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The roc hit the ground hard. The dust and the rattling of her teeth took a moment to subside.
“Are you okay?” Kormac murmured in the aftermath.
She nodded before saying, “Where’s Lomar?”
“He escaped?”
“Not before I freed him from the spell. He seemed keen on having whatever you fought kill him.”
Kormac gave her some space and glanced around. “I wondered what distracted the beast, giving me the right opportunity to strike.” He left her side to skirt the carcass and pulled his blade from its skull. Only then did he yell, “Lomar, where are you?”
No reply.
“I think he’s gone,” she replied. “I don’t sense any living threads but our own.” Which she no longer trusted since she’d not realized there were people hiding inside. Blame the darkness for hiding them. In better news, the gloom she’d sensed upon entering the fort had dissipated.
“Gone where, though? I should go after him,” Kormac stated.
“If you do, he will demand you kill him. He was very upset you hadn’t.”
Kormac’s head dipped but not before she saw the pain in his expression. “Because a proper warlord would have.”
“There is nothing wrong with showing mercy to those you love.”
“Is it mercy, though? His actions will forever haunt him.”
“But at least he’s alive with a chance to atone.”
“Argh.” Kormac yelled to the sky, releasing some of his anguish before his shoulders slumped. “At least part of our mission is done.”
“But the biggest part remains. We need to find a way to seal this thing away from people.”
“You know how?” he asked.
“No, but I might find the answer in that cave. The writing within was probably meant as a warning, perhaps even instruction.”
“Damn Khaal for unsealing that tomb.”
They re-entered the fort, and Fionna wondered why until Kormac began dragging the bodies into the courtyard. Grim faced, silent, he piled them into a pyre with her aid. Not that she could move many as most were too heavy and her magic was all but useless until she recovered her strength.
Once he had all the bodies removed, he bowed his head before the somber mound before lighting a torch and tossing it on the pile. He didn’t stay to watch them burn, though.
He turned to Fionna. “We should find a secure place to camp for the night.”
“Can it have a bed?” she practically pleaded.
His lips ghosted into smile. “I think that can be arranged.”
He chose the former garrison commander’s room, but not before stripping the bed and piling fresh linen on it. He also barricaded the door. The window had bars, but she still set some wards to warn them if anything approached.
With exhaustion tugging at her limbs, she collapsed on the mattress and slept deeply, so deep, she didn’t hear him leave the bed, but smelled his return as it involved food.
She stretched and squinted at the morning light streaming through the slitted window. As her nose twitched, sat up and smiled at the tray Kormac placed on the bed. “Did you cook?”
“Aye.” He appeared embarrassed. “It’s not chef quality but it will fill your belly.”
He’d managed to toast the last of their travel bread and the freshly caught rabbit tasted delicious. By the time she finished eating, she hummed with energy.
“That’s better,” she exclaimed. “I’m ready to tackle that cave.”
