Murmurs of confirmation. I started forward, testing each step. My shadows felt sluggish, barely responding to my call.
Three steps. Five. Ten.
My outstretched hand hit stone. I traced the surface. It was curved and vertical. A wall.
"Found something." I followed it left. Smooth stone gave way to rough edges, then I could feel the air. Open space.
"Tunnel," I announced. "It’s narrow. Single file."
No one argued. I led them into the passage, one hand on the wall, the other extended forward. The darkness pressedcloser here, claustrophobic and dense. Behind me, someone's breathing hitched toward hyperventilation.
"Control your breath," I said without looking back. "Panic kills faster than anything else down here."
The breathing steadied. Barely.
We walked. Time became meaningless in the dark. Could have been minutes. Could have been hours. My legs moved mechanically, one foot before the other, while my mind catalogued everything wrong with our situation.
No food. No water. No supplies. No idea where we were or how to leave. Seris silent and withdrawn, most likely numb from grief. The team exhausted, injured, traumatized.
And Vaelthorne,
I couldn't think about Vaelthorne, but the thoughts rushed in anyway. About the Fae who'd welcomed us, fed us, celebrated with us. About the light and music and joy that had filled that clearing just weeks ago.
Gone. All of it gone.
Because my father had found us. Because I'd led him there with my carelessness. I should have been more diligent inspecting the runes that were carved on Seris’s skin. I forced the regret aside to my feet forward.
The wall disappeared beneath my palm. I stopped abruptly, hearing Kane stumble into my back with a muttered curse.
Ahead, we saw a single ray of light.
Not much. A faint grayish suggestion of illumination, so subtle I might have imagined it. But after absolute darkness, even the ghost of light felt like salvation.
"There." I pointed uselessly. "Do you see it?"
"Yes," Kael breathed. "Gods, yes."
We moved faster now, drawn toward that pale glow like moths to flame. The tunnel widened, walls receding intoshadow. The light strengthened incrementally, still dim, still gray, but enough to see shapes.
The passage opened into a cavern.
I stopped at the threshold, taking it in. Enormous space stretched before us. The ceiling was lost in darkness overhead. Luminescent moss clung to distant walls, providing just enough light to navigate by. The air tasted of minerals and age, untouched by wind or weather.
Behind me, Seris made a small, broken sound. I turned in time to catch her as her legs gave out.
"Easy." I lowered her to the ground. "You're all right."
She wasn't all right. None of us were.
Zephyr and Kane staggered to the nearest wall and slid down it. Their faces, visible now in the moss-light, looked hollowed. Haunted.
Kael was focused and stoic, but I could tell he was forcing himself to keep it together just like I was.
I helped Seris down carefully. Her eyes saw nothing, focused on some internal landscape I couldn't access. Dirt and blood streaked her face. Her hands hung limp at her sides.
"Seris." I kept my voice gentle.
No response. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment.
