Page 30 of Keldori By Daybreak

“Wren—”

“Lie down.”

“Is that an order?”

It could be. It would be for his own good.

“No.”

He pulled his hand out of mine, but then the gravel beside me shifted as he lowered himself into the dirt. I lifted the edges of the cloaks to make room for him under their layers, and he shifted towards me until we were pressed together. It almost felt like Liam holding me the way he had on the hotel bed when we’d visited Von Leer University together.

Almost.

“Satisfied?” Ciarán’s voice growled in the back of my mind.

“Yes.” I closed my eyes. He was annoying, but I felt better knowing he would be warmer here, and it didn’t hurt that I was warmer now too.

“You’re a pain in my ass, Blue. You know that?”

“It’s a pleasure and an honor.”

His fingers clenched where he held them against my side. I burrowed into the dark of his chest and pretended he was his other self, the one who had died for me, as his shivering subsided.

8. Speleology 101

Ciarán talked in his sleep, not out loud, but broadcast directly into my head. He was so good at keeping his thoughts locked away on his side of the tether during the day, but there was only so much he could do when unconscious.

It was mostly nonsensical ramblings and the occasional name, but I was in and out of sleep myself, aware enough to know his thoughts were there, bumping up against mine, but not awake enough to make sense of any of it.

I was at least warm in his arms, and Ciarán allowed us to sleep longer than he had in the mountainside cave.

When we did wake and continue our trek, we made quick time passing beneath the rest of the glacier field. The farther we went, the more violent the river churned, the steeper the terrain became, and the louder the water roared, until finally the tunnel ended in a sheet of cascading water that glowed orange in the light of a sunset we couldn’t see.

Mist sprayed off the rocks at the waterfall’s base, and a rocky outcropping jutted overhead some thirty feet up. A dark shadow behind the curtain of water held the promise of the mountain entrance Orla had described.

Fana, small and nimble as she was, clambered up no problem, but I relied on Orla more than I would’ve liked as we made the ascent up the slick cliff face. I’d spent a good chunk of our walk healing my ribs as we went, but each step of the climb seemed to undo more of my hard work. When Orla finally hoisted me up and over the final lip, I collapsed on the stone ground, gasping for air.

“Are you okay?” Her face swam in my vision, and I placed a shaking hand against my ribs.

“I’ll be fine.” I forced myself to my feet, but Orla’s frown stayed fixed in place.

“Good.” Ciarán heaved himself up behind us. He wiped sweat and waterfall spray from his forehead and forged ahead. “We’ve still got a long way to go.”

“Don’t mind him.” Orla brushed water droplets off my leather armor. “You and Fana are only going through the mountain. It’s a lot of walking, but you’re done climbing, and you’ll be able to rest while you wait for us to get Iseult.”

When I’d last been under the mountain, I’d entered from the south side. Now, the north entrance loomed ahead, a dark maw behind the curtain of water. I stopped at the back of the group to look out over the glacier field. The gray peaks on the other side hid the distant bay, but I knew Gams was there, holding her storm and waiting.

I let the vista disappear behind the waterfall, and I followed the others to the mouth of the tunnel. Cold, stale air rushed over us from the mountain’s depths, and I pulled the hood of Liam’s blue hoodie over my head.

Our glowing Skal bottles lit the path, casting shadows across rocky formations carved by lava hundreds of years ago. Even in the face of my bleak connection to the volcanoes of Skalterra and what it might mean for Gams, I couldn’t help the thrill of excitement at walking through a pyroduct again.

Ciarán and Fana walked ahead, taking turns carrying Jonquil, but the farther we walked, the more Orla lagged behind.

“Are you alright?” I finally asked, turning around to watch her silhouette glowing in the light of the bottles at her hip.

She shook herself out of her reverie and quickened to step to catch up.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “I was just thinking about my uncle. He’ll probably be up there.”