It was a six-day trek from Gedu to Hilde.

  The trek through the mountains would have taken most travelers six days, but thanks to Psider's guardian, we were able to make it in half that time. The twenty-foot-long giant sandworm glided over the rocky trail, carrying three of us on its back. It was more than strong enough to carry Vin, but the Camadt's anti-magic aura would dispel the massive creature, so he had to ride alongside us on Nipper.

  Guardians were beings that bonded with a mage in order to protect them; unfortunately, the thing that was most dangerous to the mage, the Camadt, was also completely destructive to a guardian. Considering that bonding with a guardian was something that students did during graduation, it made sense in a way that Starna didn’t have one.

  It was something that I planned to ask Master Krav, since Psider refused to talk about Starna’s magical talent with me. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to offend the landshark, but it felt like he didn’t approve of my relationship with his former ward. Much of the trip was spent with him giving her pointers, but otherwise Psider insisted I be quiet so that Starna could focus on her mana control. After two days of silence, I found myself hoping that a monster would attack us just to give me something to do other than stare at the clouds.

  Not much on the continent would want to mess with the 20-foot-long sandworm. It made hunting for the mounts more difficult, but Psider had brought along enough meat to supplement what they couldn’t hunt.

  Relief washed over me as the high walls of the mountain fortress came into view. The walled city of Hilde stood on the edge of a cliff face, hundreds of feet above the shoreline. It was the tallest landmark in the area, which made it easy to spot from hours away.

  “Why do they have such high walls if they’re already the tallest thing on the coast?” I tried a new line of questions.

  It wasn’t the Kharm that answered.

  “The Nevnua Mountain Range is known for their salamanders.” Starna smiled as she opened her gold-and-blue-speckled eyes. “If they didn’t have such high walls, the monsters would be able to get in before the guards could get them off the walls.” Her eyes widened. “Speaking of guards…”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  “Everyone off!” Psider hopped off his guardian and clasped his hands together as he focused on dispelling it.

  I shielded my eyes so I could look at the parapets. We were still far enough away that the tiny shapes of the 500-pound rhinomen looked like ants as they shouted and waved.

  "There are plenty of other monsters that live under this mountain; most of them would be happy to tear into the city." Psider nodded up at the guards. "You can bet that they're getting ready for a siege after seeing old Bessie here." He patted the air where his guardian had been.

  “You mean they're going to attack us?” Starna hugged Shadow tightly as she looked down from her demigryph mount.

  “Considering they just fled from the cult, who used monsters to help siege Gedu?” Psider shook his head. “We should have started walking earlier.”

  “Vincent!” The Landshark turned to my brother. “What do you know about how the Nevnua fight?”

  “Not much.” My brother wheezed as he leaned on Nipper. The Camadt had been running the last few miles. As he caught his breath, he pointed at the sky. “Uziah says they like to teleport, but I’ve never fought one.”

  “Exactly.” Psider’s face split into a very toothy shark smile. “Camadt disrupt their portals, so most won’t risk trying to portal over one.” He motioned for us all to get closer. “So stay close to Vincent. The Nevnua are less likely to attack if they can tell we have a Camadt with us.”

  “Weren’t the cultists wearing Camadt hides?” I tried not to let the brutality turn my stomach too much.

  “They might still attack first and ask questions later, but overall, the Nevnua are a curious race. If we can get close enough to talk to them, we should be fine.” Psider took a deep breath. “If we weren’t on the continent of death, then I could just communicate directly with Master Krav, but there’s too much interference here.”

  The forty foot high walls stood like an unscalable summit as we walked closer. There were few times in my life when my powers had been useless and this was one of those times. Even on the seas, the pirates would have to board the ship and then they’d be close enough that I could touch them. Here, we were exposed on a narrow mountain path. If the Nevnua decided to lob boulders at us from high behind their walls, there would be nowhere to run.

  Starna tried to suppress a shiver as she clung tight to the kitten in her arms.

  I grabbed the dark-gray Elf’s hand and squeezed it, though it was just as much to reassure myself than to comfort her. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll make it through this alright.”

  She smiled as she squeezed back.

  Movement behind the parapets sank my heart. I hoped I hadn’t just lied to her.

  Rating, Review, Follow, Favorite, or Comment does wonders to boost my morale. If you want to help support my writing or check out advanced chapters, head over to my .

  Immersive Ink

  RR Writer's Guild