The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Chapter 12
Under a canopy of glittering ruby instead of gold, we
climbed the Skotos Mountains at a harsh pace that left little
room to question what had happened to the trees of Aios.
Not that either Casteel or Naill had an answer. I could feel
their shock and unease just as strongly as I felt the same
emotions radiating from the wolven as red instead of gold
glistened from the bark of the magnificent, sweeping trees.
We split into groups as before, even though there were
only faint wisps of mist seeping through prickly shrubs and
curling along the thick moss covering the forest floor on the
mountain. Kieran and Delano stayed with us as we moved
steadily up. There were no sounds of birds or any animals,
and while the branches, heavy with gleaming crimson
leaves, swayed above us, there was no echo of wind, either.
No one spoke beyond Casteel asking if I was hungry or Naill
offering his flask, claiming the whiskey would help keep us
warm the farther we traveled. Hours into the journey, we
stopped long enough to take care of personal needs, feed
the horses, and for both Naill and Casteel to don their
cloaks. Once I was basically swaddled in the blanket Casteel
had brought from the cabin, we continued on in the
mountains that were still beautiful in a quiet, unsettling way.
I couldn’t stop staring at the leaves above me and the deep
red ones that had fallen to the ground, peeking out from
behind rocks and shrubs. It was as if the entire mountain
had turned into one massive Blood Forest—one absent of
the Craven.