Page 70 of Sinful Curses
It took her a while to drift off, and when she woke, her neck bent at an unnatural angle, the rising sun was casting shadows through the passage. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Orin, who had his head tipped back while he stared at the walls surrounding them.
The way he stood with his body tensed made her readjust her spear. It had fallen forward to rest on the wall across from her while she slept. Orin and Zeth had taken the first watch, but when she looked at Elsa, her friend was still sleeping, and she couldn’t see if Zeth was awake.
Orin and Zeth had either fallen asleep or decided not to wake them, but that didn’t matter. The look on Orin’s face did.
“What is it?”
Her question came out as little more than a whisper, but he heard it as he replied, “I think there’s something up there.”
CHAPTERSIXTY
Sahira’s stomach churned. “Why?”
“I heard something.”
Sahira gulped as she gazed at the rocks surrounding them. They were sitting ducks down here—something Orin must have also realized because he said, “Wake the others.”
As quietly as she could, she grasped Elsa’s shoulder and gently shook it. Her friend stirred before sitting straight up; Sahira placed her index finger against her lips, and Elsa nodded before rubbing her eyes.
When Sahira looked past her friend, a bolt of panic ran through her when she saw nothing of Zeth. She pointed behind Elsa, who turned to look before giving her a thumbs-up. Elsa reached out of view, and a second later, Zeth’s head poked around the corner.
That was when she heard it too; they all did. Something scratched against the stones above. The skittering sound that followed caused her body to turn cold.
Sahira’s head tipped back, and she searched the rocks above. She couldn’t see anything there, but the noises continued before abruptly ceasing.
She didn’t know if the noise, or lack of it, was worse. At least when it was moving, they had an idea of where it was.
She looked at Orin, who stood with his shoulders back and jaw set. Sensing her attention, his eyes flicked to her, and he jerked his head to the side.
It was time to get out of here. Sahira pulled her blanket off, stuffed her pack, and slid it onto her back as Fath scampered up to sit on her shoulder.
She kept her spear in hand as they started back down the mountain. Whatever was up there didn’t attack, but it probably knew this mountain pass far better than them.
Would it be easier for it to attack now, or was there a better area ahead for it to descend on them? Or maybe it was a scout, out to take a look for its friends before reporting back to them.
The hair on Sahira’s nape rose as she glanced up, but she still didn’t see anything….
Focusing forward, she kept her attention on Orin as she determined to make it out of this alive. Occasionally, a scratch or scuffle on the rocks drew her attention above, but she never saw anything.
Whatever was up there, the scraping made it sound like it had claws that could tear into someone’s belly and lay waste to their insides. Her hand tightened on the spear as Orin vanished from view again.
Every muscle in her body tensed to fight or run. She resisted both impulses; she couldn’t risk triggering the thing above or rushing into a trap.
She took a deep breath and compelled herself to calm down as they traveled lower and lower through the mountain. Through the small crevice above, the sun’s dwindling light faded faster than it would have if they were atop the mountains.
The idea of stopping to rest with that thing tracking them wasn’t a happy one, but they had to eat, and eventually, they’d have to sleep. She’d hoped not to experience any more sleepless days and nights after the geyser field, but that might be impossible.
At least they could keep moving here and didn’t have to stand completely still.See, there’s a silver lining to something possibly eating you.
Yay.
As shadows increasingly darkened the walls around them, Orin turned to her and held out his hand. “Candle.”
The word was barely more than a whisper as he searched the cliffs above. It had been too quiet for too long up there. She didn’t take that as a good sign.
Sahira shrugged off her pack and held it close to her face as she searched for the candle and flint. They only had two left; she possessed one, and Elsa the other.
The two candles were leftovers from their time on the geyser field, and they’d been strict about using them, but she wasn’t going to argue with Orin about using them. The sun’s rays barely penetrated down here; the moon provided far less illumination.
