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Chapter Ten
“I want to stop before we get to whatever destination you have in mind.” Angus caught Arianrhod’s gaze and held it. They’d been quiet since entering the time shaft, each presumably lost in their own thoughts.
“Why?”
“We never ran down a First Born, so we need information about Eletea to report back to the Celtic Council.”
She glanced at a node and quirked a brow. “How’s twelve hundred?”
“It’ll do as well as any other time. I need quiet, though, so let’s try to avoid the middle of the Crusades.”
“I’ll do my best.” Dry humor warmed her words, and the glow of the tunnel added bright highlights to her silver hair. “The worst of the fighting was over by then, so we should be safe enough.”
Rumbling undulations in the living shaft around them signaled a stop was imminent. The wall across from Angus split, and he stood before extending a hand to help Arianrhod to her feet. They walked into a damp evergreen forest with water sheeting from the sky. It dripped from all the greenery, and standing water pooled around their feet. A crisp snap told him the time shaft had disappeared.
“Still in the U.K., I see.” Angus chuckled.
“It could be the Pacific Northwest in the States,” she retorted.
Angus shook his head. “Doesn’t smell the same. Everything there is newer. Have you been here before?”
“Not this exact spot, but this time.” She rolled her eyes. “Hell, I lived through it. We might find a stone hut to shelter in while ye enter a trance. How long will ye need?” Water ran off a leather hood she’d pulled over her hair and dripped from her body. Her leather garments that had begun to dry from their stint in Rhukon’s time darkened again.
“Each trance is different, but not more than an hour.” He cast an appraising glance her way. “If we’re set upon, I won’t be able to help. At least not for a while. It takes a few minutes once I return before things are normal again.”
“Got it.” Magic shimmered around her as she sent it spinning in a broad arc. “Good news. I know where we are. An extensive cave system isna far from here. That might work better than a hut where the owner could return at any time.”
“More caves.” He blew out a breath. “I had enough of them on Fire Mountain to last a while.”
“We could set up camp beneath a tree.” She shook her head, and droplets hit him in the face.
“I’ll deal with my antipathy. A nice, dry cave would be perfect. Besides, I’ll need a fire.”
She set off, and he fell into step next to her. They made their way through tangled undergrowth that hid deep pools. After a quarter mile, his boots were soaked through.
“What else will you need?” she asked.
“Just fire—and my own blood.”
“Ye used blood to clear debris from beneath Rhukon’s manor house,” she observed.
“Aye, that I did.”
Interest flashed from her eyes, but she redirected her gaze to the ground after she stumbled over submerged roots. “Will ye say more about that?”
“I’d love to, but it’s part of what’s been hidden from me. I’ve discovered what I know—which isn’t much—by experimenting.” Misty air, pouring rain, and thick timber obscured his vision. When a vertical red earthen hillside reared before him, he stopped abruptly, not prepared for it. Heather and gorse grew in dense clumps a hundred feet above him, and thick vines snaked their way up the cliff.
The air around Arianrhod glistened as she summoned power. With a downward sweep of one arm, she cut through enough thorn-studded vegetation that a rough doorway came into view. “Come on.” She crooked two fingers his way.
“Don’t we want to patch things up out here? If anyone happens by, they’ll know someone’s within.”
She disappeared through the opening, and he followed, grateful to get out of the rain. Arianrhod waited off to the side of a small round entry portal. Broken stones littered the floor where animals had kicked them getting into or out of the cavern. The ceiling was low enough, he couldn’t stand upright.
“No one will wander by,” she said.
“How can you know?” He placed his hands on his knees before shaking water off himself.
“Men used to be far more superstitious. This cave system was rumored to house restless spirits of the dead.” Illumination flared as she called her mage light.
