Whispers in the Labyrinth (The Labyrinth Trilogy Book 1) by Kaitlyn Hong

Author:Kaitlyn Hong [Hong, Kaitlyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

29

Archie’s Shortcomings

As days turned into weeks, the remaining eight struggled in the desert terrain. Trudging and sliding through the sand drained all of Sage’s energy. Her feet lugged as if carrying weights, and her chest ached. Ruben’s death had wiped out

any vigor she’d had before. At different points, she, Archie,

Cassian, and Jovian buckled from exhaustion and the group was forced to rest.

Sage was constantly parched and tired—freezing in the night, but blistering during the day. Archie signaled whenever he sensed water nearby, but sometimes they had to dig for it.

One day, Cassian became so delirious, he tripped and fell face first in the sand and mumbled incoherently. Sage wouldn’t lose another person. She wouldn’t. Especially not Cassian. So she gave him all the water in her flask.

“We should take turns carrying Cassian,” Luka suggested as he knelt on Cassian’s other side.

Cassian came out of his delirium long enough to shake his head. “No…I can…do it.”

Draven huffed, gripping his head and glaring in Cassian’s direction. “You can’t. Do you want to die like Ruben?”

Ruben’s name hung in the air, stinging Sage’s heart.

Cassian didn’t reply, pressing his palms over his eyes. He didn’t protest about being carried again.

Sage, still smarting from Ruben’s mention, glowered at the sand. She’d avoided mentioning Ruben because she couldn’t trust herself to speak without crying. She couldn’t even think about Ruben without tears pricking her eyes and a burn rising in her throat.

She missed him. She missed his positivity; she missed his companionship. And her failure to heal him only made her feel worse. Her regular practice to access her healing ability

had dissolved after Ruben’s death and she hadn’t bothered with it since.

Sir Aadan had been wrong. She wasn’t a healer and it was time she stopped trying to pretend she was.

One day, the group stopped to rest by the only tree they could see for miles. They hadn’t had any water for two days, and it took all Sage’s will to keep placing one foot in front of the other. While the group rested, Luka and Archie broke off in search

of water.

Sage plopped onto the ground with a moan of pain. She removed her boots and beat out the sand before examining her bleeding blisters. No matter how much she worked to prevent sand from seeping into her boots, it always found its way in. She bit her lip and squirmed, holding back hot tears. Her legs and feet ached, her stomach twisted in hunger, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. When would this misery end?

Cassian slumped beside her, eyes dark with exhaustion.

Sage reluctantly pulled her boots back on, cringing in pain as she did.

“How’s your shoulder?” Cassian asked as he pulled a slice of dried meat out of his bag and chewed on it.

Sage cautiously rotated her shoulder, wincing. “Still sore.” Then she dropped her gaze to her feet. “But less painful than these blisters.” She leaned back against the tree, thoughts of her family filtering through the pain. How long

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