Sun's Heart

Chapter 26 - Lies

"Priestess!" Gale gasped. "There you are."

Wil looked closer at the tall, fierce woman who laid unreadable silver eyes on them. Her dress, previously white, was torn and blackened as if she were dragged through a cold firepit. Pale waterfalls of blue, nearly silver, ran down her temples and across her head. A beautiful crown of tattoos. Fitting for one so regal, with the poise and grace of a swan upon a sunlit lake.

Everything he'd imagined the carrier of one of the Hearts of Essence would be, and more. She radiated power like the sun radiated light.

"Who are you?" the priestess said with distinct unfriendliness. She eyed Wil, who felt his amazement evaporate in a disappointed poof. "A playmate for the little girl?"

Wil looked at Gale, unsure how to answer. "Wil, this is Elahya. Elah, this is Wil. He's a friend. We're here to rescue you."

"A friend? Rescue me?" She chuckled. "Adorable. Look at you being so earnest. Honestly, it's enough to bring me to tears." She shook her head and waved a hand at them, turning away. "Playtime's over. Get out of here. I was starting to enjoy the silence again."

"Your chief is out there," Gale said. Unexpected sternness crackled in her words. "All the finest hunters your people have to offer are fighting and dying. All to save you."

"Foolish," she muttered. "Throwing bodies at the Rift won't work. Go back and tell him I'm dead. Tell him to give up."

"Give up? You don't know your chief as well as you think you do—"

"Tona is a child," she spat, whirling around and jabbing a finger into Gale's chest. It connected dully against the breastplate. "He thinks all it takes to solve a problem is more men, more supplies, more power." Her features cooled. "But if he is alive in the end, this will have all been worth it. Now go. Tell Tona to put away his toys and go home. I have no wish to return home."

Then she was gone. As if she'd never been there in the first place.

Wil let out a breath and shook his head. Gale put her head in her hands. From between her fingers, a frustrated growl emerged. With her arms lifted, he saw dangling buckles.

"Er, your armor—"

"Damn it!" she spat. Wil blinked rapidly, unsure how to react. She flung her arms down at her sides and repeated, "Damn it!" He watched her. "Damn her, damn this place, damn Tona!" Her shoulders slumped. Anger fell away, leaving despondence. "What am I going to do?"

"Your armor," he said, pointing.

"Oh." She dejectedly lifted her arms and let him work the straps through their proper buckles. Her eyes rested far away, a small frown creasing her mouth into a pensive pout.

He observed her from his periphery while he worked. She was different than she had been. He'd struggled to tell if it was an act, or if her experience with Adjinn had left an impact upon her. But now he was certain. She was different in many ways, but the same old Gale was still in there. He smiled to himself and lowered his eyes again. "We need to find a way to get her out of here with us."

"I don't know how we'll convince her. She's more stubborn than Tona and Sani combined."

"Who says we have to convince her?"

She looked at him, thinking he was joking. He was not. "She'll melt us."

"Not if we act quickly. How did you get out last time?"

"I...wanted to leave. So badly. This place, it gets to you." She shivered. "But when I got out, I wasn't in the same place as when I entered. Or the same time."