A minute passed in silence, then two, when a softthudcame from my right.
A beat passed before Xander’s muffled voice came from right in front of me. “It’s clear.”
Glancing left and right, I tried to locate Xander’s voice. All I could see were dark gray shadows.
Where is he?
“Come on, Ana,” Daegal glanced in my direction before following the same path Xander had taken a few moments ago. “We don’t have much time.”
Nodding, I narrowed my eyes as I tried not to turn my ankle in the darkness. Moments later, I saw where Xander had gone. Swallowing, I forced myself to shove my discomfort away as I stared at our route out of Thyr.
Xander hadn’t lied.
A large stone had been cut out of the wall and rolled to the side, revealing a small hidden passageway that went through straight the town’s defenses. Judging by the packed dirt, this was clearly a tunnel that had been used by many people before.
“That’s convenient,” I muttered, eyeing the small hole. It looked barely large enough for me, let alone Xander.
“Very,” Daegal agreed. He crouched, gesturing to the opening. “Ladies first.”
Narrowing my eyes at the male, I drew my dagger before dropping to my hands and knees. Taking a deep breath, I tried to see beyond the tunnel. It couldn’t have been over ten or maybe fifteen feet long, but that distance felt like a mile. Nothing more than dark, lumpy shadows greeted me.
“Come on, Ana,” Irritation laced Xander’s voice as it traveled from the other side of the wall. I narrowed my eyes, clenching my jaw as I thought about all the different places I’d like to stab him right now.
Unaware of where my thoughts had gone, Xander sighed. “We can’t wait all night. You need to come through the tunnel. Daegal will go last and replace the stone.”
Closing my eyes, I pushed aside my worry as I fought to remain calm.
You can do this.
Taking a deep breath, I entered the small tunnel. I couldn’t see my dagger, but the familiar weight was reassuring in my hand as I shuffled forward. The stones felt like they were pressing down on my shoulders, and my chest was tight.
Breathe,I ordered myself.You are strong. You can do this. Aileana, youhaveto do this.
My hands dug into the compact dirt. It was cold and damp underneath my fingertips. Moments after I touched the ground, a soft green light came from my fingers, seeping into the soil. A sense of calm filled me as the dirt softened under my touch.
I blinked, but just as quickly as the green light had appeared, it was gone. I was left wondering if I was seeing things. When I’d been younger, I’d thought that maybe my magic would appear. That it would be a clue as to who I was. What I was. But the years had dragged on, and I hadn’t even been able to produce a drop of magic.
Eventually, I’d assumed that I’d been born Without. That I was one of the unlucky elves who was born without a connection to the goddess. It would be just my luck.
I’d never heard of anyone whose magic appeared in their twenty-third year.
Keeping my eyes on the end of the tunnel, I shoved the thoughts of strange green lights aside as I crawled towards the other side.
Every foot felt like a mile and every second, a lifetime.
My heart was pounding in my chest, my lungs tight, until finally, I made it to the other side. The moment a cool gust of wind blew across my face in gentle greeting, I blew out a long breath. Seconds later, I pulled myself onto the damp grass.
I panted, my head falling into my lap, as I drew myself against the wall. Closing my eyes, I focused on slowing my heart rate as I took long, deep breaths. After a minute, I heard shuffling coming from behind me. Peeking open my eyes, I made out the shapes of my three companions.
“Are you okay?” Jo asked, concern lacing her voice. She dropped to her knees. “You seem shaken.”
Shaken was an understatement. At that moment, I didn’t feel like myself.
Laughter bubbled up inside of me, and before I could stop it, a nervous giggle erupted from my lips. In the past forty-eight hours, I had escaped the tower that had been my prison for my entire life, met a witch, gone into the city, and yet none of those had bothered me as much as crawling through that tunnel.
Coughing, I covered the sudden laughter as I dropped my head into my hands. I didn’t even know what okay was.
Jo placed her hand on my arm. “Hey, Ana,” she whispered. “If you need to talk… I’m here.”