Not exactly. Danny’s healing magic had awoken during his adventure with Kerrick in the north. But not many people knew about him. Yet another worry flared. Had Tohon told Cellina about his experiments with the Death Lily toxin? The people who survived being poisoned with the toxin all developed healing powers. Tohon had been injecting it into children, hoping to make healers. Danny and Zila had lived through it, but I’d rescued them. If Tohon had kept it secret, all should be well.

If not... I considered. Danny remained with the northern tribes and Zila stayed with Kerrick’s brother, Izak. Both were in Alga Realm, safe on the other side of the Nine Mountains for now.

“But Avry won’t heal Tohon,” Quain said. “Right? You agreed with Kerrick’s decision to kill Sepp.”

“Right. I won’t.”

“And we all know you can’t be threatened, bullied, coerced, or bribed to heal someone you don’t want to.” Loren smiled.

Quain rubbed his neck. “Yeah, we learned that lesson the hard way.”

“I’d say Kerrick had the most learning to do. Fun times.”

I wouldn’t go so far as to call them fun. However, those days when we’d been all together had been...nice, despite the danger. And now... Grief and sadness filled me. Would I lose everyone I loved before this war ended?

We lapsed into silence. The farther we moved away from the infirmary cave, the greater the chance of encountering an enemy patrol. The night insects buzzed and chirped.

When the sun rose, we stopped for a quick breakfast and continued. In the daylight, the monkeys searched for any signs that Kerrick had passed this way.

“Would he even leave a trail?” I asked.

“If he was too sick to do his tree mojo, he might have broken some branches,” Quain said.

And I still hadn’t felt a ripple of his magic. Which meant he was either unconscious, already inside a Lily, or dead. I leaned against a tree’s trunk for a moment as a wave of misery swept through me. No. Not until I had proof.

Pushing away those dire thoughts, I straightened. “I’ll meet you guys there. You’re slowing me down.” I sprinted down the trail.

They picked up their pace and we reached the Lily cluster a few hours after dawn.

“There’s no sign Kerrick came this way,” Quain said, examining the ground.

I shot him a nasty look.

Loren punched him in the arm. Hard.

“What?”

Ignoring them, I pulled off my cloak and knapsack, setting them down. I moved closer and studied the six Lilys. The cluster grew among the trees. Giant white man-size flowers topped thick green stalks. Thorny vines jumbled below and the scent of honey and lemons filled the air. Get too close to a Death Lily and either the petals snatched you or the vines ensnared you and pulled you in. Once trapped, you couldn’t escape even if armed with a sharp knife. The thick and fibrous petals and leaves resisted punctures and tears.