Fletcher froze. So, Malik’s team had been on their side of the river too. Was it possible it was one of them who had tried to kill him?
‘Speaking of which, have you seen Isadora’s team?’ Seraph interjected, breaking up Fletcher’s thoughts. ‘Our window for the raid closes in eight hours.’
‘Are they not here yet?’ Cress exclaimed. ‘We need them!’
‘What do we do now?’ Fletcher asked, his heart pounding. He had not really considered what they would do if another team were late.
‘I’d rather wait for Isadora’s team.’ Malik yawned. ‘If we attack now, their chances of rescue are much lower.’
Sylva snorted, as if Malik had made a joke.
‘Wouldn’t that be a shame,’ she muttered under her breath.
‘I say we hole up here and hope they make an appearance,’ Malik continued, already moving to the fire-lit chamber. ‘The orcs won’t be expecting anything.’
‘The Celestial Corps are on standby right now,’ Seraph warned, looking into the night sky. ‘Every minute we waste is a minute Hominum’s skies go undefended.’
‘Be that as it may, we’re all exhausted,’ Malik replied. ‘We might as well wait until morning.’
Fletcher was bone tired … but they only had eight hours to complete the mission. Who knew how long it would take for them to find their objective in the labyrinth of tunnels ahead?
‘Maybe we should attack now,’ Fletcher argued. ‘We’re about to bed down in the most sacred place in Orcdom, while Hominum’s only air defence waits for us on the ground. Does that not sound crazy to you?’
But support for Malik came from an unlikely source. Seraph had changed his mind.
‘Look, we’re a team down right now,’ Seraph sighed. ‘I know you have issues with Isadora’s lot – hell, I do too – but whether you like it or not, we have a better chance of success with them fighting alongside us. Malik’s team and mine expended a lot of mana crossing that river, we had to use the telekinesis spell to help propel ourselves through that current. We need to rest.’
Malik chimed in.
‘We can go in half-cocked now, or wait a few hours and do it properly. Remember, we only have one shot at this. Let’s make it count.’
‘Easy for you to say,’ Rufus’s voice snarled from within the pyramid. ‘My mother might not last another night.’
Malik winced, but ignored the outburst and beckoned Fletcher’s team to follow him through the entrance.
‘They don’t use this place other than for rituals, right?’ Malik said over his shoulder. ‘Mason says only shamans are allowed in the pyramid. We’re safer hiding here than out in the jungle.’
As whispered greetings were made, Fletcher looked at his team through his scrying lens, Athena’s eyes cutting through the gloom. They were all damp and exhausted from the trip across the river and most had barely slept since the night they had encountered Isadora’s team – unless poison-induced unconsciousness counted. Othello and Atilla were already dozing, their arms around each other’s shoulders. It was true, a night’s rest would do them all good, but was this the right call? Hundreds, if not thousands, of people could die if the Wyverns attacked Hominum that night.
‘All right team, infuse your demons and get some shuteye,’ Fletcher said, slumping to the ground in defeat. ‘I have a feeling we’re going to need it.’
38
Fletcher woke to the sound of drums. They pounded with a deep, incessant throb, booming low and loud across the pyramid.
He was not the only one awake. Mason, the escaped slave, watched him through half-closed eyes. The boy remained silent, but nudged Malik with his foot until the young noble groaned. Moments later he was as awake as Fletcher was, the pulse of noise startling away the vestiges of sleep.
The room was a dim, bare cube, with sleeping bodies surrounding the remains of a fire now reduced to cold ashes. The light of dawn glowed from the corridor outside. They had slept through the night. He looked over and saw Malik was clutching a pocket watch. He peered at it. They had two hours left … was that enough time?
‘What the hell is that noise?’ Jeffrey mumbled from behind Fletcher.
Fletcher turned to see most of his team were awake too, as well as Lysander, Sacharissa and Caliban, who had stayed up all night on watch, in order to wake them in time and to let them know if Isadora’s team arrived. Evidently, they had not.
‘We need to find out what it is,’ Sylva said, peering out of the chamber furtively. She jerked her head back in immediately, her eyes wide with shock.
‘There are orcs out there,’ she whispered. ‘Fetching water from the river. We can’t risk going outside.’
‘That’s not the plan anyway,’ Malik said dismissively. ‘This is the safest place we could be. But yes – we need to find out what that sound is. It could be some sort of ceremony involving the pyramid.’