“Let’s keep going,” I said, rushing ahead, and there it was, the rock that stood in front of Rhyan’s alcove.
“This is it,” I said. “This is where my weapons are.” I started pushing at the giant rock, grunting with the effort to move it aside. But as expected, it didn’t budge—not even an inch.
Auriel caught up with me, and placed his hands on the boulder. Together, we managed to push it past the alcove’s entryway. I cringed as it groaned. If any akadim were in our corridor, they’d hear. But then another shudder ran through the cave, and the grinding sounds of rock and stone were drowned out by the noise of the shifting mountain.
The path to Rhyan’s alcove was clear, and I dashed inside, finding the torch stuck into the wall. Auriel went to work on the pile of bramble Rhyan had already assembled to light it.
So neatly arranged.
My heart panged. Flames flickered to life, the torch brightening every wall of Rhyan’s room. In the same corner was my armor, my weapons. And my stave.
I started stripping at once, unbuckling my belt, and unhooking all the clasps on my silver Korterian armor. Auriel was behind me a second later, the torch lit, finishing the job, discarding my wolfish armor onto Rhyan’s bed. Then he went to work hooking all the clasps and buckles of my Bamarian armor, while I focused on my belt, reattaching the leather scabbard, mystave, and my dagger. I switched out my borrowed sword for the one I knew, and trusted, and at last, Auriel picked up Asherah’s chest plate, his mouth tight as his fingers squeezed around the gold metal. He let out a shaky breath, his eyes watering.
“Auriel,” I said softly.
He shook his head. “It’s okay. Hold your hair back for me.”
It was already pulled into a soturion-issue braid, but I held it off my shoulder as he asked. Auriel shifted behind me, and laid the chest plate across my armor. His fingers brushed against the back of my neck, as the clasp hooked. When he was done, he kept his hands on me, just a moment longer, his fingers grazing the metal, sliding toward my collarbone. Then he pulled back, and I turned to face him.
He stared at the Valalumir stars, their centers glittering red under the torchlight, before lifting up my hood.
“I’ll never get over how it looks,” he said, his eyes on the chest plate, “after all these years, it’s exactly the same.” His eyes met mine. And he shook his head. “Or you.” He swallowed. “Only one more thing to make your outfit complete.” The red shard.
But before either of us could say anything, a vicious growl sounded from the hall. I spun on my heels and found an akadim waiting. A daywalker.
He lunged, but I picked up one of the spare swords and threw it like a javelin at his heart. His eyes sparked and then paled as he collapsed to the ground. I stared, wondering if he could have been saved. Gods, the guilt I now felt for each one.
“Hurry,” Auriel said, lifting my hood back up. “Before more find us.”
We dashed out of the alcove, and started running for the corridor and the tunnel that led to the top of the cliff. It spilled out at the edge, my stomach twisting as I was confronted again with the sudden drop below and the bridge in the distance which had even less integrity than before. More floorboards weremissing, and some of the rope was fraying where it had been tied. The knots in my stomach tightened painfully.
“We have to go acrossthat?” Auriel asked when he caught up to me.
I nodded, my back sliding against the wall. I pushed Auriel back next to me. All it would take for us to plunge to our deaths would be another shudder of the cave as the akadim continued to dig below.
But they weren’t all down there. Across the cavern, three akadim appeared, marching in line, heading for the bridge. Toward us.
“Shit.”
“Keep your head down,” Auriel whispered, shoving his body protectively in front of mine.
I slowed my breathing.
Auriel squeezed my hand.
The first akadim had blond hair, cropped short. The kind of blond that was unmistakably Ka Kormac. He stepped onto the first floorboard, his red eyes narrowed as he looked across, just missing where we stood. He took a step, and the next akadim moved behind him.
“All soturi to excavation,” came a command. It was from below. Not Rhyan, but another akadim, perhaps his Second. “All soturi to the excavation level now.”
“Final push,” Auriel said. His mouth tightened, and there was another flash of green light from his eyes. “I need to get down there.”
The akadim turned back from the bridge, marching back down the cliff, to the mine. We’d get across easily now. But once we descended to the lowest level—we’d be surrounded. At least a hundred akadim stood between us and the green shard. Between me and Rhyan.
“No turning back now,” Auriel said.
I leaned my head back against the wall, and took a deep breath. Finally, I straightened and nodded. “Let’s go then. This way.” I led Auriel around the bend. The end of the bridge was in sight. The rope’s edges had been tied around two hefty stakes embedded in the stone.
I stepped forward and grabbed hold of the handrails, but made the mistake of looking down. The hundred akadim were moving below, pushing carts back and forth. Dumping rocks and dirt and debris, and then running their emptied carts back toward to the excavation site, to the pit they’d created.
