Page 120 of Walking in Darkness

“Aria ...” Ellis said with an exhalation of relief. “Dani and Timothy told us what happened last night. It’s all so much to handle and believe. I’m so sorry this burden has befallen you.”

His expression went grim. “And the Kruen ...”

“It was terrifying,” she whispered. “But we made it out, and I am well and whole.”

By the time they’d curled up together in bed, she’d nearly been healed, the wound resembling a scar more than anything else.

“Thank Valeen,” Ellis murmured on the breeze.

Aria’s nod was slow, though Pax could feel the gravity behind it. “Yes, thank Valeen. She was near.”

“Then she has not abandoned us.” Ellis’s whisper held the weight of a prayer of deliverance.

“No, she has not. And I’ve come to believe that she is urging us toward one another. To stand together. More than here and in Faydor, but in the day. I believe we are not just stronger with our Nols, but together as a whole.”

A ripple of surprise wound through the throng of Laven, their chattering held in uncertainty. But a current rode through it. One that struck a chord in their spirits.

As if they’d all become attuned to one another. As if their spirits recognized what Aria was saying.

A middle-aged woman named Stephanie climbed to standing in the middle of the crowd, her hair as black as Aria’s, her skin just as pale.

She blinked with the severity of her confession.

“I had a dream. The same one two nights in a row. A dream telling me I’m supposed to leave. It’s as if I’m being called somewhere else but I’m lost in the middle of it, not sure of where I’m supposed to go.” Her voice waffled with uncertainty. “And I never have dreamed before. Not once in my life. Not until now. When I close my eyes, I always come here.”

Two more asserted the same.

The confused certainty that they felt they were supposed to be somewhere else, though they had no indication of where they were supposed to be. Riddled with a feeling of being misplaced.

It left them all unsettled and unsure.

“Maybe it’s calling us toward our Nols?” another speculated.

Stephanie’s response shot down that theory. “But I was already with mine.”

Hundreds of eyes turned to Aria, seeking guidance.

Pax could feel the anxiety roll through her. Her wish to be able to give something real. To be able to protect each of them. To provide a solution. A miracle.

“We all feel it ...” Aria said. “Something inside us urging us to dosomethingor a change is about to happen. And I wish I knew exactly what that was. That I could tell you exactly what to do. I can’t, but I do get the sense we’re supposed to wait for clarity. That we will know when the time comes.”

Aria fisted her hand over her heart. “The one thing I can say with certainty is, I’ve been called to end Ambrose. How? I don’t know. But I have faith that it will be revealed to me. That Valeen wouldn’t bring me to this time and place only to leave us helpless.”

Her chest shuddered as she inhaled. “And I promise you that I will go where she calls me. Do whatever she asks. Whatever it takes. I won’t surrender or submit. In the meantime, I think you need to find whatever Laven live closest to you and go to them. Stick together. Not just with your Nols, but with anyone else that you can.”

Apprehension rolled through them all, and Ellis lifted a bony, spindly hand. “I know it’s hard to process, to accept when we’ve been instructed to live so differently, but I believe we must trust in what Aria says.”

Agreement seemed to move through the crowd, and a chatter rose through the ranks as Laven moved toward those they knew lived closest to them, their conversations hushed as they made plans to meet in the day.

Ellis let them talk for a time before he cleared his throat. “My children, even though we must pivot during the day, we cannot become distracted from our original purpose. Finish your plans, and then we must prepare to descend. The time is coming near.”

Pax edged forward, and he pushed a hand out to stop their family from rising, silently asking them to stay back as he brought Aria to stand directly in front of Ellis.

“Not yet, Ellis. I need you to do one thing for me.”

Confusion knitted the old man’s brow, though in it, Pax saw that he was willing to do anything.

“What do you ask?”