Page 104 of Dream Reaper

“Siri is made of stern stuff. She holds her own.” Brynja heaved a sigh and kicked at a loose stone with the toe of her boot. “We have to be out here. But it does get tiring sometimes.”

“I’m sure it does.”

Brynja shifted her attention from the stone on the ground to the trees beyond. “We should head inside before it gets dark.”

She led the way through the half-crumbled archway leading to the courtyard around the main keep of the ruins. Ava had enjoyed exploring the ruins without her blindfold. There were so many interesting nooks and crannies, and she would have liked to explore had there been time. Maybe when this was all over, Brynja would deign to give her a proper tour.

If they were still alive, that was.

The door to the keep screeched on its hinges as they slipped inside. Brynja bolted it firmly behind them, then led the way down a corridor lit sporadically with torches. They went down the stairs to the lower levels, where the rooms had no windows to the outdoors. Only stone walls and wooden doors.

There was a large chamber where they all planned to gather, and they’d put Talos into the small storage closet where Ava had spent her first night.

Brynja acknowledged the girl guarding the door and paused to poke her head into the closet. “How you doing in here, elf? Still cranky and uncomfortable?”

Talos growled something around his gag that probably wasn’t fit for the ears.

“Glad to hear it,” Brynja snarled back before slamming the door and locking it securely.

She winked at Ava before stalking down the hall. Ava had to smile at her back, at the way the girl marched with stiff shoulders and arms swinging, her gait slightly off balance. The fact that she had progressed to winking said a lot about where they stood with one another.

Two days ago, Ava would never have imagined Brynja would ever in her life want to wink at her.

It was amazing what a common enemy could do to bring people together. Maybe that’s what Rhuin needed. A common enemy to bring the kingdoms together.

But she shuddered to think what an enemy of that scale would look like.

Certainly nothing she would want to see. Or wish on anyone else, for that matter.

The girls looked up as they entered the chamber they’d prepared for the long night ahead. Bedrolls had been laid out to keep people comfortable, but Brynja had threatened to take them away if anyone tried to go to sleep.

That had elicited giggles from the younger children and exhausted looks from the young mothers, who were probably dreading the night ahead more than anyone else.

Ava took her place beside Brynja just inside the door. Finnr and Siri were crammed on Ava’s other side, but Roar stood in the center of the room trying to juggle three small balls. He kept missing and accidentally flinging them around the room for the little ones to chase.

Ava couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or not. But it did certainly have the desired effect on the children.

She pressed her spine rigidly against the wall behind her bedroll, only half listening to the quiet chatter and giggles from the children. Her gaze continually roamed to the doorway and the corridor beyond.

By now, the shadows outside would have grown deep. Perfect for dangerous things to break out of hiding and slip into the camp…

Someone kicked her bedroll, and Ava jumped, tearing herself back to the present moment. Ylsi sank down onto the end of Ava’s mat with a low grunt of pain.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.” She met Ava’s gaze, an awkward smile on her lips. “Brynja said you know what’s out there. What’s hunting us.”

Ava blinked at the pointed statement and slanted a look toward Brynja, wondering what she was supposed—or allowed—to say. Brynja just shrugged and went back to her whittling. Several other girls shifted closer to hear Ava’s response.

A nervous flutter began in her stomach. “It was attacking the prince of Gelaira before it fled into the Shadewood. He used magic to drive it away. We thought it had been defeated…but apparently he only scared it off.”

“What is it?” Ylsi asked, leaning forward and balancing her elbows on her crossed legs.

“A shadow monster. A nightmare monster.” Ava shrugged helplessly. “I honestly don’t know. I just know that it originally attacked Prince Haryk in his dreams. And now it has gotten out and has been attacking us as well. Persis—ah, Princess Persis now—said that there might be more where this one came from.”

A rumble of alarm rippled through the girls, and even Brynja cast off her feigned indifference to pay attention.

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Ava said in an attempt to defuse the tension. “It’s just what the princess hypothesized after her exposure to the creature.”

“How did they defeat it? With fire magic?” one of the younger girls asked.