Despite the heat, I hugged the jacket tighter around myself and moved a bit closer to my “escort”. We’d just reached the wall of the giant cave, walking through only to enter another giant, if not slightly dimmer, flame-floored cave. I tried to study the group, but all their faces seemed rigid and distant, not at all relatable. Once again I moved closer to Jaden. It was against the rules to be far after all. . . .
Within half-an-hour I had used this excuse to move only inches away from Jaden. Once when I was thinking about the Sylvanus again, another when I thought I saw one of the boys give me a weird look. When the group stopped abruptly, I had moved so close that I plowed right into him. He turned and gave me a look that I would have paid anything to know what it meant. Unhindered, and calm somehow. It made my stomach knot.
I held for a few seconds, not currently capable of keeping my expression from turning gravely distraught, then turned to the others.
A while ago the fire lake had subsided. We were now in purely stone surroundings. The area was far from flat though, full of clefts and high plateaus. Deep drops, ahead there was a distinct fork. Thoran was talking to two of the more heavily armed men. They both nodded after a moment, then began walking to the right. We of course wasted no time starting up again ourselves, taking the left fork instead.
Jaden was beside me still. After a second I whispered carefully, “Where are they going?” I looked ahead as we were beginning to move uphill and I didn't want to fall, but I saw his head turn to me, then back forward.
“To check on one of our posts here, they'll be fine.”
I nodded as I hopped over a loose stone. “Does every—”
“You do know that you keep asking me questions, right?”
Just one . . . well, two. My brow furrowed. I really was trying hard not to. I bit down on my lip.
“It's okay,” he sighed. “What were you gonna say?”
I straightened. “Oh. . . . I just wanted to ask if all the guys here were artisans.”
He nodded. “All but Kale.”
“Who's he?” I asked.
Jaden tossed his head back. “One of the ones that left.”
“Are all of the others offensive?”
He turned to eye me. “No, you can't possibly care about all this.”
My legs froze for a moment, but I pushed myself forward. I was asking too many questions, I always did this when I got nervous. I swallowed. “Sorry.”
His gaze lingered on me before eventually turning back ahead.
The way was getting steeper again, forcing me to keep my eyes glued to my feet. After a long while Jaden's hand came into view, blocking me across my stomach.
“We're almost there. Remember, no eye contact.”
I looked up at him.
“Keep your head down.”
I nodded seriously and he moved his hand, beginning on again.
I checked ahead now, surprised by the change in view. High up in front of us was a stone building. Compared to the lodge it looked rather menacing, but amidst the present surroundings it was like a safe haven. The walls of it weren't dark obsidian, but a cool, grey, sufficiently normal, rock. It appeared to be about two stories high. Lights glowed from openings on the lower levels. A long, thin, bridge-like, stretch of rock connected us to the island of stone the building sat on.
I didn't study much beyond that, I was now somewhat eccentric about staying right next to Jaden. I was glad for his belt full of weapons now, and half wanted to grab onto it and hide behind him as we walked. The desire intensified when I saw two Meoden standing a ways ahead, near the door of the building. I had a good enough view of them to see that they were the same type as Sylvanus . . . it was enough to set my skin crawling.
I was glad when we stopped before reaching the bridge. Thoran was standing near a large boulder and the others quickly formed a circle. Talks before meetings must have been mandatory.
For the first time since we'd left, Thoran's eyes grazed mine. Then he spoke in a firm voice. “You all know the drill. There’s no reason everything shouldn't go smoothly. Still, I want everyone on their guard tonight.” His eyes moved through the group as he spoke, finishing with a look over to Boron. “Jaden, you and Evelyn will keep watch out here during the meeting, we—”
“What?”
My eyes flashed nervously to the expectedly irritated face.
“Why?” asked Jaden.
A couple of the men raised their eyebrows uncomfortably. Thoran seemed unfazed.
“Because that's what I decided, and I don't want flak about it.”
Jaden darkened. “I already missed the last meeting because of . . . duties, what—” he stopped suddenly. I followed his intense glare to Thoran who had a hand raised in dismissal.
“Enough. When we get up there stay outside.”
Jaden's eyes narrowed as Boron gestured a hand ahead. “Let's get going men.”
They did and Jaden wasted no time walking up to Thoran. The older man lifted an eyebrow challengingly, but Jaden waved it off. “I just want to know what subjects you'll be covering at the meeting.”
Thoran's expression softened and he looked like he was about to answer, that is until I walked closer, his eyes shifting to me and back. “No, not now.”
Jaden opened his mouth, but Thoran's eyes narrowed.
“Concentrate on the job at hand, Jaden, it will need your full attention.” With that he turned around and started off towards the building.
Jaden's expression hardened fiercely, much to my dismay, as he followed in step. I strummed my fingers a couple times then did the same. This was bad. He was upset enough when I was just a tag-along, now I'm keeping him from the meeting. Not to mention the meeting was the entire reason I came. A walk through hell was not worth getting Jaden this eternally infuriated at me.
No time left to complain, I sucked in a breath as the group approached the building.
We walked directly past the two Meoden who gave unreadable looks as we moved by, before following alongside. I dropped my head immediately, per instructions, but studied them below the chest. Small bits of black leather and a disconcerting number of weapons seemed their only possessions. The blades were dark and cruelly shaped. Jeez, for a violence-free meeting there sure were a lot of weapons hanging around. On both sides. . . .
I almost screamed when a strong hand grasped my wrist roughly. “This way.” It was Jaden. We were close to the entrance. The others headed in, he pulled me off to a space on the side.
I glanced back just in time to see the door shut. As soon as it did the air seemed to settle. We were standing near a circle of rocks. Grey dust rose like steam from the ground, giving off a very tomb-ish feeling. I realized that Jaden and I were the only ones left outside.
“I can't believe this,” cursed Jaden, releasing his grip on my arm. “This is just like him, I should have known.”
He kicked a rock into the wall. My eyes widened. I tried to appear un-noticing, wrapping a hand uncomfortably around the base of my neck.
After a few seconds, he stilled, back turned to me and both hands at his hips. I would have given him some space, but there wasn't really anywhere to go . . . not to mention I was still fairly afraid to leave him.
“He wouldn't even tell me the topics.”
“I think that was because of me.”
He scoffed, then stated matter-of-factly, “It was all because of you.”
My head dropped and I pursed my lips.
See, this is why the disconnected plan was smart. Now I'm not affected. . . .
My eyes lowered. “I'm sorry, Jaden. I wouldn't have come if I'd known.”
His head shook and he walked over to lean against the stone wall. “Save it, it wasn't your fault.”
My eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. Isn't that what he had just said?
The seconds ticked by. His face was aimed downward; he looked deep in thought. I decided to walk around, but kept within a ten foot radius. Every step I took echoed through the empty
cavern. I stared over the edge into the dark, purple, abyss for a while.
After maybe thirty seconds I walked back and took a breath. “How long does it normally take?”
No answer.
My question hadn’t come out very loud, but the place was dead quiet, no way he didn't hear me. His gaze was still focused downwards.
“Jaden?”
His eyes jerked up now, though not to me, past me, seemingly towards the upper level of the building.
“Jaden, what are yo—”
“Follow me.” With that he walked towards the right side of the building.
I did as he said. We ended up near a high wall made from a chunk of rock. It was large enough to dwarf the building and seemed to make up most of its backside. Jaden stopped at its base, turned around, took off his coat, and started to empty his belt of weapons.
I stood there, awkward once again. “Jaden, can you please tell me what—”
“Take off your coat.” He said it without looking up.
My brow furrowed, but I was too nervous to argue. I took it off.
He grabbed it immediately, threw it on top of his pile of weapons, then looked at me. “You said you can keep a secret, right?”
This caught me by surprise, mostly because of his expression: completely and utterly focused on me. How can he possibly be so inattentive one second, then give me a look like that, that makes me feel like I've never really been looked at before?
“Umm . . . yeah,” I said, then considered his words. Wait, did I say that? When did I say that?
“And you want to see the meeting?”
I stared for a second then sighed. “Of course, that’s why I came.”
A corner of his mouth tipped up ruefully. For the situation it was totally uncalled for, I really wasn't going to keep much gumption with him doing that.
*
The assumption proved true. Despite all my wiser instincts, I followed him. Right up and over the stone wall and in through a dubious-looking crevice.
We were now crawling inside of the teeny-tiny, dark, space, later I would have to ask him how on earth he knew this was here, but for now he had warned me to be quiet, so I was concentrating on placing the balls of my feet gently.
Jaden barely made a noise ahead, despite the fact that he was quite a bit large than me. When I knocked a rock with my foot his head turned.
“Sorry,” I mouthed, though it was most likely too dark to see.
He turned back without a word and started moving again. I hoped whatever look he had given me wasn't another exasperated one. I shook my head slightly. All the sureness I had gained from my resolution back at the lodge that we just weren't going to be close was lost the moment he included me in on this plan of his. I could already feel myself falling back into worrying about what he thought of every move I made. . . .
My heart started to beat faster when I heard muffled voices ahead.
Jaden hadn't told me much of what we were doing. I knew we were going somewhere where we could at least hear what was going on in the meeting, and I knew that I wasn't allowed to speak about it to anyone, ever.
I also knew in my head that it wasn't right and probably not very smart but . . . My eyes lifted to the boy ahead of me . . . Yes, I am that pathetic.
The voices were louder now, suddenly light filtered onto Jaden's face. He stopped and ducked his head back.
I started to crawl beside him and reached his knees before his hand went up stopping me. His eyes were focused intently into the hole, my ears perked when I heard Thoran's voice.
“We let you have the southern portals already, with no resistance. I'm not willing to discuss this absurdity.”
“Absurdity?!” shouted a slivery voice. The accent was odd. Though I couldn't see I would bet anything it was a Meoden. “What's absurd is the amount of land we allow you to keep in our dimension. Tell me, where is our place in yours?”
“I've seen dozens of keepers near the caves of deep Sharadeen,” came an unfamiliar young voice, “don't try to pretend you don—”
“Vaan, be silent.” It was Thoran now. Jaden's eyes flickered. “Demian, this talk is pointless. Neither of us is going to be giving up land anytime soon, I suggest we move on to other topics.”
There was a pause then a voice like none I had ever heard. “Agreed,” it, he, something, said. My heart thumped double-time for a split second. It was full and cold. Not cruel, but wrong. A Meoden to be sure, Demian from what I had followed of the conversation . . . perhaps he was worse than Sylvanus.
By the time I came back to my senses, I'd lost the line of discussion going on below. I looked over to Jaden. It would be much easier to keep up if I could actually see. His hand had fallen from its halting pose. I took a small breath then carefully moved forward a couple inches . . . he made no reaction, so I crawled up the rest of the way till I was lying beside him. His face turned, then I looked at him warily.
Another expression I couldn't read, undeniably intense though.
He looked back down, and I let out a very quiet breath only to suck another back in before peering over the edge.
“Demian, we can't control what every single civilian chooses to do,” said Boron. I saw him immediately to the far right of a long, stone, table. Thoran sat beside him, closer to us.
Apart from that, all I could see was another Meoden to the left. It looked normal enough, for a Meoden. Dark, purplish, skin. Silver eyes . . . it did have a peculiar sort of crown on its head, fashioned from dark metal. I wondered if it was Demian.
“Control yourselves first, gatekeeper, our camp was not attacked by civilians!” That was the Meoden beside Thoran, his voice was vengeful and rasped.
Thoran's gaze remained calm.
“Atmas, you're speaking out of turn . . . though now that we're on the subject we might as well discuss it.”
My throat constricted. There was the voice again. Part of me wanted to pull my head back inside the hole, but a much larger part had to see the face that matched it.
We were only about six or seven feet up, but it was dark enough that there was little chance at being seen. I moved my head further out, giving me a full view of the long table below. Sitting on the right side with Thoran and Boron were the other four men I had traveled with. Then there were three Meoden, apart from the one I had already seen, that sat on the left side.
Though I took in a study of each, my gaze was quickly drawn to the one at the head of the table. His dark hands were strumming on the stone-top. Following up them were dark, muscular, silver-veined, arms. Whatever he was wearing was an afterthought to his face, broad and structured, dark, but redder than the other Meoden. His eyes were different too, deep maroon instead of silver.
I couldn't take my eyes off of him.
“I've been informed it was you and Cornelius, Thoran,” Demian continued. His tone was so commanding, so powerful. I blinked my eyes clear. He held the type of surety that could convince some of practically anything . . . and a pushover like me into everything.
“No doubt you have,” said Thoran. I was grateful to move my gaze to the familiar man. “What is it that you would like to discuss?”
A corner of my mouth tilted slightly. Demian may have been intimidating . . . but it didn't keep Thoran from retaining his usual, self-assured, attitude.
My eyes turned to Demian with a bit more security. His red glare was hard on Thoran, but he didn't get the chance to answer.
“What would he like to discuss?” rasped the crowned Meoden. “You slaughtered an entire encampment!”
The younger men from the order seemed to shift slightly. Thoran looked to Demian.
“We broke no laws. It was out well beyond the borders.”
“Beyond the borders, you say? . . .”
My skin began to quiver at the voice. It sounded disturbingly familiar. I scanned the faces at the table, but none were speaking. Then, something in the shadows.
“It's our dimension, it's all . . our . . borders.” H
e said the last words slowly as he slithered in to sit in the empty seat between Demian and the other Meoden.
My throat, which I thought could constrict no further, dropped to the pit of my stomach. My hand moved forward, palm down, as if I could claw away, but I was frozen. I don't know how I had born the sight of this creature once before, but now it seemed too much to take.
Sylvanus, in his full sickening splendor.
“Come, Demian, can you imagine if we were attacking settlements in their dimension?” he whispered, leaning towards the larger Meoden. Then he shifted his eyes to Thoran and a cruel smirk grew. “They would throw such a fit.”
My chest began to rise up and down beneath me, the cramped space feeling suddenly hot.
“Sylvanus,” reputed Demian, raising his hand, “I would not add to the list of headaches you've caused me recently.” His eyes shifted back to Thoran. “Still, he has a point. What have you to say?”
The grim-faced man raised his chin a fraction. “I say, the next time you see a battalion of armed soldiers in our lands, go ahead and attack. We took down a camp of militia. As it stands, rot like him go into our homes and prey on the vulnerable.” His intensity was sobering. Demian looked down, casually, continuing to strum. “What is the military advantage of that?”
Sylvanus, who was leaning back, mocking boredom at Thoran's reply, straightened up loosely, eyebrows raised. “I have appetites, Thoran. A group of middle-aged do-gooders are hardly my idea of a good meal.” pansy
My skin shivered. I don't know why, but as soon as he said it I looked over to Jaden. His eyes hit mine in the same second. They were intense and searching, too much to bear with everything else. I looked back down.
Disgust covered the face of every man below, though Thoran still sat solidly. Demian himself appeared irritated.
Ember Page 24
