Page 137 of Atop the Faerie Throne
I half expect Jaro to say something about Lore coming back for me when it’s safe, but he seems to value his pelt, because he returns to his wolf form and leads the way down the stairs. Not happy with following, Lore blinks ahead, then disappears and reappears a few flights down.
“Echo-o-o-o,” he calls, and Bree slaps his own forehead as he steals the sound a second too late.
“Well, there’s no way anyone down there missed that,” Caed whistles cheerily. “Race you to the bottom?”
Bree’s wings flare wide. “It won’t even be a race.”
The odd moment of levity lifts my spirits, giving me the courage to tense and release the muscles on my back, returning to the air as Caed steps off the edge, dropping like a stone into the darkness. Bree dives in a blur of black feathers after him. I’m not in as much of a hurry, keeping pace with Jaro and Drystan as they take multiple steps at a time.
By some miracle, whoever built these stairs managed to bring them out by the edge of the lake, saving us from having to swim. The new ledge is made slippery by the water, and I can’t see anything, so I grab Drystan’s sleeve, miming a flaring motion with my free hand.
It takes him a second to oblige, but I feel much better when three tiny balls of flame start to orbit our group, banishing the oppressive darkness that seems so much worse than it was before.
“Hey, púca,” Caed pants, climbing out of the water with soaking wet hair. “I won.”
He rolls onto the ledge, which I can now see is actually a roughly hewn path carved into the cave wall, landing on his back with a snort and a clank of armour.
Bree raises a single brow as his wings disappear in a cloud of ink. “And yet, I’m not the one who now reeks of stagnant lake water.”
Caed pretends to sniff himself, and even half manages to hide the grimace on his face. “But it’s so refreshing.”
“Well, you’ll enjoy an extra dip then.” Lore blinks beside him, kicking him back in with a splash and a devious grin.
I wait for Drystan to scold them and remind them that we’re here for a reason, but the more time that passes in silence, the lower my heart sinks. What little precious levity they summoned with their antics turns to sludge in my veins, and I turn back to the path, hand falling to Jaro’s fur in search of comfort.
I almost expect the Fomorians to have carved the path right down to the muddy beach where I washed up when I came here, but it comes to an abrupt halt a few yards in.
For a second, I wonder if we truly do have to swim, but when one of the flames reaches the end, it illuminates a gap carved into the rock.
“How do we find him?” I ask as we squeeze through and head along the ensuing passage.
My work with Kitarni on connecting to the magic beneath Faerie has kept me from being involved in a lot of the strategy meetings. I’ve been reliant on Jaro to catch me up each night, but those plans were focused on taking Fellgotha, and I’m not sure we ever covered what we’d do when we got down here. The caves are so vast…
“The tunnels are always shifting,” Caed admits, flicking away a stray tendril of something brown and slimy from his shoulderas he rejoins us. “But from what the refugees told Prae, Elatha ordered them to dig straight east, following the old legends. If we lose their trail, we’ll try to do the same.”
It’s not much of a plan, but I keep my criticism to myself, because we haven’t really got any other options. Kitarni seemed sure I’d be able to feel the disturbance in the fabric of the realm when I got close enough, but I’m not sensing anything.
“And the tunnel wyrms?” I check the charm in my pocket, making sure it’s still there.
Bree shrugs. “Caed says they hate fire and chickens. We have the former, but a certain redcap refuses to go and get the feathers we asked for.”
Lore blinks beneath me, hefting me onto his shoulders without warning so my head almost scrapes the ceiling. “Why would I want to scare away a snakey-kitty? I want torideone.”
Goddess save us. “I’m not sure that’s possible,” I choke out.
Caed gives a huff of agreement. “Don’t worry, I’m fifty percent sure I managed to explain to the dour knight that big snake equals more fire.”
“If not, we’ll all laugh when he burns off the wolf’s dick later,” Lore pipes up.
Their complete lack of fear is actually encouraging. Or at least… it is until the entire cave rattles and groans, forcing my mates to brace themselves against the walls.
My shoulders hunch, jaw clenching as I wait for it to end. I spend every second that passes waiting for the rock to give out over my head, burying us, and Lore’s hands on my thighs tense as my fear pummels down the bond.
The tremor seems like it will never stop. The air grows thick with dust, and then…
It’s over. Just like that.
My Guard straightens, resuming course like nothing happened, and Lore’s tight grip on my thigh relaxes until he’s petting his mark over the fabric of my leggings.
