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"There are no rats, cows or chasms," I whispered.
I glanced over my shoulder. The lid was half open.
I turned back to the growing crack in the stone. The bottom was as dark as the inside of the sarcophagus. Darker. It wanted to reach up and pull me down, swallow me whole and leave my shattered body on the rocks far below.
"No," my voice was hoarse. "There's nothing there." I swallowed hard, sucked in a breath and started running. If I was wrong…
I ran across the chasm. Where I should have fallen through, my feet crossed solid ground.
"See, nothing to fear," I said as much to myself as to them.
The heartbeat the last word left my mouth, we were plunged into darkness.
No, more than that, nighttime. Stars sparkled overhead. The moon slipped out from behind a cloud to throw silver illumination onto the ground around us.
"What the—" I whirled. The cave was gone. Where it might have been, was a copse of trees.
I blinked.
Blinked again.
"It was all an illusion," Kerina said softly.
"Or this is." Latika stepped over to a tree and rapped at its trunk. "It feels real."
"If it is, then we've lost an entire day," Kerina pointed out. "No wonder I'm hungry."
I rubbed my forehead, where a headache threatened. "This was a distraction," I said. "Something to keep us busy while…"
"While what?" Kerina crouched by a tree where we left our packs and rifled through before she brought out some bread.
"I don't know, but if they went to these lengths to keep us from it, then it must be important."
"Or they want us to think it is." Kerina broke off chunks and tossed them to Latika and me.
"Witches are involved. I'm inclined to think it is." I bit into the slightly stale bread and swallowed. "Knox seemed to think so." The question was, how did we find him and Viva? Could we get there in time, or had this delay made us too late already?
"Judging by the position of the moon, we have a few hours until dawn. We'll get some rest." We would be useless if we were exhausted. "At first light, we'll search for the summer residence."
"How hard can it be to find a residence on a mountainside?" Kerina asked.
"Precisely. Much easier than finding any cows up here," I said.
She scowled at me. "You'll never let me forget that, will you?"
I responded with a hint of a smile. "I might not, but someday I hope you can tell me why."
I lay down with my pack under my head.
"When we get back to the city, I'll tell you." She lay down near me.
"Deal." I watched the stars for a while.
"I once knew a boy who was terrified of potatoes," Kerina said sleepily.
I snorted. "Really?"
"No," she chuckled, "but I'm sure it's possible."
