Nodding, Jala turned on the bed and placed a foot in the center of Valor’s back. With a quick shove she pushed him off the bed. There was a loud thump followed quickly by a curse and she leaned over to see Valor glaring up at her. “Oh, good, you are awake,” she said sweetly smiling down at him.
“I will remember that,” Valor promised and climbed slowly to his feet, his eyes still fogged with sleep. With another muffled curse he rubbed the back of his head and gave her a mild glare.
“They are ready to open the gate,” she told him quietly.
His expression cleared and all traces of sleep fled his dark blue eyes. With a nod he stretched and she rose to join him. “Well then let’s get Finn,” he said with a faint smile.
“Are you scared?” she asked, watching his expression.
“Nervous. I wouldn’t say scared, though,” Valor replied and raised an eyebrow at her.
She nodded and waved a hand toward him. “Nervous, like you said,” she said with a faint chuckle. Turning, she made her way to the door and lifted her pack onto her shoulder.
Valor followed after her silently as they left the cabin and stepped out into the cold night air. The witches had built a bonfire in the clearing and the flames fought back some of the chill, but not much. Valor let out a quick breath and pulled his cloak tighter around him before going to retrieve his horse.
He spared a quick glance toward the small group of women near the fire as he walked but quickly looked away. Jala smiled in understanding. Of the five witches by the fire, Anthe was the only one wearing clothing.
“We are taking him with us?” she asked in surprise as he led the animal back to stand beside her, his eyes still carefully averted from the fire.
“Of course,” Valor replied with a smile and ran a hand down the horse’s neck. “I would never take Vanguard on such a journey, he is a tournament horse. Valorous is an Arovanni though. His sole purpose is for things such as this. The Arovanni are sacred and are only used in the most dire of times,” he explained.
“I see, well we will most definitely be back within three moons then,” she said with a smile and turned to watch the witches as they began to chant. Anthe stood at the northern side of the bonfire, her hands upraised and her eyes closed. Her voice was the first to begin the chant but the others quickly joined their voices. Moonlight glinted off pale skin as they swayed in place. The air thickened as the spell grew stronger and the clearing seemed to grow thicker with shadows.
“So, Neph never taught you this kind of magic eh?” Valor asked quietly with a bit of a smirk.
She grinned at the mental image of the somber Delvayon casting anything naked in the moonlight. “No, I’m afraid he didn’t,” she replied with a bit of a chuckle. Her nerves were on edge and she could feel her adrenaline rising as the shadows thickened more and began to form an archway over the fire.
“Valor.” She paused and looked over at him. He met her eyes and arched an eyebrow in question. “What are you scared of?” she asked. She was yet to see the knight balk at anything. Even now he stood calmly as if he was simply awaiting a table at a café.
“Failure. The thought of failing those I care for terrifies me more than anything,” he replied softly.
She nodded slowly and looked back toward the shadow gate. By the looks of it the spell was nearly complete. “I’m afraid of loss more than anything. Everything I care about, I lose.” Taking a deep breath she knelt down and hugged Marrow, kissing him on the top of the head and then stood slowly again looking back to Valor who was watching her silently. “Don’t add to that fear, Valor. We walk in there together and we walk back out together, OK?”
He offered her his hand and she took it, keeping her gaze on him. “We walk in together, and walk back out with Finn,” he said with a smile and looked back toward the witches.
“Thank you for going with me Valor,” she whispered as Anthe nodded for them to step forward. Jala stared at the writhing shadows of the gate and tried to ignore the shadow-wrapped faces that stared back at her. A sound like a thousand voices whispering echoed through the archway.
“What are friends for,” Valor said with a faint chuckle and shook his head at the gate before looking down at her. “If any of those faces bite me as we walk, though, you better be ready to heal.”
“Oh gods, you see them too,” she whispered. She had been hoping they were a trick of the light.
“Step through quickly, the dead fight to close the way!” Anthe called to them, her voice sounding strained.
Squeezing her hand again, Valor stepped forward with her. Valorous was close behind the two of them, snorting softly in displeasure. Jala turned her head quickly and looked back to Marrow who crouched on the porch watching her with fear clear in his eyes. “I’ll be back Marrow I promise,” she called as they stepped into the ring of shadows surrounding the arch. The whispering grew louder as the darkness closed over them and she gripped Valor’s hand tighter as they stepped fully into the arch. The ground seemed to sag beneath her boots and the air grew painfully cold.
“I envy Finn right now, Jala,” Valor said softly as the last of the light vanished behind them. “This is something that bards will sing about for centuries to come.”
“If we live,” she whispered quietly.
“They will sing regardless, if we die it will be a tragic song, if we live it will be a romance,” he replied with a soft chuckle.
“I’ve had enough tragedy, Valor. Let’s make sure they sing a romance,” she replied as the whispering grew louder still.
She could see bodies moving in the shadows now rather than simply faces. They were circling the three of them like wolves as they moved. She watched them as the shadows began to lighten to the color of twilight and slowly released Valor’s hand.