A Court of Fire and Shadows -ON BREAK!!!-

Feyre

I winnowed to the Middle in five leaps. I was breathless, my power nearly drained. The heavy ripe air was as awful as I remembered, the forest thick with moss that chocked the gnarled beeches and the gray stones scattered throughout. Then there was the silence.

I wondered if I should've brought Mor with me as I listened. As I felt with my lingering magic for any sign of it. The moss cushioned my steps as I eased into a walk. Scanning, listening. How far away, how small that battle to the south felt.

My swallow was loud in my ears. 

Things other than the Weaver prowled these woods. And the Weaver herself, Stryga, the Bone Carver had called her. His sister. Both siblings to an awful, male creature lurking in another part of the world. 

I drew my Illyrian blade, the metal singing in the thick air.

But an ancient rasping voice asked from behind me, "Have you come to kill me, or beg for my help once again, Feyre Archeron?"

I turned but I didn't sheath my blade. The Suriel was standing a few feet away, not clad in the cloak I had given it months ago, but in a different one, heavier and darker. The fabric already torn and shredded. As if the wind it traveled on had ripped through it with invisible talons.

Its overly large teeth clacked faintly. "Thrice now we have met. Thrice now you have hunted for me. This time you sent the a- the fawn to find me. I did not expect to see those doe eyes peering at me form across the world."

It had slipped up. What was it going to say before 'the fawn'?

"I'm sorry if it was a violation, but it's an urgent matter."

"You wish to know where Hybern is hiding it's army." 

"Yes. And other things, but let's start with that."

A hideous and horrific smile, "Even I cannot see it."

"You can see everything but that?" I fought to keep my voice steady as my stomach tightened.

The Suriel angled its head in a way that reminded me it was indeed a predator. And this time, there was no snare to hold it back.

"He uses magic far older than I to cloak it."

"The Cauldron"

Another terrible smile, "Yes, that mighty, wicked thing. That bowl of life and death." It shivered with what I could've sworn was delight, "But, you already have one who could track it,"

"Elain says she cannot see past his magic."

"Not just the seer, use the viper." It cocked its head, "Or the assassin."

"Nesta, use Nesta or Aelin to track the Cauldron?"

"Not the Queen, the assassin," It sounded quite fond of this assassin.

"Who-"

It cut me off, "If she is unskilled, bones will do the talking for her."

"Scrying, you mean scrying with bones?"

"Yes." Those tattered robes swayed in a phantom wind. "Bones and stones."

I swallowed again, "Why did the Cauldron not react when I joined the Book and spoke the spell to nullify its power?"

"Because you did not hold on for long enough."

"It was killing me."

"Did you think you could leash its power without a cost?"

My heart stopped, "I need to- to die for it to be stopped?"

"So dramatic, but yes, that spell would have drained the life from you."