Sentinel

Chapter 36 - Without a trace

---

Chapter 36 - Without a trace

---

Luke tapped his fingers along the hilt of his sword, focussing on not looking down the hole for the fifth time this minute.

They’ll be fine, he told himself. They can handle it.

He glanced instead at the Silverborn pairs in the woods behind him patrolling the perimetre, then at the ones across the gaping hole in Naisha’s ground. Seeing nothing unusual, he returned his gaze to scanning the horizon.

Did the elves refer to it as the ground or as the roof? he wondered. When you spent most of your time underground, he supposed it would be the latter, but wouldn’t that make it underroof and not underground? The line of mental questioning occupied him for several minutes, but the frail attempt at diverting his attention wasn’t enough to keep his eyes from drifting back, hoping to see a head pop out from the darkness.

He whacked his head, resolving to ask Skye when they were back in Alguarde. Not before, because they were going to make it there with one more elf than they’d left with.

Luke swapped the hand that held his blade, feeling the shield slung over his shoulder become heavier. Deities, why had Tayne left him behind? Anything could have happened down there. Logic told him he was doing more good up here keeping watch, but his heart told him he should be down there beside his friends facing whatever dangers might’ve come.

Tayne told you to stay up here, so that’s what you’re going to do, he told his legs. Blaze is comfy where she is. Lots of manoeuvring room.

He whistled three ascending notes. A few seconds later, the descending reply came from across the chasm. Luke nodded and inhaled through his nose. All was well, for now at least.

Deities be damned, what was taking them so long?

Luke wrinkled his nose as something caught his attention for the six thousandth time in two seconds. All was well except for the black portal hovering in the sky like an all-seeing eye. That thing creeped him out.

Blaze nickered quietly underneath him, the rumbled vibration conveying her warning through his legs. Luke followed her gaze and found himself staring at the rubble Tayne had disappeared down. A scrabbling noise, like falling rocks echoed from its depths.

“Luke!” a voice cried.

Upon hearing his name Luke flew from the saddle. This was it, what he’d been waiting for in one form or another. He moved quickly to the edge and peered over, finding himself staring at the face of one of the knights Tayne had taken with him.

“Where are you! Luke! Silverborn! Anyone!”

Dread settled in his stomach. The knight was injured. “Aye! What happened?” he asked, although scenarios were already spiralling around his head.

Ambush. Mistake. Betrayal.

There is no way Donovan followed me.

The injured Silverborn raised his hand, shielding his eyes against the light. “Oh deities you’re still here. Luke, they’re gone!”

“Who’s gone? Where?”

“Skye! Tayne, Wrain, Jesse, all of them!”

“Where?”

The Silverborn at the bottom of the rubble waved his hands in the air. “I don’t know! Poof! They were there and they weren’t and oh deities how could they do this?” He began to pace. “I always knew the corruption was evil, but deities how are we supposed to fight against this?”