Kael shook his head. "There are no tigers here. They're only native to the Ekpen Kingdom and known to roam the Final Fields."
"She wasn't asking if they were here. She was asking if you knew that they were." Kael and Rivka both looked at me, puzzled. "Two tigers attacked us in the thicket. I know Cynthia is dead. It sounded like it broke her neck when it landed on her."
"What?!" Riv gasped.
"I think one of them got Samantha, too," Isla said softly. "Why is this happening?"
"Fuck if I know," Kael replied, pacing back and forth. I could practically see the wheels turning in his mind as he thought through everything.
"And where were the damned royals?" I growled, standing up again as my anger gave me a new burst of energy. "They send all of us out here, and then we're attacked by tigers and wolves!? Girls are dead. They think this is a fucking game?" Oh, I was pissed. My body shook, and I wouldn't have been surprised if steam was coming off of me.
"Maybe they got attacked first," Isla said, looking worried.
I thought about that possibility. In our short walk to the stream, I hadn't picked up on any signs of an animal attack—and there were always signs. The earth would've been torn up, with tufts of fur and blood left behind on vegetation. There was always blood. Then again, it was a big island, so it wasn't an impossibility.
Kael hummed. "We should get a move on. I don't want to linger too long—we're still much too close for comfort."
"Let's do it," Riv declared. "But first." She pulled a blade from her skirt pocket and proceeded to bend over and hack away at the lengths of cloth. When she was satisfied, she stood tall in the pile of fabric she'd sheared. Her skirt now hit just above her knee. "Much better. I can't stand these fuckin' things." She held the knife out to Isla and me and lifted her brows in question.
"I'm okay, for now," Isla answered.
"Same... but I may take you up on that at some point." A long skirt could prove annoying, but we needed to get back to the Keep while avoiding the animals that were stalking us, and who knew how long we'd be out here.
"Rivvy baby, have I mentioned lately that you're my hero?" Kael proclaimed as the four of us left our rest area behind.
"Have I mentioned that if you call me baby, I'll make you cry like one?" she fired back, and we all laughed, which seemed completely uncalled for, given the situation we were in... but we had each other, and right now, that was worth clinging onto.
Chapter ten
"Whatarewegoingto do? I mean, are we going to stay out here all night? Shouldn't we try to get back to the gate by dusk, like that guard said?" Isla asked as we carefully made our way through a particularly dense part of the forest littered with briar bushes.
"Only two of us have weapons. The best thing we could do is try to get out of here as soon as possible," I said, yanking my cloak away from the clutches of a briar vine.
Kael turned and offered me his hand as I jumped over a muddy puddle. "Getting out of here is the goal, but we've been walking for a couple of hours opposite of the gate. We won't make it back by dusk, I'm afraid."
"Aye, we won't, and the last thing we want is to be out in the open when the sun goes down. Those bloody wolves will be out and about," Riv stated calmly. Nothing scared that woman. Befriending her had been my smartest move since I started on this adventure.
"Right, well, I guess we'll just keep a look out then for somewhere to set up camp," I mused, a little discouraged at the fact that there hadn't been anywhere that would work so far.
I wondered if the rest of the people were alright, if they'd made it back to the Keep, or if they were also wandering through the forest, like us. I could only imagine the backlash the royals would get from the families of the girls and guards that had been wounded or killed. This was not what any of us signed up for. The crown's duty was to keep their guests safe and protected, and they'd failed. Horribly.
The flutter of wings had me looking up and seeing two black ravens. They landed on a tree branch a little ways ahead of where we were headed.
"Hey," Riv whispered, causing the rest of us to stop and look at her questioningly. "Don't be obvious or anything, but I think those two birds are following us."
Kael frowned. "I saw some ravens back at the thicket moments before the attack happened."
Isla nodded. "I think you're right, Riv. But what does it mean?"
I stepped closer to my friends. "Itmeanswe're being watched."
"What?" Isla gasped. "How?"
"There's magic everywhere. Ravens and owls are the two avian species connected to magical abilities." I lowered my voice further. "I suggest we be careful with what we say about certain... people."
Everyone agreed, and we started moving once more. There was one burning question in my mind, though, that wasn't adding up. If we were being watched, then why had no aid been sent? Those birds' eyes were a window to what was going on out here, and if I had to hazard a guess as to who was on the viewing side, it was Corvus. But no, there was no way that the king's sorcerer, his most trusted advisor, would know the carnage that had taken place and the danger that we were still in and wouldn't alert the king. The royal guards who were still in the Keep would be storming the woods. They wouldn't leave their precious royal sons out here to face the teeth and claws of the beasts that were out here.
Unless...
