The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)(92)
The Yadoshan coughed. “I wasn’t intending to hide it, lady asha. It’s been some time since I traveled here, but I now remember. There’s another way out.” He pointed toward the small pool. “We were curious, milady. Nearly drowned getting to the other end, since we didn’t know how long the underground spring traveled. Blacked out a bit before Aden managed to pull my head out of the water. But there wasn’t anything much on the other side, only another smaller chamber. Granted, we didn’t explore it much. The wind was chillier there, and we all wanted drier clothes.”
Althy sighed; she could have groaned Yadoshans, and it would have sounded the same. “How far along is the spring?”
“You won’t need to hold your breath too long. There’s a fork in the spring though. Go down the wrong end and there’s nothing to surface to, which was what nearly got me.”
“We will take better precautions than you or your friends did, but you will lead the way. You do remember how to get there, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The other asha and Deathseekers cobbled together an ingenious combination of Air and Water runes that allowed us small pockets of air while we swam underneath the surface—more than enough to get through the underwater tunnel. Kalen and the others insisted on retaining their hold on their weapons, not wanting to emerge unarmed on the other side, and our progress was slower than I would have hoped.
It was a new experience to swim while we breathed. Zoya manifested enough Light underwater to ensure none of us were separated, and we resurfaced without any problems.
Kalen had exercised caution, sending Shield runes jutting out into the air before anyone of us left the water, but no enemy waited for us on the banks. We took our time drying off with more Wind and Fire while my love took it upon himself to explore the immediate area. “It’s as Knox said,” he observed. “There’s a smaller passageway down to the right though, half-hidden by some formations. The Faceless might have gone through there.”
“They did,” I said bleakly. “Be careful, all of you. I can practically smell the wards emanating from that direction.”
Zoya’s nose wrinkled. “She’s right. Seems like they’re more concerned with stopping us from accessing our runes than they are at keeping their location a secret. Perhaps this is where they intend the ambush.”
“Undoubtedly so,” Althy agreed. “And it will take time to remove these barriers.”
“It’s not a complete warding,” I said softly. “They may not have had as much time as they wanted either. These wards will prevent the rest of you from using runes, but they’re not keeping me from using the Dark. They want me to go alone.”
“Don’t do it!” Zoya warned.
“I’ve been inside enough Faceless minds to understand a bit of how they think. This is a blatant invitation—they want to know what I know. The best course of action would be to go in and see what they want, and for the rest of you to unravel the wards while I buy us time.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Kalen said stubbornly.
“Neither will I,” Althy decided. “Zoya, focus on the barrier with the others, then join us afterward.”
“Althy, you’ll be powerless beyond this passage.”
The asha smiled grimly. “I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. If Tea’s right, then they’re not looking for a battle. Let’s go see what they want.”
The warded passageway led to the smallest of the chambers we’d been to, and the Faceless and King Aadil waited for us at its end with a few bodyguards. Druj was still heavily cloaked, a hood pulled down over his face, obscuring his features. King Aadil took no such steps to hide his identity. The mad king was clothed in ceremonial armor, similar to what I’d seen hanging from the scholar Garindor’s walls in his tiny Isteran cottage back in Farsun. The king also wore a gold circlet on his head in place of a crown, with wings hammered on either side.
About a dozen bodyguards flanked him, all of whom moved in unison to shield their ruler. The king drew his sword and snarled a warning as we approached. I didn’t need to look into his head to know his insanity; his eyes looked the same as Telemaine’s had all those months ago.
“As you suspected, Tea,” Althy said quietly. “They do not have the First Harvest, and the king demands that we hand it to him immediately.” She lifted her voice and returned an answer to him in Drychta. The king responded with streams of abuse and stepped forward but stopped when the hooded figure raised its hand.
“Give up,” I said, directing my words to Druj. “You won’t find the First Harvest here.”
The figure turned its face toward me. Suddenly, I was no longer standing in a cave inside Mithra’s wall of mountains. Instead, I was some distance from a great city, watching it burn. The smoke and ash seared my senses, the smell stinging and acrid.
This is not real, I thought frantically, willing myself to calm down. This is not real!
The Faceless stood before me, but he did not attack. Instead, he inclined his covered face in the direction of the city, watching it burn.
This wasn’t Kion. The buildings were different.
It is not a city you will recognize, someone said, more whisper than voice. It was soft and hoarse, pitched low. Its name has been forgotten to all but history.