Chapter Seven
“I have an idea.” Twobble glanced at Rendel and over at me. “The goblins won't like it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I say we move through the UnderLoom and UnderSoot so the Priestess won't be able to track us as easily as on the surface.”
“They won't accept orcs, and they certainly won't accept shifters down there,” Nova objected.
“They theoretically don't accept vampires either, but I've been down there a time or two and so has Lady Limora.” Stella’s scarlet lips grew into a smile. “By the time they get themselves together to formally object, we will already be out.”
Nova chuckled. “She has a point.”
I look down at Twobble. “You might get in trouble with the goblins.”
He shrugged. “Wouldn't be the first time and certainly won't be the last.”
Everyone chuckled, including the orcs and shifters. And I noticed Rendel looking at Keegan when suddenly a hush fell over the crowd.
It moved through the group slowly, like a ripple, voices trailing off, movement settling, until even Twobble stopped mid-breath beside me. I turned, already knowing what I would see before I saw her.
The Silver Wolf walked toward us.
There was nothing rushed about her stride.
There was no urgency in it, and yet the space made room for her all the same.
Orcs stepped aside without being asked. Shifters moved just enough to acknowledge that she was there.
And I saw Rendel stare at his wife, with a glimpse of regret before hardening.
Keegan didn’t move, but something in him changed.
The Silver Wolf came to a stop a few paces from us, her gaze moving across the group, taking it all in, the orcs, the gathered shifters, Stella, Nova, and then settling, finally, on Rendel.
No one spoke.
Not at first.
And it stretched just long enough that it stopped being a pause and became something else entirely.
Twobble leaned in slightly. “I don’t like this kind of quiet,” he whispered.
“Stay still,” I murmured, though I didn’t take my eyes off them. I wasn’t sure if the Silver Wolf was thinking about jumping on him to end him or chase him away. She didn’t look pleased.
Rendel shifted his stance just enough to square himself toward her, like he had already anticipated this moment and simply hadn’t said so.
A few of the shifters behind Keegan stepped closer without meaning to, drawn in by something instinctual, something older than the moment itself. I saw it register in Keegan’s posture, the way his awareness widened without him turning around.
“Mother,” he said.
The word didn’t echo, but it landed.
It always did when those two spoke.
The Silver Wolf’s gaze shifted to him, just for a second, and there was something there, something quieter, softer, but it didn’t linger. It returned to Rendel just as quickly.
“You’re far from where you should be, Rendel,” she said.
Rendel didn’t react. Not outwardly. “That depends on who’s deciding that.”
“That would be me,” she replied.
I watched Keegan shift his weight as he watched his parents interact, knowing he’d been told his father had passed…or at least implied that, and now he was seeing them both together, standing off in the very village they’d abandoned.
Rendel inclined his head, not in submission, not in challenge. Just acknowledgment. “It seems we’ve both had similar ideas.”
The Silver Wolf stared at him, but she didn’t say a word.
Stella let out a small breath beside me, not quite a sigh, not quite a laugh. “Well, good to see we’ve moved past pleasantries.”
“Rapidly,” Twobble added under his breath.
“You warned them,” the Silver Wolf said. “You interfered.”
“I did, although I wouldn’t say I interfered where I didn’t belong. It was time for my return.”
“Says who?” Keegan asked.
The Silver Wolf studied him for a moment, then gave a small nod, like she was acknowledging something she had already suspected.
Nova stepped forward just slightly, easing the tension just enough that it didn’t snap.
“We’re considering alternative routes to find Gideon and the stone,” she said. “Possibly moving through the UnderLoom.”
The Silver Wolf’s attention shifted to her.”
Nova gave her a look. “It comes with complications.”
“It always did that,” Stella said, her tone light but her gaze alert.
The Silver Wolf turned her attention back to me. “You intend to go through it.”
I nodded. “It gives us a chance to move without being tracked as easily.”
“But it puts you somewhere that doesn’t welcome hesitation,” she replied.
“I don’t plan on hesitating.”
Nova’s gaze held mine for a moment longer than I expected, and then she stepped a little closer.
“You won’t go alone.”
Keegan moved then.
It wasn’t dramatic. Just a step, just enough to close the space between us, but it shifted everything.
“I’m not letting her walk into that marsh without backup,” he said.
I turned to him. “I didn’t ask you to let me.”
“You don’t have to ask,” he said. “It’s not happening any other way.”
I held his gaze because I knew where this could go, and I wasn’t willing to let it unravel here, not now.
“We shouldn’t all go the same way,” I brought up. “Maybe we separate and mislead the Priestess’ prying eyes. Some of us are on the surface, while others are below.”
The Silver Wolf’s gaze moved between us, then back to Rendel.
“And you?” she asked. “Where do you place yourself in this?”
Rendel didn’t hesitate. “Where I’m needed.”
“That’s not an answer,” she said, her eyes narrowing. I glanced at Keegan, worried the animosity might skew our choices.
“It’s the only one that matters right now,” Rendel muttered.
There it was again. That undercurrent. It wasn’t conflict, exactly, but something that hadn’t been settled.
Keegan took another step forward, this one more deliberate.
“That’s enough,” he told his parents, and my shoulders relaxed. Of course, Keegan had it handled.
The Silver Wolf looked at him.
So did Rendel.
And for a moment, the balance shifted again.
He didn’t look away.
Didn’t back down.
He just stood there, steady, grounded, like he had decided that whatever this was, it wasn’t going to move past him.
“We’re not standing here revisiting history,” he continued. “We have a plan.”
The Silver Wolf’s expression didn’t change, but there was something in her eyes now that hadn’t been there before.
Approval.
Quiet. Measured. Real.
Rendel’s gaze lingered on Keegan just a second longer before he gave a small nod.
“Then act on it,” he said.
Twobble clapped his hands once, the sound just loud enough to break the edge of the moment. “Finally. Direction.”
A few of the orcs shifted, some of the tension easing from their shoulders as the focus returned to movement instead of stillness.
Nova turned back to me. “If we’re doing this, we need to move soon.”
“I know,” I said.
Stella adjusted the edge of her sleeve. “And quietly. The more we stand here, the more attention we draw.”
Twobble nodded seriously. “Subtle. I can do subtle.”
“You can try,” I said.
I let out a small breath and looked at all of them again.
The orcs.
The shifters.
The Silver Wolf.
Rendel.
Keegan.
All of us standing here, on the edge of something that felt bigger than just a plan, bigger than just a next step.
This wasn’t just about the stone anymore.
It wasn’t just about Gideon.
Or Skonk.
Or even my mom.
It was all of it.
And it was moving faster than I would have liked.
“I’ll go through the UnderLoom,” I said, more firmly now.
Twobble straightened. “Excellent decision-making.”
Keegan didn’t argue this time, but I felt his hand brush mine again like he needed to make sure I was still right there.
“I’ll be with you.”
“Rendel and I will be atop with the shifters,” the Silver Wolf said.
I nodded. “Agreed.”
“I think we should have the orcs on the surface as well,” Nova said.
“With two groups breaking off along the way for distraction,” I added.
Nova moved closer. “I will come below, while Ardetia and Bella stay above ground.”
My dad walked over. “I’ll travel with the shifters.”
Caleb stood in the large group of wolves, and our eyes met as he gave a slight nod.
I hugged my dad extra tight as he whispered he loved me and gave me a wink for the road.
I watched them congregate as Twobble motioned for us to all follow him to the entrance of the UnderLoom, and without overthinking for another second, we followed our interim leader because there was no other way.
The opening he led us to wasn’t grand. It never had been. It was merely a narrow break in the earth tucked behind the hedges, half-hidden by roots and old stone like the ground itself had tried to forget it existed. I had passed it before without noticing, which now felt intentional.
“Stay close,” Twobble said, his voice a touch quieter than usual as he ducked inside. “And don’t touch anything unless you want to explain yourself to a goblin council that has far too much time on their hands.”
“That’s comforting,” Stella murmured as she stepped in behind him, her hand brushing lightly along the wall without quite making contact. “Wait. Wasn’t I supposed to stay back at the Academy?”
But before any of us could say another word, we slid down a tunnel at high speed.
Mud, roots, and stone slid by at unstoppable speeds, or maybe that was me moving like a bullet.
I hit the ground with a thud, and Keegan moved in beside me, his shoulder close, not crowding, just there. I didn’t look at him, but I felt it.
The air changed almost immediately.
The place was cooler and damp. It felt heavy, settling in your lungs and making you aware of every breath you took. The faint scent of earth and something older lingered.
The tunnel sloped downward, twisting just enough that the light from above faded quickly, replaced by a soft glow that seemed to come from the walls themselves. Thin veins of something faintly luminous ran through the stone, pulsing just slightly as we passed.
“UnderLoom,” Twobble said, glancing back at us. “It listens. So keep your thoughts tidy.”
“Where did the goblin bazaar go? Wasn’t it close?” I asked Twobble, remembering from the last time.
“Things move in the UnderLoom.” Twobble shrugged. “That was the traveling bazaar.”
We moved deeper, the sound of our steps echoing softly, not loud, but enough to remind me that this place wasn’t empty.
It never was.
A low drone threaded through the space, subtle, almost easy to miss, but once I noticed it, I couldn’t unhear it. It felt like something just beneath the surface, shifting, watching, waiting.
The shadow mark stirred.
Keegan noticed.
“You feel it here,” he said, low enough that only I could hear.
“I do,” I replied.
Ahead of us, the tunnel dipped again, the glow deepening, shadows shifting in ways that didn’t quite follow the light.
Twobble stopped at the edge and looked back at all of us, his usual grin softer now.
“Alright,” he said. “From here on out, we’re guests. We get in, and we get out.”
Those words settled more heavily than I expected.
Guests.
Not welcome.
Not unwelcome.
Just… tolerated.
I drew in a steady breath and stepped forward.
Because there was no turning back now. We had to get to Gideon.