CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Royce clambered over rocks, ignoring the way the obsidian scraped at his hands, following the marks of the stag. The path was heading upward more steeply now, so that he was climbing as often as walking, forced to drag himself ever upward in the direction of the tower that waited.
He hoped his friends would be all right as he forced his way between two outcrops of rock. Leaving them behind had been the right thing to do, the only thing, but even so, there were so many dangers on the island, and all of them were too weak to truly fight. Royce had to force himself to keep his attention on the route ahead as he climbed upward, ever upward.
Above, the volcano was spewing smoke. Royce didn’t know if that was normal, or if it portended something even worse than the rest of the
