Page 40 of Scaled Hearts

Being underground, it’s hard to tell what time it is or even if it’s day or night at all.

I feel tired but I also had been plagued with nightmares the entire time I slept. All of them ranging from not being able to find my sister’s cure and having her die in my arms as a result of her curse, or Angurus’ harsh words to me before I curled up and fell asleep.

I rub my face and sigh into my hands.

I’m not sure where we go from here. I can’t understand why he’d suddenly decide to ice me out, let alone completely disengage from me that way that he had before we’d fallen asleep.

Had I done something wrong? Had I said something that offended him?

I roll up onto my feet and stand slowly. My confusion about the situation makes my head spin.

My joints ache not only from the hard ground, but from walking so much too. I can’t say for sure how long we’ve been traveling but it has to be at least a dozen or so miles. It seems like these caverns stretch on forever, making the journey through them feel treacherous.

I turn to where Angurus has climbed up onto a rocky formation. He holds a hand out with his glowing ball of magic and spreads his fingers apart. The white light travels through the cavern, lighting up a few dozen yards each way.

“See anything?” I say to him, cupping my hand over my eyes.

He doesn’t say anything to me, whether from not hearing me or ignoring me, I’m not sure. Both options make the pit in my stomach sink lower.

I wish he would talk to me. His cold words towards me last night – this morning? – had been hurtful – even if I can’t exactly accuse him of acting out-right passive aggressive towards me. To someone observing us from an outside perspective, he might have just seemed tired.

But I know better. I knowhimbetter.

Now that we are going to be up traveling again, it makes me anxious to continue this strange tension between us.

I can’t imagine he’s upset about anything other than me going on and on about my parents and my life living in the encampment. But if he is, I have no idea what from.

The light in his hands dies down enough that I am able to take my hand away from shielding my eyes. He jumps down onto the rocky floor again, turning slightly to look me over. I’m not sure what he’s looking for, but apparently he doesn’t see it because he frowns.

I sigh to myself when he turns back towards the cavern and starts walking.

I don’t bother reminding him to pick up the things he conjured last night to feed and warm us. I’m not sure how the mechanics of his magic work exactly, but if he wants to leave valuable stuff behind, then that was his prerogative.

I follow after him and keep a few paces between us.

Time pases slowly in our continued silence. It makes our journey feel almost unbearable.

Not only am I in an unfamiliar environment that has the potential to kill me, but there could be deadly beasts living down here to kill me too. And the only thing that I have that can possibly distract me from these two scary realities is currently giving me the silent treatment.

I grit my teeth and glare at his back.

His long cloak glides over the ground soundlessly. Every so often it picks up to slide over a smaller stalagmite that juts out into our pathway. I focus on it to keep my mind occupied and count the steps it takes for me to match his longer strides.

The sounds of our footing echoes within the chambers and bounces off the stalactites and stalagmites in a dizzying sort of way. I put out my hand to catch myself, stumbling off of the path and hitting my shoulder against hard, calcified rock.

It makes me grunt in pain.

Angurus stops and whips around to face me. The light above him circles back around to hover over his head. “Whatare you doing?”

I wince and feel blood trickle down my hand from where I’d grabbed onto the sharp rock. I grumble out a snarky response while righting myself.

A hand grabs my arm, yanking me forward. “What did you just say to me?”

I crane my neck to look up at him. “I said that Ifell, but thanks for asking if I’m okay.”

He stares at me with an intense expression. His eyes peering through mine and reaching right down into my soul. There’s a fire there that I can see now that we’re close. It almost relieves me that it isn’t ice instead.

“Do we have a problem, Kelly?”

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