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“But what sort of magic?”
“I have no idea what the script on the pillars is, but it’s obviously some form of gateway.”
“To heaven, hell, or somewhere in between?”
“I’d guess in between, if that’s where earth falls in that little list.”
I supposed that was something. At the very least, it meant we didn’t have the immediate worry of hellhounds making a sudden appearance. I walked around to the north point. “Does this signify an exit or entrance?”
“The pattern the stones are placed in suggest exit. The entrance should be the other side.”
“How can identical rocks form a pattern?” I walked around to the other side.
“They’re not identical to the trained eye.”
I shoved the phone down so she could see the stones, and she added, “Yep, that’s it.”
“And is there anything in these runes that would stop Jak and me leaving via this gate?”
“Other than the fact that it would be sheer stupidity, you mean?”
I grinned. “Yeah, other than that.”
“Um, Ris—” Jak said.
I made a “quiet” motion with my hand as Ilianna said, “I honestly don’t know.” She hesitated. “The runes shouldn’t offer a problem, but as I said, I can’t read the script on the pillars so I really have no idea just what might happen or even how to activate them.”
“Ris—” Jak intervened again.
“What?” I said, looking up in exasperation.
He waved a hand at the pillars. Light shimmered between them, as if it were a mirror catching the first sickly rays of the day.
“Oh, fuck,” I said. “The pillars just activated.”
“Then get the hell out of there!”
“Love to, but we’re stuck underground in a fucking cavern. Call you back.”
“Wait—”
I didn’t. I turned the phone off and met Jak’s gaze grimly.
“I can’t go back into that tunnel,” he said. “It’s too tight for any sort of speed. Niche?”
“Niche,” I agreed. “And let’s hope whoever—or whatever—is coming through that gate has neither good sight nor a strong sense of smell.”
“Amen to that,” Jak muttered, and lunged for the niche.
I squeezed in beside him, and watched as light continued to pulse and swirl between the pillars. Its color was a sickly green—the same color that now glowed within the runes. Amaya screamed, a battle cry that was audible both in my head and in the cavern.
Fuck, flame out and be quiet, I ordered fiercely.
No. Fight what comes.
Not yet. Flame out, Amaya.
Should fight. It was all but a snarl, but her light died. I wished I could say the same about her fierce screaming, but at least it was only inside my head.
