8. Speleology 101 #2
It felt silly to mourn it when the fates of the worlds were hanging in the balance, but I couldn’t help it. I’d wanted it so badly.
“Wren.” Ciarán’s voice in my head brought my attention away from a stalagmite, and I caught him frowning at me. I realized my hand was at the back of my head, pulling at the short hairs of my unruly undercut.
I slapped my hand to my side, embarrassed to have been caught stress-plucking my hair, angry he had the gall to call me out, and thankful he’d stopped me.
I’d told Liam all about my trichotillomania our last night in Keldori, but I didn’t want the others to notice the way I pulled my hair and eyelashes out of my head when I was stressed.
“Here.” Orla called us back a few paces to where she was staring into a darkened hall hiding behind a lava pillar.
It had blended in so well with the shadows of the cavern that I’d missed it completely.
“This is a maintenance stairwell. It should go up to a series of ventilation shafts, and we can exit onto the mountain face and climb from there until we find a window to slip through.”
Ciarán took a step into the corridor, holding a bottle aloft to cast its light into the shadows.
“Find shelter along the lake,” he reminded Fana and me. “And, be ready, Blue. I’ll call you as we enter the city. This won’t take long.”
He pulled his cowl back up over his mouth and nose and gestured for Orla to lead the way into the maintenance stairwell.
She cast me a nervous glance, then disappeared into the shadows, her fingers flickering with nervous purple Skal.
As much as I loved volcanoes, it was a relief when Fana and I finally exited the mountain on the other side. Night had fallen again while we’d been under the mountain, and we stood side by side gawking at the lake that stretched ahead of us.
When we’d crossed the frozen lake nearly a month ago, we had been in the middle of a blizzard, so I knew it would look different on a clear night like this one. However, I wasn’t expecting to see it completely thawed and rippling in the light of the two moons.
“It’s gone,” Fana whispered. “It’s not frozen anymore.”
“Maybe it’s because the Frozen God was released?” I suggested. “I imagine a lot of the highlands are thawing.”
The lake reflected the two moons back up at the sky, and beyond the inky black of rippling water, trees rose to cut the horizon. A soft blue light swirled along the lake’s surface, only discernible after staring at the water for more than a few seconds.
“You’re through the mountain then?”
I jumped at Ciarán’s voice in my head.
“Are you spying on me?”
“Your scenery is nicer than mine. We’ve been climbing stairs for hours.”
I sat back on the gravel shore and leaned against a boulder. Jonquil crawled into my lap and purred at me, though I didn’t know what for.
“Is Orla okay?” I asked, scratching Jonquil between her ears.
“She’s quiet.”
“Can I see?”
“See…Orla?”
“You can see the lake. Why can’t I see Orla?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Have you tried looking?”
I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the bond between Ciarán and me, but my vision stayed dark behind my eyelids.
“Don’t strain yourself,” Ciarán chuckled. “Eat something. Get some real sleep. You’ll be able to see Orla yourself very soon.”
I opened my eyes and scowled at the water.
Fana danced away from the water’s edge where it gently rippled.
Something, a fish maybe, broke the surface of the lake some fifty yards out before slipping back beneath the water.
In the split second I’d seen it, it looked jade in color, and I climbed to my feet.
“There aren’t lake monsters, are there?” I asked Ciarán.
“Rest, Blue. You’re fine.”
Fana and I set up camp behind a line of boulders.
The air was warmer here than it had been on the north side of the mountains, but it still sent a chill through us as it rolled off the lake.
The boulders offered some protection from the wind, but I pulled my hood up over my head as I made myself comfortable on the pebbles.
Ciarán and Orla would be reaching the city soon, but maybe I could drift off into real sleep and get some proper rest before they needed me.
“Wren,” Fana whispered. I opened my eyes and jumped away when I found her inches from my face. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine.” I closed my eyes again. “Do you need something?”
“Yes. No. Well…” She huffed and fell onto the pebbles beside me. “Maybe. Can you promise something?”
“Depends.”
“Find Tiernan.”
I wrinkled my nose and looked at her through one open eye. “We talked about this. And Tiernan never really liked me to begin with.”
“He’s not bad. He’s not like Ferrin and Caitria, okay?” Fana insisted. “If he’s up there and you see him, tell him I’m here. He’ll help us.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Of course.”
Her furrowed brow relaxed, and her face split into a relieved grin. She snuggled close to my side, and Jonquil purred between us.
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” Ciarán’s voice warned in my head. I scowled at the stars.
“Shouldn’t you be focused on climbing?”
“No, because we’ve made it.”
My heart jumped into my throat, and I took a deep breath in an attempt to loosen my chest. “Oh.”
“You know what needs to happen next for this to work, don’t you?” He was smirking. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was smirking.
“Yes.”
“Then go on, Blue. Say it.”
Stubborn pride held me back, but this had been my idea. It wouldn’t kill Ciarán to be less eager about this part, though.
“I’m waiting,” he purred.
I balled my hands into fists and glared at the two moons. Drawing this out would only give him more satisfaction.
“I yield.”
“Oh, my Lady, how I missed the sound of those words.” His laughter pulled me out of my body and into the dark of sleep.