Dana Ilic and the Shadow Door (Lightwielder Chronicles #1) | ✔️

11 | The Cabin In The Woods

"I'm alive," Max croaked.

"Oh, good," I said. "I was going to do CPR."

"You know how to do that?"

"Um, no, not really. But, err... it looks pretty easy on TV." I blushed.

"Glad I dodged the bullet," Max said, laughing weakly. He paused, pensive. "I think we should have stayed and battled, D."

My face was burning.

"Oh, so now it's my fault that we failed to secure the Healing Water, is it?" I straightened up. In a probably very bad imitation of Ivana's voice (but who cared), I said: "Ooh, that's such a neat trick, my demigod. Ooh, let me braid your hair, Max." I flipped a bird at him.

"Forget it," Max said, waving off my comment. "You're impossible."

"You're insufferable." I stomped my foot.

"You're... Look, I was just saying that maybe you could have stayed and fought. You weren't as affected by that drink as I was."

"I was a bit preoccupied with saving your life!" I hissed at him. "In case you didn't notice!"

Max lifted his arms in sign of defeat.

We were sitting under a pine tree in the woods, a hundred yards from the rusalki waterfall in a marshy clearing. We were lucky those mad, beautiful water nymphs hadn't come after us.

This place had obviously been used for parties by Hot Valley Spring guests. The ground was littered with cigarette buts, flattened soda cans, and empty boxes of French fries.

My growling stomach made me wonder if there been any leftovers in those food boxes.

"Are you cold, D?" Max asked, casting worried glance at me.

I didn't dare use the light shield to dry my damp clothes. The Shadow Panthers and sharp-fanged rusalki had provided enough excitement for one day.

I didn't want to attract anything else.

Max placed his warm Huskies hockey jersey around my shoulders.

I wrapped myself into it, inhaling that fresh mint, ice-y scent that was Max.

Being warmer helped me think clearer.

But thinking clearer only made me sadder. And madder.

"They have the Golden Apple. They have the Healing Water. The ritual is at midnight. It's well past midday. We are two thousand miles away from home. And we don't even know where the Shadow Door is!" I slammed my fist on the ground and gritted my teeth.

What did we expect, anyway? We had  just been claimed. No one trained us. We didn't adjust to these new powers yet. No wonder we are failing task after bloody task. 

"I guess we already did the first two trials. But Gamayun helped us get to her sister, Zhara. Zhara knew where the second Custodian, Vasilisa the Cunning, was. And now we don't have anyone to show us where we are to pass the third trial. Maybe Morana was right. We are just kids." I put my back to the the trunk and stared at the sunny sky, swallowing the lump in my throat.

No sooner had I said that, a strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck.

It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rainwater, things that might've once been in these woods. At a faint sounds of hooves approaching, we leapt on our feet.

"With our luck, this could very well be the centaurs, ready to tear us apart," Max said.

"Like in the Order of Phoenix chapter," I whispered.