No more regrets. No more guilt or shame. No more wondering what he would’ve done—should have done. The next time he saw Arvid, he would do whatever it took to ensure the right man saw the sun again.
“We have to keep moving,” Magnus said. “They’ll only wait so long before they assume us dead.”
20
A Mark on the Soul
Hours had passed and the torch had long since burned out. Nadine sent a prayer of thanks to Yudvir that they didn’t need it.
The cavern that lay before them was massive. Now Nadine understood why Azolirum had not chosen this path for them. Up until now, they’d traveled tight, narrow pathways which limited the likelihood that any creatures might spot them and reveal their presence to the Soul Thieves. There was nothing tight or confined about this place. It was as open as a sky, though Nadine knew that solid rock created a ceiling far above them. She wasn’t looking up. They stood upon a shelf where the tunnel had let out, overlooking a canyon which glowed an incandescent blue-green.
“Are those . . . ”
“Mushrooms,” Magnus finished for her.
He nodded downward toward the tree-sized fungi that formed a bizarre canopy over a verdant floor of spongy moss. The mushrooms themselves must’ve been white, or something close to it, because they seemed to put off a light of their own that was bright at the center and diffused in a soft echo around each smooth trunk. Little clouds of moths with powdery wings fluttered near that light, and small animals, like fluffy hares, moved about the ground at the base of the mushrooms. Were there any predators around? She couldn’t think so, not unless the little creatures milling about were deceptive carnivores of their own kind.
A winding stream worked its way through the cavern, and purple ferns sprouted up along either side of it. The babbling brook was fed by a waterfall that filled the canyon with a constant hum, along with a hot mist. It smelled earthy and sweet. The terrain was so alien, it was like she’d stepped into another world—one she’d never imagined or dreamed of.
She turned to Magnus and tried to catch his eye, to see if he was as moved by the scenery as she. And perhaps she was also looking for signs of distress from their prior conversation. She’d upset him, and that fact left her unsettled. Far more than she’d ever thought to be. He looked at her, and Nadine fought the urge to shrink away.
“We have to rest for the night,” he said.
Nadine swallowed and forced herself to turn a half smile on him. “Night?”
He returned her smile. “Regna knows where the sun is.”
Nadine glanced around. This was as bright as the world had been to her since leaving Bedmeg. She couldn’t think of a place she wanted to sleep more. “Can you see a way to climb down?”
“Let’s look.”
They marked their path with a small stack of rocks before navigating their way down, into the canyon. Nadine’s feet ached with relief to feel the spongy moss beneath her boots. On the ground, the air was thick and slightly cooler. In addition to the moths she’d seen from above, the air buzzed with insects that glowed like the mushrooms around them. They weaved in and around vines that hung down from the ceiling above.
Nadine and Magnus made their way to the stream, following the mossy wall as a guide. They took their time, careful to stay behind the cover of foliage to avoid scouting eyes. Nadine shuddered with pleasure at the sight of a waterfall trickling from a crack in the cliffside. They didn’t hesitate to take advantage.
Once she’d washed the last bit of that disgusting slime from her hair, Nadine climbed from the watery pool and laid out her clothes. She’d given them as good a scrubbing as she could. Magnus had simply thrown his own in a heap upon the bank. She’d unfurled them for him while he continued to wash himself. Nadine moved much slower now, weariness catching up with her as she laid out the bedroll and, when she’d wrung the last of the water from her hair, slipped on the spare underclothes from her pack. Poor Magnus would have to do without. She doubted the barbarian would care.
Sure enough, he marched over to her, dripping like a naked sea god, fresh from the womb of a leviathan. Nadine chewed on a bit of dried meat and watched as he shook out his long hair and ran his fingers through the mess with every confidence that he wouldn’t wake up tomorrow with a rat’s nest on his head. Privileged ass.
He plopped down beside her and took a helping of meat and cheese for himself. He seemed to swallow the food in a single bite. Had he even tasted it? At least they had plenty of water now. Speaking of which . . . ”The water coming from the rock was so hot,” Nadine mumbled.
Magnus rolled his neck and rubbed at the muscles in his shoulders. “The ground must warm it somehow. Most of that water comes from outside the mountain.”
Nadine took another bite. “How do you know?”
“It’s how they keep track of the years down here. When spring comes and the ice melts, it floods the chambers of the caverns. I expect autumn and winter sees this place far drier.”
Nadine glanced around and shifted on the bedroll. They’d chosen a spot up against the cliff wall. They’d take turns staying awake through the night, but this way they only had one front to guard. Two fronts if they counted upward, which, of course, they must.
“Do you want to sleep first?” she asked.
“No, kandiri. Go ahead and rest. I’ll wake you if I can’t keep my eyes open.”
Nadine took a final swig of water and must have downed a third of her whiskey before scooting down the bedroll. The hot liquid burned in her belly but did nothing to force her into sleep. She was tired. Utterly exhausted. She’d had this problem before, but that had always been because she was either filled with the adrenaline of a recent battle, or because she was afraid of being attacked. She was neither at the moment. Something else was disturbing her.
Don’t think, Nadine. Don’t.
She squeezed her eyes shut and remained turned away from him even when her side was screaming for her to shift. Before she knew it, she was more awake than she’d felt all day, even more than she’d been as she lowered herself into the pit of the arachnai.
Fantastic.
A sigh sounded from behind her, followed by the low rumble of Magnus’s impossibly deep voice.
He was singing.
Nadine tensed, and her eyes widened at the deep, melodious tones of his song that, though he chanted in another language, Nadine knew instinctively was a lullaby. She’d heard him sing before. He made up stupid songs to tease and irritate her. She’d heard him sing with his brothers and clansman in that loud, jovial way which made everyone around him join in. But this? This was different. This was soft, and intimate, and feeling. This was for her.
Nadine forced steady breath into her lungs as she peeled her tongue away from the roof of her mouth. “What are the words?”
Magnus hesitated only a moment before obliging, more in word than song. Still, each slow verse held a faint echo of that mesmerizing tune.
Icy wings that block the moonlight,
Do you see my bride below?
Scale I’ve claimed and blood I have spilled.
There’s nowhere that I won’t go.
Helig, Helig, hide not your daughter.
I’m a son of Arlig true.