Curse Breaker (2)

26

A sinister wind creeps across the flattened landscape. Sand swirls in the air, a rival against the sea breeze. A few tents have been repitched, others nothing but charred dust.

I urge forward, towards the blackened terrain below. "Samu--"

"Your brother is safe," Sanaa says, stepping before me to cut off my path. "We caught wind of the raid before it happened thanks to our scouts and managed to evacuate before they arrived. But now, we must move in case they come back."

"Where is he?" I demand. Sanaa's eyes flick over my shoulder to a shivering Cadence. "If something happened to him--"

"He is in the cave with Josul," Sanaa responds. "I will not lie to you about your brother. I assure you, he's safe. You can check yourself as soon as we have discussed your findings."

I blink at her, at the steady confidence in her gaze, and swallow my protests. She has no reason to lie to me about Samu. It would provide her no advantage. Rolling my shoulders back, I glance to Killian. His eyes survey the trodden land, lips in a straight line.

Did he see this place as his home as he did Torinne?

"How did they find us?" Lei asks.

"We always knew it was only a matter of time," Sanaa says. "Nowhere in Elel is safe. We've always known that, Lei. Go find Hyram. He'll need your help with relocation strategy."

She chews on the edge of her lip, then, she nods, heading down the dune. Sanaa turns to look at me, briefly glancing at Casimir and Cadence behind me.

"Come," she says. "We have a lot to discuss."

The only tent left standing sits sheltered in the treeline on the eastern side of the camp. Home to a mere wooden table top and a bed, there's no telling who it belonged to, but it is certainly a feat managing to squish all of us inside.

By the time Cadence, Casimir, Killian and I cramp our way through the entrance, Sanaa has settled on the edge of the bed before the wooden table.

"I apologise for the lack of space," she comments. "There's little point reestablishing camp when we're set to relocate. This was one of the few tents left unscathed by the blaze."

Killian kneels beside her, reaching into his bag to pull the map out. I watch as he unfurls the map, placing it atop the table. Sanaa's eyes follow his every move, intrigue dripping from her features. "What's this?"

"We think we might know how to stop the cloud."

Her eyes glimmer, darting from the blank map to Killian. "Go on."

***

It takes Killian more than twenty minutes to explain everything we learnt from Myers. He doesn't omit a single piece of information, remembering even the most minute details I hadn't even noticed. Things that seemed unimportant to me--Myers' microexpressions, the three knocks he applied to the bookshelf, the scattered pieces cluttering his home--are of great interest to Sanaa.

I always viewed myself as an observant person, but Killian puts me to complete shame. By the time he has finished explaining, Sanaa wears a guarded expression. I try to read the small changes to her face as she flits her gaze from Casimir to Cadence, but her thoughts are kept close to her chest. It's hard to tell whether she's impressed or disheartened by what we've learnt.

"Nobody has traveled to Torinne since last year," she says eventually. "And the last few we sent never came back. Yet you suggest our only chance at ending this nightmare is to do just that."

I exchange a glance with Casimir, my stomach twisting at her words. Whispers of the state of Torinne have not escaped my attention, but the bluntness at which she speaks is hard to ignore.