The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter THIRTY-TWO: Liss

Liss stared at her hand, still shocked that the skin on her palm was smooth and unblemished because of healing magic. Luniya, sunlight magic, the same miraculous power she'd nearly killed Zan with. Even now she could feel it, like a heady brew slipping through her veins. At least it wasn't such a powerful sensation anymore. Not like it had been in the meadow when she'd pressed her hands against the radiating earth.

They had been walking north for hours. Zan hung back with her, while the Fexes kept ahead. It wasn't a relinquishment of leadership, it was just more comfortable to travel with some distance between them. Moon bounded between their groups, but Liss hadn't forgiven him for deceiving her yet. Ignoring the little antleoch was probably unfair–it wasn't his fault he was so adorable and well trained–but she could no longer bring herself to indulge his mischievous antics.

Wisp, she reminded herself, burying the pang of regret that surfaced. His name was Wisp.

Glancing across the windblown path, she tried to catch Zan's attention. When would he explain his changed eyes? Was it another Yansu skill, a way to prevent unwanted discovery? But he seemed lost in thought, and she was reluctant to ask. Her new friend was proving himself loyal and kind-hearted, but she'd gotten the sense there were things he wasn't ready to share. Liss had a few of those herself. Like the situation with the Fexes. The siblings had to be Elder Fex's relatives. And Dev too; his resemblance to Noa was uncanny. But she didn't know how to tell Zan about the siblings' ties to the valley and her clan's austere leader without being overheard. If she hadn't lost her notebook and tome of runes, she might have written it down. Assuming Zan knew how to read, which was another question she didn't have the answer to.

At least the Fexes weren't hiding behind their enchanted cloaks anymore. Reis would raise his hood and disappear periodically to scout ahead, but he was never gone long. Last time he'd returned with a spear, which he held like a staff with the forked blade pointed skyward. Liss knew better than to ask where he'd gotten the weapon. Anytime she spoke to him, he twisted the conversation toward her training. She was tired of it, although she understood his preoccupation. Zan was an enigma. As far as the Fexes knew, he was an unqualified teacher, a half-elf outsider with no background in Darkbane magic. There was even a scar on his chest to support their assumption.

They were wrong about him, but Liss' hands were tied. It wasn't her place to reveal someone else's secrets.

"We shouldn't be veering to the west. Blackwater is near the coast."

Zan folded his map and caught up with Brisa in a few long strides. Dev's cloak billowed out behind him, whipping in the breeze. The forest had thinned out, providing little shade or buffer against what was turning into a windy day. The leaves on the trees were no longer pink, purple, or even green. Most were brown and yellow, decaying as if it were the end of autumn, though it was midsummer. The few pine trees scattered about the rocky hillsides fared no better. They were spindly, with broken lower branches and rough, dried out bark.

"We know where we're going, boy," Reis grumbled from his position several paces ahead of everyone, piercing the compacted earth with the dull end of his spear.

Brisa's tone was friendlier. "We're bypassing human territories. You were lucky you didn't come into trouble in Squallside. The situation between humans and the fae has grown tense in recent months."

"It's always been tense." Zan paused, glancing sidelong at the parched landscape. "But I heard something to that effect."

"You're even luckier if your travels haven't brought conflict to your doorstep. It seems like we're always struggling to keep ahead of it."

A cloud of dust eddied off an outcropping of boulders, coating them in a fine mist. Zan spluttered, wiping at his lips with both hands. "This seems like overkill. The land is half-dead."