But before that war came, I had to get to Ryker and the others. I also had to get the children the duke had stolen from their homes. As long as he held them hostage, he held usallhostage.
While he wouldn’t care about their deaths, the rest of us would. I couldn’t have the blood of those children staining my hands, but I didn’t know how to free them and Ryker without losing far too many.
One thing at a time, Lery. One thing at a time.
And right now, my one thing was the gargoyles. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for another lengthy run on little water and no food before pushing myself forward.
I kept my mind focused on Ryker as I ran toward the city of the dead and the Heart of Stone. If I stayed focused on him, then I could ignore the pain in my legs and feet, the hunger twisting my gut, and the way my throat burned with thirst.
If our roles were reversed, he’d never rest until he freed me, and I would do the same for him. Part of me wanted to burn Tempest to the ground to save him.
And maybe burning it down was exactly what I was doing by freeing the gargoyles. But the other part of me knew I had to move cautiously if I had any chance of saving him and the children.
I pounded up and down the winding hills and in and out of the patches of warmer and freezing cold air. My borrowed cloak billowed behind me as I ran.
The lightning encircling my hands and wrists lit the way as I continued to put one foot in front of the other. I didn’t think about what my end goal was for this; I couldn’t.
If I stopped to ponder the impulsivity of this decision, and the emotions encouraging it, I might realize this was abigmistake. I couldn’t stop thinking about how my last reckless decision, becoming the Hooded Robber, ended up hurting Ryker and my mother.
Things had worked out, and I never would have gotten to know Ryker if I hadn’t stolen from him. However, I’d promised him that I wouldn’t be so reckless anymore.
I’d done well when it came to upholding my promise, but not only was I about to break it, I was doing something that might get usallkilled. I wouldn’t have to worry about saving Ryker and the children if the gargoyles decided to destroy every amsirah in Tempest.
The very real possibility that could happen caused me to gulp, and my steps faltered for a few feet before I collected myself and pushed onward. I had no idea what would happen when I freed the gargoyles, but Ididknow that without them, we had no hope of defeating the duke.
Don’t think about it. Just do it!
Those two sentences looped through my mind as my feet thudded over the ground, my heart raced, and I pondered if there was some other way to save those under the duke’s control. I couldn’t think of anything other thanthis.
There’s always other choices; you’re just not stopping to think about them. You’re running on emotions and fumes.
I winced as I cursed the reasonable little inner voice that never used to exist. I blamed Ryker for it.
My feet pounded down a hill and then up another before I rounded a bend, and a faint, pink glow came into view. If I were going to stop, it should be now; instead, I ran faster toward the glowing Heart of Stone.
My ancestors had stolen the heart from the gargoyles. I didn’t know why they’d done it, and I probably never would.
The gargoyles claimed that those distant amsirah randomly turned on them, even after the creatures protected them for years. They claimed those amsirah sought the power of the stone for themselves.
I couldn’t be sure about that story. However, it was the only side I’d hear as those ancestors had destroyed all the amsirah history that had anything to do with the gargoyles and had long since died.
The story might be one that the gargoyles concocted to convince us to set them free. For all I knew, they’d turned on our ancestors and the amsirah stole the heart to save themselves.
If that was the case, then I was awakening a great, sleeping beast. On the bright side, at least they’d kill the duke and nobles too.
When I arrived at the opening to the cavern below, I skidded to a halt at the edge of the tunnel. Shoulders heaving, lungs burning, and my breath coming far too fast, I gazed down at the colorful homes tucked beneath the earth as a brilliant red light pulsed over them.
The Heart of Stone bathed the forgotten city in a bloody glow that might be a sign to turn and run far from this place. If it was a sign, I ignored it.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
Ellery
It didn’t takemuch time for me to descend the cliff into the town and run through one of its winding streets to the castle at the top. I raced up the stairs toward the tower with my heart thundering in my ears.
Doubt tried to slow me while terror for Ryker propelled me onward. When I climbed to the top of the tower with the heart in it, I stopped as my gaze fell on the red stone nestled securely within.
The last time I was inside this place, Ryker was here, and I’d fled because of the overwhelming desire the stone made me feel around him. Now, as the stone pulsed from a faint pink toward its more blood red color, I felt nothing more than dread.
