“Who is the next strongest mage?” I asked.

Sepp slurped the juice from his bowl. “It’s a toss-up between Jael and Kerrick. Their powers are so different, it’s hard to compare them.” He considered. “Jael, probably, since she can access her power anywhere. Then Pov, me, Marisol—she’s a water mage working for Estrid—Aidan, Ulany and Selene, the moon mage. She’s only good for one thing—influencing the tides.”

Interesting commentary. I wondered how he knew everyone’s names and strengths. “What about me? Where do I rank?”

“You?” He seemed taken aback. “Uh, you’re a healer…not really a mage. I guess you’d be after Selene.”

Which meant good for one thing only. Sepp underestimated healers, but I wasn’t about to educate him. “Are there any other mages in the Realms?”

“No.”

“But Kerrick had said a few were lying low.”

“No. They’re dead. Tohon killed any mage who wouldn’t swear loyalty to him. The exceptions are Estrid’s mages, who are protected by Jael.”

“Why would Kerrick lie to me?” I asked.

“Probably so you wouldn’t be afraid.”

No. Kerrick made sure I had been well aware of Tohon’s despicable actions. More incentive to heal Ryne. He hadn’t told Sepp about my reluctance and I wondered why. Perhaps Kerrick didn’t fully trust Sepp. Not good, considering I needed to trust him.

“Sounds like Tohon will be hard to beat,” I said.

“One on one, yes. But when you combine me, Kerrick, Jael and Marisol, then the odds are very much in our favor.”

I didn’t believe Jael would join forces with the others, but perhaps she’d change her mind when she learned about the dead soldiers. “What about his special soldiers?” I shuddered.

“They’re easy to stop. Don’t worry about them, they’re my problem.” He waved a hand like a king granting a boon.

“But how did Tohon create them? Any ideas since that’s more your…area of expertise?”

His scowl reminded me of Kerrick. A pang of loneliness touched my heart. It had been only a few days and I missed the guys. Even Kerrick, but I wouldn’t admit that to anyone.

“A skill I’ve never exercised,” Sepp said, sounding insulted. “My magic allows me to see death. If a person is sick, I can sense if the illness will kill them or not. When a dead body is found, I know at a touch what killed him or her. I can’t take a life like Tohon, but I can pause it, freeze it, so the person is in a fake death.”

Good information, but I noticed he hadn’t answered my question. Either he didn’t have a clue how Tohon “woke” the dead, or he knew, but didn’t want to share. Which led me to wonder, why not?

We crossed the Orel Pass four days later. As we descended into the foothills and into the Realm of Sogra, the possibility of encountering Tohon’s dead soldiers and his living army increased a hundred percent since we hadn’t seen any of them in the Nine Mountains.

After a mile, I realized Kerrick never taught Sepp how to travel through the woods. Dried leaves crunched under his boots. Twigs snapped. Convinced the whole Realm heard us, I held my stiletto ready for a fight.

Sepp also didn’t seem worried about being ambushed. The first day, he paused around midday and sniffed the air like a bloodhound. I copied his actions. The weather had been cold yet fair, but today it warmed up to comfortable. Listening for any strange noises, I noted the increase in bird activity. Spring was only ten days away.

The second day, Sepp stopped early in the morning. He pulled me behind a clump of pine trees. We crouched as a squad of dead shuffled past. They were led by a few living soldiers. I bit on my sleeve to keep from crying out. I really needed to clamp down on my panic. I knew I’d have to be “caught” soon, but I would not surrender to a squad of abominations. When they were gone, Sepp resumed our trek. At least the near run-in with the dead answered one question about Sepp’s abilities. One of the dozen knots in my stomach loosened.

Sepp appeared thoughtful the remainder of the day. That night as we huddled in the dark—a campfire was too risky—he speculated on whether he could unanimate the dead.

“I don’t think my powers will have any effect on them. There’s nothing there. Death is a threshold,” Sepp said. He made a grabbing motion with his right hand. “I can snatch a person just before they enter that threshold. Once they’ve crossed it, I know what pushed them through. But these…dead. There’s nothing to grab.”

“Can you freeze them?” I asked.

“Maybe.”

Not very comforting. “Then best to avoid them altogether.”

For the next four days, we dodged the dead and a few squads of living soldiers. The groups broadcasted their presence miles away. Their noise was loud to me, but Sepp didn’t hear them until they were almost on top of us.

On the fifth morning we slowed our pace as the forest thinned. Farm fields dominated the rolling landscape. A couple had been plowed, but winter wheat covered the rest. We kept away from the edges of the fields. Death Lilys tended to grow there, hoping to catch a farmer unaware.

“Not that I have to worry about Death Lilys,” Sepp said in his superior tone.

The tone I loathed. I considered ignoring him, but his knowledge, no matter the way it was imparted, could be vital to our mission. “Why not?”