The Lores of Lyra - Shattered Star [Book II]

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

When the sun rose the next morning, Joshua was the first to wake up. Disgruntled he thought back to the day before. The events had proved to be exhausting, on not only Vega, but also on Eric and himself. As he thought this, he was pleased to hear Vega’s unstrained breathing.

They had planned a night schedule, for watching over Vega. However, both of them had to succumb to the pull of exhaustion that overcame them.

At that thought, he jerked up and looked around. Vega and Eric were sleeping safely at his side. With a few deep breaths, he steadied his beating heart, confirming to himself that everyone was okay.

He looked over at Vega. She had refused to say anything else the previous night, a pain in her head resurfacing shortly after she had woken. Her body had finally stilled when he made her yet another lion dust painkiller for her.

These headaches worried him. She had gotten several the closer they got to their final destination, which wasn’t necessarily a harmful thing, it simply proved how close they were. However, the closer they got they appeared to become worse. This caused Joshua to dread what would happen when found the lair of the Black Holes.

Joshua frowned as he checked the pouch of lion dust. There wasn’t much left and he had no hope of getting his hands on more. They were sealed off in here, and it was rare even back home. He wondered briefly if he should wake up the other two, but a yawn from Eric told him that he didn’t need to. They were waking anyway, which wasn’t genuinely such a surprise since the heat had increased significantly already.

“Morning,” Eric muttered, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Large bags were visible under his eyes, and Joshua was happy that there was no actual mirror nearby because most likely his were wider. Vanity hadn’t been a problem before, but exhaustion could prove to be a problem if they weren’t careful.

“Morning,” he answered and ruffled his own hair. He averted his eyes to the side and saw Vega looking at him. She smiled when their eyes met.

“Hi,” she mouthed. Joshua couldn’t help but grin back at her.

With a stretch, she sat up, cracking her neck. Her face was covered sleep marks from the shirt she had used as a pillow. Joshua’s eyes traced the complicated pattern, and he had to stop himself from expressing how beautiful it seemed.

“What is it?” she asked, snapping him out of it. He just shook his head at her and smiled. 

“So, tell us now, what was all that jam last night about?” Eric interrupted their little staring contest. Vega sighed and ruffled her hair.

“Well, I had a dream,” she started.

“Yes, you were talking in your sleep, something about a crypt?” Eric urged her on. Joshua looked from one to another.

“I saw that the first stone is to be found in the crypt of the prisoners which was once held in there,” she said and pointed to the fortress.

“A crypt… As some sort of chapel or a tomb?” Joshua frowned. She nodded.

“Yes, the crypt where they disposed of the more wealthy part of the prisoners,” she said.

“Wealthy?” Eric interjected.

“Yeah. Apparently, money can save your soul, even if you’re a bastard. At least that was what they believed in the old days.” Vega shrugged.

Joshua was amazed. She seemed so confident in her knowledge now.