Free The Darkling Tide by Travis Simmons Page A

surface. It was a deep green and spoke to Abagail of dead things. An overgrown land bridge divided the lake and traveled from their shore to the next.
    Abagail shivered.
    “I don’t remember a lake being here,” Daniken said, her perfectly shaped brows furrowing.
    “Is this part of Singer’s Trail?” Leona asked. “There’s a thin part that goes around it. Is that also Singer’s Trail?”
    Daniken seemed to be thinking. “I’m not really sure to be honest.”
    “Well, here’s the thing, if we go around it there’s a chance that isn’t Singer’s Trail over there. If we cross it, there could be any number of darkling in there.” Rorick pointed at the haunting lake.
    “Daphne is flying around it,” Abagail said, pointing to the left of the lake where the pixie was meandering through the air, her purple glow dimming with her increased distance from them. “And besides, how would darklings get into this lake from the woods?”
    “There’s a point there,” Daniken said. “And I would tend to agree with you if it wasn’t for the fact that once already you’ve reported a darkling on the trail, and we almost had those elle folk break through the warding as well.”
    “But this lake seems like it’s been here for a while,” Abagail argued.
    “You can’t honestly be thinking of crossing it, can you?” Leona asked.
    Abagail looked down at her afflicted palm. “I don’t feel anything coming from the lake,” she reported. “If that makes any difference. But sometimes it’s hit or miss.”
    Daniken nodded and stepped forward. She struck her finger against the moon scepter and a ripple of music and light shimmered from the depths. With her other hand she directed the light out across the lake. It skirted over the water, mingling with the fog to glow eerily off the green surface of the lake.
    Nothing moved.
    “Well, that’s encouraging,” Rorick said. “We should all be prepared for something anyway.” He unlatched his hammer.
    Abagail drew her sword and tried to ignore Leona rolling her eyes as she pulled the kitchen knife from her boot.
    No one moved. Daniken looked like she was about to be sick, and Rorick acted like he was building up his courage. For all of their bravado at wanting to eradicate the darklings, both of them seemed to turn into children jumping at shadows when faced with uncertainty.
    Abagail rolled her eyes and stepped out onto the first moss covered rock of the land bridge. She spun the sword in her hand nervously and took a deep breath. She pressed on, and soon she was joined by Leona. The rocks were slick under her feet. At random intervals there was some kind of give to the stones. Maybe they weren’t stones at all.
    Maybe logs? Maybe someone had made this bridge and time and weather had taken its toll on them. But where are the railings?
    As she walked, Abagail cast her eyes around, looking for anything that might be a railing. Maybe the railing had fallen off into the lake? She tried to find evidence of that, but she couldn’t.
    Her foot slipped, and she went down on one knee, barely catching herself with the point of the sword stabbed into the bridge beneath her. Her heart raced in her chest, and sweat instantly bloomed on her forehead. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
    “Abbie!” Leona said from over her shoulder. “Be careful!”
    “What’s going on up there?” Daniken said, her voice echoing across the silent lake from some distance behind them.
    “Abbie almost fell in,” Leona called back.
    “Is she ok?” Rorick asked.
    “I’m fine!” Abagail called. She pushed to her feet, her knees shaky with her near mishap. Okay, she thought. You can do this. She took a step forward, making sure her foot was secure before putting any weight on it.
    “This is going to take forever,” Abagail said. She looked off to the trail to the left. “It would have been easier to go that way.”
    “Should we turn around?” Leona asked.
    “We are almost halfway, if