Ancient Magic: a New Adult Urban Fantasy (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 1) (21 page)

“I’m not liking this one bit, lassie,” Captain Alden said. Concern thickened his brogue. “We’re going to have to turn the ship around.”

The spell was getting stronger. My skin crawled with unease.
 

“It’s a spell,” I said. “Hiding the island.”

“Even so, this fog is too thick to see land.” Captain Alden waved his hand at the gray mist ahead of us. “We could run aground if we continue on.”

Frustration welled in me.

“That’s not an option,” Aidan said. “We need to go forward.”

“I can’t risk the boat, lad.”

“Can we have the rowboat?” I asked. “The one hanging off the back of the ship.”

“And row alone into the mist?” Nix asked.

It didn’t sound good when she put it like that. “We don’t have a lot of choices.”

She sighed. “No, we don’t, do we?”

“Aye, you can have the rowboat,” Captain Alden said. “We’ll give you a radio in case you run into trouble. Though I can’t guarantee we can get to you quickly. Not until this fog lifts.”

“Del, do you think you’ll be able to transport soon?” I asked. “And bring us along in case we get into trouble?”

“I should be. I feel almost at full power.”

“That solves it, then,” Captain Alden said. “O’Connel, get them set up with the rowboat. If you’re not back in eight hours, I’ll assume the lassie took you home. Good luck to you all.”

I followed O’Connel, the deckhand, down the stairs. Aidan stayed behind, thanking the captain, and then joined us at the stern a minute later. The deckhand lowered the rowboat using pulleys as I removed Aidan’s daggers from their box and slipped them into the sheaths at my thighs. They fit, though not perfectly. It’d have to do. I put my old ones into the box.

Once the rowboat was lowered to the water, I handed the box to the deckhand and asked, “Is there any chance you could ship this to Ancient Magic in Magic’s Bend, Oregon? I’ll pay you if you send your return address with it.”

He nodded. “Not a problem.” He took the box and nodded to the boat. “You can board. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” I climbed in after Nix and Del. The boat wobbled under my feet. It wasn’t more than ten feet long—just a tiny thing meant for shore landings in shallow harbors.
 

Aidan climbed in last and took up the oars. Nix and Del sat in the back, leaning against each other. I huddled in the bow as the deckhand gave us a push that sent us drifting off into the mist.
 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Aidan’s strokes cut powerfully through the water, the slap of the oars against the surface the only sounds.
 

“This is creepy,” Nix muttered.

“Seconded,” Del said.

Man, were they right. I could see nothing through the thick white fog, and the temperature felt like it was dropping. Not the natural kind of drop either—the kind that accompanied ghosts. But it was the sickening feeling in my stomach and the prickle that crawled across my skin that was the worst.

“Do you guys feel that?” I asked.

“The sense of extreme foreboding and that we should turn around immediately?” Aidan asked. “Yes.”

“That’s the one. But we’re going the right way,” I said, squinting into the fog. “I feel it.”

I ignored the instincts that told me to turn around and stared into the mist. It was just magic. Aidan rowed as the rest of us huddled in the boat. My breathing cut through the silence.

“We’re getting closer.” I rubbed my arms, trying to keep the warmth in. “I can feel it.”

“Sure can’t see it, though,” Nix said.

“We’ve got to be—”

The boat crashed into something, crunching against rock and spraying water into the air. I flew forward, but Aidan grabbed me before I went face-first into stone.
 

“We’re taking on water!” Nix yelled.

Waves rocked the boat, heaving it against the rocks. Fog shrouded the boulders and stone ledges that rose up in front of us.
 

“This is it!” I called. “Get on land.”

We scrambled out of the boat as it lurched against the rocks. Icy water splashed me and sharp stones dug into my hands as I scrambled onto solid ground. I turned to face the sea. Aidan and Nix stood next to me. Del leapt off the boat, which was going down fast.
 

“Not the easy beach landing I’d been hoping for,” Aidan said.

“No.” I watched the last of the boat sink under the waves and turned away from the misty sea. Jagged rocks rose up in front of me. “And this looks a hell of a lot like the creepy island in
King Kong
.”

“Seconded again,” Del said.

“Let’s make our way inland,” Aidan said.

The rocks ahead tumbled over each other like giant stairs. I began to climb, using my hands to help me keep my footing. By the time we reached flat ground, much of the fog had dissipated. It still rolled over the ground like something out of a horror movie, but it stayed low enough that we could see ahead.

A brilliant orange sun hovered over the horizon, casting its glow on a village as it set. Brilliant. We’d be doing this in the dark soon.

“It still feels weird,” I said, shivering against the sense of strange magic. It was old and dark and very unfamiliar. Possibly old enough to be unstable.

“Different,” Aidan said. “Like there’s dark magic here, but not like we have to turn around. It’s not a diversion spell.”

“I really hope that town isn’t full of angry villagers,” I muttered, gazing at the small settlement of old cottages that sat on the other side of the rolling field before us. It looked to be about a mile away. That was a long way to walk over ground that had no cover. If only Del didn’t have to preserve her energy for emergencies, she could teleport us across. Looked like we were doing it the hard way.

“Seconded,” Del said.

“We need to head to the village,” I said.

We set off across the field. I felt like prey, as if being out in the open left me exposed and vulnerable. My senses twitched like mad, trying to pick out the scent and taste and feel of all the magic that surrounded me. There was so much of it that it was impossible to distinguish where or who it was coming from. So many scents hit my nose—most of them bad—and so many tastes enveloped my tongue that I almost gagged.

I drew my knives and said, “This place is wild. Can you feel the magic?”

“Yeah,” Aidan said. “But I can’t sense who it’s coming from.”

“Me neither,” Del said.

“If it’s the thief’s protective magic, he’s going a good job,” Nix added.

For real. If my life hadn’t been on the line with the information that scroll contained, I’d have hightailed it out of here. When I sensed magic, it usually came from another person. But I saw no one.

We were about halfway across the scrubby field when the ground began to tremble. I stumbled. The scent of dark magic grew—like rotting earth. The ground shook harder.

“Hurry,” I said as I picked up the pace. We needed to get away from here. The magic was strengthening. I could feel it seething and roiling beneath our feet.
 

“Run,” Aidan said.

We picked up the pace, sprinting across the vibrating dirt. My lungs burned as I raced away from whatever threatened us. The earth groaned loudly, an unholy noise that broke the silence.
 

An enormous crack opened in front of me, a fissure reaching into the dark earth. Aidan grabbed my arm as I stopped abruptly at the edge, teetering over the abyss.

He yanked me back onto solid ground, but the sound of the earth breaking echoed around us. Cracks streaked across the soil. Dark magic wafted up from them, smelling strongly of the rotting earth I’d noticed before.

We were surrounded on all sides by deep fissures that looked like they led to hell. Fear chilled my skin. Would we make it only this far?

Aidan threw out his hands and the scent of his evergreen magic washed over me. Magic burst from his palms, a shimmer of light directed at the field ahead. The earth trembled and groaned as it pushed itself together, building a safe path for us.

“This way!” Aidan yelled over the sound of breaking earth. He sprinted along the path he’d created. We followed, racing in a line along the narrow bridge of land. Crevices continued to open on all sides of us as we ran.

My lungs burned as I sucked in air tainted with rancid magic. I glanced behind to see our path cracking open once more.
 

No going back.

Ahead of us, Aidan continued to build a path with his magic. We neared the village. When we stumbled onto a street that dead-ended at the field, silence fell abruptly. The sound of groaning earth ceased.

I spun to face the field.

It looked normal.

“What the hell?” I wheezed, bracing myself on my knees as I caught my breath. Nix did the same, though Del looked fine. She’d always been the most athletic.
 

Aidan looked completely unfazed by the sprint as he said, “Our magic ignited the field. Whatever dark magic enchants it came to life.”

And now it was dormant again. Though I could still smell the rotting earth, another scent hit me as I turned to face the village street. It was fresh and so icy it chilled my nose.

“Weird magic here, too,” I said.

We stood on a short, dirt street. Only two small cottages on either side. With their decaying thatch roofs, thick stone walls, and tiny windows, they looked to be at least a few hundred years old. The orange flame of the setting sun glinted off the thick glass in the windows.

Nix peered into one, then jerked back. “It looks like people are home. There’s food on the table.”

A chill crawled over my skin as I approached the window. This was so horror movie it wasn’t even funny. Aidan was peering in, so I nudged him aside and peeked for myself.

Nix was right. The small cottage had a rough, wooden table set for three. The old wooden bowls were full of some sort of stew and a great pot hung over the hearth. The flame was dead though.

“No one’s in there,” Aidan said.

“I don’t think they have been for a long time,” I said. “This place feels abandoned. But it smells like magic.”

When a ghostly form floated out of the wall, the familiar misery hit me. It poked at my mind with sharp claws, searching for my worst memories. The ghostly figure was a woman wearing a regal gown, her hair done up elaborately and styled with jewels. She shimmered a transparent silvery blue, the shadows under her eyes standing out starkly. When her lips parted, I saw fangs.
 

“FireSoul,” she hissed.

I shuddered. Another drifted out of the wall beside her.

“Phantoms,” I breathed as I backed away from the window. That was the icy smell. Thank fate that Aidan couldn’t hear what they said about me.

“They aren’t normal Phantoms,” Aidan said as he backed away. “That one was vampire.”

Extra creepy. I’d never heard of a vampire Phantom.

“Do you think they evicted the residents of the island?” Nix asked.

“Probably,” Aidan said. “There’s all kinds of wild magic here. Something strange happened to this place.”

“Something evil,” I said. I could feel it.

“Let’s get a move on,” Del said.
 

I tried to ignore the cold and the piercing pain in my head as we set off down the short street. It spilled onto a larger one that had houses on each side. The town’s main road, presumably. Though it was a bit generous to call it a town. The street stretched several hundred yards in both directions, and every building was as small and shabby as the one we’d peered into. It was more of a village than a town, presided over by the large manor house at the end of the road. The huge building called to my dragon sense.
 

“Toward the manor house,” I said.

Mist crept along the ground as we turned right. I clutched my knives, ready for whatever came at us. My head still ached from the Phantom, and I was afraid they weren’t done with us yet. Del’s sword hung loosely at her side, as did Nix’s. As usual, Aidan didn’t carry a weapon.

When the ghostly forms drifted through the walls of the houses and out onto the street, I tensed, bracing myself for more pain as they reached inside my mind. They were dressed in all manner of historic outfits—from the gowns of regal ladies to armor of knights and the motley of jesters. All glowed with icy blue light.
 

How long had they been here? How hungry were they to feed on another’s misery?

“Hurry!” I broke into a run.
 

The sun was nearly set, the street now lit by the Phantoms’ eerie glow. It cast a blue light on everything around us.

The ghostly figures drifted away from the walls of the houses, reaching for us. I winced as I felt their dark, icy magic reach inside my mind, searching out my worst memories. Pain seared
 
as my brain rejected them. Even the Phantoms couldn’t get at my memories.

“FireSoul,” they hissed.

When one dressed like a queen grabbed my arm, I shrieked in surprise. It felt like an icy blade sliced me.
 

She wasn’t supposed to be able to touch! Phantoms worked only with memories and fear.

I swiped at the hand with my dagger, but it only passed through. The feel of my knuckles grazing its cloak burned like acid poured on an open wound.