HEART OF ICE

CHAPTER 3

Stiff, ancient branches creaked and cracked. The steady sound echoed above the forest floor. Alejandra de Rosa braced herself against the rough bark of one of the towering trees, trying to listen through the soft noise. The swaying branches were not only playing tricks on her ears, they were causing the forest around her to play with her eyes as well. Angled beams of bright sunlight reached through the deep green canopy of the bushy treetops. She watched it dance and blink in every direction. A dusty, hazy mist made the columns of light sparkle. The forest would have been beautiful to Alejandra if it didn't feel so ominous.

She pushed off from the tree, moving farther into the woods as swiftly and quietly as she could. Her skin tingled at the touch of the cool mist hovering in the air. It wasn't stopping the thin layer of sweat she felt from forming. Her muscles felt tight enough to snap. Her heart was racing in her chest, pounding against her ribs.

Alejandra brought her advance to a halt. She was crouched near a row of tangled, soft-leafed brush. The pale-green plants were tall and dense, masking the view on their other side. They also kept Alejandra out of sight. She sniffed the air, trying to confirm a scent she thought she had noticed a few seconds before. The delicate smell put off by the bushes was distracting to her nose. But there was something else, something that wasn't coming from the plants. It was leather. Alejandra was sure of it. There was even the slightest hint of something very sweet. She thought of a perfume or some kind of oil.

The blanket of foliage covering the ground on the other side of the bushes interrupted Alejandra's thoughts. Someone was there. They were moving again, stepping away in the opposite direction Alejandra was facing. On instinct she reached into the small, empty satchel hanging off her belt. There had been a supply of the little, glowing discs the dwarves had given her. But that was before their battle with Legion. Alejandra cursed in her head.

The stranger was still moving, walking closer to the end of the brush line Alejandra was using as cover. She turned around, following the sound of boots crunching through dead leaves. Her right hand gripped the handle of a small dagger tucked in her boot. She matched pace with the person on the other side of the leafy wall, then sped up. She kept her stride as silent as possible, arriving at the end of the knotted hedges with no time to spare.

Her heart was pounding furiously. The sweat on her skin felt heavier. Her stomach felt like it was in agonizing knots. She had yet to see what the person on the other side of the branches looked like. She could only hear the crunch of the leaves under their feet and breathe in the strong leather and strange perfume joining the breeze sweeping past. Alejandra figured the smell to be vanity or a trick. She was absolutely certain the person she was stalking, and had been stalking her first, had something to do with the shadow she had spotted on the clifftop. And, she was certain that the shadow was an agent of Legion.

With a deep, quiet breath, Alejandra was ready to strike. The crunch of the leaves hadn't stopped. The stranger was less than a step away from the end of the thicket of twisted branches. Alejandra stepped forward. The sounds of the ancient forest suddenly seemed to fall away. The seventeen-year-old pivoted sharply to her right, clearing the tall brush and rounding its edge at the same time. The seconds passing seemed to stutter and slow to a near-complete stop. Alejandra couldn't be sure if it was just her imagination or something really happening. She'd felt the effects before. It was something the Legion generals could do with great skill. Whatever it was, Alejandra didn't let it distract her. She couldn't. Alejandra was still moving.

Cold sunlight glinted off the sharp blade of her dagger. Alejandra glimpsed youthful eyes under a dark, green-brown hood. At first they were staring down, distracted by far away thoughts. Then, they were suddenly looking up. The young figure's attention was first on her, then the blade in her hand. He was holding a brown, leather strap stretched over his left shoulder. The satchel it was attached to sunk to the ground behind him, his left arm quickly in motion, moving on instinct.