Page 24

24

Worry Simmering

W e follow the monk from the entrance hall. Daenn grips Storm’s saddle, which I try to ignore. He won’t want me fussing over him further.

“Where are you—” I start, but the monk hushes me, glancing around fearfully.

I snap my mouth shut. I can wait until we’re safe if it means avoiding another fight. Daenn is in no shape to take on anyone else, and I have no desire to test my ability to protect him with magic if I don’t need to.

There are more signs of the Elyri as we go—furniture ransacked or smashed, things tossed about on the floor. The monk practically runs past it all, leading us down the hall, through a dining room, and into the kitchen before we reach a heavy stone door. He presses his hand to it and mutters, and the door swings open silently. He ushers us through. Storm fits, but only just.

We take a short flight of stairs down. The room beyond is cool, lit only by a few small glowing runes on the walls. There are stores of food, large barrels, and other various supplies—and a small group of men.

It seems we’ve found the rest of the monks .

There are only six of them. They’re a tattered group; several sport bandages, all of them look rather dirty, like they haven’t been able to bathe in a while, and they watch us with wary eyes. I edge closer to Daenn and Storm. The scrutiny makes me itchy.

The monk who found us comes down the stairs after a moment; a small glance over my shoulder shows the door—what little I can see of it—shut tight as a mild glow fades from its borders.

“I found them standing over some fallen Elyri in the entrance hall,” our guide announces to his fellow monks.

“The Bompurak border temple sent us,” Daenn says, stepping forward and into the familiar commanding posture I recognize. It seems he’s decided there’s no time to be weak here. “They told us you could give us the matching bracer to the one I wear, but they said nothing of Elyri. What happened here?”

The monk who found us scrubs a hand over his head. “Elyri—they’ve come as treasure hunters. We see them now and then, but usually they’re stuck outside our defenses, then driven away by the jungle’s dangers before too long. But these… They attacked about a week ago, overwhelming the outer defense with some sort of Elyri magic. They swarmed before we knew what was happening. The concentration of their forces has set up outside the treasure room, but they roam the halls as well. A few have been trying to break through our door since we’ve holed up here with the majority of the food stores, but…” He gestures at us. “I was scouting with my magic and saw you heading toward the kitchen, and their ambush of you, and then…” He smiles wanly. “You are welcome to our hospitality, as limited as it currently is.”

“Why don’t you leave?” I ask .

“This is the first time in a while they’ve left our door unwatched.” One of the other monks speaks up. His voice is scratchy and low, not at all what I expect from such a short, thin man. “And even if they didn’t, our best chance of escape that doesn’t leave us dying in the jungle is in the treasure room.”

“We have an anchored through-way door in there,” agrees the first monk.

I blink. I’ve heard of through-ways, magical doors that allow travelers to step from one place to across the country or even the world. They’re incredibly rare, but I could certainly see the value of such a thing for this secluded temple.

Daenn crosses his arms as he considers the monks. “How many Elyri are there?”

“Minus the four you felled? Eighteen. There were more, but some of them left on the second day.” The monk frowns. “I worry they’ve only gone to fetch something to get through the treasury defenses.”

“How do you know they’ve not already gotten in?”

“They’re still here,” the second monk points out.

The first nods. “And I have been monitoring them with my magic. They’re certainly trying, but with no success. They’ve tried this door a few times as well—they probably hope if they could get their hands on one of us that they could use us to open the door—but fortunately, thus far, they’ve failed.”

I look at Daenn. I have no desire to hide in this storeroom endlessly. He meets my eyes. He must know what I’m thinking or sense the tightness growing in my chest, because when he turns back to the monks, there’s a determined glint to his gaze.

“We’ll help you escape. We can get you into that treasure room. All we ask is passage out with you, and the other bracer. ”

“They’re yours,” the monk agrees, his voice quick with hope. The other monks around range from skeptical to hopeful.

Daenn nods like it’s decided. “I’ll need to rest a few days first.” He hesitates, and I can feel worry simmering in him as if it’s my own. Maybe it is. He’s in no condition to fight with the bracer draining him and that wound, and eighteen—that would be a heavy challenge for him even when at full strength. And I don’t know how much magic I can manage.

But we need to get out. I don’t want to die here, buried amongst—

I straighten. “I have an idea.”