Page 102 of The Eye of the Fifth
He would have to face Akeria’s wrath later. The disturbance in the water was bound to have caught the attention of something that would not think twice about ripping the skin from their bones and making a meal of their flesh.
But as he turned to look at the tomb one last time, knowing he may never lay eyes on it again, a discrepancy with the door’s sealing made him pause.
Where the two doors should have lined up perfectly, the stone was marred. It looked as though someone had forced their way out. It was subtle enough that, had he not been looking so intently, he may have missed it. But it was undeniably there, along with a strange sense of magic that felt so unlike his own, foreign and cold, lingering around the threshold as though it was stuck and had nowhere to go.
As intriguing as it was, Kano ripped his gaze from the tomb’s entrance and kicked off the ocean floor, propelling himself to the twins. Ignoring Akeria’s furious expression, he grabbed both hers and Akraia’s hands and swam with them to the surface, not stopping until their heads had broken the water to sweet, sweet air.
Akeria was giving him an earful before his eyes could even adjust to the bright orange of sunset. ‘Howdareyou use your magic on us!’ she seethed. ‘If you ever do that I again, I swear I’ll-’
‘I wonder what’s inside!’ Akraia gushed, ignoring her sister and positively beaming with awe. ‘That place was incredible!’
Akeria rounded furiously on her sister. ‘Are you just going to completely ignore what just happened?’
‘Wereyougoing to ignore the fact that there were dead bodies all around that door?’ Kano asked her angrily. ‘That might have beenyouif you’d touched it!’
‘That does not give you the right to blast us with your magic!’
‘Oh, shut up, Ria! You deserved it,’ Akraia said irritably, as though her sister were ruining the moment for her. Then she looked at Kano, a blush creeping into her blue cheeks. ‘I’ve never seen your magic before. It was wonderful.’
Kano suddenly felt the urge to swallow. ‘Er… thanks.’
Akeria made a sickened sound then splashed them both impatiently. ‘Go find a cave somewhere. Idiots.’ She dove back under the water and Kano watched her beadily for a moment, thinking she was going back toward the monument. But she was heading in the other direction. Towards Nevatis.
Akraia heaved a great contented sigh, then back flipped down into the ocean to follow her sister, her webbed feet playfully flicking water into his face. He could have sworn he heard her still giggling beneath the soft waves.
‘Nymphs,’ Kano said under his breath again, though a smile pulled on his lips.
Though he wouldn’t admit it to the twins, he didn’t regret this adventure they’d dragged him on. To see such a structure, to feel the power within had been both intimidatingandenthralling. Not to mention, the way Akraia had looked at him afterwards made his stomach roll with excitement.
Someone, at some point in time, had successfully broken into that monument. The question was, did they ever make it out again? Had it been their bones scattered at the entrance? Or were they perhaps still trapped inside?
Kano had felt so strongly that it was a place not to be disturbed. So why had someone forced their way inside in the first place?
Chapter Twenty Nine
Sun Under A Waning Moon
???
The Thilene, Loros.
Kyra.
Someone uttered her name.
In the stuffy darkness of Kawai’s cabin that she’d somehow become quite fond of, Kyra’s name had been whispered. But the door remained firmly closed, and the voice had been unaccompanied by telling footsteps.
Perhaps it had been Kawai? She lay motionless in the bunk, ears straining. If Kawaiwasin the cabin but had not announced himself, and was just watching her sleep… well, that would be really fucking strange.
Though even as the thought arose, she was quite sure the raider was still on deck with Boony and Jak, where she’d seen him just an hour or so before, all three of them drinking themselves into a stupor. They did that a lot.
Maybe she’d simply imagined the voice.
She punched the lumpy pillow into a more comfortable position, sighed, then closed her eyes once more.
‘I’m glad one of us is able to sleep.’
Fuck.
