It was too quiet, too calm, too utterly empty inside.
But then Six lifted her beak, sniffing the air. And before Ezer could stop her, she took them into one of many tunnels to their right. Kinlear dipped his torch into the groove, and it burst into life, the purple tongue of fire stretching down into the depths.
Ezer took a step back.
It was lined with doors.
The very same as in her mind. But as they crept closer, she noticed that every door was ajar. And like the rest of this space, there was not a darksoul in sight.
It was like everyone had picked up and left at a moment’s notice.
‘It’s true then,’ Ezer whispered. ‘They must be at the ritual.’
She swallowed the knot in her throat. It was all falling into place, this plan. And soon …
They would discover the Acolyte.
They would see his face.
They passed door after door, peering inside with breaths held, as if they’d find darksouls waiting there to attack. Signs of life were everywhere, and it was so utterly strange to discover that it looked like a soldier’s barracks, instead of a lair for monsters.
There were cots and worn blankets, a room with a large table for dining. Some of the beds were rumpled, while others were made perfectly, the blankets smoothed, the pillows fluffed.
Like the darksouls were stillhumaninside, capable of setting things up the way they pleased.
But that wasn’t possible.
Every story told about the darksouls was that once they bowed to the Acolyte … they traded their spot in the Ehver. They lost their humanity and became as good as shadow wolves, hungry for blood and death.
And beyond that … wherewerethe shadow wolves?
She hadn’t seen a mark of them, hadn’t heard a single howl.
‘This feels wrong,’ Ezer whispered. ‘It feels …’
‘Like the Citadel,’ Kinlear breathed. ‘But they all deserted.’
They passed into another tunnel and found a small library of sorts. One that was lined with symbols and books, an old stone table in the center with parchment and pen and ink. Ezer itched to open the pages and discover what lay inside, but there was no time.
Another room was stacked to the brim with worn black cloaks woven in a fabric she’d never seen before. ‘We should change,’ Kinlear whispered. ‘Blend in.’
They weren’t runed, but they were warm to the touch, and they shimmered with a sort of living shadow. Ezer and Kinlear quickly removed their own robes and dressed in darksoul ones, with hoods deep enough to hide their faces.
This is all wrong,Ezer thought.
For it was utterly silent. As still as death.
An army of thousands was supposed to be here, and they’d walked right in. And not a single soul had come to stop them.
Six carried on into the twisting tunnels. Every so often, Kinlear coughed as silently as he could, the sound echoing just enough to alert any guards.
But no one came for them.
‘Where are they?’ Kinlear growled. She could sense the frustration rising in him. He’d made it here, and yet … it felt like they were too late. ‘I have to do it, Ezer. I have to find the Acolyte. Ihaveto be the one to kill him.’
‘I know,’ she whispered. ‘You will be.’
The tunnel forked three ways, frost curling up the walls, some places so thick with ice she didn’t think Six would be able to pass. Their breath became clouds before them, morphing the way the walls looked, but Six kept going like she was certain of the path.
