“So, will you tell me then what you’re out here hoping to achieve?” Daniel took the half step out of her personal space.
“I think the less you know the better,” Vhalla decided after only a moment’s debate. She set out once more for her destination; there wasn’t any time to waste.
“That sounds ominous.” Daniel walked at her side.
Vhalla stared at the structure they were approaching. Itwasan ominous sort of night. The full moon stared down at them like one wide eye of the Dragon of Chaos that lore said it contained. The closer they neared to the ruins of old Soricium, the more prominent the feeling of being watched became.
It was a feeling that exactly mirrored one she had felt before in the Crossroads, when a Firebearer’s eyes lingered on her for far too long. But they were half a continent away from that curiosity shop now. It was far more likely that the eyes Vhalla felt were those of a waiting enemy.
The ruins were larger than Vhalla remembered. They seemed to almost double in size from one end of the scorched earth to the other. Now they towered taller than any single building she’d ever seen—that wasn’t the palace—and Vhalla felt dwarfed by its presence. The trees and roots that were gnarling their way through the stone seemed to only penetrate so deep. Under the crumbling façade was a deeper layer of smooth stone, much like she’d seen in Soricium.
“Has anyone ever gone in?” she asked Daniel. It wasn’t his first tour so she thought he may know.
“In? No.” He shook his head.
Vhalla paused at the tree line, staring into the yawning darkness created by the canopy of the jungle. Even the light of the moon couldn’t penetrate to the forest floor. The last time she had gone into this jungle she had come out with almost nothing.
Clenching her fists, Vhalla took a step forward, deeply grateful for Daniel’s presence.
She began walking around the building, running her hand along the stone. It was a sorcery unlike any she’d ever felt. Most magic Vhalla had ever encountered seemed to move. Firebearers crackled and radiated, Waterrunners ebbed and flowed, Groundbreakers were vibrant and colorful in their sorcery. But, this—thiswas a pulse rooted to something much deeper than any Channel Vhalla had ever encountered.
Even Daniel had fallen quiet. His eyes were on high alert, and he scanned the treetops and forest floor for any sign of an attack. Vhalla felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, the feeling of eyes becoming so great that she paused to shift into her magical sight and listen on the wind for any breath of enemies.
It was silent.
The forest was so chillingly still that Vhalla turned and peered over her shoulder, desperate to see a sliver of moonlight from the way they had come. The thick brush had already closed in around them, blotting out any view of the Imperial camp beyond. As if the forest was a hungry beast that had swallowed them whole.
There was nowhere to go but forward, so Vhalla pushed on. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but as they rounded the back end of the structure, Vhalla barely contained a sigh of relief and a groan of frustration. All she could see was more of the same. More magically shaped stone defending the building’s contents from everything—even the trees.
She stilled, repeating the only facts that she knew about the axe.Achel slept in a stone tomb. Judging from where Za had been focused, Vhalla was certain that this was the “stone tomb” she had been referring to.
The Gods watch over what is theirs.
She turned her face upward. Vhalla squinted through the edge of the canopy where the trees couldn’t encroach upon the top of the structure. High above was the great eye that peered down upon the whole world:the Gods.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Daniel hissed as she planted her feet against the rock.
“We have to go in through the top,” Vhalla whispered in reply, her feet already by his head.
“Vhalla, if you fall—”
“Falls can’t hurt me, remember?” Anyone else would have likely been dissuaded from tackling such a tall climb. But Vhalla found herself breathing easier with each pull of her arms, with each footing she found that brought her upward. The air was freer up high than in the inky blackness of the jungle floor. Climbing toward the sky was freedom.
Daniel was a cacophony of noise the moment he tried to ascend as well.
“Daniel!” Vhalla tensed, stalling on a narrow ledge. He created enough clanking to alert anyone who was even remotely close to their presence. He was too encumbered by his armor to go further. Vhalla sighed softly, knowing what needed to be said. “You can’t follow me.”
“Vhalla!” he protested with genuine panic.
“You said it yourself: if you fall, it won’t be good.”
“I want to go with you.”
“Don’t make me watch another man I care about fall.” The words escaped before she gave them any thought, just unfiltered truth.Another man I care about, she watched as it sank in on his face. Vhalla’s expression likely mimicking the surprise his hazel eyes carried. Vhalla swallowed. “Go back to the camp side, wait for me there. If I’m not out by the time the sky begins to lighten, get Aldrik.”
“Do not keep me worrying for that long,” he demanded.
“I won’t.” Vhalla watched as Daniel started back for the Imperial side of the ruins.
