Page 58 of Return of the Nine

“Ekinar, what was the description of the temple again?”

They were inside the shuttle, and Nosku was looking for any traces of his nephew.

“The fissure in a cavern wall, a place only the Shadow Folk can enter. Why?” Ekinar was watching Nosku’s attempt to start the shuttle, so he could check the records.

“This ship is dead. Unless you chop it into pieces and haul it out manually, this isn’t going anywhere.” Teyha was barely able to stay upright. Using her talent for an extended time was more exhausting than hiking in the dark.

“There has to be some trace of them here.” Nosku’s voice broke.

“There is. They are exactly where you said they would be. In the fissure, in the cliff, in a place only the Shadow Folk can go.” Teyha sighed, “But based on my early translations, it isn’t the temple, it is the prison.”

Nosku froze. “The pit?”

“Not so much a pit as a crevice with a warning around the door. Your folk were not here the last time I came, so I had to guess at the meaning.”

Ekinar put his hand on Nosku’s arm to calm him. “Where is it?”

“Come with me.”

She left the shuttle and made her way carefully to the doorway in the cliff face. In the dark, the glyphs were surprisingly clear to her. They were bright and seemed to glow from within.

“Where are you looking, Teyha?”

It was the first time that Ekinar had called her by name,and she had to throttle down the pleased surge of emotion that occurred when he wrapped his lips around her syllables.

“The glyphs around the doorway. Don’t you see them?” She pointed, and when he still frowned and squinted in the direction she was pointing, she took his hand and pressed it to the stone.

Nosku grabbed her shoulder. “Where are they?”

“They are in the cave. Three heartbeats, all stable.” Teyha compared the beats to the men in front of her. “Maybe the heartbeats are a little fast.”

Nosku pushed past her and into the cave.

“No, don’t go in there.” She spoke to his back, and when he passed the threshold that lined the chasm, he was trapped. “Damn it.”

“I can’t see him. Where is he?” Ekinar was frowning. His hands were still on the wall, tracing the carvings one by one.

“He is in the Prison of Shadows if these glyphs are any indication. Can you read them?”

He jerked toward the opening. “We have to get them out.”

“We will, but we need to know what we are going into. I can’t read the glyphs properly until it is light out, so we either get you to translate by touch or you blunder into the cave and get stuck like the others.” Teyha leaned against the wall and gave into the urge to use it for support.

“You do not look well.”

“I don’t usually use my talent for stretches that are this long.”

He took her arm and helped her sit. “Relax. If you need light, we will wait for light.”

She nodded and got out some water. Sighing as she sipped and let the rehydration sooth her body. “Well, Nosku has rations and water, so the kids should be fine for a night.”

“You are right. How is it that you can see us as we are?”

Teyha chuckled. “I see a version of you. My talent is primarily a version of echolocation. I can feel heartbeats and sense shiftsin topography. It does no good in the city, but thanks to my parents, I got plenty of practice out in the canyons and abandoned settlements.”

“You have been to other cities?”

She chuckled. “Until the Nine locked into position above us, a few of us were still busy learning everything we could about Gaia. Once the Tokkel attacked, we all concentrated on recovering from those first devastating days. It is amazing that so few deaths could make such a huge impact.”

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