Page 144 of A Thief Among Fae

We glance at each other, but then the circular door rolls into the wall with an ear-splitting grind. Unease silences everyone. The passage ahead is wide, lined with mage lights that flare to life, until a dark void spanning the gigantic cavern swallows it all.

The chasm.

A sinister energy emanates from the depths of it. It’s dark, ancient, and maleficent. We approach, our footsteps ominously echoing. The chasm is so wide that we don’t need to stand at its edge to tell that there’s no bottom within sight. Only a gaping, pitch-black darkness stares up at us.

Finnian gulps. “How many people do you reckon have died down there?”

“Enough that other raiders have given up,” Auri replies. She readies her bow, aiming at the edge.

“I don’t see or hear anything. How far below could the beast be?” I ask, not voicing the worst question: what kind of beast can lurk that deep?

Desmond unsheathes his sword. His hand trembles. As Finnian and Auri debate how deep the chasm might be, I move to his side. “What’s wrong?” I whisper. “Are you. . . scared?”

He huffs a single laugh. “Why do you sound surprised? We’re before an allegedly indomitable chasm with three dozen draugr on the other side. Only a fool would have no fear.”

Faint mage lights illuminate the other side of the cavern, just enough to make out a row of alcoves. Draugr must be hiding within them, and trepidation coils within me. Three dozen is such a specific number. Surely he’s guessing, and hopefully too high. I don’t want to imagine what it means if he’s not guessing. Can he sense them?

This isn’t the time to ask. Panic is already tightening my chest like a vise. This is just another raid. Larger stakes, sure, but a larger payoff, too.

“Whoever crosses first will have to fight the draugr off,” I realize.

Desmond nods. “It has to be me.”

“They’ll all attack you together,” I warn. “Auri might be able to help with her bow, but Finnian and I can’t. Is that why you’re afraid?” I wouldn’t respect him any less for it.

“No,” he says. “It’s what I’ll have to do to survive.”

“All that matters is that you do survive,” I murmur back. “Not how.”

He shakes his head. “You’re here. That changes everything.”

My stomach drops. What does he mean by that? “We’ll get through this.” I squeeze his hand. I may not understand, but I want him to know he’s not alone.

Only a fool would have no fear. How true that rings when it was my hubris that led me to take Evie into the barrow. I believed I was strong enough to keep her from harm. I believed the only way to overcome fear was to bury it deep inside me. Then my family would see how strong I was. They’d support me leaving Nettlerock to join the adventurers’ guild.

But valuing fearlessness may be no different than living by recklessness.

I pull the bridge out of my pack. Finnian helps me unfold the planks. He threads the ends of the rope through the stakes we brought, then knots them tight. It’s time for me to fulfill my end of the vow.

“Cyn, are you ready?” Desmond asks me.

I crack my knuckles. “This is what you trained me for.”

He nods, and the quiet intimacy we shared a moment ago vanishes, replaced by a grim set of his jaw. The stern man before me now is the tactician who led us to victory against the lindwyrm, the leader in the vision who faced a losing battle and still ran headfirst. It reminds me that he said nothing will stop him from getting through Olin’s tomb.

With a hammer, Desmond drives two of the stakes into the stone. Cracks web around them with every sinking inch. The bridge is tethered on our side. Now only the other remains.

The planks lift on my command, then drift across the ravine. “I hope it’s long enough.”

Desmond’s eyes narrow. “If it’s not, we’ll have to⁠—”

A thin, dark vine emerges from the black of the ravine, still connected to something below like a writhing ribbon.

Finnian yelps.

I whip the bridge away from the vine as Auri tracks it with her bow, then shoots.

The arrow pierces it, and it recoils into the depths. A deep, inhuman chortle tenses every muscle in my body. That thing wasn’t a vine. It was a tentacle. The beast is down there, just like the rumors said.