Page 40

Daylight

“ S o…” I huffed, still lying on my back on the cold stone floor. “What are the chances we could’ve beaten that minotaur?”

“Zero,” Sky replied, shaking his head. “Less than zero. I would’ve taken a small army of scouts to put it down.” He glanced toward the edge of the chasm. “I’m not sure I’m convinced that even the fall killed it.

“Call me crazy,” I said, still panting. “But I’m starting to think someone has it in for us. Every time you and I are together, there’s a monster chasing us.”

“You think I’m bad luck?”

I shook my head, smiling despite the panic still coursing through me. “Even if you are, I don’t care.” I rolled over onto my side, facing him. “Are you alright?”

Sky’s blue eyes met mine, his wolf ears flicking back in that way they did when he was uncomfortable with vulnerability. He ran a hand through his dark hair, leaving it more disheveled than usual.

“I’m fine,” he said gruffly, but I noticed him wince as he shifted his weight. “Just a few scrapes.”

I sat up slowly, my muscles protesting every movement. “Let me see.”

“It’s nothing,” he insisted, but I was already scooting closer to him.

“Sky, you literally just saved my life. Again. The least you can do is let me check your wounds.”

He sighed, his tail twitching with annoyance as he reluctantly extended his arm. A nasty gash ran from his elbow to his wrist, still seeping blood. It wasn’t fatal, but it was probably painful at the very least.

“Nothing, huh?” I reached out, my hand hovering over the wound as I cast my basic healing spell. The wound began to stitch together immediately. “You don’t need to pretend to be a tough guy around me, you know?”

His ears went flat against his head, a tinge of pink coming to his cheeks. “I’m… I’m not used to being… open.”

“I’ve noticed,” I said softly, finishing the healing spell. The wound closed completely, leaving behind a faint pink line that would fade in a day or two. “But you don’t have to be that way with me.”

Sky looked away, his angular features catching the dim light of the cavern. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?” I asked, daring to scoot even closer. “We’ve nearly died together like, what, two or three times now? I think we’re past the point of pretending.”

His tail stiffened, and for a moment I thought I’d gone too far. Then his shoulders sagged slightly.

“I know… I just… I want to protect you. Not the other way around…” He trailed off, swallowing hard.

I let out a long sigh, shaking my head as a smile crept over my face. “As much as I love that you want to be my hero, Sky… Why don’t we both take care of each other?” I reached out, wrapping my hand around the back of his neck. “Would that be alright with you?”

Sky smiled, looking up at me. “Yeah… Yeah I guess I could do that.”

For a moment, we just sat there, staring at each other in the dim light of the cavern.

His blue eyes seemed to glow, the wolf in him more present than I’d ever seen before.

My hand was still on the back of his neck, and I could feel the soft fur of his ears brush against my arm as they twitched forward.

“We should get moving,” he said finally, his voice softer than usual. “That minotaur might have friends.”

I nodded, reluctantly pulling my hand away. “Right. Monsters. Danger. The usual.”

Sky stood first, extending his hand to help me up. His grip was strong and warm, and he didn’t let go immediately once I was on my feet. Instead, he held my gaze for a beat longer than necessary.

“Thank you,” he said simply. “For the healing. And... for not giving up on me.”

My heart did a little flip in my chest. From Sky, those words were practically a sonnet.

“You’re welcome,” I replied, squeezing his hand. “Though if you really want to thank me, you could buy me a drink at The Drunken Wyvern when we get back.” I stared into his eyes, leaning in close. “And you could… kiss me again.”

Sky’s ears perked up at my boldness, and for a moment, he looked almost stunned. Then, his expression softened in a way I’d rarely seen before. The usual hard lines of his face relaxed, and something that looked suspiciously like hope flickered in his blue eyes.

“I think that could be arranged,” he said, his voice low and husky. His tail swished behind him, betraying his emotions in a way his carefully controlled expression couldn’t.

I felt my cheeks warm as I remembered our first kiss, desperate and a little hurried in the face of danger.

I could recall the way his lips felt against mine, softer than I’d anticipated, and the way his hand tightened around my waist much like it did now.

He pulled me close, his touch strong and possessive in a way that sent a shiver down my spine.

He leaned down, my eyes closing automatically just before he pressed his lips to mine once more.

A distant rumble from deeper in the cavern broke the moment. Sky pulled away quickly, his ears swiveling toward the sound, his body tensing instantly.

“Time to go,” he said, his hand finding mine again. “That’s either our minotaur friend surviving the fall, or something worse coming to investigate the commotion.”

We navigated through the winding tunnels, my magical senses leading the way as we tried desperately to find the exit. The air grew cooler as we approached what I hoped was the surface. The distant sound of rushing water gave me hope.

“I think we’re close,” I whispered, still clutching Sky’s hand as we moved through the darkness.

The only light we had was the phosphorescent mushrooms that gave everything an eerie glow.

Every nook and cranny was filled with shadows, ones that might’ve been hiding some new foe.

But as we walked, nothing seemed to leap out and try to kill us. At least not yet.

Sky nodded, his keen senses obviously picking up more than mine. His ears twitched constantly, rotating to catch every sound, and his nostrils flared as he scented the air. The Animaru part of him was fully alert now, the wolf ready for danger.

“There’s fresh air coming from ahead,” he confirmed, his voice low. “But we’re not alone down here.”

My stomach tightened. “More minotaurs? ”

“No.” His blue eyes narrowed as he glanced back the way we’d come. “Something else. Something… with armor.”

Great. Just what we needed. The Royal Scouting Brigade hadn’t prepared me for half the creatures we’d encountered since I arrived in Cindersea.

In fact, they hadn’t prepared us for anything.

There was no training from the RSB at all, just a handful of coins and some well wishes.

All I had to go on was what I’d learned at the Cleric Guild, and that was only a healing spell.

Kai, Rhia, and Kuro had gotten all the combat training.

The Cleric Guild was really doing its members a disservice.

“Armor?” I asked, not trying to hide my irritation. “What kind of monster wears armor?”

“The undead kind,” Sky replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “That might explain that skill stone you found. Whoever lived here before… they might’ve known their fair share of forbidden spells.”

My blood ran cold as we quickened our pace, no longer trying to be quiet.

The exit was too close to waste time now, I could feel it.

All I wanted was to be out of this dungeon once and for all.

We’d be the first people to survive it in years, I just hoped my party had managed to survive without us as well.

Getting out of the dungeon was almost impossible, but surviving the trek through the Whispering Woods back home without my party would be a death sentence.

“There it is!” Sky cried as we rounded a corner and a bright light came into view. “Come on!”

He grabbed my hand, both of us taking off at a sprint.

The daylight was blinding after so long in the darkness.

We stumbled out into a small clearing, surrounded by the ruins of an ancient city that had no name.

The air was fresh and sweet compared to the stale cavern atmosphere despite the low fog that still clung to the ground.

I took deep, grateful breaths as we collapsed onto the thin grass.

“We made it,” I gasped, looking back at the cave entrance. It was nothing more than a dark hole in a ruined building, deceptively ordinary for all the horrors it contained. “I can’t believe we actually made it.”

Sky’s ears twitched, still alert despite our apparent escape. His tail swished anxiously behind him as he scanned the treeline. “Don’t celebrate yet. We still need to find the others and get back to Selas.”

I nodded, the reality of our situation sinking in. “Do you think they made it through the night? My friends?”

“Kai’s smart. He would’ve kept them safe,” Sky said, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He’d spent so long as a lone wolf that I could tell he wasn’t used to hoping for others’ survival .

He opened his mouth again but was cut off by the sound of rattling armor once more.

I was on my feet in an instant, my staff held at the ready.

Sky spun on his heel, both of us facing the entrance to the dungeon once more, ready for whatever was trying to follow us out of the darkness.

But when the armor rattled again, I realized it wasn’t coming from the dungeon, but from behind us.

We both turned, our eyes scanning the fog.

At first there was nothing, just the steady clinking steps of metal armor approaching.

Sky stepped in front of me, shielding me from whatever was coming at us through the mist. His ears swiveled and turned as the footsteps morphed from one pair to several.

Whatever it was, there was at least a dozen of them.

“When I tell you to run—” he began.

“I’m not leaving you,” I snapped. “I have the Twilight Veil, remember? That spell might save us both.”

“You can’t hold that spell for long…”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe,” I shot back. “To keep us both safe. Just get ready to stab them.”