Page 24 of Returned to the Vissigroth (The Vissigroths of Leander #6)

I watched Daphne and Myccael interact as they both stood on top of the overhang.

My heart went out to them. The boy who had lost his mother and the mother who had lost everything.

I watched them hug and hold hands, not even listening to the others as they talked about tomorrow when they would check the large screen and the box and anything else they hadn't dared touch until the susserayn had seen it.

Suddenly, something in Myccael's and Daphne's demeanor changed. I recognized the way he pushed Daphne to the side, the way his body coiled. Danger.

"Up there!" I yelled, pulling my sword and sprinting up the mountain to join my son and mate, to protect them from whatever it was they had seen. "Dragoons!"

"Kavryn, alert the males, send a legion around the mountain," I ordered. Whatever Myccael and Daphne had seen, it was on the other side.

As I approached, Myccael signaled to keep low.

I echoed the order to the males following me and slowed down.

Myccael seemed alert but not alarmed; whatever danger he had noticed, it was still far off.

However, for me, it seemed to take an eternity to reach Daphne's side.

I didn't breathe easier until I was able to put one arm around her, hold my sword in the other, and ask Myccael, "What is it? "

He pointed into the distance, by the trees, where a group of Eulachs was on their way to the mountains. Eulachs were plentiful, and they always posed a threat, but not to a group like us, so I wondered what had caught Myccael's attention about this particular group.

"They met with Renegades," Myccael filled me in. "They traded."

That explained his alertness. Eulachs were bad. Renegades were a scourge. Together, they meant a headache. It wouldn't be the first time our two enemies formed an alliance with each other, but being this close to the Pyme mountains, where we had now found out that the Zuten had…

"Snyg, the Zuten," I spat out.

Myccael turned his attention from the Eulachs to me, his brows creased, "What?"

I pointed at the site where the hole in the ground was visible as a black abyss, then at the mountain upon which we stood, and motioned to the distance between the two.

"If there was housing there, I'm starting to wonder if these mountains are…

natural. Or if they're rubble from a Zuten city. " I stated.

It would make sense. An awful, disturbing kind of sense.

We had always suspected that the Pyme mountains were riddled with caves used by the Eulachs.

Where they lived and bred like the rotten vermin they were.

But what if those caves weren't just simply caves?

What if they were filled with relics from the Zuten world?

What if our digging had just uncovered what was never meant to see the light of day again?

"I need to talk to Tovahr," I said, taking Daphne's hand to lead her back down the mountain. I wanted her in Bantahar, away from this open area, but at the same time, I knew I had to stay, and I didn't want to leave her alone. And with Myccael here, I knew she wouldn't leave.

"What are you suspecting?" Daphne asked, astute as she had always been.

"I think that there is more to the Pyme mountains than we know.

I think that this place," I encompassed our entire surroundings from here to the forest, including the mountains, with my sword, "this entire place was once a big city.

I think something happened, and it was all buried under debris.

And I think that with the digging that has been done for the magrail, we've opened an old, long-forgotten grave that should have never been opened. "

"Snyg," Myccael cursed behind me, having listened to my words.

I realized I was taking a giant leap here. I had no reason to believe that the mountains were anything but mountains, but deep in my gut, I felt the truth of my words.

I had to slow myself; I didn't want Daphne to fall, but it took some self-restraint. It seemed to take forever until we were back down at the base of the mountain, where Tovahr stood flanked by Major Stafford.

"Is this the only place you drilled down?" I asked before we had even reached the foreman.

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

My patience was running thin. Daphne's heavy breathing next to me made me feel bad for dragging her like this, but this was important. "I mean, where else did you drill down?"

"Every few thousand paces. I had to make sure there was no groundwa?—"

"Show me," I barked, interrupting Tovahr and already striding toward a nicta.

"There was nothing out there," Kavryn called, returning from his scouting excursion. He was back way too quickly and looked way too smug.

Kavryn’s tone grated against my nerves like a dulled blade dragged across bone. I turned slowly, cold fury rising from the base of my spine. “Nothing?” I echoed. “That’s what you found? Nothing?”

He gave a careless shrug. “The legion and I went around the mountain. There was nothing, not even a trace of anything.”

“You didn’t look hard enough,” I growled, stepping closer.

His mouth twisted into a sneer. “Maybe you’re just seeing ghosts, Mallack. You’ve always had a weakness for the past.”

I closed the distance in two strides. “And you’ve always had a weakness for doing the bare minimum.”

His posture shifted, defensive, and his hand brushed the hilt of his sword. “Careful,” he warned, his voice low. “We’re not in Hoerst anymore.”

I didn’t care where we were. My fingers curled around my own blade, every instinct honed by decades of war telling me to knock the smug look from his face and remind him what real warriors did to cowards who put their pride before their duty.

But before I could speak—or swing—Myccael stepped between us. “Enough,” he said sharply, eyes locked on me. “Both of you.”

I didn’t look away from Kavryn. “He claims he didn’t find anything."

“Go look again,” Myccael snapped at Kavryn. "There were Eulachs there, I saw them myself. I want the entire site turned upside down, and come morning, I want to know why the Eulachs seem to be crawling out of the rocks. If there are passages, I want them found."

Kavryn took a step back, visibly irritated but wisely silent. "Zyn, as you command, Susserayn."

I sheathed my blade with a hiss of metal. “We need to scout those other sites. Tonight.”

“Ney,” Myccael said, calm but firm. “Not tonight. We’ll check them in the morning when there is light.”

I exhaled sharply. “We don’t have time.”

“You think I don’t feel that too?” Myccael’s gaze met mine. “I do. But charging into shadows when we’ve just discovered the Zuten walked this ground? That’s how we lose good males. We’ll get more answers with the sun at our backs.”

I didn’t like it. But I didn’t argue, because he was right.

Daphne squeezed my hand gently. “We’ll go in the morning,” she said. “We’ll find what’s hidden.”

Myccael nodded once. “Good. Then, for tonight, you two will take my tent.”

I blinked. “What?”

He was already signaling a nearby dragoon. “It’s the largest, already heated. Food will be waiting, and a bath for you, mother.”

“That’s not necessary,” I started, but I was touched by his thoughtfulness, despite my irritation at being treated like an elder. It's for Daphne , I soothed myself.

“It is,” he cut me off, his tone final. “She needs rest. You, too.”

I hesitated, jaw tight. But he was right. Daphne’s breathing was still a bit labored. Her steps uneven. And gods help me, I wanted a moment with her that didn’t involve blood or fear or ancient ruins whispering curses beneath our feet.

“Fine,” I muttered. “But at first light, we ride.”

Myccael clapped me once on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Daphne leaned her head briefly against my arm, and for one blessed breath, I allowed myself to believe there might still be time. That this gift I’d been given—however fleeting—could still be protected.

Even if the ghosts of the Zuten were waking beneath our feet.