“On the ridge.” Aesira helped her sit, pulling a few loose twigs and leaves from her hair. “You’re safe now, the sun’s up.” She looked past Bee’s shoulders, finding solace in the warmth of the sun, but her face hardened when in the distance she could hear the faint sound of chimes. “Where’s Birdie? Stone?”
“I don’t know.” Bee rubbed her temples. “The last thing I remember was the beautiful music and then–” Bee pressed her fingers to her temples. “I thought we were back in the Outpost. Bird was there too but it was different.” She shook her head and stood. “We have to find them. I could feel those things draining me. Like they were reaching into my soul." She took Aesira’s hand. “I’m not sure I would have woken up if you didn’t help me,” she said. “I owe you.”
“Let’s find the other two.”
Before it’s too late.
Bee and Aesira split up. Aesira checked the camp first.
Empty.
Then she remembered the edge of the ridge where she nearly fell. Stone had come to her. Even in the dreamy vision she could remember his warmth around her. She sprinted toward the cliff. His jacket was discarded a few feet from the edge and then–there–one leg dangled over the cliff, he laid on his back, his eyes closed and face smooth.
Her hands shook as she knelt beside him and pressed her ear to his chest.
Don’t be gone. Not yet.
It was faint, but his heartbeat sent a surge of hope through her, blossoming like a flower in her chest. She pushed his hair back from his forehead and whispered against his ear.
“Wake up, Stone.” She gripped his shoulders and shook. “Wake up!”
He didn’t move.
Was she too late? Had those creatures sunk their teeth into his soul and leeched every drop? She shook him again. “Stone, you have to wake up.” He frowned, his lips twitching. She gripped his face in her palms. “Wake up, Stone. It’s time to wake up.”
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
He didn’t move.
Defeat slumped Aesira’s shoulders so she laid her head on his chest. There was still the faintest movement, but it brought her more dread than hope. Whatever they were putting him through, she couldn’t imagine. If it was even a fraction of what she’d seen in her dream…
“Commander.” Stone’s hand cupped the back of her head.
“You’re okay?” She sat up. Her hands went to his face, searching for any marks that may have been left on him.
He sat up and she pulled her hands away. “I’m okay. Dreamweavers,” he said. “Fuck, I should have seen that coming.” He sat up and ran a hand across the back of his neck.
She handed him his jacket which he reluctantly took. “This is the west, remember. The land of monsters. In fact,” she said, helping Stone to his feet. “It was your reminder that got me out of my dream. Trust nothing, right?”
“Trust nothing," he repeated. "I suppose here there are dreams and there are nightmares and somehow we are living through both.”
“Holy shit,” Bee shouted. “You’re okay?” She and Birdie joined them on the cliff’s edge.
“Barely,” Stone said.
“I know we all need sleep,” Birdie said, a scowl deepening between her brows, “but I’d like to get off this ridge immediately.”
Twenty-Four
Aesira
The terrain evolved from sand, to red rock, to dense woods–something Aesira wasn’t accustomed to but she couldn’t complain about the shade the expansive trees offered. They were lovely and massive, with their thick trunks and spindly green leaves.
“Over here,” Bee called, pointing to a small thicket of trees. “This should give us some coverage for the night.” The four of them discarded their packs before Bee and Birdie set off to look for any food the new terrain might offer.
The air was damp, springing Aesira’s curls tighter than usual. She struggled to pin them back and eventually gave up, letting the ringlets fall around her face in frizzy clusters. Her muscles spasmedas she stretched her arms above her head. Stone settled in across from her, pulling out his maps and a few journals from his pack.
“Anything useful in there?” She nodded to the journals. Kamari had only shown her a few pages, most of them full of nonsense, but she wondered how valuable they must be for Stone to continue to pack them around. The extra weight couldn’t be doing anything good for his back.
