Page 39 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“We had several near-misses on the way to Myrrai the first time,” Hallie said, unwrapping the bandage with swift fingers. “In retrospect, I think much of what we faced might have been set up by the Yalvs to discourage visitors.”
She reached the end of the long gauze…and something small and shiny fell out. She caught it on instinct, then opened her hand.
Nestled in her palm was a dainty metal ring.
She held it out to Niels. The band bore no engravings, and the sapphire in the middle was barely a chip. “What’s this?”
“Ma’s.” He grabbed it and held it between his index and thumb.
“Oh.”
She should have had more to say in memory of a woman she’d known most of her life. Had anyone asked, she would have told them whenever a Rubikan trader brought cinnamon from the far islands, Mrs. Metzinger made a batch of fresh cinnamon rolls, and she never failed to share some with Hallie and Jack. She would have told them she’d never heard Mrs. Metzinger say an unkind word about anyone, nor had she ever heard an unkind word said about her. She would have said…
Well, it didn’t matter what she would have said, because no one had asked. They didn’t have time for spontaneous eulogies, anyway.
Instead, Hallie made quick work of wrapping the woman’s head, then got to her feet. “Let’s keep moving.”
Niels nodded, tucking the ring into his pocket; Fely stood up again, and this time stayed standing. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” Hallie gave her a hesitant smile. “Are you okay to keep going?”
“I will be fine.” The words were confident; the way Fely leaned into the wall as she walked, not so much. She was still faster than Niels, but not by much.
If the library was still standing after being laid waste by Ben Reiss and the dragon he’d brought through the Gate, she’d try and find something more about the mural. For now, she forced herself to leave it behind, though dread pooled in her stomach the further they walked up the corridor. What they’d find at the end, she could only imagine.
Judging by the subtle burn in her calves, the incline had begun to subtly increase. She hadn’t thoroughly explored the Gate Temple on her first visit, so that didn’t mean they weren’t somewhere in the mountain, but the caverns and the distant dripping noises made her think they were somewhere below ground.
Between Niels and Fely, they traveled much more slowly than Hallie would have liked; the fireball floated along with them, casting just enough light to see their next couple steps by. They found no sign of Filip, or anything that might have kept him from coming back. The corridors snaked like a cat’s tail, unpredictable and sudden.
“You probably think I’m silly for keeping Ma’s ring,” Niels murmured, breaking the silence.
“I kept Jack’s pocket watch.” Hallie stopped in front of another mural—this one depicting the Gate chamber, though it looked different than she remembered it. She didn’t think she’d seen yawning cathedral windows with elaborate swirledtraceries in the chamber. A mystery to be solved another day. “I don’t think it’s silly at all.”
Niels’ lips quirked into a lopsided smile. “He loved that thing.” He adjusted his sling. “Always trying to tinker with it and make it work.”
A small laugh bubbled up in Hallie’s throat. It almost choked out her reply. “Yeah.”
Losing that watch for the second time had felt like mourning him all over again. And knowing that loss might keep her from ever mastering this power of hers only made it worse.
Fely played with the chain holding the locket around her neck, eyes on the mural. “Having a little piece of someone we love with us when they can’t be makes us feel human again.”
Hallie clutched Kase’s goggles tightly, anchoring herself. The memory of their last kiss replayed in her head, and for a moment, she nearly threw caution to the wind and raced back to the portal brick. If Niels could have kept up, or if she’d known Correa wasn’t waiting on the other side, she might have done it. “Is your Relic…is the locket special to you?”
Fely’s gaze chilled. She turned away from the mural. “If we don’t find any trace soon, we’ll turn back and see if Filip has returned. Maybe he found a different way."
Hallie risked a small glance with Niels before taking the lead again.
They wound their way onward, climbing up around the corner where the stone walls bled into Zuprium bricks. A wave of heat billowed over them like a rolling sea.
Hallie clutched the wall, preparing for another quake, but it never came.
“What in the blazes was that?” Niels asked.
Nausea crept up her throat, but she couldn’t explain why. Something just felt...off.
She looked back at Fely. The woman’s face was too pale, but Hallie didn’t know if it was due to the blood loss or something else.
“Niels, do you still have your electropistol?” Hallie asked, keeping one hand on the wall just in case.
