A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash 2)

Tendrils of mist began to creep between the bushy reeds, forming little clouds above them.

Beckett dashed ahead, and within a heartbeat, was swallowed up by the mist. I sucked in a sharp breath, straining forward as I reached for my dagger—

“He’s okay.” Casteel’s hand closed over mine. He squeezed gently. “See? There he is.”

My heart didn’t slow as the dark, furry head appeared above the mist, tongue lolling as he panted with excitement. “Are you sure there’re no Craven here?”

Riding slightly ahead, Emil said, “There hasn’t been a Craven this far east since the war.”

I still remained alert as we neared a blanket of mist where only shadows of shapes existed behind it. Muscles tensed as every instinct in me wanted to grab the reins and pull Setti to a stop. We couldn’t possibly pass through this. Who knew what waited on the other side? And what if they were wrong about the Craven? Goosebumps broke out across my skin as Jasper and Emil disappeared through the wall of mist. A shout built in my throat, lodging there when Delano vanished into the thick, grayish-white haze. I started to press back against Casteel—

He slowed Setti. “The first time I saw the wall of mist from the other side, I refused to pass through. It wasn’t because of the Craven. I hadn’t learned yet that they travel in the mist. It was that I feared we’d reached the very end of the kingdom, and that there was nothing beyond it,” Casteel told me, his arm a band of steel around me. “I know that sounds silly, but I was young, less than a year from the Culling, and Kieran also feared passing through it.”

I looked to our right, where Kieran kept pace with us. After everything I’d learned, I still found it hard to picture either of them afraid of anything.

“It was Malik who went through first,” Casteel continued, dragging his hand around my waist in a slow, comforting circle. I looked down, my gaze snagging on the golden band he wore. “For a moment, I thought that was the last I saw of my brother, but then he came back. Told us there was nothing but weeds and sky on the other side.”

“That wasn’t what he told us at first,” Kieran chimed in. “Malik claimed there were giants with three heads on the other side.”

“He said what?”

Casteel laughed. “Yeah, he did. We believed him until he started laughing. Bastard doubled over with it.” There was a fondness in his tone, and it was so rare to hear him speak of his brother without sadness and anger. “It will only take a few seconds to pass through. I promise.”

As Naill entered the mist, I nodded jerkily. “If there are three-headed giants on the other side, I’m going to be very angry with both of you.”

“If there are three-headed giants awaiting us, your anger will be the least of my concerns,” Casteel replied, tone light with amusement. “Ready?”

Not really, but I said, “Yes.”

Fighting the urge to close my eyes, I jerked as thin vapors stretched out from the rapidly approaching mass, a cool caress against my cheeks. Setti made a soft whinny as the tendrils curled around his legs, and then the mist enveloped us. I could see nothing. Nothing but the thick, choking, milky-white air. Panic bubbled up in me—

Casteel shifted behind me, pressing his lips to the space behind my ear as he whispered, “Think of all the things I could do to you.” The hand at my hip glided over my thigh, and then up it, moving with predatory grace toward my very center. “That no one would ever be able to see. Not even you.”

My breath snagged for a wholly different reason as his fingers danced over me. I tensed as muscles low in my stomach clenched in response and my head snapped to the side. I opened my mouth, but whatever I was about to say was forgotten when Casteel caught my lower lip between his teeth.

He slowly let go of my lip, but his mouth was still there, warm and solid against mine. “I have so many ideas.”

My heart stuttered as a wave of shivers exploded over me. I could imagine what some of his ideas involved, and for a brief moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything. A breathy sound left me, lost to the mist—

“You can open your eyes now,” he murmured against my lips.

I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them until he spoke, but now I knew why he’d done and said what he did. He’d sought to distract me, and it had worked, bringing a quick end to the rising panic.

“Thank you,” I whispered, and his hand, which had made its way back to my hip, squeezed. I opened my eyes as he straightened behind me to see…

To see that the mist had thinned out to wispy coils around moss-shrouded rocks and the legs of the waiting horses. I blinked as I saw Beckett sitting before us, his tail swaying along the ground, stirring the mist as he craned his head back, looking up. I followed his gaze, lips parting on a sharp inhale as I saw what he looked upon.

Gold.

Glittering, luminous gold leaves soaked in the rays of sunlight that penetrated the mist.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Delano asked, looking up.

“Yes.” Awed, my gaze crept over the golden trees. “I’ve never seen anything like them.” Even when the leaves changed colors in Masadonia with the weather, the yellows were muted and muddied. These leaves were pure, spun gold. “What kind of trees are they?”

“Trees of Aios,” Casteel answered, referring to the Goddess of Love, Fertility, and Beauty. I couldn’t think of a better namesake. “They grew in the foothills and throughout the Skotos range after she went to sleep here, deep underground.”

I glanced back at Casteel. “She sleeps here?”

His eyes, which were only a shade darker than the leaves, met mine. “She does.”

“Some believe she is under the highest peak,” Jasper said, drawing my wide-eyed gaze to his. “Where the trees of Aios flourish so intensely, you can see them from the Chambers of Nyktos.”

“Chambers…of Nyktos?” I repeated.

“It’s a Temple just beyond the Pillars,” Emil explained. “Very beautiful. You must visit them.”

“Does he sleep there?” I asked.

He smiled as he shook his head. “No one knows where Nyktos rests.”

“Oh,” I whispered.

“We should go ahead and split into smaller groups,” Casteel cut in. “Kieran will ride with us. Beckett, you need to take human form and go with Delano and Naill.”

I watched the wolven bound through the mist, causing Naill’s horse to prance nervously. The Atlantian rolled his eyes as he looked at Casteel.

“He’s good practice for whenever you decide to settle down and have children,” Casteel said, and I could hear the smile in his words.

Naill looked like he might fall from his horse.

Having guided his horse to face us, Jasper smirked. “I fear after one night keeping an eye on Beckett, he will swear off children.”

“Gods,” Naill muttered as Beckett suddenly launched himself at a…gold leaf that had tumbled into his line of sight.

Quentyn shook his head as he watched his friend. “You should see him with the butterflies.”

“I really don’t want to.” Naill sighed.

“We’ll meet at the Gold Rock.” Casteel addressed the group. “Remember, no one goes anywhere unaccompanied. Stay together in groups no larger than three.” He turned to where Beckett was finally sitting. “Do not explore. Do not answer any calls.”

My stomach tumbled. Was Casteel referencing what the wolven believed they had heard from me?

“I expect to see everyone at Gold Rock, all in one piece with their minds intact,” Casteel continued, and a shiver curled its way down my spine. “Be safe.”

There were several nods as the group began to break apart, Beckett leaving with Naill and Delano, who said, “I’ll make sure he shifts.”

Quentyn stayed with Jasper and Emil, but before they headed to our right, Jasper rode to our side, clasping Casteel’s hand. “Be safe, Cas. You’ve been gone far too long and are too close to home to not arrive.”

“You have nothing to fear.” Casteel’s voice softened.

Jasper nodded, and then his attention shifted to me. “Stay close to them, Penellaphe. The magic in these mountains has a way of getting under your skin. Trust them but be wary of trusting what your eyes and ears tell you.”

And with those parting words, he rode off, the now pale and quiet Quentyn in tow.

I looked over my shoulder at Casteel. “What in the hell is this mountain going to do?”

“Nothing,” he replied, urging Setti forward. “As long as we don’t allow it to.”

Quiet.

Casteel and Kieran didn’t speak. The thick moss along the path cushioned the horses’ steps. There were no sounds of birds or any animal life, nor the echo of any wind rustling the golden canopy of leaves above us. With every passing hour, the temperature seemed to drop another couple of degrees as we climbed the mountain. The heavy cloak I’d all but forgotten while in Spessa’s End was donned. Soon, a tingling numbness invaded my cheeks. It wasn’t long after that when Casteel tugged the hood of the cloak up over my head and pulled the halves of his around me, too. We continued on in eerie silence and the unnatural beauty of the mountain. Gold leaves above glimmered, and along the ground, flecks of gold spotted the moss and glistened from the bark, reminding me of the Blood Forest.

All too soon, the beams of sunlight filtering through the leaves faded, and the streaks of mist thickened, blanketing the moss as we continued climbing. The fog grew, swirling around our legs and then our waists. The last of the sun reached us, and we forged on. Several hours into the evening, we stopped when the mist stretched above us.

Casteel guided Setti to a halt as he glanced around. I had no idea what he was looking for as I could see nothing but streams of white mist. “This appears to be as good a place as any,” he said, his breath forming misty clouds as he turned to Kieran. “What do you think?”

The wolven was a faint shape behind the mist. “We’ve definitely reached the peak, so this should be fine.”