Page 108 of The Cruel Dawn
My skin fucking hurts, and I’m fucking lost. I won’t be relaxing for a long time.
Elyn points out across the valley. “Look.”
I follow the line of her finger.
A sandstorm. It looks like a living thing in the desert, dark and swirling, a chaotic mass of dust and grit blurring the horizon. Itisa living thing.
Zephar and the Diminished are fighting otherworldly now.
I smile the tiniest smile. “Perfect.” The nightstar hides behind a thick veil of swirling sand. I heave a sigh of relief. “Let’s head to the Sanctum. I’ll be able to find Malik Sindire’s dwelling from there.”
Elyn smooths her unraveling braid. “So that solves one of our problems. What about…?” She looks back at Jadon.
Still overheated and miserable, he’s now tucked his head between his knees. If Elyn and I leave him here alone, the heat and otherworldly will take him. If we bring him with us, the Sanctum itself may crush him.
I think for a moment, then say, “I know a place.”
…
The smallest chamber in the Temple of Celestial is tucked away, not frequented by the priests or the Sisters of the Dusky Hills. Its narrow entrance is hidden behind a cluster of stone columns weathered by the passage of time and by sandstorms like the one now raging across the valley. The room smells of frankincense, and the only light comes from a single, flickering oil lamp. A dense film of dust covers the cool stone floor and the intricate carvings on the walls.
The space feels claustrophobic. A person is not meant to live here for long. Without windows, there is no sound from the outside world, just the steady drip of water from a hidden bath. In one corner sits a low stone platform draped with a thin, faded cloth. This ledge served an unknown purpose once upon a time. This chamber meets our current need: keeping Jadon safe from being killed by otherworldly or by Zephar.
Ancress Tisen and the Sisters of the Dusky Hills quickly tidy up the space, leaving behind gifts for Jadon once they finish: clean tunics and loose pants, wine, soft towels and scented soaps and oils for a dip in that hidden bath. Once a prince, always a prince.
Elyn wanders around the chamber, worry in her eyes. “Last time we left him in the abbey’s dungeons,” she says, “gods perished, and he’s changed even since then.”
The markings on Jadon’s hand have spread, and his eyes have turned an eerie violet, and even his voice makes me shiver—and not in a good way.
“There’s nowhere else, Elyn. This has to work.”
She says nothing.
Jadon settles on the pillows and sighs. After telling Jadon not to go anywhere or touch anything, I close the door.
“Don’t worry,” he says from the other side. “The air hurts out there. And there’s food, water, and wine in here.”
“No one crosses into this chamber,” I instruct Ancress Tisen. “If they do, they will die. Understand?”
Ancress Tisen nods, then turns to bow before Elyn. “Lady of Law and Light! It’s an honor to be in your presence.”
…
The rising god Lumis has started his ascent above Doom Desert’s slot canyons, and his golden light slices through the dust. The rock face resembles the gods who have visited this place: a crag resembles the nose of the Lady of Storms on the realm Camua; a wide, uninterrupted span of rock resembles the forehead of the Lord of Dreams and Despair on Realm Sthury.
The sandstorm roars in the distance, which means that Zephar continues to do battle down in the valley.
Elyn follows me up the trail that ends at the pavilion.
As we near the Sanctum, the blended aromas of roasting meat, caramelized sugar, and strong drink grow stronger. They awaken my senses, and the hunger gnawing in my stomach sharpens. My belly rumbles. Have I eaten today?
The distant hum of voices and clinking cups grows louder, far more pleasant than the screech of Zephar’s sandstorm.
“Stop right there.” The Diminished archer Carana stands at the entrance of the pavilion, bare-chested, and lifts his bow, a tall weapon made of blackened fierer wood. A twisted-metal arrow is nocked, ready for a trespasser.
I look behind me: is a trespasser following Elyn and me? No one else is on this road.
So who is he addressing? The Adjudicator?
