Persephone covered her face with her hands to muffle her breathing, which was far too rapid and loud. She cursed her body for needing air. And wondered if Konniger could really hear her heart beating. To her own ears it pounded at an alarming volume.
“Did you know there was a pool down here, or did you just jump and pray? I’ll bet you didn’t even see the cliff. I’m impressed you didn’t scream.”
She heard the scrape of his feet as he pressed closer and probably could have touched him if she extended her arm.
“You don’t have that spear with you, do you, Seph? No, you dropped that. Lucky for me. Otherwise this—”
Splash!
The sound came from outside.
It’s Raithe!
Somehow he had managed to escape and had come for her. Only one splash meant Malcolm was injured or dead, or maybe they had split up and he had gone to save Suri. What mattered was that Raithe was there, and he was going to save her.
Konniger stopped moving.
“Thurgin? Devon?” Konniger shouted. He was right next to her, and his voice was so loud that she jerked in terror. “That you?”
It has to be Raithe! It has to be! It has to be!
Persephone wanted to cry out, wanted to scream his name, but Konniger was so close. She had to wait, had to squeeze herself into the floor, to hide, to give Raithe time.
More splashing, and it was getting closer.
“Who is it?” Konniger asked, his voice less confident. “Who’s out there?”
Still no answer came.
If it’s Raithe, why doesn’t he say so?
She heard Konniger shift, heard him take a step away and then another. “Who are you?”
The small patch of light that marked the opening of the crack vanished as something big blocked it out.
“Who in Elan’s name are you?” Konniger cried.
The answering roar shook the stone.
—
Raithe and Malcolm moved as fast as they could but had no hope of keeping up with the Fhrey as they darted like deer through the trees. Their speed and silence, especially in the dark, was amazing and more than a little frightening. Raithe and Malcolm were left far behind and in awe.
Maybe they aren’t gods, but they have to be magical—some form of crimbal, perhaps?
By the time Raithe and Malcolm reached the cave, Maeve was dead, and the Fhrey were building a litter to carry her body back to the dahl. There wasn’t a bear—living or dead—and Raithe assumed it had been driven off.
Suri was alive. The young mystic crouched on her knees beside the Keeper of Ways with Minna curled beside her.
There was no sign of Persephone.
Raithe had been certain she would come there, forgoing the rol and trying to save Maeve and Suri on her own. A bloom of panic ignited as he began to doubt he would ever see her again.
No, he thought. I’m being foolish.
He tried to convince himself that she had taken his hint and run for the rol. He wanted to believe she’d locked herself inside and was safe, waiting for them to find her. But as sensible as all that seemed, it was too good to be true. Nothing in his life had ever gone completely his way, and the gods still had their eyes on him. They always wanted blood. Maeve was dead, but one old woman wouldn’t be enough to sate the appetite of gods.
“Suri,” he said.
The girl turned her head and looked up slowly, her eyes taking time to focus.
“Can you show me how to find that waterfall?”
“The one with the Dherg rol hidden beneath it,” Malcolm added.
Suri nodded. Then glanced back at Maeve, still with her baffled expression.
“Can you do it in the dark? Can you do it now?” Raithe asked.
Suri glanced back at Maeve once more, then stood up. “Not a good idea to go there now.”
“Why?” Malcolm asked.
“Grin will probably go there.”
“The bear?” Raithe said so loudly that the Fhrey looked over. “Why would Grin go there?”
“She likes caves to hide in when she’s scared or hurt. We’ve taken hers, so she’ll go there. I’ve seen her do it before.”
“Scared? Hurt? Suri, did you do something to Grin?” Malcolm asked.
She nodded. “She was going to hurt Minna; I had to do something. That waterfall and pool is the nearest source of water, and she’ll want to soothe the burns. If she lives, she’s going to be in a really bad mood. Best to stay away.”
In his head, Raithe heard laughter. The laughter of the gods. The sound made his skin crawl. He had chosen poorly and put Persephone right in the path of the bear, which, for reasons only Suri knew, was going to be in an enraged state. What made the situation so ironic was that the gods had known all along what Raithe had only just realized—how much he cared for Persephone. She might not be able to love him, but oddly enough, that didn’t matter. Some things didn’t make sense, some things were merely the whim of gods—gods who had a recent and irresistible infatuation with him. In his mind, a great brown bear’s image flashed, rearing over Persephone, its massive claws spread and its jaws open wide.
“Persephone is there,” Raithe shouted. “You need to take us, now!”
“We’ll all go,” Nyphron said, surprising Raithe. “Medak, Vorath, and Eres, pack up the old Rhune, and we’ll meet you at the forest’s edge when we get back. Everyone else…” He looked at Suri. “Follow the girl.”
Suri glanced one last time at Maeve and then, together with Minna, trotted toward the cave exit.
As they headed out, Raithe heard Sebek speaking to Nyphron in Fhrey. “Did he say what I think he said?”
Nyphron nodded. “They’ve found a Dherg rol.”
—
Persephone smelled the harsh odor of burnt hair as Konniger stepped on her hand in his frantic retreat. She couldn’t help crying out in pain.
Konniger didn’t notice. His priorities had changed. Finding Persephone no longer topped his list. Even when she pushed his foot away, he didn’t seem to care.
Persephone lost her fear and got to her feet, shoving Konniger back.
Another roar sounded. The sound amplified by the stone walls was heart-stopping. The bear couldn’t be more than one or two arm lengths away, but Persephone couldn’t see anything in the darkness. She felt Konniger grabbing at her blindly with both hands.
He doesn’t have his spear.
The chieftain grabbed hold of Persephone and tried pulling her around in front of him, but the crevice was too narrow. That far back, it was just a few feet wide, and she was determined to keep Konniger between her and the bear. She wrenched free of his grip and beat him with her fists and knees. In the blackness, she connected with some part of his face, something hard and bony. She heard a squish, his mouth or maybe his nose.
Konniger groaned in pain, and Persephone kept swinging, swinging in the dark. Then she pushed out with both hands and managed to raise one foot and kick. Konniger was hit hard. He staggered backward, stumbling away. Then he screamed. At the same time, she heard what sounded like the cracking of branches.
Persephone felt the movement of air and a wetness spray her face—a cool wave followed by a hot, moist puff. Konniger continued to scream, his voice rising higher in pitch and intensity with each crack and snap.
Persephone’s hands were back on the wall where the door was supposed to be. She ran her fingers across the surface, clawing in desperation.