Page 51 of Shadows in Bloom

“Is she… in there?” I questioned with as unshakeable a voice as I was able to muster. I approached the hole.

The opening was just large enough for two people at a time to enter, with a steep slope of sharp rocks leading down into utter blackness, with no end in sight.

“We’ve been calling out to her. She’s not responding.” Alandris gave me a quick glance, pressing his lips into a thin line. “I’ll go down.”

“Not alone, you won’t.” Kaz grabbed his shoulder, shaking his head. “I have a hunch this is exactly the place we are looking for, which means any manner of beast could be waiting for you down there, and if Zorinna is hurt, you’re going to need our help.”

I nodded in agreement and a hiss passed Kallistra’s lips from just behind me. She no doubt wanted to dissuade me, to protect me, or at least my body, from whatever, or whoever, had caused Zorinna’s scream. I ignored her, placing myself beside Kaz. She would no longer be controlling my actions.

Alandris summoned a small orb of flame in the palm of his hand and took the lead. He proceeded with expert dexteritydown the rocky hill, his steps barely making a sound. His movements displaced not a single rock. Such nimble grace—another perk of his Elven ancestry.

Kaz’s approach was in stark contrast to Alandris’. He dug his heavy feet into the rocks, creating footholds as he walked. It sent several chunks of loose rocks down the path to Alandris, who only looked back to glare at Kaz as he dodged out of the way.

Without the boon of Alandris’ balance or Kaz’s sheer strength, I opted to step into the newly created footholds, keeping my knees bent and my body as low to the ground as possible. If I lost my balance and fell, I wanted to be able to stop myself quickly before I tumbled into anyone else and sent them flying down with me.

Minutes passed as we continued moving slowly downward. The longer it took to reach the bottom, the more my heart raced, wondering if Zorinna was safe.

I heard Alandris suck in a breath as the flaming orb in his hand provided enough light to finally reveal the area below us. The earth-packed walls of the tunnel we’d been descending had finally given way to an open cavern, and the unstable path we walked tapered off to meet a smooth rock floor covered in spots of moss. The smell struck me next—the earthiness of the dirt, but also the sweetness of flowers, and the freshness of running water.

I observed that the dais, which occupied most of the room, had been divided into eight segments, and each segment had its own symbol carved on it. It was not a language I immediatelyrecognized, but as I continued to stare at the lines, the words began to form in my mind. There were a few that didn’t click, but from what I could gather, they were all cities.

“I do not see her,” Alandris mumbled, chewing his lip.

I knew the guilt of losing his friend must be eating him alive, and I desperately wanted to assure him she would be alright. At the same time, I was acutely aware of Kallistra’s eyes on me, watching my every move, and I didn’t want to provoke her further until we found Zorinna.

I scanned the rest of the room. There were eight small archways carved into the rock that seemed to lead to different parts of the cavern. “Should we split up until we find her?”

“No need.” A woman’s voice grumbled to our left. “I’m back here.”

The four of us rushed to the source of the voice—behind a pile of huge mossy boulders. Zorinna was leaned up against the largest one, her usually perfect hair a disheveled mess, matted with blood. Cuts both shallow and deep and streaks of dirt and grime littered her skin. Despite her injuries, a cocky grin lit up her face.

“About damn time you got here.” She crossed her arms in front of her, wincing at the movement. “I knew I’d be the first to find the place. What’s my prize for winning?”

Chapter 26

Zorinna described how she’d found the cavern and then proceeded to fall down into it while she dressed the wounds lining her arms. She’d seen the hole hidden beneath thick roots and sliced her way through. She’d intended to sound a whistle for us to join her, but her foot had snagged on one of the roots, and she tumbled down the jagged, rocky path, her bag flying out of her hands. By some stroke of impeccable luck, she’d been able to stop her fall after sliding for only a short time. Anything more certainly would have resulted in death—a fact that Zorinna was brushing off with little regard.

Given that no one found her near death experience as humorous as she had, the atmosphere had grown incredibly tense. I was thankful when she asked me to assist with the wounds on her back. The opportunity to get away from a silently fuming Alandris, a cursing Kallistra, and the gob-smacked Kaz stuck between them playing mediator, was one I readily accepted—even if she only chose me because I looked least likely to scold her.

“Do not panic,” Zorinna whispered, positioning herself behind a large rock in the cavern’s corner while Kaz ushered Alandris and Kallistra to explore one of the eight archways.

I raised a brow, expecting a deeper explanation for her warning, but in the next instant, she was unlacing her vest and throwing her shirt to the ground with it. I hurriedly diverted my gaze, catching only a glimpse of her undergarments and the gentle tan of her skin. I had witnessed the bare female body countless times after sharing inn rooms with Kallistra for years, but Zorinna was different. She made me nervous. Or insecure. Likely both.

She chuckled at my reaction. “I’m turning around now… like I said—don’t panic.”

I waited to hear her soft footsteps before I brought my eyes back up. In spite of her warning, I found it impossible to restrain the gasp that emerged from my throat upon seeing the condition of her back. How she was standing before me as though nothing had happened was nothing short of a miracle.

“It’s that bad, is it?” she questioned, twisting her head over her shoulder.

Three deep gashes dug into her flesh, leaving shredded skin dangling from the wounds. Blood was actively oozing from the cuts, dripping down her back and pooling at the top ofher pants. A quick glance at her discarded shirt on the ground between us showed just how much blood she’d lost.

“Bad is an understatement. You need stitches, Zorinna.” I did her the favor of keeping my voice low, so the others would not hear, while I pulled a small cloth from our medical kit to wipe away some of the blood. The muscles in her back twitched on reflex. “You can’t keep traveling like this. There’s no way. We need to get you out of here to find you a real healer before these get any worse.”

Zorinna turned back around, her teeth clenched tight. “No. That is not an option.”

I scoffed. She was being absurd. “These wounds could easily reopen, even if—and I am stressing the if—I can stitch them. It would be a miracle if these don’t become infected with what limited supplies we have to clean them. You could die.”

“Stitch me and be done with it.”

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