Free Rise of the Sparrows (Relics of Ar'Zac #1) by Sarina Langer Page B

at an end, now. Soon her Fox would lead the damned Sparrow right to her door, and not long after the world would die in a flawless explosion of horror and fire.
     
    Struggling to catch her breath Rachael came to a stop, allowing herself to drop into the snow to steady her shaking legs. Cephy was right behind her, hiding her tears in Rachael's moth-eaten sleeves as they both inhaled the clear winter air. The screaming had stopped a while ago, the smell of burning flesh no longer carried on the breeze. Rachael hadn't seen them all die, but she knew that Cephy had panicked and had unleashed the merciless fire of the Dark Mists themselves amongst the soldiers. The last time she had dared to turn around even the commander had been too preoccupied with his burning body to come after them. How long ago had that been? Her legs felt like they had been running for years. Her feet were too heavy to move another inch, and it was tempting to stay in the powdery snow and cool down until she could be sure that the madness had ended.
    “Are the bad men gone?”
    Still shaking from fear, Rachael risked a look behind her, back in the direction they had come from. The snow was undisturbed apart from the small indents their feet had made. Out here in the middle of winter it would have been easy to spot anyone who wasn't supposed to be there, even a White Guard dressed in their traditional white armour.
    Rachael nodded. “Yes, they are. I think they are all dead.” She didn't know what to make of the girl who was now holding on to her middle, crying into her rags yet who had burnt down seasoned soldiers without trouble. She had never met anyone as fragile or scared as Cephy, or anyone as dangerous. The girl had unleashed unimaginable pain upon those men but had needed her permission all the same, despite her vast destructive power.  Their screams were still ringing in her ears. No one who screamed like that in their last moments had died a peaceful death. They had been terrible people, but had they deserved that?
    She reminded herself that, if Cephy hadn't done anything, they'd be on their way to her nightmare right now, tied up and helpless in the back of a cart. Better them than her. She had heard stories of men like these. The smile one of the guards had given her had forever burned itself into her memory. There was no denying it—she owed Cephy her life. As horrible a death as they had suffered, the soldiers hadn't left them with any other options.
    Fight, or be hunted down—it was the way of things, and a lesson Rachael had learned early on. Never had it been more true than today.
    “Come on.” Rachael said. “We need to find shelter, light another fire.”
    “Are we far from the next town?” Rachael wished she had the answer to that. They were too exposed here, the White Guard was likely to return with reinforcements. They couldn't stay out in the open, uncovered as they were. The woods housed other dangers, too, like wolves or other things Rachael didn't know about. The sooner they found shelter, the better.
    “I don't know. We've been out here for a while, there's got to be something. Let's go.”
    Still holding on to Rachael's old clothes, Cephy followed her through the snow. It wasn't as thick here as it had been before, when they had first sat down inside the hollow tree. Maybe it was a sign that there were people nearby.
    The farther they walked, the more dense the forest got. The direction they took never seemed to matter. Rachael doubted the main road was nearby but all she could do was continue walking.
    The sun slowly rose around them, dipping the forest into a dark shade of red until the snow looked stained with blood.
    “Keep an eye out for another tree like the one you saw earlier. We could spend the night in one and continue tomorrow.” Cephy nodded. It wasn't ideal and they would need to stay warm throughout the night, but it was better than being hunted or being despised inside Blackrock. At least out here they