Emha’s eyes grew wide and she frowned as she looked down at her hands, which were clasped together on top of her book. She took a moment to think through everything Sloane had just said.
When she looked up there was resolve in her eyes and she nodded. ‘I can help you get back there.’ She sounded so certain, like it was achievable, and there was only one reason she would feel that way.
‘You know where the rift is, don’t you?’ Sloane asked.
‘Yes,’ Emha said, lowering her voice. ‘I know you asked me where it was before, but I couldn’t tell you. Rhyn had forbidden it, and I didn’t want you to leave. This is too important though. You’re right; you have to go.’
‘I do,’ Sloane replied. ‘Is the rift far from here?’
Emha shook her head. ‘It’s outside the castellum walls. We’ll have to get past the guards to get there.’
‘We? I don’t think so,’ Sloane replied. ‘I’m not taking you into any kind of danger again. You’ll just have to tell me where it is, and I’ll go by myself.’
‘But you will need my help to find it.’
Sloane shook her head. ‘You’ll just have to give me really good directions. I won’t take you with me.’
Emha sighed, but then nodded. ‘Fine, but getting out of here won’t be easy.’
‘I never expected it to be,’ Sloane replied.
Sloane listened carefully as Emha explained the location of the rift. The girl talked so softly, as if she feared the walls had ears, and Sloane had to lean in close. Emha was right; the rift was nearby. Getting to it wasn’t the problem though. Rhyn was. He could be planning to send her away at any time. She needed to act now and didn’t dare wait a moment longer for fear of what could happen on Aeris. She needed to warn her people before the other ships arrived. She needed to ensure they agreed to leave Aries before they settled on the planet and it was too late.
Sloane was hesitant to leave, but the soft light of dawn was fast approaching, and she needed to make a move before the day began. Leaving meant saying goodbye to Emha though, and it saddened her to think she was never going to see the girl again.
‘I’m going to miss you,’ Sloane said, giving Emha a hug.
‘Me too,’ Emha replied, pushing down a sniffle.
Sloane pulled back, a wave of guilt flooding through her as she looked at the crying girl. ‘I won’t get a chance to say goodbye to the others. Tell him … tell them I said goodbye.’
Emha nodded. ‘I will.’
Sloane allowed her hands to drop from Emha’s arms and gave her a sad smile in farewell. She then turned quickly to make for the door. She wasn’t great at goodbyes. She was especially bad at saying goodbye to the few people she cared about.
She didn’t turn back to look at her young friend one last time. Her mind had already pushed down her sorrow, and she was now focused on the problems that lay before her.
She opened the door, her heart filled with cold purpose, and she stepped into the corridor—she was ready to make her escape.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
There was a guard waiting in the hallway, and he watched Sloane closely as she closed the door behind her and shadowed her footsteps as she began to move off in the direction of Rhyn’s room. She’d been expecting the guard, but was a little disappointed all the same. She would have liked to avoid dealing with him if she could.
She entered Rhyn’s room and, as soon as the door shut behind her, she walked over to the far wall to pull his sword from where it hung. She belted it to her side, feeling a moment’s guilt for stealing his favourite possession. He’d be pissed when he found it gone, but that would be nothing compared to the cold fury he’d feel at Sloane’s disappearance.
She surveyed the room one last time. It looked the same as always, but it felt oddly empty without Rhyn there. She wondered if she would ever see it again—see him again. If everything went to plan, she wouldn’t.
She shook her head and squared her shoulders, pushing thoughts of the stubborn warrior from her mind. She had to focus if she was going to get back through the rift.
She walked back to the door and opened it a crack to peer her head out into the corridor. The guard stood just outside the doorway and he frowned at her appearance.
‘I’m feeling really dizzy,’ Sloane said, pushing a hand against her forehead. ‘Can you get Orelle and bring her here? She said to send for her if I had any problems.’
The guard looked uneasy. ‘I was told not to leave you…’
Sloane staggered a little and clasped the door tightly with her hand. ‘Sure, I understand. I guess I’ll have to go to her. You look fairly strong. You can carry me if I collapse, right?’
The guard glanced between Sloane and the end of the corridor. ‘Fine. I’ll go get her. But, I’ll need to lock you in the room.’
‘Thanks,’ Sloane said, a look of relief lighting her features.
He approached the door, pulling a ring of keys from his waist. While his head was bent over, focusing on the ring attached to his belt, Sloane stepped from the doorway. She grabbed the back of the man’s head and slammed the wooden door against it. He sunk down, crumpling into a heap on the floor.
‘I hoped we could do this the easy way,’ she muttered, kneeling down beside him to check he was still breathing. The guy would wake up, but he would have a nasty bump on his head when he did. She looked up and down the corridor before pulling the man’s cloak from his shoulders and wrapping it around her own. She stood up and set off at a light jog towards the front entrance of the castellum.
The walls of the castellum glowed softly in the morning light, and the place was filled with a quiet stillness. Sloane expected it to be humming in the aftermath of the Braky attack, but hours had passed since they struck and the Unfaih had clearly gone to bed.
The silence was unnerving, and Sloane was surprisingly jumpy as she walked. The smallest of noises sent her diving for cover in doorways, but luckily no one happened upon her as she snuck towards the entrance.
There were several Unfaih from the village loitering in the entrance foyer when she got there. She paused just inside the doorway to watch them. They were all towards the back of the room, leaving a clear line between her and the front door. They were still in their attire from the ceremony and seemed tired, but that didn’t really help her.
They looked like they were waiting to return to the village, but Sloane couldn’t be sure if they’d leave anytime soon. She couldn’t afford to linger though. She was out in the open in the corridor and needed to get out of the castellum as quickly as possible.
She slowly pulled the hood of her cloak over her head to cover her white blonde hair from view. It wasn’t much of a disguise, and her chance of escape would be ruined if any of them stopped her, but she didn’t have time to think of an alternative way to get past them.
She stepped into the foyer, keeping her eyes focused on the large wooden doors that led to the courtyard beyond. She could hear the gentle murmurs of the villagers behind her, but not one of them called out to stop her. She wasn’t even sure if they had noticed her, and she relaxed slightly as she headed for the doorway.
Movement caught Sloane’s eye and a man emerged from the corridor across the foyer from her. She nearly turned and walked back the way she came when she saw that it was Kai. She felt certain he would spot her and return her to Rhyn’s room, foiling all chance of her escape. But his focus was on the woman who followed him through the door. It was the redhead from the choosing ceremony, and they were smiling softly at one another. Sloane was pleased to see them looking so happy but felt a twinge of sadness at the sight. She would never see her friend again. She would never know if he was destined to find happiness with the woman beside him.
She forced herself to look away from the two of them and continued towards the courtyard. She didn’t want to dwell on her feelings for these people. She needed to push all thoughts of them aside and concentrate on getting away. It was harder than she expected though, and a
part of her struggled with the fact that she’d never see any of them again.
Sloane walked into the courtyard and was struck by the cold air, which still held the chills of the Braky attack earlier in the night. She wrapped her hands around her body and looked up at the sky. The clouds overhead were tinged with the soft blue hues of morning and, she could see it was only minutes until daybreak.
When her eyes landed on the gate, she swore. It was shut and there were two men guarding it from the inside. She could try to fight them, but the noise would only rouse more guards to stop her.
Looking around the courtyard, Sloane tried to decide what to do. She could hardly launch herself over the wall like Rhyn had. She could look for some place to hide until the gate opened again, but that meant more time within the castle walls and more chance of being found. What she needed was a way to distract the guards, and as her eyes took in the courtyard Sloane had a sudden wave of inspiration.
Keeping the hood of her cloak pulled over her head, she made her way over to the stables. She’d been past the wooden structure plenty of times while training, but had yet to go inside. As she pushed the door open wide, Sloane saw twenty stalls, each housing some of the biggest horses she had ever seen. She’d never seen horses of such stature before, not to mention ones with such pure, white coats.
She swallowed and stepped into the building, a wave of warmth flushing her skin as she entered. She almost felt nervous as she approached the animals. They looked like they could crush her with one powerful kick.
She opened the gate for the first horse, which blew a short snort of hot air in her face before lowering its head to continue eating. If her plan was going to work she was going to need a bigger reaction than that.
She continued down the line of stalls, opening each gate as she went. The horses showed zero interest in escape though. Some barely seemed to notice she’d opened their gate at all.
She reached a stall at the end of the row and noticed the horse within it was acting slightly differently. It wasn’t as big as the other horses in the stable, and it appeared to be shifting nervously on its feet. When its eyes locked on Sloane, it snorted and took several steps back in its stall.
She slowly approached the pen and, with very cautious movements, she released the latch on the gate and pulled it back until it was wide open. From this close she could see it was a beautiful looking creature with not a single blemish to its white hair. It seemed so unnerved by her presence though, and Sloane’s heart went out to it. Unfortunately, panicking was exactly what she needed it to do.
She walked to the back of the stables where there was a large metal bucket on the ground. Taking a deep breath in, she grabbed the bucket and started pounding on the metal base of it with the hilt of her sword.
The sound echoed loudly in the stables and most of the horses quickly grew uneasy. Some of them were pawing the ground, others shaking their heads and giving short, aggressive snorts that were filled with distress. Sloane continued beating the bucket and the skittish horse in the final stall reared up and gave a high-pitched squeal of fear. It bolted forwards, out of its stall, and raced towards the stable doors. In its impatience to get out, it slammed its shoulder against the door, before finding its way out into the courtyard beyond.
Sloane took off after the horse and followed it into the courtyard. Guards were already shouting at the creature. Some were abandoning their posts from the wall to chase after it, while others emerged from their barracks to see what the commotion was all about.
Keeping close to the wall, Sloane hurried towards the gate. The guards were in the process of trying to surround the spooked horse, but their actions only seemed to make it more distressed. It was visibly trembling and stamping the ground as it tried to evade the men. Sloane felt a pang of sympathy for the animal, but she couldn’t be concerned about it. Not when she needed to focus on her escape.
Getting to the gate, she was pleased to find it unmanned and she raced towards the large doors that barred her way. She pushed the bolt from across them and started to heave one of the huge doors open. It was unbelievably heavy, and for a moment she worried that it needed more than one person to move it. But, very slowly, the door started to open. Clenching her teeth, she drew on all of her strength to create a large enough opening that she could sneak through.
The men were still shouting, but then a cheer went up behind her as one of them got a hold of the horse. Sloane didn’t look over her shoulder to check if the guards were returning. She already knew she only had moments before they’d be back. The gap wasn’t quite big enough for her to fit through, but she didn’t have time to open the door further. She needed to get out of there now.
Sucking in all of her breath, Sloane closed her eyes and pushed her body between the two doors. She didn’t fit easily though, and started wiggling as she struggled to make it through the gap. Slamming her hands against the door she pushed against it, trying to free herself. She heard a small creak as the door budged an inch and she fell through the gap, landing in the snow outside. She was free.
Sloane gasped out a breath as she emerged but didn’t take a second to recover. She needed to get away before the guards noticed the door was open.
Instead of moving to the steps that led to the village, Sloane followed the outside wall of castellum back towards where it butted up against the mountain behind it. She kept close to the wall, so the guards who manned it couldn’t see her unless they decided to peer over the edge of it.
So far there wasn’t any sign of pursuit, but the guards could notice the open door at any moment. She tried to move quickly, but struggled to run with her usual agility. There was pain in her chest and her ribs felt bruised. They throbbed with every movement she made and she mentally cursed the Braky that had fallen on her with each step she took.
The tall rock face of the mountain loomed over her, and Sloane grew increasingly uneasy as she approached it. She felt like anything could be lurking in the craggily nooks of rock above her, but her leg felt fine so at least she knew there were no Brakys nearby.
As she reached the base of the mountain, she noticed steps carved into the rock, just as Emha had described. They couldn’t be seen from any other angle as they cut across the face of the rock and were protected from view by the jagged outcrops of stone. The steps moved upwards, away from the safety of the castellum wall. She barely slowed down as she reached them, and her pace grew quicker with each step. If Emha’s directions were correct, then she was getting close to the rift now.
It grew colder as Sloane climbed and flurries of snow started to softly float down in the air around her. They moved so slowly they almost appeared suspended in the air. Small snowflakes got caught up in her hair and dusted her shirt. Her cheeks were flushed with cold, and her nose felt more like a little icicle than an actual appendage to her body.
She was finally getting what she’d wanted since the day she was brought to the Unfaih, but a small part of her wanted to stay. She would never know what Kai would decide about his choosing. She would never get to see Orelle’s kind smile again. There would be no exploring the beauties of this world with Emha. And there would be no battling Brakys with Rhyn.
She knew that fighting beside Rhyn wasn’t the only thing she’d miss about him, and a pang of sorrow filled her chest. She stopped on the step for a brief moment and closed her eyes, willing herself to be strong. When she opened them again, she felt the cool, hard shell she armed herself with slip back into place. This was what she had to do.
The steps opened out onto a recess in the mountain, and Sloane paused behind a rock to get a good look at the area. Peeking her head around the rock, she could see snow dusted the ground in front of her and two scraggly looking trees commanded most of the small space. Beneath them stood four of Rhyn’s men and, behind them, Sloane could see the rift. The orbs that bordered the rift shone brightly in the early morning light and through the shimmering veil, Sloane caught sight of the sunlit grass of the World of the Wood
s.
Sloane slowly began to draw her sword as she tried to decide how to get past the guards. The area was small, which would make it difficult for the men to fight. Perhaps her best option was to simply make a run for the rift.
A cold breeze made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and Sloane felt a presence behind her. Before she could whip around she felt one strong hand grip her waist and the cold metal of a dagger at her throat.
‘I should have known you’d find your way here,’ Rhyn growled in her ear. She could feel his breath against her cheek and his chest pressed against her back. She didn’t dare move with the blade pressed firmly to her throat. Without shifting the dagger, he pulled her from behind the rock and marched her into the clearing, in plain sight of the other guards and the rift.
‘You have to let me go, Rhyn,’ she said, trying to keep her voice calm. She could see the sunshine streaming through the trees on the other side of the rift. She knew she was only an hour’s trek from her people. She could almost feel her freedom on the breeze that whisked through the rift from the World of the Woods to touch her.
Rhyn reached around the other side of her body and pulled his sword from her hand. ‘I don’t have to do anything,’ he replied, slowly removing the dagger from her throat.
She stepped briskly away from him and turned, one hand rubbing the place on her throat where she’d felt the cool metal. Snowflakes clung to Rhyn’s hair, and he looked more dishevelled than she’d seen him before. His gaze was narrowed on her, and his shoulders were stiff with tension. She needed to convince him to let her go, and fast. He looked like he was about to throw her over his shoulder and carry her back down the mountain.
‘Leave us,’ Rhyn growled to the men guarding the rift behind her.
Sloane didn’t drop her gaze from Rhyn as the men left. She didn’t dare risk him blindsiding her when the rift to her freedom was so close. The two of them stood in silence, assessing one another.
In Ice We Burn (The Liftsal Guardians Book 1) Page 26
