Page 87 of Omen of ice
“The braid—” I lift my arm. “Does this block the druid magic as well?”
His brows furrow. “Druid magic? I don’t understand. You said—”
Valen obviously hasn’t told him about the rabbit or the forest. “The theory is, since Valen has Fae magic, he’s…predisposed? He seems able to tap into the latent druid magic in the Winter Lands. Maybe because he’s lived there his whole life? We don’t know.” Below us, the yorger howls. “A section of forest was rejuvenated. I—we—made it happen. Being linked to Valen, I seem able to tap into the Fae power as well.”
Delkin’s expression is unreadable, but I get the feeling there’s something he’s not saying. “Valen is very powerful. We knew that the day he was born. It doesn’t surprise me he’s able to harness it.”
I nod. It’s what we thought; still, it feels better to have someone else make the connection. “There was also a rabbit on the path—” I have an idea.
The rabbit…the bird back at Delkin’s village… The strange crow seemed to be the only animal I was unable to contact. This is worth a shot… “We were able to communicate with it,” I tell him.
His gaze goes to the yorger. It rages below us, shredding the remains of our camp. “You mean to try speaking with the beast?”
“I’m not sure if it will work without Valen.” In Vey Brill, he was closer. Now, well, I have no idea where he’s gone off to. I hold up the arm he tied the bracelet to. “If I take this off, is it possible?”
“Jalva oil is known to dampen all inner magics. The amount on the braid won’t block the power completely, but since you’d need to tap into Valen to access it and it’s not even clear how he’s using the magic, I’m not sure it would work.”
“So, I’d need to remove the bracelet?”
He frowns as the yorger flings itself at the base of our tree. We both wobble but remain perched on our branch. “I don’t recommend it.”
“I can take it off for a minute, then put it right back. If I can communicate with it, we can see what has it riled up.”
Delkin doesn’t look convinced, but he nods once. I undo the knot and slip the band from my wrist, then close my eyes and focus on the creature as it thrashes and howls beneath us.
“What do you want?”
The yorger stills.“Stole my hatchlings.”
“Who?”I glance at Delkin. “It says someone attacked its children. Took them.”
He shakes his head. “Yorger nests are impossible to miss. We haven’t passed one. I’ve only seen one in a decade, and that was miles before our village.”
The yorger lets out a howl.“You.”
“I promise, we’ve done no harm to your offspring.”
“Like you.”
Acid churns in my stomach.
“Fae with weapons. Caged them. Took them.”
If Orbik’s guards are still following us and they’re the ones who raided the yorger nest, they can’t be far behind. I grip the edge of the branch and ease myself down to the ground. Delkin tries to stop me, but I shake him off. The yorger’s anguish is like a knife in my gut. Valen can live his life while others suffer and not lift a finger? Fine. But not me.
“I will find them. I will return your hatchlings. I promise.”
“Honor, Druid.”
With a final snort, the yorger slithers into the brush, and I retie the red leather band to my wrist. A second later, Valen and Benj erupt from the tree line like they’re being chased.
Benj skids to a stop, eyes immediately finding Delkin. The relief I see there would have stolen my breath if someone aimed it my way. “What—”
Delkin jumps down from the tree and claps Benj on the shoulder. “Yorger.” He gestures to me. “Our fair druid friend handled it.”
“You’re bleeding,” Valen says. He pushes past Benj and starts toward me.
“You are, too.” I gesture to the matching bloodstains on his leathers and limp off to search the scattered remains of our supplies. The yorger displaced them throughout the campsite, and I’m sure some ended up in the river. I just hope the first aid supplies survived.
