Bloodrose
Page 26
“It’s all right, Calla.” Shay’s voice broke through the whispers. “You’re almost there.”
But almost there meant I’d reached the final crevasse. I stared at what appeared to be a solid, sparkling ice surface. I only knew it wasn’t because of the way Shay’s rope line suddenly dipped well below it.
“Get a move on!” Sabine squeezed beside Shay at the entrance of the crawl space. From her vantage point on the other side of the pit she stared down at me, flashing a challenging smile.
Anger flared and I seized on it, swinging down into the crevasse. My feet scrambled against the sheer face and for a moment I panicked. But then my foot slipped into one of Shay’s holds and I could breathe again.
“You’ve got it!” Shay’s voice was both warm and relieved. “Just a few more feet.”
I pushed myself from hold to hold. My arms were burning. It felt as though the crevasse was trying to pull me off the wall, sucking me down into oblivion.
And then Shay’s hands were locked around my forearms. He hauled me over the edge of the crevasse and into his arms. I scrambled into the crawl space, knocking him backward. His face was buried in the crown of my hair.
“Hey. You did great.”
I almost pushed him away, not wanting to show any weakness and embarrassed that he so easily sensed my fear. Instead I let that impulse go and turned my face up to kiss him. When his arms went around my waist, all my anxiety from the climb faded.
“Thanks.” I smiled, deciding it was okay that I felt better leaning against him. After all, navigating death pits with climbing gear did not fall under an alpha wolf’s job description.
Silas coughed; he clung to the edge of the tunnel, waiting for Shay and me to make room for him to crawl inside—I guessed Connor had given him a reprieve. Shay pulled me farther into the narrow cavern toward where Sabine, Nev, and Mason were huddled. The Scribe was peering at Shay and me. “I just wondered if you might offer a comment as to where you think a relationship between a Guardian and Scion could lead? If we survive, that is.” He held his pen poised. I didn’t know what startled me more: the question or that he had his notebook out not five seconds after that crossing.
Shay shook his head, letting me go and turning to move farther down the crawl space. I smiled slowly at Silas, letting my fangs catch the dim light that slid into the tunnel from the ice cavern.
“Silas! I didn’t know you were writing gossip columns now.” Adne scuttled past us to the end of the rope, offering her hand to Connor as he climbed out of the crevasse. “I thought you were recording history.”
Silas turned beet red but didn’t answer.
“You good?” Adne asked Connor.
“Yeah.”
Shay, who was already heading for the silver gleam at the end of the tunnel, turned and called, “Let’s finish this.”
Sabine, Mason, and I exchanged a look, and in the next moment three wolves were at Shay’s heels. The second tunnel was dark like the first, though it was much narrower. I kept testing the air, but just like when we’d first entered the cavern, I could smell nothing. No monster lay in wait for us. We were alone.
The subtle flame bloomed into bright light at the far end of the passage. I closed my eyes, making a silent wish that we weren’t about to encounter another room full of deadly traps. Shay stepped into the light. And smiled.
We followed him into a room that was familiar and unfamiliar. The space was open and well lit. Unlike Haldis, which had been filled with warm hues, this room sparkled with cool silver and misty blue. I felt like I’d seen the colors before and realized that I had. The walls of this cavern mirrored those of the Tordis wing of the Roving Academy.
“Oh,” I heard Silas breathe behind me. I knew what he was looking at, what we were all looking at.
She was here, just like she had been at Haldis. A woman, ethereal, floating at the center of the room. But now I knew her name: Cian. Shay’s long-dead ancestor. The warrior who’d given her life, her act of sacrifice transforming her into the only weapon that could save us now.
Her hands were extended toward Shay. Once again I found myself locked in place, unable to move a muscle as Shay reached for her, swiftly crossing the space between them. When his fingers touched hers, the light vanished and darkness engulfed us. All was silent.
I waited, listening to the sound of my heartbeat.
“Are we dead?” Mason whispered, and I knew the spell had released us.
I couldn’t help it. Shifting forms, I laughed. “No.”
“Oh, good.” Mason began to laugh too.
Light slowly returned to the room. Cian had vanished, leaving Shay standing alone at the center of the space. A slender blade lay flat on Shay’s palms.
Silas stumbled forward like a man caught up in a religious vision. “Tordis.” He reached toward the blade, remembering himself at the last second and snatching his fingers back.
“Nice work, kid.” Ethan kept his distance but was eyeing the blade admiringly. Sabine stood beside him in human form, and I noticed that her fingers were interlaced with his.
“It’s so light,” Shay murmured.
Connor snorted. “As air?”
He grunted when Adne kicked him in the shin.
I took a cautious step closer and peered at the gleaming metal, though I didn’t know if metal was what I was looking at. The blade’s surface shimmered with movement, the roiling of swift storm clouds, the endless swirl of winds.
Shay’s jaw twitched. “Here goes nothing.”
He grasped the flat of Tordis’s blade between his thumb and index finger, carefully avoiding the razor-sharp edges. With his other hand he pulled Haldis from inside his coat. His forearms trembled as he lowered the blunt end of the blade toward the opening in the hilt. There was no sound as the objects met, but when the blade would travel no farther into the hilt, a ripple of light traveled from where Shay’s palm gripped the base of the sword to the tip of the blade.
With no warning, the ripple exploded from the tip like a solar flare, sweeping through the room, knocking everyone but Shay to the ground. The earth beneath me moaned, and the mountain shuddered.
Then there was silence.
Silas grunted and rolled to his hands and feet. “I hope that didn’t cause an avalanche. We might have just been buried alive.”
“Nice attitude,” Mason said.
“We’d have heard the avalanche,” Adne said quickly.
But almost there meant I’d reached the final crevasse. I stared at what appeared to be a solid, sparkling ice surface. I only knew it wasn’t because of the way Shay’s rope line suddenly dipped well below it.
“Get a move on!” Sabine squeezed beside Shay at the entrance of the crawl space. From her vantage point on the other side of the pit she stared down at me, flashing a challenging smile.
Anger flared and I seized on it, swinging down into the crevasse. My feet scrambled against the sheer face and for a moment I panicked. But then my foot slipped into one of Shay’s holds and I could breathe again.
“You’ve got it!” Shay’s voice was both warm and relieved. “Just a few more feet.”
I pushed myself from hold to hold. My arms were burning. It felt as though the crevasse was trying to pull me off the wall, sucking me down into oblivion.
And then Shay’s hands were locked around my forearms. He hauled me over the edge of the crevasse and into his arms. I scrambled into the crawl space, knocking him backward. His face was buried in the crown of my hair.
“Hey. You did great.”
I almost pushed him away, not wanting to show any weakness and embarrassed that he so easily sensed my fear. Instead I let that impulse go and turned my face up to kiss him. When his arms went around my waist, all my anxiety from the climb faded.
“Thanks.” I smiled, deciding it was okay that I felt better leaning against him. After all, navigating death pits with climbing gear did not fall under an alpha wolf’s job description.
Silas coughed; he clung to the edge of the tunnel, waiting for Shay and me to make room for him to crawl inside—I guessed Connor had given him a reprieve. Shay pulled me farther into the narrow cavern toward where Sabine, Nev, and Mason were huddled. The Scribe was peering at Shay and me. “I just wondered if you might offer a comment as to where you think a relationship between a Guardian and Scion could lead? If we survive, that is.” He held his pen poised. I didn’t know what startled me more: the question or that he had his notebook out not five seconds after that crossing.
Shay shook his head, letting me go and turning to move farther down the crawl space. I smiled slowly at Silas, letting my fangs catch the dim light that slid into the tunnel from the ice cavern.
“Silas! I didn’t know you were writing gossip columns now.” Adne scuttled past us to the end of the rope, offering her hand to Connor as he climbed out of the crevasse. “I thought you were recording history.”
Silas turned beet red but didn’t answer.
“You good?” Adne asked Connor.
“Yeah.”
Shay, who was already heading for the silver gleam at the end of the tunnel, turned and called, “Let’s finish this.”
Sabine, Mason, and I exchanged a look, and in the next moment three wolves were at Shay’s heels. The second tunnel was dark like the first, though it was much narrower. I kept testing the air, but just like when we’d first entered the cavern, I could smell nothing. No monster lay in wait for us. We were alone.
The subtle flame bloomed into bright light at the far end of the passage. I closed my eyes, making a silent wish that we weren’t about to encounter another room full of deadly traps. Shay stepped into the light. And smiled.
We followed him into a room that was familiar and unfamiliar. The space was open and well lit. Unlike Haldis, which had been filled with warm hues, this room sparkled with cool silver and misty blue. I felt like I’d seen the colors before and realized that I had. The walls of this cavern mirrored those of the Tordis wing of the Roving Academy.
“Oh,” I heard Silas breathe behind me. I knew what he was looking at, what we were all looking at.
She was here, just like she had been at Haldis. A woman, ethereal, floating at the center of the room. But now I knew her name: Cian. Shay’s long-dead ancestor. The warrior who’d given her life, her act of sacrifice transforming her into the only weapon that could save us now.
Her hands were extended toward Shay. Once again I found myself locked in place, unable to move a muscle as Shay reached for her, swiftly crossing the space between them. When his fingers touched hers, the light vanished and darkness engulfed us. All was silent.
I waited, listening to the sound of my heartbeat.
“Are we dead?” Mason whispered, and I knew the spell had released us.
I couldn’t help it. Shifting forms, I laughed. “No.”
“Oh, good.” Mason began to laugh too.
Light slowly returned to the room. Cian had vanished, leaving Shay standing alone at the center of the space. A slender blade lay flat on Shay’s palms.
Silas stumbled forward like a man caught up in a religious vision. “Tordis.” He reached toward the blade, remembering himself at the last second and snatching his fingers back.
“Nice work, kid.” Ethan kept his distance but was eyeing the blade admiringly. Sabine stood beside him in human form, and I noticed that her fingers were interlaced with his.
“It’s so light,” Shay murmured.
Connor snorted. “As air?”
He grunted when Adne kicked him in the shin.
I took a cautious step closer and peered at the gleaming metal, though I didn’t know if metal was what I was looking at. The blade’s surface shimmered with movement, the roiling of swift storm clouds, the endless swirl of winds.
Shay’s jaw twitched. “Here goes nothing.”
He grasped the flat of Tordis’s blade between his thumb and index finger, carefully avoiding the razor-sharp edges. With his other hand he pulled Haldis from inside his coat. His forearms trembled as he lowered the blunt end of the blade toward the opening in the hilt. There was no sound as the objects met, but when the blade would travel no farther into the hilt, a ripple of light traveled from where Shay’s palm gripped the base of the sword to the tip of the blade.
With no warning, the ripple exploded from the tip like a solar flare, sweeping through the room, knocking everyone but Shay to the ground. The earth beneath me moaned, and the mountain shuddered.
Then there was silence.
Silas grunted and rolled to his hands and feet. “I hope that didn’t cause an avalanche. We might have just been buried alive.”
“Nice attitude,” Mason said.
“We’d have heard the avalanche,” Adne said quickly.
