She reached an arm toward Kel and her sleeve hitched up. On the underside of her wrist, Kel spotted a tattooed symbol: two overlain double spirals, red and blue.
Kel met the woman’s navy eyes.The Fume.
She knew the cult was scattered around Cendor, some hiding in the backs of temple pews, while the more extreme members pulled stunts like what she’d witnessed in Fieror, or read about in her mother’s postcards: freeing caged sprites or lowering sea-monster nets. But hiding in Vohre Forest, too? Were they so pious that they thought themselves immune to phoenix tempers? To the chaos unfolding in the skies above?
The woman pointed toward a patch of trees untouched by the blaze. Fear lifted the hair on Kel’s neck. All she could hear were screams at her back. “I can’t leave—”
The woman pushed the sharp knife harder into Kel’s throat. Kel swallowed.
With one last glance at Savita, closing in on the wild phoenix overhead, Kel stepped away from the clearing.
Though she felt the heat at her back, the inferno lit nothing ahead. They were heading somewhere darker. Hungrier.
The two Fume members kept pace behind her. The knife’s edge was cold between her shoulder blades.
“Where are we going?” Kel asked.
“Stop talking,” the woman snarled.
The man—barely more than a boy—whispered, “It’s her, isn’t it, Bryna? The tamer from Fieror.”
“Hush,” the woman—Bryna—ordered.
They walked in silence, the sound of the clashing phoenixes disappearing in the dark. Kel focused on the shadows ahead, searching for escape routes. Were other cultists helping the wild phoenixes? Hurting other riders? How had they found them so quickly in Vohre Forest’s wilderness?
The path opened up ahead of them, tall figures appearing through the dim space.
Ashes.There was a whole flock of people hiding out here, all wearing the same dark camouflage.
“Get to the clearing,” Bryna called to the others. “Those wretched riders will have scattered. Uncollar as many of their phoenixes as you can.”
Kel felt bile rise in her throat. She prayed that Sav remained airborne, free from the Fume’s grasp. If nothing else, she was relieved that the Fume only seemed to use knives for weapons. She doubted she could have escaped a sancter rifle.
“What are you going to do to me?” Kel asked, her voice ragged.
Bryna didn’t reply. Silently, she led Kel to the center of the small glade. Kel tripped over a fallen log, stumbling as she adjusted to the darkness. A small lamp hung on a branch overhead, offering just enough light to see that the rest of the glade was shrouded by thick, thorned branches. The path they’d come down was her only escape.
The space was circular, speckled with gray and bright green, and Kel noticed new foliage trying to claw through empty earth.
This must be a rebirth site, Kel thought in awe, despite her fear and numb muscles.
She tried to calm her breathing, steady her thoughts. Bryna had taken her tele-comm. She had no weapons on her and her leathers didn’t hide anything useful. The log she’d tripped over, the length of her forearm and lying just to her right, could be useful—if she managed to free herself from her bindings.
She flexed her hands. The ropes were almost tight enough to cut into her wrists. Her leather bracelet slid against the rope.
Kel stilled her movements. She risked a glance back; she couldonly see so far through the shadows, but she didn’t think anyone was behind her. She couldn’t move her hands enough to reach for the emergency button sewn into the leather—if it even worked out here—but shecouldgrip the bracelet band itself. The sharp metal pin holding the two bands together could be enough to break through the bindings on her wrists.
“If you’re not going to kill me, what do you want?” Kel asked, trying to distract Bryna.
Bryna gave a toothy smile. In the dim light, her teeth glistened like a wolf’s maw. “You and any other riders we catch are going to face trial for stealing what does not belong to you. You’ll face justice.” Her voice was a low mix of gravel and growl.
“Bryna,” the boy said. “Stop it. She’s not going to help us if you keep scaring her.”
“Helpyou?” Kel scoffed. She wriggled her hands, hoping it looked as if she were easing her discomfort. Pain lanced through her fingers as she tried to rotate the bracelet to feel the sharp metal pin. “Why the hell would I help you? You’vekilledpeople. You’re not activists—you’re monsters.”
Bryna sighed. “Jaron, go help the others.Now.”
Jaron pouted, turning wordlessly back down the faint path they’d come. Bryna stepped toward Kel. “We’ve seen your face around Vohre. We know you’re the one who helped tame the phoenix released so foolishly in a city center.” Darkness pooled in Bryna’s eyes. “We are not usually so brash. But we will do whatever we must to protect Cendor’s true gods.”
