I stepped through the shadows and held in a sigh of relief when I saw that the others were nearby. Traveling to the Broken Spear Peaks had been the longest path Mishtaw had allowed me to attempt on my own so far, and it wouldn’t have been good if I made myself look like a fool who was more bark than bite after the amount of time I spent pushing her to let me do it. The best way to keep a group together in the shadows was to have someone pull everyone else through, but most whisper women could only handle one or two others at a time from what I could tell. So then they normally resorted to traveling in pairs while the leaders of each pair worked to make their paths end near each other.

It was all about intention and conviction and mental stamina, and I was determined to show that I had more than enough of all three so I didn’t have be dragged through the shadow paths like a child. And I didn’t want to have to rely on blood markers if I could help it either.

Mishtaw looked over and nodded at me before she went back to directing the rest of the squad. They had arrived before me with Prevna. I wasn’t to the point where I could shadow walk at the same time as them and guarantee that I’d end up in the same area, especially without having been to the place before. I still needed something to anchor the ends of my path. Esie might have said that picturing where you wanted to go didn’t mater as much but I still found that it helped, if I had the option, and Prevna was one of the strongest anchors I could use since we had kept up our game of shadowing walking to each other.

If she wasn’t blocking me from finding her. That was one of the main things Mishtaw had focused on teaching us while we traveled with her: the ability to stop other whisper women from popping in on you whenever they wanted to by using the shadows. Prevna rarely bothered with it outside of practice but I kept it up constantly unless I wanted her find me. That ruined our game a bit, but I preferred sacrificing the concentration needed to keep it up rather than leaving the opportunity for any whisper woman to track me down if she felt like it. Prevna said I was paranoid and I insisted it was the smart thing to do. Then she’d tease that was the case only for people who got on everyone else’s bad side.

The lower Broken Spear Peaks were just as imposing up close as they had been from a distance back when I had traveled through the Cut after the goddess’s procession. Jagged cliffs and spires rose out of the fog that covered the mountain tops nearly all year round. Apparently, only the goddess’s storms marking the beginning and end of each season cleared it away from a time. Boulders and loose pebbles littered the mountainside, like some giant hand had scooped out different parts of the mountain range before crumbling it to pieces. The oddest, creepiest part, however, was that the pine trees stopped short of the fog. Despite the fact that some of these peaks couldn’t have been taller than the Root Mountains. I was used to seeing mountains absolutely blanketed with pine trees, and yet here, it was like the goddess had actually shown restraint with that particular symbol of Her power.

I didn’t like it but we were here until Mishtaw found her relic or we proved there was nothing to find. I settled near where Prevna was sunning herself against a boulder while Mishtaw and Petra determined exactly where we had ended up in the lower Peaks and which direction would be the best way to start our search. Eliss shot me a glare as she continued to survey our surroundings—she still thought I was a troublemaker who would ruin things given half a chance—and Creed double checked our supplies.

Prevna cracked open an eye to peer at me. “What do you think the relic will be like?”

I shrugged.

All we had to go off of was a scrap of song Mishtaw had overheard during the last Heartsong Festival. Something about a funeral pyre ever burning and never lit and a land hollowed out by grief. We had checked other spots first, tried to find more information, before, through the process of elimination, more and more of leads pointed to the Broken Spear Peaks. The relic could be as straight forward as an actual forgotten funeral pyre or that could symbolic and there might not actually a relic to find. It had happened before, but Mishtaw wouldn’t stop seeking until she had her answers.

I wiggled my fingers. “All set?”

She wiggled hers back. “Four Black Root, three Sleeper’s Kiss, two stinging nettle, and one Asper’s Love.” She poked my poisoner’s pouch. “You?”

We had learned that Prevna needed to take her poisons directly from the plant or animal that produced it, but I had still taken to keeping at least some ground Black Root, feverluck, and spiritflower on hand in case I needed to incapacitate my own opponent. There was room for more in the pouch but I couldn’t quite bring myself to make the poison mixtures Rawley had taught me yet. Between their selective use and what might happen if anyone thought I was making a healing mixture kept the itch to do more at bay.

“The usual.”

Prevna huffed a bit at my reply. She thought I should make use of what I knew, but Mishtaw called us over before she could poke at my restraint again.

“Keep close and your eyes out for anything unusual. Petra will lead and Creed will take up the rear like usual,” Mishtaw commanded.

I kept to the back of the group with Creed while Prevna made her way up the front to glean what tracking and navigation tips she could from Petra. Mishtaw and Eliss ended up in the middle. If we were in more well known territory Mishtaw might have started quizzing me about this or that fact, or my progress with a certain skill, but as it was all her focus on making sure we stayed safe. I was content with the quiet and kept my eyes out for danger like she had bid.

We had arrived near the edge of the tree line and now we skirted around the fog looking for a way further into the mountains without completely ruining our line of sight. It made sense that the relic wouldn’t be in the easily accessible wooded mountainsides, but I kept an eye out for clues just in case as well.

There was an eerie quality to the mountains. It was almost…too quiet. Only the occasional bird call or rustle of movement disturbed the silence. Like even the animals had abandoned these mountains or were too afraid to draw even the slightest amount of attention to themselves. The air tasted damp and heavy despite being outside of the fog and I had to stop myself from adjusting my traveling pack through sheer unease.

To distract myself I turned part of my attention to my memory tent and started working my way through the things I didn’t want to forget. I started with the myths and legends I knew first. Eventually I’d get to the plants outside the tent, but that always felt like pressing on a deep bruise with all my strength. I couldn’t allow myself to forget, but it hurt to remember too.

The day passed slowly with only the distance we covered as a sign of progress. Mishtaw, Eliss, Prevna, and I all took turns at night watch since we could see in the dark. I had the last watch.

Which was when something odd happened.

Off in the distance I saw something catch and light. Just a flicker of flame. Like someone using the common blessing deeper in the mountains where the fog should have shrouded everything. My hand went to my spear as I tried to determine if I needed to wake others. Was it a foolish Picker band looking to raid what we had or something else? Did these mountains cause waking nightmares as well?

I waited, tense, for any other signs of danger. But nothing moved and there weren’t any other flickers of light and I couldn’t leave our campsite to investigate without waking someone else to take over my post. I glanced at the tent Prevna and I shared. She wouldn’t mind me waking her up but she wouldn’t want me going off on my own and she had already done her night shift.

Everyone would be getting up in a couple hours. I could report to Mishtaw what I had seen then though she wouldn’t be pleased if we missed a potential clue or danger because I hadn’t wanted to wake anyone up.

Feeling like a fool for getting worked up over a bit of light, I crouched next the tent she shared with Eliss and let out a very quiet whistle.

Mishtaw answered immediately, “What is it?”

“A flicker of flame near the top of the mountain or the one behind it. I couldn’t tell with the fog.”

Mishtaw pushed her way out of the tent despite Eliss’s mumbled protest and had me point out where I had seen the bit of light.

“Anything since then?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

She nodded back at me. “Wake me again if you notice anything else. If everything stays quiet we’ll check it out once everyone can see in the morning.”

The rest of my shift was only interrupted by Creed waking up earlier than everyone else to stoke his cook fire and prepare the morning meal. He dismissed the flicker of flame as not being that big of a deal, but he tended to not put as much stock into anything he couldn’t touch with his own two hands. He also still had the unfortunate habit of calling me ‘little miss’ but I couldn’t chew him out over it because I was sure he and Prevna had a bet going on about how much I could stomach the irritating nickname and I didn’t want either of them to win it.

The others all gradually joined us around the small fire and Mishtaw filled everyone in about the night’s small bit of excitement while we ate. Eliss gave me a look that said I was proving again that I was more trouble than I was worth but she stopped when Mishtaw caught it and gave her a look in return. That started a quick, silent conversation between them that I couldn’t decipher but it ended with Eliss getting up to patrol the immediate surrounding area like it often did.

Prevna bumped her shoulder against mine in silent support. I bumped her shoulder back and then paid attention as Mishtaw detailed the new plan for the day.

“Creed and I will head up to where Gimley saw the flame while everyone else packs up the camp. If we find something I’ll let Eliss know and you can all join us, but otherwise we’ll come back down and continue working our way around the mountain looking for other clues.”

This was hardly the first time Mishtaw had split the group to cover more ground for a scouting mission, but I didn’t like the idea of them going up into the fog on their own. I could tell Petra wasn’t pleased either and Eliss had probably argued with Mishtaw about it when they were still in their tent, but now that the plan had been decided no one went against Mishtaw’s authority. We all had to trust that she knew what she was doing like we had many times before.

So Mishtaw and Creed disappeared into the fog and I had to hope that sharing what I had seen hadn’t sent them straight into the danger all the myths warned about.