Dread planted Erinna’s feet to the floor. “All of us?” She thought of her father, alone and trapped in a coffin of his own making. Kenneth’s magic was strong, but not a match for an Apprentice’s abilities.
“No, just you. She’s not very patient with dangerous-seeming anomalies.”
Erinna didn’t know whether to feel relieved or frightened. She decided both would work and followed after her companions into the next room.
Screams.
Cacophonous, pain-drenched screams pierced the silence. It was so loud. Erinna keeled over at the onslaught. The suffering of souls trapped within the four walls of this room. Their wails, an ocean of suffering. Only she could hear it. Feel the fragments of their unrestful souls clawing through the Realm Beyond.
“Don’t focus on them, gravewitch.” Raye’s voice was clear but did not mute the others. Erinna stumbled, kicking up dust as she steadied herself against the wall.
“You okay?” Kane moved closer, brows knit in worry.
“Yes. Just need a second.”Please be quiet.Erinna pleaded as Talent bloomed beneath her skin. Power iced through her veins. She couldn’t see the spirits, couldn’t feel their presence, but their suffering still remained.
“Quiet. Please,” she groaned, rubbing her temple with one hand to ease the splitting headache.
“We’re not—” Afton started, but a glare from Kane silenced him.
“Take my hand,” Kane offered, but Erinna tried to weakly swat off the assistance. She just needed to get this under control. Maybe take a seat and wait for her power to subside and for the voices to fade away. There must have been a lot of them, all shouting for someone to hear.
Her voice was weak. “I just need?—”
Kane’s hand closed around hers, firm and warm. Heat flooded her fingertips, thawing the power coiled there. The tension at her temples loosened. The voices faded to whispers, then nothing.
Erinna took in a long, dragging breath. “Thanks.”
They stood in a damp, hollow room, with peeling paint and a row of old beds in different states of disrepair. Rusted and crumbled instruments littered the floor. It looked to be a place they took their sick or wounded. A sick and twisted infirmary.
Erinna shot Raye a look. The ghost shrugged. “It wasn’t an infirmary in my time. It must have been repurposed when we were all gone.”
Erinna shivered. What could Iprix possibly be doing with a place like this? “I thought Iprix was the only person who came to the island after the colony failed.”
Afton went rigid. “He was.”
A palpable tension settled. An unspoken horror descended on him. Erinna didn’t understand what it meant, but knew Afton would refuse to press the matter further.
They continued in silence. The type that made Erinna’s skin crawl, but at least she no longer heard the suffering of spirits. Afton remained in the lead, listening to Erinna’s direction, though the journey was simple but long.
Occasionally, Erinna would direct them through another side hallway or attached room. It felt the closer they moved to the library they would end up taking one step away or beside it.
“You said the map was in the groundskeeper’s place?” Afton asked as they made their way into the cellar.
“Yes.”
“I can believe that part of your story. Iprix once said he built the tower on top of the old keep and that the scholars preferred to use the old routes rather than the halls he built and kept.”
“Did he ever take you here?”
“Once, but he took us directly to the library, and only the observatory. It was the day Haru and I were chosen as his apprentices.”
Erinna nodded, not knowing how to respond. Raye flickered more, his spirit a bit dimmer, the flame in her lantern a bit smaller. The cellar was still stocked with various wines and ales, and much colder than the previous rooms. She moved closer to Kane, unconsciously, taking in the warmth from the fire that danced in his other hand.
“Afton, grab two from your left,” he called.
With no hesitation, the mage paused to pluck two bottles of aged wine from the shelf. Dust flew and danced from the disturbance. He wiped off the glass and quickly tucked them into his bag with a grunt. “You’re carrying these on the way out,” he said, and Kane chuckled.
Hot embarrassment rose to Erinna’s cheeks as she remembered her hand still clasped with his. It was hard to deny the comfort.
