Ties That Bind: a New Adult Fantasy Novel (The Spire Chronicles Book 2) by Ashley Meira Page A

wanted to ease his pain.
    I wanted him back.
    My tumultuous state of mind – and admittedly unwarranted bitterness towards Tom – made it impossible for me to glean any flashes of his last few memories. Luckily, I didn’t need to empathize to follow a magic path. The plain silver chain led us to the outskirts of town, past the walls, and into the forest.
    Our silent standoff hadn’t allowed us to form a plan for what would happen if we ran into any hostile werewolves or shifters. Personally, I was hoping anyone we ran into would be friendly, but considering Marshall’s behavior, it was safer to say we were going to have to fight our way out. Not that I don’t enjoy getting mauled by giant supernatural animals, but– Oh wait, I don’t. I just hope they didn’t strike while I was distracted by my tracking spell.
    We proceeded with caution, despite every step we took sounding like a cracking gunshot to my ears; if I could hear us walking, they certainly would. The forests were as bare as yesterday and the sunlight trying to fight through the thick clouds made everything look even more desolate than it had last night. The air was still, silent. It felt more like we were trekking through a graveyard than a forest.
    I guess we were walking through both.
    I tried to keep track of the path we took to make getting back home easier, but it was difficult to do so while following the spell. With the tracking spell in effect, the world around me blurred and a glimmering white path would appear in focus, leading me to the item’s owner. Effective, but very distracting – like tunnel vision times ten thousand.
    Everything around me was washed out, and after memorizing a bit of the glimmering path, I stopped the spell with a heavy exhale. My foot hit a pebble, and I stumbled forward, scratching my hand on a nearby tree as I caught myself. I examined my hand carefully for splinters a.k.a. wooden demon spawn, and sighed in relief when I found none. There were some scrapes and a bit of blood, but that would heal momentarily.
    “Are you okay?” Alex asked.
    Despite our current distance, his concern made me feel fuzzy inside. “Yeah, just a scratch. I tripped over a rock – trekking through the woods isn’t something I’m used to.”
    He licked his lips and nodded awkwardly. “Just…be careful.”
    I nodded back, trying not to think about how much it hurt that he didn’t even want to touch me. Alex didn’t look winded as we moved on, but I felt like my lungs were about to burst from the cold and exertion. There weren’t a lot of places in cities you had to hike to on a regular basis, so it’s not like I ever had the chance (or the desire, honestly) to practice.
    The farther we went, the quieter it seemed to get. It felt impossible – the woods had been silent since we entered them – but it felt like we had stepped into another world. The wind that picked up didn’t seem to affect the area around us at all, not even the brush shifted or rustled. I knew the forests around Dovesport were old, but this place felt positively ancient. Were we nearing the heart of the ley line?
    We kept going west, per the path, leaves crunching under our feet as if we were titans treading over the earth. They were less sparse here for some reason, the dirt under us far more cluttered than it had been near the borders of these woods. All of a sudden, the glimmering path vanished with a puff of sparkles and dust, and the world came into focus on its own. The area didn’t look any different than the rest of the forest, but there was a strange current flowing under my feet. Magic.
    “Alex, stop.”
    He did, turning to me. “What is it?”
    “Someone’s placed a spell around the preceding area. I can’t trace any further along this path.”
    “What kind of spell?” he asked, coming to stand with me.
    I took a second to appreciate his proximity before I knelt and placed my hand flat on the ground. The current thrummed. It pulsed underneath