Page 193 of The Cradle of Ice
Graylin read the anxiety and hope in Nyx’s face. “They’re out there.”
Nyx sagged with relief, clutching Jace’s shoulder.
“But not close,” Graylin warned. “They’re tens of leagues away. Impossible to cross on foot. And I didn’t spot any full-grown raash’ke. Only small ones.” He held forth a spread of his hands. “No bigger than when Bashaliia first revealed himself to you.”
As Nyx swallowed hard, he immediately regretted his choice of description, recognizing the pain that memory triggered.
“But where could the others be?” Jace asked again.
Graylin shrugged. “All I saw were young ones. Maybe the larger ones are resting somewhere within the rock.”
Daal offered a more ominous option. “Or they’re off hunting.”
“Could they have returned to the Crèche?” Nyx asked.
Daal stepped back, his eyes wider, looking worried.
“I’m sorry,” Nyx whispered, clearly regretting her words, too.
Graylin folded his scope and pocketed it. “If they did return to the Crèche, then it’s all the more reason to head back. If Bashaliia is here and not already bridled into submission, we can’t reach him. We can do no good here.”
“How do we get back?” Jace asked. He turned and stared at the rise of ice behind him.
“It’ll be hard,” Graylin admitted. “We’ll have to strip the skiff down to the barest bones. Carry it back up these cataracts with Shiya’s help.” He turned to Daal. “Once near the tunnel into the Fangs, can your orksos drag us against that current until we can reach calmer waters? Shiya could cross along the riverbed to lighten our load. Can they handle that?”
“Neffa and Mattis. Together. Yes. They will not fail us.”
Graylin nodded, appreciating Daal’s firm confidence. “Then we should set off.”
Nyx had kept next to Shiya, both staring out into the Mouth.
“Not yet,” Nyx warned.
* * *
PLEASE LET THIS work …
Nyx nodded to Shiya. The bronze woman bowed her head, then lifted her face to the sky. A hum flowed from her throat, warming her bronze. Shiya sustained that note and layered others on top, building toward a chorus. Still, she kept it bottled tight inside her, refusing to release it.
Not yet, Nyx willed to her.
Shiya had done something similar to this back in Kefta, when she had cast out a golden surge that swept in all directions, searching for any hidden threats in the surrounding streets. Nyx intended to attempt the same here. But the distances before them were far too great for Shiya alone.
Nyx let her eyelids close, shutting off the world. She added her voice to Shiya’s, humming along with her. She sensed the glow of bronze next to her, a ghostly companion. Together, they built that song toward a crescendo but still kept it trapped.
Not yet …
Nyx blindly reached out an arm—not toward the glowing phantom next to her, but to another.
Daal took her hand. As their palms touched, fire ignited between them, but it was not the explosive force to break a grip. It was the flame of a forge, melding two metals into one. She flowed into Daal and he into her.
They grasped each other tightly.
She drew upon the font of his fuel, struggling to control that flow. Her anxiety and fear demanded more, but she tamped it down. She took Daal’s flame and stoked her song, burning it brighter. Through the air, wafting on golden threads of power, she shared the power with Shiya. Together, they let that song grow, stoking its fire to a blaze.
Daal gasped next to her. For a breath, she saw through his eyes. Shiya glowed like a torch next to her, nearly blinding to the eye. Nyx shone nearly as bright. Then the vision quashed out. Still, the sight remained burned into the backs of her eyes.
She continued to let the fire pass through all three of them.
