BEFORE CAELAN COULD manipulate the tree and lower them to the ground, Ravenna placed a hand on his arm. "Let me try something," she murmured. His eyebrow arched and he waited.
She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to focus. It was hard to with Caelan right there — so close that his shoulder brushed against her own. She lowered her hand to the branch beneath her feet. Her fingertips brushed the rugged bark and she imagined a thin layer of ice forming atop it. The ice crawled down the length of the tree and across the earth between and the encampment.
Her eyes opened again, just in time to watch her ice touch the feet of humans standing guard. Before the humans could react, the ice spread upwards, encasing them in a layer of ice.
"It should not kill them," Ravenna said, as the ice spread throughout the exterior of the camp. "But we need to move fast. It will melt away soon."
Caelan looked mildly impressed with her. "Where did you learn to do that?" he asked.
She smiled sheepishly at him. "I just made it up."
"Nicely done."
Heat rushed to her cheeks. "I'm not sure if I can do anything about the humans inside the tents. We need to be cautious."
He nodded. The tree glowed bright white again and lowered them gently to the ground. Both took off running toward the camp. As they approached, Ravenna could more clearly see the horrified, frozen expressions of the humans she had trapped. Their eyes were wide and followed Caelan and Ravenna as they ran past.
The humans inside the tents stirred. Heavy metallic footsteps soon mixed with frantic shouts. The fabric of the tents was shoved aside and soon humans poured out. Some slipped on the ice that coated the ground. Others stomped through, their armor shattering the ice beneath them.
"That tent will have the information that we are looking for," Caelan's voice broke through the chaos. He pointed toward a larger tent that was set up toward the back of the encampment.
Ravenna nodded. She dodged a sword that swiped at her head. A blast of ice burst from her palms and engulfed the soldier wielding the sword. Another soldier lunged at her. She sidestepped his attack and the human fell to the ground, knocking two more soldiers down with him.
She shifted her attention toward the tents. More humans poured out of the smaller tents, their expressions filled with fear and sheer panic. The largest tent sat behind those tents. Ravenna sensed some movement inside of it — but not much. There were probably only a few humans remaining inside.
From the corners of her eyes, Ravenna watched as Caelan dropped to the ground. A sliver of panic flared through her. "Caelan?"
His eyes flicked toward her and another small smile appeared on his face. A brief sense of relief flooded through her. For a moment, she feared that he had been hurt.
His palm flattened against the earth. A bright white glow formed atop the ground immediately surrounding them. It spread across the ground like a wildfire, through the encampment. As it touched the feet of the humans around them, it stretched upward, forming walls around them. Outraged sounds filled the air. The humans banged their fists against the glowing white walls.
Caelan stood and surveyed his work. Ravenna arched her eyebrow at him. "Where did you learn that?"
His lips stretched around a somewhat sheepish smile. "You," he said simply.
She couldn't help it — a large grin pulled at her lips and she turned away from him. It was flattering. He had been that impressed with her little spell that he'd used it himself.
Returning her attention to the tents, she noticed that walls had formed at the entrances to those as well — a smart move on Caelan's part. She focused on the large tent and ran toward it. The glowing white wall moved as she approached, granting her access to the inside of the tent.
As she entered, an armored human dove for her. She sidestepped his attack. As his body flew past her own, she reached out. Her fingers curled tight around his forearm. Ice instantly formed atop his skin, crawling upward toward his shoulder. A spike of ice erupted from the ground beside them and captured the human's other arm.
Fear swam within the man's eyes. "Please," he begged. "Please don't kill me."
Ravenna stepped back away from him. Her ice kept the human standing upright, his arms locked within two glowing blue spikes now. He struggled — a feeble attempt to break free from her magic. As he attempted to pull himself free, the desperation within his voice amplified.
"Please," he gasped.
"We are not going to hurt you," Caelan spoke from behind her. "We will not hurt you or your men. We understand that you are not in control of your actions."
Ravenna looked around the interior of the tent. A wooden table was situated within the center of the tent, with a thin piece of parchment stretched atop the length of the tabletop. Two daggers held the parchment down, piercing the paper and pinning it to the table. On the parchment, an intricate spell was depicted. Extravagant glyphs encircled a sphere of solid black ink.
Caelan stepped closer to the table and examined its contents. "This is a communication spell," he stated. His hand reached out, fingertips lightly brushing over the ink. A crimson spark flashed and he jerked his hand back. His expression remained unfazed.
"I think that Vyses used a similar spell to communicate with me," Ravenna remarked. She stared almost absently at the parchment. "But it is hard to be certain. I do not remember seeing that symbol before."
"It allowed his highness to appear before us," the human behind them said. His voice quivered a bit. "A red image would appear atop the circled area. It was almost like a miniature version of the king."
Ravenna glanced back at the human. It was strange to hear Vyses referred to as a king. She frowned at the human.
He instantly lowered his gaze away from her, avoiding her now. "That miniature form would walk around the table and that is how we received our orders."
"That is similar to how he would appear through my talisman," Ravenna remarked.
A wave of silence encompassed the tent. Ravenna's mind whirled, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind all at once.
"So he is not here," Ravenna whispered under her breath. A brief flash of relief flooded through her — though it was quickly chased away by a mixture of dread and uneasiness. She stared at the human, her expression blank. "Is he?"
The human shook his head. "No, no he is not. He remained back in the Capitol. As I said, he has been leading us through the use of...of magic."
The fear that overtook his voice as the human spoke of magic was almost palpable. It made Ravenna's heart sink.
Caelan and Ravenna shared a quick look.
"To the Capitol then."