Skykeeper (The Drowning Empire Book 1) by S.M. Gaither

Author:S.M. Gaither [Gaither, S.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-08-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

West never attempts anything sinister.

Even when my magic starts to dim and I don’t have enough feeling left in my frozen fingers to strengthen its light.

Even then, he focuses only on moving forward, his hands walking along the walls that press close on either side of our narrow path of rock and ice.

It seems to take forever, but that path eventually widens, and soon after, I don’t find myself having to duck to avoid the stalactites and the dripping, partially formed icicles hanging from the ceiling. The air thins, expanding with the space.

And then it happens: the last of the dead fog weaving its way around us rolls away, and the light of my magic suddenly stretches much further, much brighter. It seems that we’ve found our way into one of the more massive rooms of these caves; I can’t see the walls or ceilings anymore, even with the extra light.

West doesn’t turn around until long after we’ve stepped out of the last wisps of fog. When he does, I steal cautiously past him, putting several feet between us before I turn back around myself. I release my grip on my knife; I need both hands so I can cup them around my mouth and breathe, bring them down and rub them furiously back to some sort of warmth.

Once my fingers have stopped tingling, I pull my sphere of magic back to me. I let it hover over my outstretched palms while I summon more, strand after strand of brighter, bolder magic that wraps around the dim sphere and sets it spinning, sending light refracting off walls that are shiny with moisture and fragments of translucent gypsum crystal.

Behind us, the fog is still reaching, twisting black fingers pulling away from the main cloud, drifting into this larger cave. Watching them makes my pulse quicken, even with all the space now between myself and that cloud.

I keep summoning.

I want to be able to see any other fog ahead of us. I want to be able to see everything—every possible path, every possible threat—so I summon until the magic’s light is wide and bright enough to stretch all around us. Until I can’t take the stabbing in my skin, and until blood has started to collect in the creases of my palms and I am blinking back tears.

I don’t remember it ever hurting this much, even as far back as the first time I ever summoned it.

The crystal walls glisten in the light like cold fire, bright and beautiful and mesmerizing. It dulls that pain, in a way.

Or at least distracts from it.

The sound of splashing water makes West and me both jump.

“Just a big wave rushing in from the Atesian somewhere, probably,” West whispers. “The sound probably echoes on forever in here.”

I nod.

But I’ve already started sweeping my magic’s glow over the cave again. Searching.

I keep thinking I see shadowy, impossible shapes against the walls.

I keep hoping that one of those shadows might turn out to be Coralind.

There is no sign of her, though.

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