Page 102 of In Between Darkness
“Neither am I.”
He stretches out his arm and rests it on the oak beside my head. Images from the first night in the woods flash back to me. I feel his chest deflate as a sigh of pent-up anger releases from his lips and heats my face. The thumping in my fingers slows as Ryder’s fury declines.
He shuts his eyes and whispers, “I can’t just sit around knowing what I now know.”
“And I can’t let you leave knowing what I do.” My words ache for him to understand and claw at my chest as if keeping them in would destroy me. “You’re unprepared and alone… If you leave now and something happens to you… I-I would never forgive myself.”
Tears threaten to fall from my eyes, but I blink them back and stare at him in a blurry haze. “I just can’t bear the thought of losing you.”
His hand moves from beside my head, and he uses his palm to touch my face, gently rubbing my cheek to soothe me. I thinkhe has finally received my message. He leans in and pecks my trembling lips.
He pulls away. “Okay… I won’t go.”
I peel his satchel off his body and drop it on the floor beside us.
“Got any better ideas?” he asks as his eyes move from the bag on the floor to me.
“Yes, actually I do.” My eyes sparkle up at his, and a hopeful glint encompasses his dark features. “But we’ll have to wait until sunrise.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ryder’s rough hands fiddle at the back of my head, unravelling the tight knot that secures his blindfold to my head. He is surprisingly gentle in untying it and manages not to pull a single strand of auburn hair on my head.A faint dripping taps in the back of my mind, and the overwhelming smell of stale water overpowers my nostrils as my lack of vision encourages my other senses to investigate my current location. He finally loosens the material, and my vision blurs as my eyes adjust to the new and unknown scenery of the secretive place he has led me to.
Strong formations hang like frozen tears from the ceiling, and water slowly rolls down each one before dripping on the stone floor, leaving tiny puddles on the ground. They sparkle as moonlight pierces through the entrance of the cave, which is wide and half-mooned like the open mouth of a beast. The ground is uneven and rocky. It looks as though it is made from a dark orange stone and is suffocated in a thick layer of dust. Footsteps mark the floor in sandy images that resemble the bottom of Ryder’s boots. My eyes follow the trails that proceed further into the distance and then back out again. The imprints are all the same, leading me to believe that he is the only one who knows about this place.
“You know you can trust me. I don’t know why I need this blindfold on my face.” I gesture to the flimsy material in his strong grip.
“It’s not you I worry about,” he says as he stuffs the black handkerchief into his pocket. “We are in Moon territory, Asha. Every precaution must be taken. You never know when a Deceiver could be lurking around. Secrets are like drugs to them; they crave them.” He pauses. “Not that I would ever let them lay a finger on you.”
His knuckles whiten as he clenches them shut, I’m no stranger to the damage he can cause when he is angry, especially when it comes to me. Images of Alex’s beaten face form in my head, and I squint my eyes at the thought and shake the vision from my mind.
“I know how to block them out, but you don’t, it is a lesson I am yet to teach you.”
I nod my head at him, trying to focus on the words he is saying. It makes sense. The haunting stories of Deceivers are definitely not for the faint-hearted.
I notice some etchings on the dampened cave wall that pique my interest. The dusty floor crumbles under my trainers as I wander over to them. My fingers trace over the indents, feeling every ridge of the ancient carvings. All of them tell a story.
“Do you know who did these?” I ask Ryder without taking my eyes off them.
“Your guess is as good as mine, they have been here for centuries.”
He stands beside me, our shoulders faintly brushing together, making our tiny hairs stand to greet each other.
“Look at this one.” He points his hand up higher than his head, gesturing to an image above me I had not noticed.
Hundreds of miniature stars are engraved on the ceiling, and a diagram of someone who resembles Oriah is seen floating amongst them. She is wearing an ethereal dress and holds aglowing orb in each hand, one significantly darker than the other, with two sky serpents bowing behind her, guarding her.
“I didn’t know what it meant before I met you. I thought it was just a figment of someone’s imagination, but it’s not. I think that’s Oriah and see those there.” He points to the crowd of people below her. “I think those are your people.”
“Wow,” I gasp in awe. This must have been drawn when my people were alive and roamed free. My eyes gaze across to another image, further craving information about the lost race. Sky serpents glide through the sky, and a sun and moon stand tall on opposite sides of the landscape, watching over the land. This is truly amazing. One of the last real pieces of evidence that isn’t fabricated.
“How did you find this place?”
“I don’t know really, I can’t explain it.”
He runs his rough fingers over the drawings, taking in every detail before turning to look at me. “It was almost as if it called out to me.”
I tilt my head at him in awe of his reasoning.I don’t doubt that it did, I just can’t wrap my head around why. I feel a certain kind of magic to this place, but I can’t quite figure out what is conjuring it. Maybe these are the remnants of my people, who once stood right where I am standing. Or maybe it is the way the light hits the rock pools, creating diamond-like shimmers in the midst of the darkness.
