“What happened?” I ask. “Did he…”
Her eyes bulge. “No! I wasn’t bitten. It’s embarrassing but…I fell. I was trying to lose him, and I jumped over a stream and fell onto some rocks.”
“Are…are you okay?”
“I think so,” she says, and then a little firmer, “I will be.”
I hope she’s right, but only time will tell how much of a lie we’re telling ourselves.
We look at each other, silence stretching thin around us, punctured only by the intermittent shrieks of those less fortunate than us in their noctis encounters. I nod for her to follow me, and without a word, we leave the dead noctis behind us.
I’ve never set out with someone else before, and the idea ofneedinganyone other than myself to make it in this world sends my heart lurching. I can't rely on her and she can't rely on me. No one can rely on anyone but themselves because that's the way the noctis have made the world.
Slamming my face into my hands, I try to set myself straight, to think beyond the bombardment of doubt and fear and horror. But I don’t know how to do this! I don’t know how to work with someone else.
Mira stops too.
"Th-they..." she hesitates, but her timid voice has already summoned my every focus. "I think they took Elison."
Clarity returns to me, everything else fading as I think about Rowland and what Elison meant to him. I wanted to save her. I did. But I never had the chance.
Mira’s voice breaks on a sob. "I don't want to—to die like she did. I don't want you to die, either."
"No one does." And then thinking back to how I’ve seen Rowland comfort his people, I add awkwardly, “We’re not going to.”
“What are we going to do then?”
“We’re going to find Rowland. I think he’ll already be making his way north to find us, so we shouldn't have to scour the entire forest. Hopefully we’ll meet him somewhere halfway. Once we do, then we double back to the border. It’ll be far safer than going anywhere deeper into the Shadowthorn, and the noctis won't expect it."
"But the king is back that way,” she protests, one nervous finger twisting around a lock of dark hair. “And so is the castle, with all of his guards."
Irritation tightens my chest. Not at her, but at our predicament. "We have no choice. The king made it obvious: there is no exiting the Shadowthorn. Other than the way we came in."
Mira bites on the inside of her lip, but eventually she nods. "Okay. I believe you. And thank you—"
"You don't have to keep thanking me for—"
"Not for saving my life. Not this time. For telling me the plan. For trusting me."
An uncomfortable airiness bubbles up in my chest. I scowl at her, spinning on my heels and heading south. "Just...stop thanking me for everything. Let's find Rowland and—"
Before I can finish the thought, another scream shreds through the forest from maybe forty or fifty feet behind us. It belongs to a woman. To her shattering heartbreak. And then to her smoldering rage.
Whoever we just killed, the noctis we left smashed into a pulp not too far back, he's been found. And he meant a great deal to the woman who's found him.
22
DECISIONS
Finding and freeing Fox's second son,Bastion, proves a much smoother endeavor. We're not surprised to find him chained and bound, much the same way as his older brother had been, and we don't need to waste time searching for a way to remove them, since we come wielding a makeshift lockpick that worked just fine on his brother's chains.
We're in and out of Bastion's room before my father even releases the noctis to hunt.
Of course, we hear their battle cries the moment we reenter the hallway, and my aunt and I share a look of understanding.
Our time is up.
With Bastion cradled in her arms and Eirrick clinging to one of her hands,they follow me through the twisting corridors of the ancient castle. I'm not sure how, but miraculously we make it through without any incident, even withtwo sniffling children in tow.
