Was that going to happen? Hell, no.
Drayce was his friend. Nothing more.
Drayce liked women as far as Caelan knew. And regardless of Drayce’s sexual orientation, Caelan wasn’t going to do anything to fuck up their friendship.
The sun was sinking lower into the sky after spending the entire day trudging through the dense growth of the Ordas, and he was eager to see some sign of civilization at last. He’d woken a couple of times before dawn to strange howls and blood-curdling animal screams far too close to the campsite, but nothing had attacked the barrier. He would have felt that.
No, the bastards had waited until they’d packed up that morning and lowered the barrier. First, it was a trio of the same type of cats that had attacked them last night. Then it was an enormous bear, but instead of fur, it was covered in a hide so thick it made him think of dragon scales. And just an hour ago, they’d pulled Rayne out of the grip of a boa constrictor that was also more scale than flesh.
Aside from the wildlife trying to kill them, there were the trees. They moved. The vegetation moved and undulated in ways that were unnatural. They swayed and stretched even when there was no wind. Leaves fluttered like feathers, shifting and protecting the trees. Vines reached out and wrapped around ankles if they remained still too long.
In short, every living thing was trying to kill them, and they couldn’t get out of the Ordas fast enough.
“We’re still too far from Caspagir to get a cell signal and too deep in the Ordas for electronics to work,” Rayne said. Caelan wasn’t sure if the man had seen him reach for his phone in his back pocket or if he just had a sixth sense for all the things that Caelan did at any given moment.
“How can you even tell where we are?” Drayce groaned as he stumbled over a fallen log. “We’ve been walking all day. Are you even sure we’re going in the right direction? Everything has looked the same every step of the way.”
Drayce wasn’t wrong. They had been faced with unending forest with only rare glimpses of sunlight breaking through the thick foliage. They’d come across a briskly running stream that rushed headlong into a gully and ended into a thunderous waterfall shrouded in mist. They’d stopped along the stream for lunch and to refill their water canteens, but everyone was reluctant to drink the water, stretching the water they’d packed for as long as possible.
If they didn’t find the edge of the Ordas woods soon and the first signs of a Caspagir town, they would have to camp in the Ordas again. Even with the protection Caelan could offer them, no one was in a great hurry to remain in the woods another night.
“I know because I’ve been steering us along that ridge all day,” Rayne said confidently, pointing to a sharp rise in the earth off to their right. “The sun has also moved from our faces to our backs. We’re going in the right direction. If you have any more doubts, you need only remember that I’m always right.”
Drayce groaned and Eno laughed from the head of the line. Caelan had to smirk at that one. Rayne wasn’t an overconfident or egotistical prick by nature, but he did speak the truth. The man was almost always right. Caelan had managed to prove him wrong once or twice, but the occasions had been so rare that he hadn’t dared mention them, or risk being reminded of the hundreds of times that Caelan had been wrong.
“Well, Mr. Smarty-pants, can you at least tell us if we’re going to get out of the Ordas before nightfall or—”
Caelan didn’t hear the rest of what Eno was going to say. Something hit in the center of his chest, and he gasped, falling to his knees. He pressed his hand to his chest just over his heart, half expecting his fingers to come away bloody, but they were clear. Power surged through him, filling every artery and vein to near bursting. Something pressed to his chest and he could drag in only small, fractured pants.
He wanted to scream as the pain moved to his head, pushing down on his brain and out against his skull. In his ears, there was a rushing sound, but under it, he swore he could hear screaming. Men and women. Old and young. He didn’t know who the screams belonged to.
Almost as suddenly as it happened, the pain eased. He sucked in a breath, and Drayce was right there, a hand gripping his shoulder.
“Cael! What happened?” Drayce asked, this voice thick with worry.
“Are you hurt?” Rayne demanded sharply.
The next breath came a little easier, and he shook his head. With his eyes closed, he focused his attention on poking around at the pain. He couldn’t quite explain it. It had happened so fast. There was an initial hit and then a flooding sensation, as if a tidal wave were attempting to pour into his body, but they were both fading now.