Bound by Darkness - Alexandra Ivy [76]
She held his gaze. “And you swear you aren’t going to try and go after Tearloch?”
He held up a hand. “I swear.”
“Fine.” A dangerous warning glittered in the indigo eyes. “But if something happens to you ...”
His hand skimmed up her arm, craving the feel of the cool silk of her skin.
It didn’t matter how furious he might be; if he didn’t make it out of the caves then he wanted his last thought to be of this female.
“What?” he prompted.
“I’m going to be pissed.”
Her warning delivered, Jaelyn spoke a low word and the chill in the air became a frigid blast of ice. At the same moment her slender frame simply seemed to disappear, no doubt already headed through the caves.
“So romantic,” he muttered, reaching out his hand to clench and then spread his fingers.
There was a stir of air before a smooth ash bow abruptly appeared.
Not as good as Jaelyn’s stealth act, but it would have to do, he wryly acknowledged, grasping the smooth wood in a loose grip as he silently slid into the entrance of the cavern.
He paused a moment to examine his surroundings.
There was no sense of Jaelyn, of course, but with an effort he could catch the scent of his fellow tribesmen despite the wizard’s dampening spell.
It was impossible to make out individual scents, but he had what he needed.
Moving as swiftly as he dared considering he was surrounded by enemies, Ariyal headed deep into the earth, barely noticing the too-smooth surface of the tunnels or the growing stench of evil that tainted the musty air.
He had only a few minutes to accomplish what he’d come to do and try to make a clean getaway.
In and out.
No problem.
He chanted the words beneath his breath as he used the images the ghost had shared to find his way through the confusion of passageways and abandoned caverns. The scent of Sylvermyst thickened, but instead of following the rich aroma of herbs, he darted into a narrow cave directly above them.
The ghost had been commendably thorough in his investigation of the caverns. Which was why Ariyal knew that half a dozen Sylvermyst were frantically working to clear a tunnel.
The question he wanted answered was ... why?
Tearloch might have tumbled into madness, but the wizard remained coldly cunning. He wouldn’t waste that sort of man power unless it was essential to returning the Dark Lord.
Which meant that Ariyal needed to halt whatever they were doing just in case Jaelyn failed.
He crushed the surge of fear that threatened to distract him, kneeling on the floor next to the large crack that ran the length of the cave. Whatever had destroyed the tunnel beneath him had left this floor split nearly in two. A wrong step and it would collapse.
As he hoped, he could easily hear the sound of his tribesmen as they struggled to remove the rocks that blocked their path.
For several excruciating minutes there was nothing but the sound of stone scraping against stone. He wasn’t concerned about the fact his presence was already seeping through the passageways. He wanted to attract attention so they didn’t realize the baby was missing. But he wasn’t any closer to discovering why his tribesmen were burrowing through the rubble.
Then, as if some kindly deity had decided to have mercy on his black soul, the sound of voices at last drifted through the air.
“Why aren’t you working?” a male voice roughly demanded.
“I’m a soldier not a damned mole,” another male responded, his tone edged with disgust. “If the wizard wants to clear out the tunnel then why doesn’t he do it himself ?”
Ariyal easily recognized the two Sylvermyst as Elwin and Toras. Not surprising. Both had lost their females to Morgana’s jealousy. They had never hidden their bitterness, or the fact they held Ariyal to blame for the death of their mates.
“Keep your voice down,” Elwin rasped.
“Or what?”
Ariyal could sense the man’s shudder. “I don’t think either of us wants to find out.”
Toras gave a growl of frustration. “When Tearloch promised the return of the Dark Lord he didn’t mention the fact we would have to dig out an altar that was buried beneath a ton