Page 92 of A Bond So Deadly

“Okay, but before you do that, we should try to find the oracle. You said the oracle can make people immortal. If the students become immortal, it would give them a better chance at survival if the Xalgrith are coming. You said I couldn’t go with you to find the oracle because Queen Krosia would know if I left, but with the hole in the barrier, we could go now and she wouldn’t realize I’m gone.”

Galen’s brows knit together. “The oracle’s gone, Shade. There’s nothing out there.”

Her brows lower. “The last time you visited the oracle’s cave, you found the journals,” she counters. “I’m just saying, isn’t it worth at least taking another look before we become trapped in here?”

Thane frowns and rises to his feet. “Shade’s right. It’s worth a shot. We may only have a small window of time before the Xalgrith arrive. It’s worth seeing if there’s anything out there that we missed. Last time you found the journals. Perhaps, with Shade we may find something else.”

Smiling, Shade lifts to her feet and dusts her hands on her pants. “All right then. Let’s go see if we can find an oracle.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

~ Shade ~

Before we leave, I use my portal ring and check in with Blake. It’s hard pretending everything’s okay, but she’s distracted, and we keep the chat brief. At one point, I think I see a massive wolf in the background, its fur dripping with blood, but when I question it, my friend quickly brushes it off and ends our chat soon after.

The reunion with Kenzie goes better than I expect. I think she’ll be angry to hear that I couldn’t save Leira, Jensen, and the other students, but I’m surprised when she smiles, tears blurring her eyes.

“I’m so sorry. You’re not mad?” I ask, fidgeting with my hands.

“Are you kidding?” She squeezes me tightly. “Because of you, I know Leira is alive, and that there’s a chance we can bring her back. You’ve given me hope, Shade. Thank you.”

We spend some teary-eyed time together, and I’m careful not to give her all the details of what the students have been through. Then my mates and I leave academy grounds on our beasts, walking along a shadow pathway and exiting into a forest with hanging vines and ancient white trees. Apparently, there’s some kind of barrier preventing us from creating a pathway directly to the oracle’s cave, but I’m glad we have to take the scenic route. After being a prisoner in the Xalgrith realm, it’s nice strolling between the trees, and I breathe in deeply enjoying the scent of moss and damp wood. There’s the faint smell of smoke on the air, and I’m about to ask the guys about it, when I’m distracted by the ghostly shapes that move around us, silently drifting through the trees.

“What’s the deal with them?” I ask Thane, indicating to a gray blur up ahead.

Thane follows my gaze, but the shape disappears.

I clear my throat. “I mean, I know they’re the lost and wandering souls of the dead, but how does that all work?”

Galen answers before Thane can. “When beings die in any of the realms, their souls end up here in Kiru. For most, the souls eventually transcend to a higher plane, but for some, they end up roaming these lands with no memory of who they are or where they came from, doomed to do so for eternity.”

“That’s so sad,” I say softly, and I think of two specific shadows.

“Hey Elgen and Tarlaz?” I whisper to my friends. “You said you have no memory from before you were at the academy.”

“That is correct,” Tarlaz replies.

I frown. “Do you think that maybe you were wandering souls who somehow got tied to the academy building during construction?” They look different to the lost souls around us in the forest, but I can’t shake this feeling that I’m onto something.

Both of the shadows are silent for a long moment.

“It is possible, yes,” Elgen finally rasps.

I mull on that. In my head, I’d conjured this fantasy that one day I would find them bodies and somehow transfer their souls. But truthfully, I don’t even know if that’s possible, and if they’re dead, maybe they’re meant to transcend or whatever.

I’m still thinking about it when the trees thicken, and a cave comes into view up ahead. We move to the entrance, and I peer into the darkness. It looks like something a bear or a sleeping dragon would crawl out of.

“Well, this looks positively inviting,” Elgen comments.

“Oh yes, absolutely charming,” Tarlaz agrees, and I’m not sure if the shadows are being sarcastic.

We dismount, leaving our animali at the entrance, and my mates surround me as we move through the cave system. The air is dank and musty, and I’m grateful that by bonding with Emorie, I now have excellent night vision.

There are three connected caves. The largest cave is filled with antique furniture that’s covered with a thick coating of dust. There’s an old fireplace which still holds a half-burned log, and a patterned carpet that crumbles when I stand on it. Well, this is cozy. The second cave has a single bed with a broken bedframe, and the third cave is completely empty.

My mates watch me carefully as I explore each cave. When we come to the smallest one, I notice a shallow recess in the wall. “Was there something here?”

“It’s always been empty,” Galen replies. He points to the back of the cave. “That’s where I found the hidden bookshelf with the journals.”