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“We can’t go much farther. Look.” I pointed at the smoke wafting from the smoldering pile.
“How is it still burning?”
“I don’t know. What were they keeping here?”
She shook her head, as baffled as I was. “They never told me anything.” She slowed, moving through the remains of buildings with purpose, finally stopping in front of the largest frame. “I feel so stupid.”
“Why?”
“For just accepting their lies. I was so naive.”
“How could you have known? This was all you knew. We are born trusting our caretakers. Why would you ever think they were lying to you?”
She slipped her hand back into mine. “The cellar was here…” She used her feet to scuff debris away and find the door. As she cleared more ash, the burned wood for the doors gave way beneath her feet, and she shrieked.
I yanked at her hand in my grasp and caught her before she fell, pulling her back and clasping her to my chest as we both breathed hard.
“Don’t do that to me again,” I ground out.
“Thank you.” Carefully, we pulled apart and both bent to peer into the dark space. “Hello?” she called down timidly.
“You don’t really think they are still alive down there, do you?” I asked her incredulously. She couldn’t seriously be holding out that kind of hope.
“They can’t be, I know. If they were, they’d have come out by now and either left or started to rebuild. But the hatch was covered over. No one left this cellar alive.”
A nagging feeling prickled in me, and I couldn’t place it, but nothing about this place was right.
Zaria set her jaw and used the stick to fling boards out of the way, kicking up more dust.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Going down there.”
I grabbed her wrist, pressing the cloth tighter to my face. “Maybe not the best idea while we are struggling to breathe.”
She met my eyes, her teeth clamped together. “It’s why we are here. I need to give them the rites so they can go to the Goddess in peace. Then we can leave.”
“Sol, you said they had stores of Dragon’s Bane down there. It’s dangerous.”
Her brows pulled. “I need to see them for myself! It’s the only way I can let all of this go.”
I wheezed and knew we were running out of time. Only seeing them would end this turmoil for her, and if we were going to do it, it had to be now. “I go first,” I commanded. I was not taking no for an answer.
She nodded.
Carefully, I heaved the remains of the door out of the way. The ash stung my skin, a sure sign that Dragon’s Bane was everywhere in this damned place. I lit a small fire in my palm—a neat trick Zaria was still trying to master.
“Wait until I say it’s safe,” I instructed before carefully navigating the stone steps. I used the fire to light the space and stilled at what I saw.
“Nyx?” Zaria called.
“It’s empty,” I called back.
Without waiting for my say so, Zaria descended the stairs.
I rolled my eyes. “Good waiting.”
She ignored my comment, peering into the gloom.“What in the…”
