A Soul For Atonement (The Soulbearer Series Book 4) by Crista McHugh Page A

second.
    This portal was an entirely different experience, which she could only attribute to the distance it spanned. Her vision blurred in a rainbow of colors, all flying past her at dizzying speeds. The ground beneath her feet dropped, followed by her stomach. Her body careened out of control, propelled forward by some unseen force. And just when she thought she was rushing headfirst toward her death, the ground solidified under her feet, and she pitched forward into a pair of strong arms.
    “Careful, Soulbearer,” Callix warned. “It takes a few seconds to get your bearing, and we don’t want you falling off the mountain.”
    Her vision cleared to reveal the steep drop off in front of her. She backed away and pushed his arms off. “I suppose I should thank you.”
    He shrugged and shifted the weight of his pack. “So this is where Syd was found?”
    Sazi nodded and pointed to a small crevice in the cliff wall. “There.”
    The space was small enough for Arden to squeeze into and provided some shelter from the icy winds that blasted down from the surrounding snow-covered peaks. “When he was captured, did he say anything that might give us a clue to the gate’s location?”
    Reluctance seemed to slow Sazi’s response, and she averted her gaze. “By the time we found him, he was fully consumed by the madness.”
    Arden didn’t need to hear any more. She’d seen what happened to a Soulbearer when the madness struck and knew what fate eventually awaited her. “Had he shown any signs before he stole the relic?”
    Another downward side glance. “Mild signs, yes.”
    “But nothing like the full-blown insanity.” Arden drew in a deep breath and let it out. This didn’t bode well at all. She’d only been there in dreams and had returned to reality unscathed, but dreams were different than reality. If Syd’s trip to Chaos accelerated his madness, what would it do to her?
    “ Is that why you showed me the location, Loku? To lure me into your realm so you can toy with my mind?”
    The strained presence made himself known, but no other response came.
    “So if he was found here, then we should probably continue toward the Temple of Lireal.” Callix brushed by them and took the lead.
    As the sun set behind the mountains, the gusty winds bloomed into a full-blown storm. Tiny shards of ice bit into Arden’s exposed skin, and her breath billowed out in front of her in clouds of white. Snow gathered around her feet, growing deeper and deeper with each passing mile along the narrow mountain road. Her fingers and toes burned at first and then grew numb.
    Callix paused and turned to them, frost caking his cloak. “We should find shelter until it ends.”
    Sazi nodded, her dress whirling around her bare arms. Unlike Arden and Callix, she seemed immune to the cold. “Stay here.”
    She unfurled her wings, and with a few powerful flaps, she was up in the sky and hidden by the swirling snow.
    Callix came closer and pushed her back against the cliff wall, blocking some of the wind with his body. “Are you staying warm enough?”
    “For now.” She buried her hands in Cinder’s warm fur and welcomed the painful sting that signaled the thaw. It was far better than trying to figure out Callix’s sudden concern for her well-being.
    Sazi returned several minutes later, her usual grace hampered by the storm that made her stumble as she landed. “There is a cave not too far from here.”
    Arden’s legs felt twice their weight as she took the first few steps. She lowered her head and focused on the rapidly disappearing imprints in the snow in front of her, careful to follow the same path Sazi had cut for them. Fatigue heightened the numbing cold that sapped her energy. But just when she wondered if she had enough in her to take another step, Sazi pulled her into a dark cavern.
    Arden’s chattering teeth made it twice as difficult to say, “Cinder, light up.”
    The fire wolf moved away from her side and burst into flames.