Heir of Dust and Wind

Chapter 41 - Unexpected Allies

For a moment there was nothing but stunned silence at Orla's announcement.

Even being so close to Raban's warm body standing in front of her, Ava felt her skin run cold as the Goblin's words sank in slowly. There had been an attack. So the churning sea of shadows had truly been a sign and Dunstan was still looming in them somewhere.

Shit.

She felt her pulse start to race and the sharp claws of panic reaching for her heart making it difficult to breathe. When they had assessed the situation yesterday, they had been concerned, but neither the librarian nor the usually overly cautious Trygve had thought an immediate attack likely.

Ava swallowed, her throat was suddenly too dry to say a single word. What should they do now? 

Luckily, not everyone was rendered speechless.

"How do you know that?" Trygve still had the dagger ready in his hand, but his posture was slightly more relaxed than it had been a couple of moments ago. Still, he looked at the Goblin assessingly, in his mind no doubt going through different options of how to handle the threat.

Ava had seldom been more grateful for his presence.

"Contacts from my network reached out," Orla answered, voice steady but uncommonly quiet, "I came here as quickly as ..."

A sudden harsh movement of Raban's arm made her fall silent before she could finish.

"There is something outside," he told them mentally.

Trygve nodded and without any other word, gesture or even mind-to-mind communication, the two of them started to move towards the stairs, the weapons drawn and ready. Each of their movements was that of a graceful yet lethal predator. Meanwhile, Gainor silently took over the position that Raban had just vacated.

Although Ava knew that both knew how to handle themselves in a fight, she felt her stomach twist uncomfortably at the sight of them stealthily disappearing downstairs. 

When she made the first step in the same direction, Gainor's eyes flared warningly.

"Don't! Let them assess the situation first. It won't help anyone if all of us were to be lured into the same uncertainty at once."

He clearly had a point, but Ava didn't like it. 

She grabbed the hilt of the dagger that Raban had put into her hand after Orla's yells had woken them even tighter. What if the shadows had crossed her borders as well? What would blades even be able to do against them?

"You would have felt a breach that big, even if the magic of the dome isn't bound to you directly. You're connected to the land and thus the dome is still connected to you." Even with them facing an intruder or even a possible invasion, Orla's ability for rational explanations never faltered. 

Ava nodded towards the Goblin, grateful for her providing some sense amid her worry.

For what felt like an eternity, they remained standing in the corridor in silence, none of them daring to even breathe too loud for fear of giving away Raban's and Trygve's exploration.

"It's all clear, you can come down now." Trygve's stern voice came from the living area.

All three of them, even Orla, exhaled the breath they had been holding. Ava couldn't recall any other moment in her life that had caused her to feel such an enormous amount of relief. She practically sprinted towards the stairs that led to the ground floor and even beat Gainor to it who seemed to be just as eager to join the other two.

When she had reached the living area, Ava realised that it was no longer just the two males with their daggers standing there. Gytha was there as well, a bow and arrows strapped to her back and a hunting knife still in her hand.