Chapter Nineteen #3
Once we’d all caught our breaths, I knew we had to get back to the wagon and take Shaar to town.
There was still the issue of the Hands, and if there were any more of Shaar’s men lingering around, I didn’t want them to get the jump on us.
The shard had done a good job at watching our backs while my women and I were ‘busy,’ but I didn’t want to press our luck.
So, we all got redressed into our armor, and with one last glance around the yuriel-filled cavern, we slipped back into the tunnel.
By the time we emerged into the Mist Woods, darkness had completely smothered the sky, at least from what I could see through the break in the trees.
Vilrun, Rennick, and Kri’osh were sitting patiently in the back of the wagon, and when my girls stumbled up to sit beside them, Rennick gave Vilrun a kick to the leg.
“Pay up,” the young man whispered to the dwarf, who was red in the face. “I guessed right.”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” I said as I climbed onto the bench and offered Ellyn my hand, but a smug smirk tugged at my lips.
The blonde settled in beside me, and I gave one last glance over my shoulder to see Shaar still unconscious and bound in the wagon by everyone’s feet.
The shard floated expectantly in front of me, and as much as I hated to admit it, I had no choice but to send it back to the farm.
“Listen, bud,” I began in a quiet voice. “I’m glad we got you back, but we’re going into the wolves’ den again. The King’s Hands aren’t going to give up, even if Aila doesn’t share our secret.”
The shard thrummed and floated closer to me. I held my palm out to it, and as soon as we touched, I felt that euphoric sensation of power course through me.
“You’ve got to trust me, okay?” I asked. “I’m sorry Shaar got you, but I’m going to make him pay. And I’ll make sure nothing like that ever happens again.”
The shard hummed again before it flew upward and disappeared out of sight.
With that, I started the journey back to Gladewood, and I hoped that we wouldn’t have a welcome party dressed in golden armor ready to grill us with questions.
Thankfully, when we did roll into Gladewood, there were no soldiers in sight. Their horses were hitched in front of the Frostfyre like they usually were when they were off-duty, and I hoped Aila had a part to play in that.
That gave us a bit of time to get Shaar out of the wagon and into the townhouse before they could question him and find out what he knew about me and the shard. Kri’osh carried Shaar’s unconscious body over his shoulder, and our small party quickly shuffled into the Overseer’s office.
Alden had been anxiously pacing back and forth in front of his fire, and as soon as we entered, he yelped in fright.
“Hell’s taint… you got him,” he muttered with wide eyes. “I can’t believe it.”
“Alden, does this place have a jail of some kind?” I asked before he could continue rambling.
“T-There’s a holding cell, but we rarely use it,” Alden stuttered as he rushed toward the door on the left. “We don’t get much crime in Gladewood, believe it or not.”
“It will do for now,” I said as I led the way through the door.
The room inside was small, with one corner segregated to act as the ‘cell.’ Iron bars bordered the small corner, but there was enough room for Kri’osh to throw the shackled Shaar inside.
As soon as his head hit the wall, he began to stir, and we all held our breaths as we waited for him to regain consciousness.
“Get me some water,” I ordered Alden, who quickly scrambled out of the room and returned with a goblet a few moments later.
I threw what was inside over the withered husk of a man, and it did the trick. He bolted upright with a ragged gasp and spluttered on the droplets that had entered his mouth.
“I--” His bloodshot eyes darted around the room before they landed on me through the bars. “You. I’m still alive.”
“Yeah, you are,” I said as I squatted down to his eye level. “And you’re going to tell me what Drakar had you doing in that cave.”
Shaar attempted to chuckle, but it came out as a wet croak.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he rasped with a sickening smile.
“I can make what little of your life you have left hell, Shaar,” I warned. “I suggest you start talking.”
“You want to know, do you?” Shaar tilted his emaciated head to one side, and the angle was so sharp I half-worried he was about to snap his own neck. “Me dying was always part of the plan, Noah Dawson.”
“What does that mean?” I growled and slammed my hands against the iron bars.
“It means I was never going to survive controlling the shard,” Shaar spat through crooked teeth. “Drakar only gave me a tiny drop of his power to survive long enough for me to do what he asked.”
“So, tell me what he wanted!” I shouted as I rattled the bars.
Shaar didn’t respond verbally. Instead, he grinned, and then the ground began to tremble.
I immediately rose to my feet and sprinted for the door. The sounds of Gladers screaming at the sensation were already echoing through our town, and when I finally threw open the door, I could see why.
The cobblestone streets were being eaten away by something underneath. Stone and dirt fell through until numerous holes formed in the ground.
Whatever Shaar had awoken, whatever Drakar had tasked him to do, he had done it.
It was inside the walls of Gladewood…
And I didn’t know how to stop it.
End of Book 8