Page 112 of Death of a Mortal

On second thought,Iwanted to be the one to kill him. Maybe it was better this way.

“Pick up the pace, everyone. Don’t want our asses cooked from behind,” Bramick said with a chuckle at his own joke.

We all broke into a run, weaving around trees and taking no distinct path I could see.

“How is it that you can fly without wings?” I asked Aerie. I had been contemplating that, but I couldn’t make it make sense.

“I’m an air elemental. I can manipulate air to support me even when I’m in my fae form.”

Now that she had said it, it made all the sense in the world, and I felt embarrassed at my lack of magical knowledge.

“And why would seasickness be a concern?” I asked, slightly breathless, changing the subject. Admittedly, I’d never been on a boat, never even seen the ocean. So I wasn’t sure how my stomach would react.

“That’s enough. No more discussion until we reach theHalcyonand set sail,” Drayce said.

Drayce—Dray, now I wasn’t really sure what to call him—was clearly the leader here, barking orders that everyone followed. We ran in silence for several minutes as a light snow fell. There was so much to contemplate that my brain felt full and bogged down.

I was with the rebellion, and we were headed, seemingly, to the ocean—did that mean we were heading to Elyndor by ship? Was that rumor about their base location even true? And how many of them were there? I hoped it was more than just this crew.

“Aerie, air report,” barked Dray.

“On it, boss! Mind grabbing my clothes?” Aerie winked at me once more, and before I could even ask what she meant, she changed from fae to bird in a matter of seconds, leaving her impressively not-ripped clothes behind.

I skidded to a halt and backtracked a few paces to scoop them up while she circled me once before letting out a loud cry and taking off toward the sky.

Her vey form was an enormous bird of a type I had never seen before, larger than any I’d ever seen. Sleek golden feathers covered her head, transitioning to long brown feathers covering the wide wingspan, while white feathers adorned her underside. Her beak was long and sharp, curved down at the end, but it was her talons that looked the deadliest. Looking from so far below her, I guessed each of the three front ones was as long as my forearm, the back one shorter but just as pointy.

She was unmistakably a bird of prey.

Just as the rest of our group reached the edge of the forest, she gave two loud cries from above, which seemed to satisfy Dray, who said, “Let’s move, board quickly.”

I nearly stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw coming into view ahead. The forest gave way to a steep bank ending at a rocky beach, where vast, dark-blue water rolled lazily back and forth over it. Its majestic beauty was awe-inspiring and stole my breath.

The wooden ship floating atop was nearly as impressive as the ocean itself. It was massive. I couldn’t fathom how it floated on the water, as large and heavy as it must be—I supposed that must be magic.

I had seen ships in paintings and in school, but seeing one in person didn’t compare. Large white sails hung from pillars and beams high above the deck, and white banners with a blue fox hung below those. There were more of the white glowing symbols on its wide side that I had seen on the dungeon wall, but these were huge in comparison and had different shapes and angles.

A realization hit me—the ship was sitting well off the coastline, and I couldn’t swim. As we got to the edge of the water, the concern must have been evident on my face.

“There’s a boat around here somewhere, just hang on a second.”It was Buzzed Head that spoke as he walked around from rock to rock on the beach, placing his palm on each. I was so confused, but I just watched with intense curiosity.

“Ah, here it is!” As he placed his hand on the rock he was looking for, it glowed with yet another white symbol, and a small wooden boat came into view beside him. It literally just appeared out of thin air.

I needed to figure out exactly what these symbols were, but thus far, I had determined that they performed complex and impressive magic. Assuming the boat hadn’tactuallymaterialized, I figured it must have been hidden behind some magical shroud.

“Glythyr,” Buzzed Head responded to my questioning look.

“Glythyr?”

“I’ll explain on the ship. Let’s get moving before Dray has my head.”

The way everyone spoke about and reacted to Dray made me unsure of him. He’d saved me from imminent death, but he still scared me a little.

If he heard the comment about him, he ignored it.

Dray, Buzzed Head, and the mortal man I hadn’t yet met carried the wooden boat to the edge of the water and pulled out two wooden oars. They had clearly done this before, operating like a well-oiled machine.

“In,” was Dray’s order as they placed the boat in the shallow water.