“So we could help,” Belen said. “We spent a year with Ryne, and the three Realms north of the Nine Mountains were safe and prospering when we crossed over two years ago. You won’t find the horrors we have found on this side over there.”

“This side has Tohon and we already discovered Ryne’s elite squads can’t counter his…army,” Kerrick said. “Ryne was in the process of collecting more information when he sickened. And I’ve no gift for strategy. Ryne outsmarted Tohon five years ago—he can do it again.”

Which made Kerrick twenty-six years old. Which I didn’t care about. I should care more that they seemed so certain that Tohon needed to be stopped, or at least contained to his Realm. Except I didn’t quite understand why.

I remembered Tohon had worked at the Healer’s Guild for some time. As a life magician he was an invaluable resource to the Guild and he helped out before the plague. How bad could he be? Well, besides the whole bounty on healers. Hating healers wasn’t unique to him. Ryne hated them as well, and that was before the plague. And why didn’t I want to know more about Tohon? Cowardice again?

Everyone watched my expression.

I tried to keep it neutral as I asked Kerrick, “After the snowstorm, can we return to the Guild’s record room?”

“If it’s safe and not buried under tons of snow, we can stay there a couple days before heading north.”

Despite his claim, Kerrick knew enough strategy. He had linked my newfound interest in Ryne with the crate of documents we had uncovered. The best strategy would be to go back and look for more. Perhaps we would discover another box that would convince me to heal Ryne.

The storm blew for the next two days. We emerged from the cave on the third morning, squinting in the bright white sunlight. The forest had been transformed. It looked as if the clouds in the sky had descended to the earth. Piles of fluffy snow mounded on the lee side of trees and bushes, while open areas were bare.

Kerrick frowned at the drifts. “This is going to slow us down.”

“We have at least thirty days until the passes open,” Belen said.

“And over two hundred miles to travel. Let’s go.”

We skirted the deeper drifts and kept to the bare spots when possible. At times, the snow was knee-deep, and others it reached as high as our waists. The snow might appear to be fluffy, but it felt quite dense as I trudged through it, reminding me of the air and how Jael had been able to thicken it so much it had stopped my knife in midair. Worried she might send another storm, I glanced at the sky. Nothing but blue.

“What about our tracks?” I asked, puffing from the exertion.

“Not much we can do,” Kerrick said.

We reached the Healer Guild’s ruined buildings in the afternoon. About a foot of snow had collected in front of the slab holding the door closed. It didn’t take long for all of us to clear it. Belen moved the slab with ease. While Kerrick scouted the area, the rest of us descended into the record room with torches to search for more information.

That night, we camped at the foot of the stairs, so our small campfire could vent and we remained close to the exit.

“What happened to ‘no back door’?” I asked Kerrick.

“It’s not snowing.”

“What does—”

“It’s too hard to sense intruders in the forest during storms,” he said.

“Why?”

“The forest doesn’t like the wind snapping its limbs and branches. During a storm, it reacts as if being invaded by an army of intruders. But now, I’m pretty confident no one is nearby.”

I offered to take a turn on watch. Kerrick laughed at first, but when he realized I was serious, he allowed me to man the first shift.

Nothing happened during my inaugural shift. It was simple to guard a single door. However, the few hours alone, breathing in the crisp night air and watching the snow sparkle in the moonlight, was a much-needed respite from the pressure. Even when no one talked about Ryne, I felt their gazes on me and their hopes weighed on my conscience. Worry for Noelle clung to me as well, but out here in the quiet stillness, I could pretend for a little while that all was right with the world.

Eventually, Kerrick arrived to take the next shift, and all my problems rushed back. Reluctant to join the others, I lingered at the top of the stairs.

“What’s wrong?” Kerrick asked.

Nothing. Everything. “Will…Jael hurt my sister?”

“I wish I could say no, but you’ve seen what she’s capable of.” Kerrick stared out at the snow. “As long as your sister is useful to her, she should be fine. Jael’s probably hoping that you’ll return to rescue her. Once Ryne is healed, at least Tohon shouldn’t bother you anymore.”

In that particular case, I would have taken myself off the chessboard. “Unless there is another reason he wants me. He did change the bounty so I’m captured alive.” I paused, considering. “Which is better than being dead.”

“You told me before that some things are worse than death. Do you remember?” Kerrick’s gaze now focused on me.

Surprised he had, I nodded.

“Do you still feel that way?”

I searched my feelings. “No.”

“Good.”

We camped in the record room two more nights. During those days, we searched the entire room. No one spotted another crate that might hold information about the plague. Dejected, we gathered around the campfire until Belen returned from his final sweep. He carried a crate labeled Olaine Poisoning.

“Thinking of learning the assassin arts, Belen?” Loren asked.

“Isn’t that a rare flower? Maybe he wants to get into gardening. I hear that’s what older people do when they reach their dotage,” Quain teased.

Belen shook his head. “Two brains and not a bit of intelligence between them. Good thing the monkeys are entertaining or I’d have left them back in Ryazan.”

Before they could defend themselves, Belen held the crate up. “Olaine poisoning is what the healers thought was wrong with the people before they realized it was the plague.”

I remembered Tara’s consternation over how the symptoms matched, but no olaine plants could be found near the patients. It had been one of many diagnoses suggested during that chaotic time.

“Another deadly plant?” Quain asked, looking a little green.

“In this case, it’s the pollen,” I said. “Anyone living downwind of the plant when it flowers sickens. But they recover about ten days after being exposed to the pollen.”

“Why haven’t we heard of it?” Loren asked.

“It’s a very rare plant that only grows in the foothills on both sides of the Nine Mountains,” Belen said.

Which was why Belen knew about it. However, olaine poisoning had been quickly ruled out. I took the crate from Belen. We’d found nothing else. It might be useful.

That evening, I sat close to the fire and sorted through the crate. Most of the contents detailed the cases of olaine poisoning over the years. There had been twenty-two confirmed sufferers the last year that had been recorded. A map of the foothills of the Nine Mountains had been marked with the location of each case. The majority had been on the northern side in Ivdel, with six in Alga and one on the southern side in Vyg.

Shoved in the back of the crate was another map. This one showed all the Realms. Red dots also marked the map, but the concentration of them were located in Vyg, Pomyt and Sectven. The page had been titled, Recent Outbreak of Olaine Poisoning. However, it had been crossed out and First Plague Victims had been written on top in a different hand.

I dug a little deeper into the records and found a list of dates and locations that matched the red dots.

I borrowed Belen’s stylus and ink. Using dates to link cases, I connected the dots for each date. When I finished I had a series of concentric circles that grew bigger with each date.