Chapter 43 No Promises
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
NO PROMISES
ADELINE
“We have to hurry,” Ardruna says as we rush through the temple. “She can ride on my back. You can keep up on foot, Ro.”
“But what if you slow me down?” he snarks.
“That’s enough out of you. Now, girl.” Ardruna fixes me with her blue gaze. “Hop on. Let’s get moving.”
“How about a weapon?” I ask. “How will I fight without a single blade?”
With a long-suffering sigh, Roane strides away. “Let’s talk again when it’s time for battle.”
“Did he just agree with me?” I grab fistfuls of Ardruna’s short fur and haul myself onto her back. “Am I finally wearing him down?”
“He’s stringing you along.”
“He has so many knives. He could spare one.”
“I wish you luck in your endeavor.” Her voice holds laughter. “I think he’s just… used to fighting alone.”
I roll my eyes. “He has you and Talton.”
“You know it’s not the same. He’s used to being the one in command, the one who wields all the blades.”
I shrug. “Then I’ll steal one from him.”
This time, she barks a laugh as she lopes after Roane, and I tighten my knees at her sides not to fall off. “I’d love to see that. Hold on tight. Here we go.”
We run up the stairs to find Roane already opening the double doors. Together we step out onto the rock shelf overlooking the city. The mountains loom in the distance, stacked against the far walls of the cave, their snow-capped peaks almost touching the roof.
This cave is larger than it initially seemed. Larger than the space it occupies, a bubble that tests the limits of reality. If the centaurs came through a passage in the mountains, then what is behind them? How far does this world stretch?
The urge to return to the sanctum just to study the map covering its floor is strong.
But Ardruna races down the wide stairs toward the city with me clinging to her back like a bug, and I clench my thighs and hug her neck so I won’t fly off.
True to his word, incredibly, Roane keeps up, running beside us.
At first, it doesn’t seem so strange, but as we race through and out of the city, as we cross the meadows and the hills, dodging screeching birds, snakes and winged salamanders, it becomes harder and harder to believe anyone could have such stamina and speed.
I hadn’t thought much about the strength and endurance of a fae compared to a human.
I know that my brother moves between towns mostly on foot and works hard labor jobs, but it was only on occasion that I caught my adoptive family doing stuff I couldn’t do.
Like lifting heavy furniture. Lifting a cart clear off the ground.
Running from one end of the city to the other without breaking a sweat.
And now I’m getting to see Roane doing exactly that. His braid flying behind him, he runs, ducks, sidesteps, climbs, wades, leaps, stumbles, and keeps going, never falling behind.
Unbelievable.
The mountains now loom over us, vertical and imposing, trees hanging off the sheer slopes, barely hanging on.
“Are we going up there?” I ask when Ardruna slows down. I’m not that scared of heights but my last climb up a mountain almost killed me and my experience in the griffin’s nest left a scar in my mind.
“We’re heading to a gorge.” Roane halts beside us and bends over, panting. Oh, look, running across half the world can get him a little winded, after all. “A passage between mountains.”
“Minimum climbing,” Ardruna confirms. “Don’t you worry.”
“What’s behind the mountains?” I finally get to satisfy my curiosity. “Where are the centaurs heading?”
“The plains of Eola.”
“Eola.” The name rings a bell, but I can’t place it. “What book is that from?”
But Roane only straightens and unstoppers a flask, taking a swig. Then he offers it to me. “Water?”
“Please.” I take long gulps, relishing the cool liquid. “Ardruna, some water?”
“I’m good. Let’s get moving. We don’t want darkness to find us here, or we’ll lose their tracks. We’d better catch up with them before they reach the plains. Intercepting them in the gorge would be best.”
“It would give us the advantage,” Roane agrees. “They won’t have much space to maneuver those bulky horse bodies, and won’t be able to run from us.”
“As if centaurs need to run from us,” I whisper. “A fae, a human, and a lioness.”
“A fae guardian whose magic is failing him,” Roane mutters, “that’s what you wanted to say.”
“Only because you won’t open up to me,” I reply.
“Maybe it’s good she’s here, Ro,” Ardruna says, “to speak the truth to you. Someone has to.”
Roane rubs his jaw. “What do you mean? You do it all the time, whether I want it or not.”
She growls and sets off. “Nobody can speak the truth to you unless you speak it back.”
He follows. “Meaning?”
“You need to stop keeping secrets. You can’t protect us that way.”
“We’ll see about that,” Roane says and falls silent, keeping his gaze ahead as we run up a few gentle slopes and climb over rocks.
I’m sprawled on my stomach on Ardruna’s back, hanging on with all I have.
I’m starting to think we’ve taken the wrong path when the gorge opens up before us, deep and majestic like something carved out of a gem.
It’s composed of blue and purple rocks, with white striations going through them like cream and foam.
I have to scrape my jaw off the floor—well, the lioness’s back. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Was this passage in the rock always here?” I breathe. “Are these formations natural?”
“We’ve seen tombs carved in its walls the few times we crossed it,” Ardruna says. “But I’d say it’s as natural as anything born from a book can be.”
A world that is a patchwork of tales. It looks so real. It is real. Its existence is an impossibility but it’s here, and I’m moving through it like a fish swimming through a lake, always discovering new places.
“There,” Ardruna says and I squint. The walls of the gorge are the height of the mountains, forcing me to tilt my head back all the way to see the top.
The cavern’s ceiling is a sliver above us.
The floor of the gorge is uneven, a narrow path winding among slabs of colorful rock and the occasional struggling tree.
Shadows shift and flit. A large bird takes off with a screech. I think it’s a vulture.
And then I see the centaurs.
They are moving single file, carrying what looks like rolled-up rugs on their backs. Are the nymphs they captured wrapped in them?
The centaurs are much larger than I’d imagined. Not quite as tall as horses, I think, but with the added height of their human torsos, they make formidable enemies.
“Where is Talton?” I ask. “Can you see him?”
“Probably bundled up in something,” Ardruna mutters.
I rub my cheek in her rough fur. “What do they want with him?”
“A talking bird? The entertaining value alone is huge.”
“Fucking idiots,” Roane says. “Once they spend a day with him talking their ears off, they’ll regret their decision.”
“Or they’ll sell him to another tribe,” Ardruna says.
“Tribe?” I repeat. “Of centaurs?”
“Or other creatures. I think there’s a troupe of sylphs living in caves in the mountains nearby, and then there’s the waterfolk living in the lakes.”
“Lakes? Where?”
“Beyond the mountains.”
“Gods.” I shake my head. “Just how big is this cave?”
“It’s infinite,” she says. “The center remains steady—the city surrounded by meadows and the library at its heart. The rest shifts from time to time. We patrol and map the changes. Some lakes are relatively new.”
“And the map on the floor of the sanctum?”
“It changes to reflect the changing world.”
“It makes sense in a crazy way.” Bowed low over her neck, I stroke my hands over her short fur, sliding them down to her powerful upper legs. There’s a shape on her right thigh, I realize, raised like a scar. “What’s this?”
Glancing down, I find a mark I hadn’t noticed before. It looks like a horned snake. Wasn’t that the symbol on the door of the library?
“They’ve sensed us,” Roane says. “We need to move.”
“You still haven’t given me a weapon,” I say. “Roane—”
“Here.” He steps closer, takes out a knife from his belt and raises it for me to take, hilt-first. “Just don’t use it on me, please.”
I quirk a brow as I take it. “Don’t be an ass and I won’t.”
“No promises.” His mouth stretches into a sharp grin. “Ready?”
“Ready or not, here we go,” Ardruna says and leaps after the centaurs.