After a few more paces, he groaned, turning back to me as I hugged myself and followed pitifully.
“Take my hand,” he said, like it pained him to offer.
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t speak, and our harsh stares battled each other. I could hardly see him in the fleeting light, but the water added some reflection, at least.
With a disgruntled huff I dropped my palm into his, and immediately he tightened his hold, all but pulling me along. It only took a few seconds for me to feel more at ease, secure. Holding onto each other would be a tether of security should another wave come, and I tightened my grip too with that thought.
“You could warm us both,” Drystan said after a moment.
Now that I wasn’t prickling with the anticipation of being drowned or being cautious to keep the light from being seen, my body started to relax and I reached for my magick. My silver markings glowed faintly, giving us more light to navigate the dark. Warmth started to trickle over me, and I sighed in relief from the cold, but it wouldn’t dry us, nor would our feet have any chance with the shallow pool we had to walk through.
There was something about the dark that left no option but to be trusting; regardless, I knew my heart trusted Drystan even when my mind couldn’t.
5Astraea
Climbing up into the second level of the city from our cave entrance had proven to be the most difficult part. Many of the steps had worn and crumbled over the centuries this escape route had been abandoned. We made it to the top after nearly plummeting to our deaths a few times—at least that had been what Drystan rambled about constantly while apparently I had nothing to worry about with wings to catch me.
Our clothes were still uncomfortably damp, and while my magick had provided us some warmth, we were miserable in our current state. Not off to the best nor most competent start in this mission. We pressed ourselves against a narrow, dark alley wall. Our hoods were up, and coverings were over the lower halves of our faces. It wasn’t uncommon to see suspicious looking persons like this around the city; they were usually assassins or unsavory mercenaries that people avoided the paths of. Yet we had to be cautious. One tip off would turn this place into a maze of a hunting ground, which we were all but locked in. Even if I had an opportunity to escape by flying, I wouldn’t leave Drystan.
“We need to dry ourselves and get rest before we risk our lives again,” Drystan said, still scouting the street to decide where to go.
Of course, if we were going to die in our quest to get Eltanin, better to be comfortable and energized. We were on the upper level of the city, which was thickest with Auster’s forces. Every nerve in me was on high alert.
“I am highly insulted to be worth a lesser reward for my capture than you or Nyte,” Drystan muttered, spotting a line of our wanted posters across the street.
I didn’t deign to respond to that, slipping out of our cover to head down the street. Plain sight might be the only way to navigate the city. There were guards around, but they roamed as nonchalantly and unaware as the civilians. There was something highly satisfying about walking right by, undetected as their greatest enemies.
“Are you trying to get us captured before I can remember the feeling of dry socks?” Drystan hissed beneath his mask, falling into step with me.
“They’d have less reason to stop two ordinary looking citizens traveling out in the open than those skulking through the shadows.”
After a short while our misery chose the next inn we came across; we’d been trying to hold out for the most bustling and tucked away establishment to lose ourselves in occupied crowds.
We ordered stew and bread, and our leftover coin afforded one room for the night. Sitting in a tucked away corner of the main room, I couldn’t stop my sighs of appreciation when we were brought the hot food.
“If this is to be our last meal, I’m content,” Drystan said, equally lost in the stew.
“Do you think the others have awoken to find us gone yet?” I wondered with a pang of guilt.
“It should be nearing morning, but we don’t have a time teller.”
“What if they come after us?”
“We can’t really prevent that.”
“You say that like you don’t care about what happens to them.”
Drystan looked off to consider. “Should I?”
My face fell flat. “Have you completely lost the ability to invite friendship into your life?”
“I have merely grown armor in the places that were once soft, Maiden. You should do the same.”
The coldness in his tone stung. He used my title like a blade that cut back any vine of friendship growing close to him.
“You can keep trying to push me away, but I’m not going anywhere,” I said, plunging my spoon back into the stew with a scowling look at him.
