Rayna dusted off her hands. “So, that leaves the Beastmasters and the Kodama. I get how the Beastmasters might fight us, but how could the Kodama use plants and healing to test us?”
“I’d say they have been shifting more than rocks around. There is new growth everywhere.”
She touched the bright green ivy beneath her knees. “I suppose we are not meant to run these tests in one day. If you had weeks to be lost in the forest, this would be almost easier.”
They were exhausted. Sweat rolled down his back. He didn’t want to think about what might have happened. While they lay there, he heard stone grinding against one another, and then the ground fell silent. He opened his mouth to comment about their insane climb, but a wolf’s howl interrupted him. They listened in silence. A return howl echoed through the trees, followed by multiple wolf calls. Smoke was returning with the alpha.
“What a relief,” Kai sighed, placing a hand on Rayna’s shoulder.
He stopped to meditate and focus his own internal power. It was something the Lumens could not take from him. He needed to search for Smoke. He caught his wolf and the wild pack moments before they were consumed by the blackout. Still, Kai meditated on gathering his strength while thinking of Smoke. Focused on the memory of his companion, he channeled his energy in the direction he’d heard the howls.
Miles away, he felt the connection and saw an iridescent glow wash over Smoke. For a few seconds, he saw their approach. They were closing in fast and would reach them within moments. Now that the ground had stopped shaking, he could hear the rush of the waterfall. They were close.
Back on their feet, they walked in the direction of the river. The sound grew louder, and the trees thinned. To their delight, they were now well above the second set of falls. Thank goodness, Kai thought. He did not want to have to re-climb any more today. At least they had made some progress.
As the ground ahead slanted upward, rays of indirect sunlight filtered through the trees. The think foliage made walking a challenge, but it was good to know they were going the right way.
Smoke and the alpha bounded through the underbrush behind them. Relieved, Kai knelt with pleasure to welcome his old friends. Smoke leaned into Rayna. “How are the wolves meant to help us? I am not sure I understand…” She lowered her hand to the alpha, and he sniffed her fingers.
“My strategy is to use Smoke and the wolves in a way I hope the Katori Guardians will not anticipate.”
“Wait,” she interrupted him. “Can’t all Beastmasters connect with animals? They will know you are using Smoke.”
“True, they might think I was communicating with him, so I will keep him close to us. But I share my mother’s rare gift of focusing on someone and bouncing light off them to find their location. If I can ricochet my magic off the pack, I could use them as beacons. Each wolf could be set along a route pointing to the third waterfall. They can find us a clear path.”
Rayna raised an eyebrow. “Sounds complicated...”
“Good to see you, old friend.” Kai counted the other wolves. “Two new pups. Your pack has grown since last summer.”
The alpha licked Kai’s face before he set off into the woods. Through their connection, Kai sent Smoke and the pack ahead. They needed to find a path to the third set of falls. Kai did his best to stay connected to Smoke while he kept the river within earshot. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before dense foliage and thorny underbrush pushed Kai and Rayna back into the forest.
Chapter 5
Dragon’s Breath
This time, Kai refused to go too deep into the woods. They took any chance they had to climb a rock or traverse a small stream. There would not be a repeat of losing ground, tramping too far south. However, when they came to a large stone wall, he paused. He leaned against the rock, frustrated that it seemed to stretch on forever. His sweaty forehead rested against the cold stone.
“Are you alright, Kai?” Rayna asked.
“I chose wrong,” he confessed as doubt consumed him. “I just don’t know what I am doing. Maybe we should have kept the pack closer. Since I am unable to glean, I do not know how they got around this wall. Is there an easy way up? A place to jump?” He stepped back a few paces and wiped dirt from his face. The disturbed pine needles beneath his feet told him an animal had turned here. “I am not a tracker, I don’t know which way they went. “He shook his head. “We cannot venture back south,” he felt deflated with all his choices now.
Rayna ran her hand down his arm and took hold of his hand. “We climb up here. It seems if the wolves could have, they would have gone up here. This doesn’t look any harder than the other things we’ve climbed today. I think we can follow that ledge all the way back to the river.”
Her confidence in him quieted the doubt wrestling in his mind. “You’re right, this wall can’t be more than ten feet high. The ledge will get us out of the undergrowth and make for easy walking. Not sure what is farther up the wall, but the ledge will work.”
Bent down, Kai interlocked his fingers. Rayna placed her foot in his hands and grabbed his shoulders. “On the count of three. 1—2—3.”
He heaved her upwards. She grabbed the narrow lip
