It wasn’t even midday yet, but the sky was already dark. After Paige had finished forging the permit, which to her credit had gone a lot faster than I had expected it to, we still hadn’t been able to actually cross the bridge until early this morning. The guards at the gate had already seen our faces and knew that we didn’t have a permit, so we’d had to wait until their shift was finished and new people took their place.
To be fair, we would have had to make camp on the other side of the ravine as well when it got dark, so we had only lost half an afternoon of traveling. But still. Those hours could’ve been better spent since we were about to lose even more time.
I swept my gaze over the surrounding area. Farmlands spread out on all sides, but the golden fields swayed like a violent sea. A summer storm was rolling in from the horizon, turning the sky dark and the winds strong. I could almost taste the rain in the air. We had to make it a little farther and then find somewhere to camp before the storm hit.
“Shouldn’t we be looking for a place to wait out the storm?” Lance asked from where he rode next to Henry. His blue eyes were wary as he looked up at the thick clouds that covered the heavens. “This looks like it’s going to be a bad one.”
“Don’t tell me the great hero of Eldar is scared of a little rain,” I baited.
He jutted out his chin, which only made him look like a petulant child. “I’m not scared. I’m just saying that I don’t think our tents will survive these winds. But if you’re fine with sleeping out in the open for the remainder of this journey, then by all means.”
“Watch that mouth,” Audrey warned.
Ever since Lance found out that his friends were on their way to the mountain, he had once more become insufferably bold. At this point, I was actually hoping that we would run into them just so that I could see the look in his eyes when I stamped out his last hope.
“He’s right about the tents, though,” Audrey said in a quiet voice so that only I could hear.
I slid my gaze to her. “I know.”
“But we lost a lot of hours at the bridge yesterday, so we should try to get as far as we can today before we stop.”
“Agreed.”
“So, a barn or something?”
“Yeah. Or a cave.”
She gave me a flat look. “A cave? Really?” Flinging out an arm, she gestured towards the incredibly flat farmlands around us. “Where the hell are you going to find one of those?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I think you need to remember to watch your tone too.”
“How can I do that when you keep saying such stupid things?”
“I’m not the one who almost got us caught yesterday.”
“I did not get us caught.”
“When I created that distraction with the papers, you just stood there on the floor, staring at us instead of escaping out the window right away.”
Embarrassment flitted across her face before she shot me a venomous stare. “I was waiting for the right moment. Otherwise, she would’ve seen me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You—”
The heavens opened up. Rain washed down over the fields and beat against the dirt road we were riding on.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“Yeah,” she said. “So let’s find that barn then.”
We couldn’t risk bringing Lance into the home of a farmer since he might be able to enlist help from them, but we could at least take shelter in a deserted barn until the storm passed.
“Be on the lookout for a barn or a shed or some other kind of empty building,” I said, raising my voice so that the others could hear as well.
“Or a cave,” Audrey added while throwing a smirk in my direction.
“A cave?” Paige scrunched up her pale brows. “Where would we find one of those out here?”
Smug amusement danced across Audrey’s features as she turned fully in the saddle and raised her eyebrows in a distinctly I-told-you-so way.
Grumbling a curse, I just shook my head at her.
The winds picked up. A whining noise sounded as they tore through the landscape and pulled at everything within reach. The barley stalks swayed in alarm until they were almost flattened against the ground. Rain pelted my body.
Dragging a hand through my soaked hair, I tried to get the wet strands out of my face as I scanned the area around us. While the fields stretched towards each horizon, the actual farms were few and far between.
My horse snorted when another strong gust swept through as if it was trying to topple us.
Lightning flashed in the distance. A few seconds later, thunder rumbled over the fields.
Lance jerked back slightly, making his horse shift nervously too. “We should have stopped long ago.”
I didn’t feel like arguing, so I didn’t reply. Apparently, none of the others did either, because they also stayed silent.
“We’re quite far from any unoccupied buildings,” Henry said, speaking for the first time since we entered the farmlands.
I knew why, so I hadn’t pushed even though I was aware of just how well he knew this area.
“How do you know?” Audrey asked.
Her long black hair whipped back and forth in the wind, and she had to release the reins to grab it with both hands before tying it up in a bun instead. Henry just cast a quick glance at her and lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug.
Another lightning bolt struck. This time, the thunder came almost instantaneously. Paige’s horse neighed and backtracked at the noise. She turned it and rode in a circle on the road behind us before getting it to continue after us again.
“So, what’s our play?” I asked Henry.
Water ran down his angular features as the wind shifted and sent the rain flying almost horizontal right into our faces. Blinking, I tried to get the water out of my eyes.
“There’s—”
Lightning struck just a few strides from us. A loud crack echoed across the landscape as the white bolt struck the barley field on our left. Paige’s already spooked horse reared.
She let out a cry as she was thrown from the saddle before landing hard on the ground. The horse took off down the road.
“Paige!” Audrey screamed.
Jumping down from the saddle, she ran over to her friend while Henry ordered Lance down onto the ground as well. I barely spared them a glance before I galloped after the fleeing horse. It thundered down the road before another lightning bolt made it screech to a halt and rear again. I barely managed to snatch up its reins before it could take off.
It neighed and stamped its hooves while I tried to calm it down. Rain hit my back like an unending torrent, and I could feel the cold water running down my neck and disappearing inside my leather armor. But thankfully, my own mount at least stayed calm while I tried to coax Paige’s horse back.
At last, it calmed down enough for me to ride back with it beside me.
Henry and Lance were holding the other three horses while Audrey crouched next to Paige on the ground. She must have landed with her arm on a sharp stone or something because there was blood soaking through her shirt as she tried to wave Audrey aside.
“We need to get her inside,” Audrey called, but her voice was almost drowned out by the crashing of rain.
“I’m fine,” Paige tried to protest, but I could see that she was in pain.
“I know a place,” Henry said. His face was an unreadable mask as he pointed towards the right. “There’s a farm pretty close in that direction. They’ll help us.”
My gaze shot to him as I realized what that meant. “Are you sure?”
He nodded without looking at me. Instead, he was staring out across the storm-covered farmlands.
“We don’t really have much of a choice.”
