Page 12 of Cry of the Damned
Thenightwasashroud around us, concealing our presence. Kall, Maki, Novuk, and I were crouching in our wolf forms behind a patch of heavy brush located fifty yards from the Academy’s high walls. During the past hour, we’d made our way closer and closer, our instincts and senses sharp, our tetrad bond wide open, so we could immediately perceive everything as one.
During my days as an initiate, I trod all around the grounds and never noticed anything that made me look twice. I’d explain that to the guys, but still, we all considered this search necessary.
The night my peers took their lives in a poisoned-induced trance, the guards took us out of the cave in a cart. I hadn’t been able to see how they’d done it—not buried under all those bodies as I was—but the guards easily rolled us out into the forest, which meant there had to be a way into the hot spring from the outside, and we had to find it. My friends and countless other initiates had died there. The magistrates made them spill their blood in the water, so they could bathe in the power-imbued current and remain strong. They’d done it for centuries.
But no more.
It was our goal to destroy the spring.
“Maybe there’s nothing there,” Kall had said when I explained I’d never noticed anything of import outside the wall, “but we can’t be sure—not when, back then, you only had your human senses to observe the place.”
And I couldn’t argue with that. My wolf senses were a thousand times sharper, so investigating in this form gave me hope we might discover something, after all.
We separated and spread out to more quickly cover the entire perimeter that surrounded the Academy. For the first hour of our perusal, we spotted nothing of interest. It wasn’t until Maki had almost finished his inspection of the topmost quadrant that something caught his attention.
I heard something,he pushed the thought into our minds.
What is it?Kall asked.
Maki was quiet for a long moment, then said,Water, I think. Underground.
After finishing the examination of our own quadrants, the rest of us headed toward Maki. When we got there, he was lying down with one ear to the ground.
I hear it,he said, jumping to all four.Do you think it’s the hot spring?
I closed my eyes and concentrated on listening. Soon, I could hear a slight trickle almost too faint to detect.
It’s definitely water,Novuk said. He had the sharpest hearing of all of us, so that left us no doubt.
I turned and faced the huge structure that was the Academy. In my mind, I pictured its winding halls, large teaching rooms, libraries, dormitories, stables, kitchens… I knew the exact layout like the back of my hand, and after the magistrates had tried to kill me, I also knew where they performed their darkest deeds.
I shuddered as the image of the cavernous hot spring took shape in my mind. I saw the steam rising and smelled the sulfurous quality in the air. My fists clenched involuntarily as I pictured my friends kneeling in front of the stream, sharp daggers in their hands.
Take a deep breath, Sheela,Kall’s voice said in my head, breaking the awful spell.
I did as he instructed and let the spring air fill my lungs, driving away the memory of that awful sulfurous smell. Instead, I focused on following the path of the winding hot spring underground and imagining all the ways it could make its way under the Academy.
When I was done, my eyes sprang open.Yes, this could definitely be the hot spring.
I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, but it was a definite possibility.
Good,Kall said.Let’s follow it.
The sound of water traveling underground guided us closer to the Academy wall.
Kall got ahead, staying close to the ground.I’ll go. You wait.
Through our bond, we all sent a warning to be careful.
He nodded and slowly made his way to the wall, staying hidden when the guards who prowled the parapets came near.
I marched in place, nerves fraying the longer he was gone.
Calm down, Sheela,Novuk said.He knows what he’s doing.
I was about to lose my mind when Kall announced he was heading back. Still, I didn’t breathe easily until his green eyes flashed a few yards away from where we waited.
Anything?Maki asked.
