Page 228 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
As the light bathed it, the rock seemed to split down the middle. But nothing moved and nothing groaned.
“The passage only becomes visible at sunrise?” I asked.
But that didn’t make any sense. The carriage had left the crater during the night.
“Almost,” Ryker whispered low, as if he too didn’t want to puncture the moment with our mortal words. “It opens only when the sun and moon’s lights hit its lip just right. Only twice a day and not all year, when the light is too low to reach it.”
Twice a day.
“If someone wanted to invade the crater, they’d have to time their attack very well,” I muttered.
“We go in first,” he said as he lit up a torch and handed it out so the rest of the warriors could follow suit. “Nobody can go in unless accompanied by someone who’s been through the passage before.”
I frowned. That didn’t make sense. “Then how did the first people enter the crater?”
The rock continue to splinter under our eyes, achingly slow, as if it hadn’t quite decided if it should let us pass or not.
“That is a mystery which hasn’t been cracked in centuries and I doubt it ever will.” He took back his torch and raised it high.
As the sun’s light finally hit the barrier between rock and earth, the tunnel’s entrance was revealed fully.
It opened like a great mouth, sharp rocks hanging from its ceiling like fangs. A gust of wind blew over us, as if in warning, scratching at my cheeks with its icy breath. But it smelled of nothing. Sounded like nothing.
This passage seemed like a place where life went to die.
My knees turned weak, skin turning clammy as I stared at ancient magic that was not of this world. Though my other senses were rattled by the lack of sensations, Ifeltthe passage’s magic.
It pulsed against my very being, my most primal instincts screaming at me to run.
Hide.
Never come back here again.
But no voices shrieked from inside, threatening me away. Ryker had warned me.
Somehow, the silence scared me more.
Ryker raised his torch, grim determination written in every angle of his face.
“Ready?” he called out, the sound swallowed up by the passage like a sacrifice.
The warriors grunted in approval.
He looked at me, the sparks in his eyes asking the question his face didn’t dare show.
I raised my chin and nodded.
Yes, I was ready.
“We need to hurry,” he said. “If something is wrong with the passage, it will seal up and trap us inside.”
A tremor threatened to kneel me. But I stood tall, grounding myself in the thought that Ryker would be by my side throughout it all.
He’d delved inside this passage countless times.
He would guide us true.
Shoulder to shoulder, we stepped forward into the darkness.
