Dawn of Destiny by Amy Hopkins & Michael Anderle

Author:Amy Hopkins & Michael Anderle [Hopkins, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2017-09-29T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Jules? Jules, you need to wake up. Now, Jules. You don’t have time to rest. Jules, wake up, Jules.

Go away! She mentally shouted the words even as consciousness returned. Julianne sucked in a breath, then coughed out a lungful of dust as needles of pain stabbed at her head.

Hands helped her to sit. “It’s ok, Jules. I’m sorry. You needed to wake up.” Danil’s voice murmured in her ear, voice soothing as his thoughts inside her head were not.

She briefly felt his weight in her mind, checking she was coherent and remembered the moments before the impact.

Danil’s prodding was standard protocol—after a concussion, a person needed rest, but could be woken if it wasn't safe to do so. Julianne would pay for it later, but for now, the ache in her head was bearable and they needed to get out of here, wherever ‘here’ was.

“Everyone ok?” she asked, voice hoarse. She blinked the grit from her eyes and found she could see. Light filtered through a hole above their heads, though her eyes didn’t want to adjust enough to see into the surrounding shadows.

“Looks like we all survived. Horses are all standing, but we won't know if they're lame until we get out of this hole.” Garrett plunged into the shadows. “What is this place?”

“Some kind of ancient, underground building.” Marcus kicked at some rubbish by his feet. “I've heard tales of them, but never seen one.”

Danil helped Julianne to stand, letting go once she’d assured him her balance was fine. She picked her way over the fallen stone from above and looked around the cavernous space.

Dust coated every surface, obscuring any clue as to what the area once served as. Shadows in the dark corners outlined benches, and the floor was scattered with smaller objects. Julianne kneeled down to inspect one.

She picked it up and rolled it in her hand. It was cold and round, with blunt ends.

"What's that?" Bastian's sudden question startled her and she dropped her prize. It smashed, shattering on the hard floor and splashing putrid liquid all over her skirt.

"Shit.” A foul odor reached Julianne's nose. "Ugh, that smell is hideous." She backed away and found Marcus pulling things from a wall.

"Might have been food. Maybe this was a storehouse of some kind." He shook the box in his hand and it rustled. "Either way, we need to get moving. The noise from the cave-in probably attracted attention, and we don't want to be fighting from the lower ground if we can help it.”

A quick examination showed that the roof had fallen in such a way that the horses, if led carefully, should be able to climb out.

"We risk hurting them more, dragging them up that rubbish," Bette pointed out.

"If we leave them here, they'll end up dinner for a local remnant pack," Marcus said.

Bette shuddered and grabbed her horse's halter. "Best be quick about it, then."

The beasts seemed as eager to leave the eerie, forgotten room as their riders did. Within a short time, all six of them stood in the bright sunlight again beside the hole from the cave-in.

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