Page 63 of Return of the Nine

The teens were huddling close to each other, and Nosku had the arrogant stamp on his features.

Sighing, she yawned. “Do you want a quick tour?”

The teens nodded and Ekinar grinned. “Please. We may not be on the expedition who gets to come here, so this could be our one chance.”

She laughed, “Okay, first the fountain. I really need to soak my head.”

Chapter Six

Water ran under her hiking suit, but she felt much better. The clear fountain with drinkable water was received well by all.

Hiska looked at it wistfully when it was time to leave, and Teyha silently promised her a bath before they left.

They investigated private homes, market areas, small abandoned cafés and a number of other vital areas before the sun tinged on its way down.

“I have to get back to my pack, and we need to be on our way.” She smiled regretfully.

No one protested. It had been educational, but they had blundered into two traps left by the ancients and that had a sobering effect on their urge to stick around.

Back in the entry hall, she rolled up her bed, fastened it tightly to her back and then folded up her blanket until it was a palm-sized packet.

She fixed the pinkout in 12 hoursflare in her gun and started the walk back through the jungle of rock without another word. She needed way more sleep than she had gotten, but if she got them out in five large pieces, she would be pleased with herself.

“I will carry your pack. It is heavy.”

She snorted at Ekinar. “I carried it in, I will carry it out.”

He didn’t argue, but as the darkness covered their trail and she saw the Shadow Folk sans shadow, his face was concerned.

She set a brutal pace for their trip out. Everyone was tired, but if they waited too long, they would lose momentum. The ground around them didn’t only work on electronics. It had a strange effect on the mental patterns of anyone who stayed too long.

The teens stumbled but helped each other around obstacles,and Nosku huffed along without speaking. If Teyha was being honest, she was keeping up the paces so she wouldn’t have to listen to his whining.

With the night firmly in place around them, she stopped. “Take a short break. I have to check in.”

Nosku wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but as the flare exploded and arched skyward, he looked at her with horror. “What did you do?”

“What I always do. I sent a signal to our watchtower that I would be out of danger in twelve hours. If I don’t show at the tower by then, they will send a search party for me.”

“You?”

She looked at him with a frown. “For such pretty faces, you have such a penchant for scowls. Yes, me. As far as anyone knows, I simply took the ambassador and his wife on an expedition to see one of the ancient cities of Gaia, or Underhill in your case.”

He relaxed, and she could see embarrassment.

Darku cleared his throat. “Thank you for your discretion. Hiska and Ritgar don’t deserve the stigma of stealing a ship.”

Teyha laughed, “Especially since you were the one who stole it and convinced them to come along.”

He looked shocked. “How did you . . .”

She held up her hand. “Hiska and Ritgar are followers. You are a bully. My guess is that you wanted to impress Hiska with your daring, and it backfired in the prison. Fortunately, as a good girl of the Shadow Folk, she refused to go without her brother and that alone saved her from whatever you had planned.”

Nosku scowled. “How could you know that?”

“Hiska and Ritgar have not spoken to your nephew unless it was necessary since they got out of the prison, even you have avoided him. So, either he has worse body odour than the othertwo, or he did something that lost him trust.”

The men were opening and closing their mouths.

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