The air swirling around her stilled, a sense of weight coming from it—as if it was sentient and the matter at hand required much contemplation.
Even as removed as we are, trapped here away from the sun and the world, we can feel it. Feel as the heart awakens bringing with it the old ones. Right now, they are testing this new world, but soon, soon they will rise and seek to finish what they once started. It will be a new order, one based on their warped vision of perfection.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Did you think you could walk into the heart of where it all began and come out unchanged? No, my dear, you stared it in the face, listened to its voice. It’s not a question of if you’ve changed, but how much you’ve changed.
“I don’t understand.”
There was a great sigh, one sound coming from a thousand voices. No, I suppose you don’t. You will soon. Take your people and leave this place. You have until the sun hits the doors above the fault. After that, we consume all that has remained.
The wind brushing against Shea died down, leaving nothing but emptiness behind. The blue haze faded. Shea thought she saw the faintest outline of forms.
Fallon and her group were the only living beings that remained.
He crossed the space between them at a run, grabbing her in a hug that threatened to crush her.
“Fallon, we need to get out of here.”
“I know. I heard.”
Shea drew back. “How did you even find us?”
“I took that tunnel you had pointed out and found Clark and his friend wandering down there. We’ve been traveling together over the past few hours. Your chase through the city caught our attention. When we saw what was happening, we waited until the right moment.” He brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and cupped the back of her neck. “That was close.”
She nodded. “Yeah.” Even closer than he knew. The denizens of this place could very well have decided to take them along with Charles and his men. The fact they hadn’t was a curious blessing.
“If you two are done, perhaps we can leave. You heard what that thing said. Anyone down here come sunrise is a walking meal.” Braden looked at the cavern ceiling. It was still black, no evidence of light filtering down from the cracks and holes, so there was no way to tell how close to sunrise they were.
Fallon looked at his general. “I’m looking forward to the story of how you two came to be wandering around out here without any protection.”
Shea grimaced. He was not going to be happy when he heard that story.
His expression softened when he looked back at her. “Until then, let’s get Fiona patched up and then get moving.”
She nodded her agreement.
Fallon gave her neck one last squeeze before he stepped back. Braden gave Shea a considering expression before moving to help Fallon with Fiona. Shea took one last look around, paying attention to the buildings’ roofs before turning her attention back to the matter at hand.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
SHEA WATCHED the last of Fallon’s men pass through the small set of doors that would give them entry to the Highlands. On each door, a set of runes was carved. Shea didn’t need to know the language to know that it was probably the reason why the denizens of the caverns remained where they were.
They were just in time. The sky had darkened to a deep midnight as the stars and the moon shuttered their faces in preparation of day. Soon, threads of color would begin eating away at the darkness as the sun rose.
Clark stared at the doors with a slightly lost expression on his face. He’d been silent on the way out. None of his normal chipper personality showed. The only time Shea saw a glimpse of the old Clark was when Buck and Eamon had tackled him when they’d appeared.
After the reunion, he’d withdrawn again.
Shea approached him, not knowing what to say. His friend had betrayed him in one of the worst ways imaginable. That tended to leave a mark on a person. No platitude she gave him would make that better.
She settled for standing beside him as the sun began to rise, letting him know without words that she was there for him. That he wasn’t alone. Sometimes, that’s all you could do for a person.
When his head bowed and his shoulders shook from silent tears, Shea took a step closer and wrapped her arm around him. She kept a grip on him even after Eamon came up on his other side. His eyes met hers in understanding. She’d told him what had happened with Charles on the journey out.
Long after the dark had ceded dominion to the light, Clark straightened and gave them each a small, hesitant smile.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Shea said. She withdrew a green jacket from her pack. “We found this while in the city. I believe it belongs to you.”
“My jacket.” Clark reached out to touch it. Shea handed it to him. “How did you find it?”
“It was just hanging from a post in the city. Actually, stopping to retrieve it probably saved Fallon’s and my lives. How’d you lose it?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Clark’s face was perplexed. “I woke up to find it gone after the first time Fiona and I stopped to rest. I’d lain it on top of me to keep warm as I slept.”
His eyes were sad as he looked at it. He fell silent, his thoughts turning inward. Shea didn’t push.
“We’re here for you when you want to talk,” Eamon told him.
Clark gave him a nod before walking away.
“He’ll get over this,” Eamon said.
Shea hoped so, even as she doubted it would be for a very long time.
“Looks like your Warlord has need of you,” Eamon observed. He took his leave, saying, “I’m glad you’re alright and were able to find Clark.”
“I’ll catch up with you later.”
Fallon stepped close and wrapped his arms around Shea. She allowed herself a moment to be supported by his strength. Then she straightened and forced back her tears. “The men should take a brief break and then we need to move on. I want this place far in our shadow before we stop for the night,” she said.
Fallon watched her for a long moment, assessing her mental state. She avoided his eyes. Sometimes she thought he saw too much with that oddly penetrating gaze of his, and right now she didn’t know if she could bear having her inner self on display.
He gave her a nod and let her walk away, before he gestured for Caden and Braden to relay her orders.
*
“This isn’t the path to the Wayfarer’s Keep,” Shea said, staring up at the mountain ridge in front of her. They had stopped halfway up the mountain, just below the tree line. If her memory was correct, this would take them west of the keep by several week’s ride.
Reece took a swig of his water before capping it and putting it back in the saddle bags. Fallon had ordered a horse for him when it became clear his continued walking would only slow them down. Unlike when Shea was his captive, he had ordered a proper horse for the pathfinder, not some stunted growth mule that couldn’t match a horse’s longer strides.