worked, she reminisced on the findings and everything she had learned about the heirs. Her motivation to leave the mountain pushed her. She had to save her men, and the girl, but to do that, they had to leave the mountain. To leave the mountain, they had to go through Lady Naomi’s castle. That would likely result in a fight, so being prepared meant also accounting for the possible outcomes.