Not that she’d ever had any real doubts.
“I can’t tell if you care about passing the adva ka or not,“ the wanderer said with a thoughtful stare like he was looking at a puzzle he wished to solve.
Good luck with that. People had been trying for years and never succeeded in deciphering the riddle that was Kira Forrest.
“Don’t expect something you can’t give yourself.” Kira looked over her shoulder as the rumble of rock sliding against rock filled the air.
A doorway appeared directly across from their platform, the cavernous opening beckoning.
Kira took a look at some of the other circles, noting that the numbers inside the arena had been drastically reduced. It wasn’t until she saw one of the initiates win their bout and then disappear into their own door that she understood why.
“I suppose that’s our next stop,” Kira said softly as she made her way slowly toward the door.
“What did you mean before?” the wanderer asked, dogging her steps. “About not expecting something I can’t give?”
Kira didn’t answer immediately, shooting a look at the platform Raider and the rest had chosen.
Devon was absent. Joule too.
Kira didn’t know if that meant they’d been eliminated or gone through their door.
Raider still fought, happily hammering a fist into the nose of his opponent. At this point, Raider was just toying with the other. The duel already over.
“If I asked you why you’re in the adva ka when the Tuann are not welcoming of your kind, would you tell me?”
Kira didn’t have to see the other man’s expression to know the answer was a big fat no. His silence spoke volumes.
Kira stopped on the threshold of the door as an icy breeze swept out of the tunnel. It carried a warning against trespassing further.
How amusing. First, the Mea’Ave disrupted her plans by pulling her in this direction. Now, it tried to push her away.
It was as mercurial as a toddler.
Kira started forward, not letting herself be bothered by the change.
It was already too late to turn back. It was doubtful the Tuann would allow her to use one of the other doors even if she had the mind to listen to the warning.
“If I am willing to part with that information, would you tell me?” the wanderer asked from behind Kira.
She paused. Would she?
“Nope.” Kira stepped into the mouth of the tunnel. “That’s another thing you have to learn. People don’t always reciprocate.”
It was a cold fact, but there were those in this world who would suck you dry and then say it was your fault when you ended up broken.
It only took a three-year coma and the loss of everything she cared about to learn that lesson.
She hoped the wanderer was smarter than her.
Darkness wrapped around Kira, the light fading as she trudged forward until finally it disappeared altogether.
For a moment, Kira got the sense that she was in a cave. The blackness containing the absoluteness that came only with the complete absence of any form of light.
Kira didn’t mind darkness, not even when all sound disappeared, leaving behind nothing but an echoing silence that rang in her ears.
It was an odd sensation, moving forward without sight or hearing. Almost like being stuck in a sensory deprivation chamber.
It was disorienting to say the least.
