The Mythos Trials

Chapter Nineteen, Part One

At first, Phenex didn't know how he was going to make good on his promise. Then spotting the silver shoe Gwen had left behind, he plucked it from the ground, his face splitting into a triumphant grin.

"Ethereal residue," he said, holding it out to Forneus. "Think you can use this to pick up her trail?"

Forneus took the shoe gingerly, rotating it between his hands, brow creasing in concentration. It took only a minute before his eyes widened, a spark of something like hope glimmering in their depths.

"I think so, yes."

Forneus closed his eyes, a look of deep concentration etched between his brows. Between his hands, the shoe began to emit a soft blue light, radiating around its edges and the tips of his fingers like a series of tiny soap bubbles.

"They've taken her to Gelida Vix," Forneus said, opening his eyes. "No doubt they'll stay along the southern outskirts to avoid Boreas's detection."

"If they don't go through the Caladrian Ice Forest instead," Phenex pointed out. "I just hope Jev and the others can convince the elves to shut down the dampeners again. Otherwise—"

It was by sheer, dumb luck that an elf burst from the undergrowth just then, his familiar features broadening into a relieved smile when he spotted them.

"Thank goodness I found you," Laetus said, shoving his ethereal short sword back into its sheath. "My commanding officer told me to seek you out and let you know the dampeners are offline. If you wish to save your human friend, now is the time."

"Give him our thanks," Forneus said, smiling in return. "And thanks to you as well for your swiftness."

"Yeah, good job," Phenex said hurriedly. ""Now let's get a move on. Reeves has a lot to answer for."

*

The sun had just begun cresting over the snow drifts when they arrived, the snow melting around Phenex's feet where he'd teleported. Forneus stood barely an arm's length from him, cutlass already in hand with electricity dancing down the blade.

Wind caught at Phenex's hair, an eddy of flurries stinging his cheeks as he turned toward the distant sound of shouting voices. Among them, he could hear Gwen's, rising above the others.

"Let me go!"

There was a snarl in reply, Phenex only able to catch the last half of what was said.

"...your parents to die?"

"This way," Forneus said, taking the lead.

Phenex followed him, the voices growing louder as they climbed one drift after another. The snow sparkled where the sun's milky, yellow light touched it, like hundreds of thousands of diamonds.

They had just crossed the Mrazian Border when he spotted them, down beyond the bluff and past a clutch of frosted trees with their snowflake-shaped leaves. A large host surrounded Reeves; shadows, the Silvestrian elves he'd won to his cause, and the two figures they had seen before Reeves had vanished with Gwen in his grasp. Phenex recognized Lucas, but not the other.

Forneus slid down the hill ahead of him, kicking up a cloud of snow in the process. Phenex burned his way down the hill, leaving a deep rivet where his feet had been. It was as they gained on Reeves' forces that he caught the familiar tingle of others in the area, a flicker of hope rising in his chest.

"Gilgamesh is here," Forneus remarked, gesturing toward a group of silhouettes moving on Reeves' position from the opposite side.

"Good, that should even up the odds." Now that they were less than twenty yards away, Reeves had caught sight of them, Phenex noting the crimson flash of his eyes beneath the brim of his fedora.