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My heart was breaking. I let Vesper pull me numbly along, losing track of time and space.
We ran from corridor to corridor, through what seemed like a labyrinth of stone tunnels.
When he finally stopped and let go of my hand, we were in a new chamber, different from the ones before. The rough-hewn walls had been carved out of the rock of the mountainous cliffs in which the ruins lay. Tall shelves lined the chamber, filled with leather tomes and weathered scrolls. A record-keeping room of some sort.
“We shouldn’t have left them. We have to go back.”
“And we will,” Vesper assured me. “Here.” Something was thrust before my face. “Take this. Drink first. You need strength.”
I took the flask, lifting it to my mouth before I could think, and swigging back large gulping mouthfuls of the cool water.
I choked, sputtering and coughing. Except it was not water.
“What is this?” The flavor was vaguely familiar. I tasted honey and cloves.
“Just some watered down mead,” Vesper said hastily.
I shook my head. “This is not mead.”
He wouldn’t meet my gaze, so in frustration I tipped some of the contents of the flask onto the floor. A shimmering golden liquid poured out onto the dusty stones at my feet.
“Eleusia,” I breathed. “You gave me eleusia. Why?”
Already I felt light-headed, my heart pounding in my chest. My lips and tongue tingled.
I looked around the room, taking in details I had not noticed when we entered a few moments earlier.
All around us lay broken weapons, shattered shields... and bones. Not the ancient bones of a century ago, but fresh white bones. Bones that had been gnawed until there was no meat left upon them. Human bones.
The floor around us bore deep gouges and scratch marks, signs of how hard the victims of those monstrous children had fought before finally being devoured alive.
“How did you know where to go?” I said, staring at Vesper. “You said you’d never been past the entrance. How did you know?”
Vesper hesitated. “I just ran forward. I knew I had to get you away from that place. As far as we could get.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Tell me the truth. You’ve been here before. Here, in this place.” I pointed to the skeletons surrounding us. “Who were they?”
He didn’t respond.
“Who were they, Vesper?” I demanded. I lowered my voice. “These are the caravan merchants, aren’t they? And their guards? You said you and Laverna never made it past the entrance, that the harpies killed the rest of the caravan. But there were no bodies near the entrance.”
“Harpies carry their prey to their nests.” He shrugged. “How should I know what happened to them?”
“Maybe. Maybe some were taken. But this room, this place. No, you’ve been here before. You knew just where to go when you led us away.” I looked at him in horror. “You knew about the children.”
The eleusia was beginning to make me sluggish. How much had I drunk before I realized it was not water? With Merlin, the amount had been a small tumbler-full. Hardly larger than a thimble.
The room around me was beginning to change, colors and shapes shifting and distorting.
“You were here for the sword,” I said, my head spinning. I put a hand to my temple. “You’ve been here before.”
I took a step towards Vesper. He caught me in his arms but there was nothing romantic about the gesture. Suddenly the touch of his hands on me was sickening.
“I told you we shouldn’t have brought the girl,” I heard him say sadly. And then everything faded to black.
When I opened my eyes, I was lying beside a lake.
I pushed myself up onto my elbows. We had reached the inner depths of the ruins. The ceilings of the room stretched up higher than I could see. Light came in from somewhere high above.
