The smell hit us first. A putrid rotting stench like no other. The reek of death. Loren and Quain stopped, covering their noses and mouths, coughing and choking on the odor. They retreated. I opened my knapsack. Pulling Belen’s handkerchief out—he had let me keep it—I rubbed the cloth on my bar of soap before tying it around my nose and mouth like a bandit.

Belen roared again. Anguish and heartache clear in the sound. I hurried to catch up and paused at the entrance to the largest cavern we’d seen. Dead bodies littered the floor. Belen cradled one in his arms as he rocked and cried. No doubt his sister. Kerrick checked the others. A few had been decapitated and I guessed they were Tohon’s dead. No wonder he hadn’t been too upset to lose me. A numb horror settled on me.

A lone figure lay on a cot in the back. Ryne? I wove through the carnage, trying not to step on anyone. The man on the cot wasn’t the prince, but he was alive. Barely. He had multiple cuts on his torso and arms. One deep gash along his rib cage had become infected. His skin burned with fever. My magic swelled and pushed to be released.

“Kerrick,” I called.

He joined me.

“Is anyone else alive?” I asked.

“No.” A whisper full of pain.

“Is Ryne…”

“Not here. The bastard must have him.”

No need to ask who the bastard was.

“Did he say anything to you about Ryne?” Kerrick asked.

“No.”

“Will Sepp live?” he asked, pointing to the man.

“With help. I need to heal him now.”

“I’m cut off from the forest.”

“I’ll be fine.” I gestured to Belen. “Although, as soon as Sepp can walk, take us back outside. It’ll be…healthier. And make sure I drink plenty of water.”

Kerrick nodded. I released the energy inside me and assumed Sepp’s injuries. My torso blazed with pain. Suddenly overheated, sweat poured down my back and soaked my shirt. I sank to the ground as my magic fought to heal the wounds.

Delusions swirled. Tohon’s voice—Come to me, Avry, repeated over and over as his dead soldiers chased me.

Someone—Loren or Quain…or both—helped me as we navigated the darkness.

The fresh air roused me for a few minutes. We had left the caves, but the sky remained black. I sensed movement near me; voices talked and argued, flames danced along dead limbs. My body shook with fever. Sweat coated, then froze on, my skin. Someone covered me with a blanket. Another tipped cups of water into my mouth.

Eventually, the grip of infection loosened and I slipped into sleep. Tohon’s dead waited for me, but I lacked the energy to run. They surrounded me, trapping me as the cold soaked into my bones. The circle of dead parted to let Tohon enter. Images from the cavern flashed in my mind. Tohon smiled and gestured to his special soldiers.

Come to me, Avry, or they will hunt you down.

I jerked awake. My heart jumped in my chest. Filling my lungs with fresh air, I lay still as my pulse settled. Fever dreams. Nothing more than that. Yeah, right.

When I calmed, I glanced around the campfire. Kerrick sat next to Sepp, their heads close as they talked in whispers. Loren and Quain slept next to the fire. Belen must be on guard duty. No sense in posting double watch now. Tohon had Ryne.

Kerrick’s conversation grew heated. No surprise. I closed my eyes and eavesdropped.

“…saved your life,” Kerrick said. “We just can’t—”

“He wants her and it’s our best chance to save Ryne. You of all people know sacrifices have to be made.”

“No. There has to be another way.”

Didn’t take a genius to guess what they were arguing about. I sat up, surprising them into silence. “Sepp wants to use me as bait, doesn’t he?” I asked.

“Uh…” Sepp said.

He looked like an older version of Kerrick. Broad, but not bulky, graying hair and the same nose. Interesting. Was he his uncle? I couldn’t sense his power. “Kerrick?”

“Yes. He thinks we can trick Tohon into leaving Ryne behind while he comes for you. While you lead Tohon on a merry chase, we’ll go in and retrieve Ryne.”

“Won’t work,” I said.

“I know. Tohon’s too smart to fall for it. Plus, his dead found you before. If he sends enough of them, they can again. So why this elaborate game?”

“I think you answered your own question,” I said.

“Tohon likes to play games. It makes him feel powerful to manipulate people.” Kerrick rubbed his hands over his face. Deep circles of exhaustion hung from his eyes. “We’re at another stalemate.”

Until he sends a company of dead after me. Bad enough in the hands of two, but with more than a hundred chasing me… Revulsion snaked along my skin as I realized that I would have to go to Tohon. But I couldn’t give myself up without knowing more.

“Can Tohon wake Ryne?” I asked.

“No. Only a death magician can,” Sepp said. “Tohon can take a life, but I can stop life and only I can restart it.”

“You or another death magician?”

“Anyone with that power, but I’m the only one.”

“Are you sure?”

He bristled at my question.

“Think about it. Tohon’s special soldiers are not alive. I had thought a medicine might be the reason they can move and obey orders, but maybe there is another explanation. Could you animate the dead?”

Sepp sputtered. “It’s…an affront to life. It’s…perverted. I’ve never tried it, nor would I ever!”

“She didn’t ask you if you would, but if you could,” Kerrick said.

Opening and closing his mouth a number of times, Sepp huffed. “I think I can.”

Kerrick leaned forward. “Are you thinking a death magician is working with Tohon?”

“Not possible,” Sepp said. “I’m positive I’m the only one, and have been for years.”

I considered. “Was Tohon in the cave during the attack?”

The magician squinted as if he peered into the past. “I don’t think so. Unless he came after I’d been knocked out.”

“So he might think that you’re dead,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kerrick said. “We can’t reach Ryne, and even if we do find him, we won’t be able to leave Tohon’s castle alive. We should join forces with Estrid and hope for the best.” Kerrick’s shoulders sagged. “Sepp, can you unanimate the dead?”

“I believe so. My powers are basically the opposite of Tohon’s. But I don’t know for sure. When they stormed the cave, we were taken by surprise. By the time I figured out what they were and how to stop them, it was too late.”

“How to stop them as in decapitation?” I asked.

Sepp nodded.

“How would you unanimate them? If only you can wake Ryne, doesn’t it make sense that only Tohon can stop the dead?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had any experience.” Sepp’s tone bordered on snippy.

“Did you sense them before they attacked?”

“Are you deaf or just stupid? I just said we were surprised.” He’d skipped over snippy and went straight into nasty.

I decided to follow Kerrick’s example and keep my expression neutral even though I wanted to slap him. “Allow me to elaborate. Before they attacked, did you feel uneasy or feel something wasn’t quite right and just dismiss it?”

“Of course not. I can’t feel through stone walls.”

“What about when they were in the room with you?” I asked.

Sepp appealed to Kerrick. “This is a waste of time, we should—”

“Answer her question,” Kerrick said.

Sepp gaped at him. “Don’t tell me that you’ve—”

“Answer her question,” Kerrick ordered.

I wondered what Sepp was going to say to Kerrick.

With an elaborate sigh, he said, “Yes, I could. When they were in with us, I knew no life breathed inside them. Although I don’t see why she needs to know.”

Perhaps Sepp thought I’d overstepped my place in this little group. As Belen would say, Too bad, so sad.

Kerrick studied me and I caught a glint of humor in his gaze. “What are you thinking?”