Page 322 of Awakened

“I don’t know,” I murmur, shaking my head. “I just… we’re sure this feeling is related to Idril, right?”

“It is,” Caelan snaps.

I glance up, struck all over again by how incredibly clear the sky is. I’ve never seen the stars and moon so bright or close before. Almost like they’re watching… waiting for something to happen.

My gaze falls, landing on the hills in front of us. They aren’t large, but they’re not nothing, either. I haven't done much exploring out here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know the terrain. I personally ensure our maps are updated every decade.

Which is how I know there’s a small basin on the opposite side of the hills.

Perhaps….

Something in my gut tells me I’m right, which might be why I don’t bother explaining before I take off.

“She’s this way.”

At first I don’t think they’re going to follow me. I can feel three sets of eyes on my back, and my shoulders tense involuntarily.

Until I hear Soren’s distinct voice mutter, “fuck it,” followed by the sound of his footsteps as he jogs to catch up with me.

Vae and Caelan follow a few seconds later, and we walk in silence until a wary voice finally asks, “ Uh… where are we going, exactly?”

“There’s a basin back here,” I tell him, glancing over my shoulder and meeting his eyes in the moonlight. “A place where the hills meet naturally, forming a kind of bowl–”

“I know what a fucking basin is,” he snaps. “But why there?”

“Could be the cavern has a back entrance or exit,” Soren answers for me. “But either way, I don’t have any better ideas, and this actually does make the most sense.”

Vae grunts, and I don’t add anymore to the explanation. Truthfully, I hadn’t even considered that as a possibility. My answer was going to be ‘Because this is where my gut says to go.’

Which is ridiculous. Why would my instincts care about this Omega at all?

I spend the next ten minutes pondering over the strange feeling and coming no closer to understanding where it’s coming from. We pick over rocks and a few fallen trees, forced to hold onto branches of questionable stability so we don’t slide down the steep embankment.

Finally, we round the side of the hill, and our destination comes into view. A large clearing, covered in soft grass and sprinkled with wildflowers; it’s actually much bigger than I remember.

But the size isn’t what steals my breath or stops me in my tracks.

Right in the middle of the clearing is an enormous sinkhole, a brilliant silver light radiating from the Earth and illuminating the entire clearing.

Where—how—what’s happening?

“What the fuck?” Soren slams to a stop beside me, mouth falling open in shock.

Caelan’s gravelly voice reaches me a breath later as he spits a string of curses and shoulders past me, stepping forward with wide eyes and a floored expression.

He goes to take another step, but my hand snaps out, and I fist the back of his shirt, yanking him back before he can move. He reaches over his shoulder, blindly slapping at my hold without getting anywhere close, because he refuses to look away from the giant hole twenty feet away.

Finally, after a few half-hearted attempts, he wrenches his gaze away and whips around, using his momentum to force me to release him. His menacing glare makes it clear how he feels about being manhandled, and if I were anyone else, I might feel bad.

But I’m not, and I don’t.

I know him well enough to know he’ll do something stupid unless someone steps in and pulls him back from the edge—literally.

“I’m not going to go jump off the edge of it, dad,” he says, proving he knows me just as well.

“You don’t know how structurally sound the ground is around the edges,” I argue. “Just… fucking wait, please. Don’t go charging in without making sure the Earth’s not about to give out beneath your feet.”

I brace myself for a fight as he opens his mouth to reply, but I hear a woman’s voice—not his.