46
Hadrian and Avalon stood in the treasury at the Elven House, marveling at the countless crates and chests of jewels and gold the family residing here had managed to hide from the Dark Army for all these years. Filled from opal floors to diamond-embedded ceiling, the treasury was over half the size of the one in Hilsian. It was impressive, to say the very least.
Kyrie stood before them with a playful smile on her face, a box of reflective glass in her slender hands. “This was my mother’s,” she said. She slowly lifted the lid.
Inside, nestled in a bed of black velvet, was a sparkling five-point stone the size of Avalon’s fist. It reflected the light from the grape chandelier hanging above them, the colorful beams setting fire to their jeweled surroundings.
“The Star of Midra,” Avalon breathed.
Kyrie smiled and offered her the stone. It was heavier than Avalon anticipated.
“I apologize for lying to you about the Star,” Kyrie said. “The House is filled with ears and eyes, as you’ve seen firsthand with my cousin Jaron. I couldn’t risk having such a valuable and coveted stone fall into the wrong hands. I hope you understand my precautions.”
Avalon untied the drawstrings on her bag and carefully lowered the Star inside. When she met the Elven princess’s gaze, she said, “I don’t know how we can ever repay you.”
Kyrie took Avalon’s hand into her own, her skin soft as flower petals. “Freeing Sable is my asking price. Give our world another chance at winning this war. Another chance atliving.”
Hadrian stepped forward. “We will,” he said in earnest. “And I swear, when all of this has passed, that your people will no longer suffer.”
Kyrie’s upturned eyes turned glassy with tears. Releasing Avalon’s hand, she smiled at them both and nodded once. “May the old gods and the new be with you.”
~
They left at dawn. Kyrie supplied them with spare sets of clean clothes, along with a couple loaves of bread, two flagons of water, a sack filled with apricots, and several wedges of cheese.
They traveled for two days, and on the evening of the summer solstice, they were nearing the narrow tunnel that led to the city of Hilsian when thunder rumbled in the distance. Rainclouds had gathered on the horizon, bruising the sky with purples and blues.
This tunnel was an unlit passageway that led to the city, and not many people knew about it. Avalon had suggested using the network of tunnels that ran below ground, but Hadrian preferred to take the roads less traveled. Besides, the king’s men often guarded the tunnels that ran beneath the city, and the likes of them being spotted way out here, in a largely unknown tunnel that had only one way in and one way out, were slim.
As they walked, Hadrian told her everything he’d learned while speaking with Lord Aldan. He told her of the century-long war; of the rumors surrounding the infamous Draven Van Aeldwin; of Gandraian and the mask.
Avalon was about to ask Hadrian more about Gandraian when the tunnel suddenly shook. Dirt from the roof hissed as it struck the floor in streams and ran down their clothing.
“An earthquake?” Avalon whispered.
Hadrian shook his head, his hand wrapping around hers. “We need to move.Now.”
Avalon matched her pace to Hadrian’s, but soon he was moving so quickly, her feet barely touched the ground. “What’s happening?” No answer.“Hadrian?”
But Hadrian said nothing, nor did he need to, for their surroundings plunged into utter darkness as the tunnel began to collapse.
~
What had begun as a shiver beneath the soles of their feet quickly turned into a violent shake. The roof of the tunnel began to crumble swiftly, and rocks fatter than Hadrian’s fists were soon toppling to their shoulders. Heaps of soil shook loose, running into their hair, their eyes, their mouths.
“Keep going!”Hadrian gasped. They were about halfway now; there was no point in turning around, and they had no time to lose.
They ran through the tunnel, lungs burning. Behind them, dirt and rocks filled the tunnel, sealing off the way they’d come with a violent, unending shake. There was only one way out now, and they’d have to hope like hell that the collapsing earth wouldn’t catch up to them before they made it.
Pebbles knocked against the backs of their ankles. “Hadrian!” Avalon gasped.
“I know,” he gritted out. “Keep going.”
Another corner, and they spotted the exit. Outside, the sky glowed red with a vibrant sunset, and a gust of wind that smelled of saltwater and spice drifted through the tunnel. Avalon greedily sucked down breaths of the fresh air, her chest frantically rising and falling.
When she hunted for treasure in unknown territory as a young girl, she had always been afraid of getting trapped somewhere underground—buried alive.
For one terrifying moment, she understood exactly how Sable felt inside the mask.
