Page 166 of The Cradle of Ice

Nyx cut him off. “We must attempt it.”

She stared the knight down until he finally gave a small sigh of defeat.

With the matter settled, they set off again.

Nyx glanced back to Vikas and pressed two fingers under her chin and swiped it down, silently thanking the quartermaster for this suggestion. Vikas nodded back.

Nyx settled back to the bench next to Daal. It wasn’t just Vikas who helped guide them past this obstruction. She stared up as Daal guided them onward.

Without you, we would’ve had no hope.

* * *

DAAL FOLLOWED ALONG the darker path, one that didn’t burn as bright in his head. He had done his best to memorize the route to the chasm, but his insecurity mounted. He checked often with Nyx to confirm each new turn or tunnel to take.

His heart thudded in his ears, drumming with warning. He had to keep wiping sweat from his eyes. The tension only further confounded the passage of time. Memories blurred, especially along this new route. The ghostly screams of dead explorers grew louder, more insistent.

“It can’t be much farther,” Nyx whispered.

He sensed the same, but he didn’t know for sure.

All around them, the ice creaked and groaned, stressed by the recent quake, trying to resettle after the jolt. Occasional distant booms made him wince.

Behind him, Graylin cursed under his breath.

Jace’s knee kept bobbing up and down.

Vikas breathed hard through her nose.

Only Shiya remained quiet and unmoving, a statue of bronze at the stern.

“There’s a light up ahead,” Jace said, his voice wavering between hope and terror.

Daal saw he was correct. The flame from his firepot had masked the glow from the next passageway. Seated farther back, Jace had spotted it first.

“What is it?” Nyx asked.

Daal shook his head, not so much to indicate his ignorance, but to shake the ghostly cry of agony that filled his left ear. He glanced to Nyx, but she didn’t seem to hear it.

“Something’s there,” Daal said. “Something we need to be wary of.”

“How do you know?” Graylin asked.

“I just do.”

The scream slowly faded, but not his trepidation. Still, he urged Neffa and Mattis ahead.

As the skiff glided forward, the glow revealed a cavernous grotto ahead, a wide swelling of the tunnel walls. The roof twinkled and shone with an ameryl gleam, iridescent and radiant. The flat waters beneath mirrored that starry roof, creating a shimmering oasis.

“It’s beautiful,” Jace said.

Graylin lifted out of his seat to search ahead. “But what’s giving off that glow?”

As the prow of the boat pushed into the grotto, Daal felt something sticky swipe his cheek, accompanied by a tiny ping. Then another struck on his bare arm, snapping away. He ducked and waved a hand ahead of him. He saw nothing, but his fingers and palms broke through more strands.

The others suffered the same, jerking and wiping as they were equally assaulted.

“It’s webbing,” Graylin said.