Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Into The Night Sky
Irush back to our rooms to find them already empty.
Even my pack is gone. The glow of the phase panels indicates we are well into second cycle.
I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.
I hurry through the busy city center as quickly as I can without drawing attention.
The bridges are crowded. More people than usual are out due to the horns.
Lucky for me, most of the crowd was coming to and from the eastern cavern.
Those bridges are packed both with guards heading out to help with the disturbance and those hoping to escape another catastrophe.
Guilt has become my new companion, and Guārgia I loathe him.
I hope that after we leave this city, I can go back to worrying about myself.
This constant apprehension over my actions and how they affect everyone around me is growing tiresome.
But for now, I feel it, guilt, over the worry we’ve caused all of these people tonight—a necessary evil.
I cringe at the thought. How often have those words been spoken?
How often have we let the pretense of doing what is necessary lead us down a road of darkness?
What if Rui is right? What if the dragon riders truly did hold too much power?
What if my quest to save The Below is truly just a descent into darkness carved from good intentions?
“Hey,” Dom’s whisper-shout pulls me from my spiraling thoughts.
I glance around the western entrance, the entire crag cast in shadow. Dark thunderclouds roll through the sliver at the top of the canyon, blotting out the night sky and casting everything into varying shades of midnight.
A strong hand wraps around my forearm and yanks me behind a rock outcropping.
“What are you doing?” Dom whisper-hisses.
“I was looking for you, obviously. It’s darker than pitch.”
“Just wait a minute,” Cressida’s eerily melodious voice comes from beside Dom. “Your eyes will adjust.”
“Where is Caius?” I ask as Dom presses what feels like my pack into my hands. I run my fingers over the familiar canvas, my fingertips catching on the edges of the worn patch before I slip my arms into the straps.
“He should be here. It must have been at least a quarter hour since the horns blared.”
What will we do if Caius doesn’t come? What if they caught him? My stomach twists as my mind plays through the scenarios. Could I really leave him?
“Don’t delay on my account.” Caius’ voice comes from beside my ear. The shock of it sends my pulse racing. I jump, colliding with something solid, then his fingers wrap around my shoulders to steady me.
“Miss me?” he whispers, so quiet I know the words were only meant for me.
I shrug out of his grasp. “Let’s go.”
We creep carefully to the far wall, where the Tǎnkaski crew has two pulley activated elevators for taking phase panels to and from the surface.
With my eyes adjusting to the dim light, I quickly inspect the lifts.
They are filled with panels for the next phase shift, leaving little room for passengers.
It will take far too long to unload them.
“Dom, you and Cressida take this one up.” The mechanism is simple enough. I show him how to work the levers.
“What about you?” Dom asks.
“There’s a second elevator just down the crag.
Caius and I will take that one.” I close the side panel and give it a tap with my palm.
“See you up top.” Once the elevator begins to rise, I jog the short distance to the second one where Caius stands with his head tipped back, rubbing at the back of his neck.
My gaze travels up to find what holds his focus.
The entire pulley system for the second elevator is disassembled, strewn in parts across the top of the lift.
“Perhaps they will think to send theirs back down when they don’t see us at the top?” Caius says in a mock cheerful tone.
I push out a breath. “Yeah, I don’t think so. Looks like we’re climbing.”
“In this light?” Concern laces Caius’ words.
I bump my shoulder against his. “What, are you afraid of the dark?”
I think I catch the shadow of a smile slip across his lips. “Darling, I am the dark.”
I snort and pat his shoulder. “Whatever you say, Fox. Let’s get out of here—”
A fist tangles in my hair, yanking me back until I’m crushed by strong arms, with a blade held at my neck.
“You won’t leave here alive.”
My heart stops.
“DaLei let her go,” Rui growls.
I glance to the side to find Rui with his bow drawn, arrow trained on Caius, but his concerned gaze is locked on me.
“Not a chance, cousin. She controls the dark one,” DaLei replies, his voice too loud beside my ear.
I snort. “You think I control Caius?”
“This isn’t necessary—” Rui starts, but DaLei cuts him off.
“You didn’t see. The way he moved in the cavern. He was helping me drag Tam out of harm’s way one second and the next…” I feel DaLei shake his head behind me. “He was right beside me. There’s no way he could have been there to save the girl.”
“It’s battle, cousin. You got the details confused—”
“Do not placate me.” DaLei presses the dagger tighter against my neck.
“Izarrīa.” Caius’ strong voice silences the men. His eyes, black as deep pools in the moonless night, latch on to mine. “Remember what I taught you.” He nods.
I struggle to swallow with steel held at my throat, let alone think. Remember what I taught you. Caius’ words echo through my mind until they click. I blink hard, hoping he knows to be ready.
I execute each move Caius taught me in flawless succession, slamming the heel of my boot into DaLei’s instep, his shock creating space between me and his blade.
I bend forward, then slam my head back. He isn’t as tall as Caius, and I’m rewarded with the sound of cartilage giving way behind my skull.
Finally, I ram my elbow into his gut. This time, I don’t turn to assail my attacker.
I remember what Caius taught me. I run—straight into Caius’ arms.
Caius holds me briefly, then spins me around to tuck me behind him.
Clutching his tunic, I peer out from his side, scanning the darkness.
The clouds shift overhead, washing the canyon floor in pale moonslight.
The glint of an arrowhead draws my gaze, and there he is, his arrow knocked, ready to stop us in our tracks, and I’m struck with déjà vu.
“Please, Rui, you don’t understand—”
“It is you who doesn’t understand.” DaLei snarls, holding his nose, blood dripping down his face and spattering with each word. While Rui looks like a broken man, DaLei’s stance is menacing. His hatred radiates in waves that sends fear flooding through me.
“I can’t let you continue on to the hatching grounds.” Rui’s voice is strong but there is a pleading note to his words. “That’s where you’re going, right? Why you and your friends have traveled so far on the surface?”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“I can’t let you go any further. You know that. I don’t know what drew you to them. Why you left your home, but your quest ends here.” I hear what he doesn’t say out loud: you can have a new home here.
“That’s the thing,” Caius says. “Soon, there will be nowhere safe left for any of us. The Below is dying.”
That’s when I notice that Rui’s arrow is trained on Caius, not me.
“The Below cannot fall. It is eternal. My ancestors sacrificed everything to create our home. They used every ounce of their magic to build a world where we would be safe from tyrants, those of scale and flesh alike.”
Cold washes through my body. I had suspected, but to have it confirmed. “I thought only riders had magic.”
“Yes,” Rui says.
“Your ancestors were riders…and they betrayed their own.”
“They gave up everything to save those who could not save themselves.”
“And now we do the same,” I say with more confidence than I feel, stepping in front of Caius, saying a silent prayer to Guārgia that I’m right.
Rui lowers his bow. “Please don’t do this.” The pleading in his voice threatens to shatter me. DaLei, however, raises his bow, training his arrow on me, blood streaming down his face, murder harbored in his dark eyes. There will be no reasoning with him.
“I have to.”
The words are barely out of my mouth before Caius snatches my dagger from my hip, pressing the hilt into my palm, then winds his arm around my waist, and slams me tight against his chest with one arm while the other wraps around the rope for the pulley system.
I hear the arrow slice through the air. Caius groans, tightening his hold on me, his fingers digging so hard into my flesh I know they will leave bruises.
“Cut the counter rope,” he hisses into my ear, and gods help me, I don’t even give it a second thought as I slash the fibers of the rope.
My stomach lurches, left behind somewhere on the canyon floor as we sail up toward the night sky.
“Caius, what’s the plan?” I yell over the whistling wind.
“Get out of the crag,” he responds.
“And your plan for landing?”
“Don’t have one.” He grunts.
The lip of the canyon is quickly coming into view.
With our current trajectory, we will shoot out the top and likely tumble right back down to our deaths.
Damn it, Caius. The counter rope whips wildly in front of me, and I do the only thing I can think of to save our lives.
I lean back into Caius, tilting my feet out to try to hook the flailing rope.
It whips past the toe of my boot, and I curse.
“What are you—”