The Maylin Fold: Magic Doorways Book 1 by J. B. Cantwell

Author:J. B. Cantwell [Cantwell, J. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780990692508
Published: 2022-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Late that night, I lay on my back, staring into space, trying to mentally prepare myself for the task that lay ahead. We had determined that I would head down to the dungeons the very next morning; it would look suspicious if nobody at all came to clean, and it seemed clear that Calder would be leaving Stonemore as soon as possible. Maybe he already had.

Kiron and I had talked late into the night, going over and over the plan. He had found a set of dirty, worn clothing for me to wear: my uniform. Ratty as the shirt and pants were, I was glad to note that they did not smell as bad as they looked. A moth-bitten coat would protect me against the cold down below.

He had taken another link from the chain around his neck and given it to me.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“In case you can’t get out,” he said. “Only if all hope is lost.”

“What about you? Then we’ll be separated.”

“It doesn’t matter so much what happens to me. What matters is that you get your hands on the next link. Here, take it.” He dropped a thick, gray stone into my hand. “Command is Forasha. This is a short distance link. It’ll take you out of the city, but not too far beyond. Then there’ll be a hope of us finding each other.”

I accepted the link, hoping that I wouldn’t need to use it and concerned about what would happen if I did. Would it send me back to Aerit? What if I ended up floating in empty space?

I was to give Kiron my backpack and ax before I set out. The close quarters of the dungeon, and the keeper’s reputation for brawling with the children who worked there, would make carrying anything with me far too dangerous. Kiron would leave my things behind the spot where the soup lady stood in the square, and he would watch the area to make sure they were not discovered before I was able to return. We would meet thereafter I found a way out of the dungeons and then continue on together.

I dressed in the old clothing and packed my own clothes into the pack. Kiron had taken a file to my boots to make them look less noticeable; they weren’t of the sort that a poor boy would wear in Stonemore, where the kids were lucky if they had shoes at all. I lay on the shabby floor of the forgotten room and stared up at the ceiling. Only a thin sliver of moonlight crept in through a thick crack in the stone wall. My fingers studied the grooves in the stone link in my pocket.

I was buzzing with nerves. The silence that came from Kiron’s side of the room told me he was also awake, but we didn’t speak. I don’t know how many hours we both lay there with our eyes wide, and I’m not sure if I ever slept, but after an eternity of running the plan over and over in my mind, he finally rose.

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