Page 253 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Hallie blushed, grateful for the distraction. “It’s just, in your journals, you were trying to find a way to cure the Fogs, and you thought the Lord Elder might have the answer. But…you’re here, and you left the clues for me to find this place.”
Navara took a deep breath. “To leave Valora, you must have the key. While the Aurora has dozens because of all the timelines it connects, the only way to leave Valora through the Nether Gate is for you to have the guardian. I was only given the words of power to enter by the man who was the Essence of Keys before your friend. I also did not have a key for the Aurora.”
“That must have been difficult. You finally found the Gate only to realize you’d never leave, and…” Hallie left the other part unspoken: that her son had died, no matter how hard and far she’d searched for a way to cure him.
“It was, but I found a purpose here. And while I regret not spending the last days with my son, my journal served a purpose of its own. It eventually led you here, my dear. I trust in Toro’s providence.”
Ben spoke up, his voice echoing off the walls. “Would you return now that we have the guardian?”
“No,” Navara said quietly. “Not now. There is nothing for me there.”
Hallie squeezed Kase’s hand.
She wasn’t sure if she would have reacted so gracefully to what more or less amounted to imprisonment in Valora. Sheached to return to the land of the living, though she also knew that would mean leaving her brother behind.
To have him back, only for him to be ripped away again? Unbearable.
Would it be so bad to stay here, as Navara had done? Kase could stay with her, and they could live out the rest of their lives here in the shadows of beautiful mountains and raise chickens and enjoy the peace Valora would bring once they figured out how to stop Loffler and Jagamot.
It was nice to think about. It distracted her from whatever might lay ahead.
The cave tunnel was oddly shaped; clearly manmade. It reminded Hallie a little of a mine, but instead of wood, the columns and beams were constructed of Zuprium. However, Hallie had never seen the metal in such disrepair. Whether it was blackened with time or maybe even the Yalvar fuel floating above their heads, she didn’t know, but it added a heaviness, as if the cave itself held its breath. It was…inauspicious. Disquieting.
The further they hiked, the thicker the scent became. At times, it burned her throat like fire. Hallie had to stop and cough multiple times. Her head swam as she was forced to take shallower and shallower breaths. Kase never left her side.
Navara turned and murmured something underneath her breath. In a moment, the air cleared; Hallie could breathe again, though her throat was still raw. “That spell works best with Vasa, but I’m trying to save what little I have. Do your best to breathe normally. Too quickly or deeply will make the spell dissipate faster. Theashamoxis too strong.”
“Ashamox?” Hallie asked.
Navara pointed at the smoke. “We must hurry.”
Hallie could only nod, her throat still too sore to speak. Hopefully that would abate with the cleaner air.
Kase rubbed the back of her neck. “You going to be all right?”
She chewed on her lip, but nodded.
A few turns later, the tunnel opened into the largest cavern Hallie had ever seen. She couldn’t see the top, but it was filled with the ashamox. She hadn’t realized the tunnel they’d been walking through had been so tall. The smoke and darkness had masked the height.
The cavern wasn’t really a cavern, though. It was the inside of some sort of structure, like a cathedral from First Earth. Crumbling archways soared into the smoke. Great windows stretched up and joined at a point, standing like ghosts in the walls, the swirled traceries empty of glass. Firelight flickered around the corner. The floor was covered in broken tile that had once been some sort of mosaic, so scattered and worn she could only wonder at what it might have once depicted.
If she’d had her satchel, she would’ve stopped and taken notes or sketched a bit of its otherworldly beauty. What had happened here in a place where souls rested before moving to whatever came next? What had wrought this destruction?
Something tickled the back of her mind. This place. It was familiar. She couldn’t put a finger on it, though.
Partially collapsed beams blocked the view of the fire’s origins. A statue missing its face stood to Hallie’s right. It reminded her too much of the stone guardians from the forest on Tasava that had attacked the crew once she and Ben had done something in the temple to trigger them.
Maybe that was it—maybe it reminded her of the forest temple. This one was free of swords.
She steered clear of the statue, but another without arms and a head replaced it a few feet away.
“Put youryreasaout,” Navara whispered. She murmured something, her hand going into her pouch of Vasa at herside. She released the dust in the air, and as if by magic, a dazzling sword appeared in her hand. The Zuprium blade was unblemished, and the gemstone in the pommel sparkled with pure, crystalline gold. Navara gasped softly, as if startled by her own spell; but after a moment, she smiled sadly. “Raern.”
Hallie stared hard at it while dismissing her small flame with a thought and wave of her hand. As if it was nothing. Saldr would have been elated—or as close to it as the stoic Yalv could get. “What? How did you do that?”
“With enough practice and the right words of power, you could as well,” Navara said. “Let us hope there is time for learning later. I fear you may have to use your power past what you are ready for. Assess the state of the Chronal Gate and repair it.” She looked to Ben. “You will need to combine your powers to do so.” She glanced at Kase. Her golden eyes glowed, but Hallie couldn’t tell if it was from the light or something more ethereal. “You and I will do what we can to distract him.”
Hallie didn’t like what that implied, but they didn’t have a choice.
