The Hammer - Cor Series Book I

Chapter 55

When Corvan awoke, the faint scent of lilacs hung in the cool night air and for a moment he thought he was stretched out on the front porch swing at home, his mother's tabby cat curled up against him. A tickle of hair brushed his cheek and he smiled. Kate was cuddled up against him, her head resting on his forearm.

Kate stirred, then rolled toward him and snuggled into his chest, her hand coming back over his. He released the medallion into her hand and then lay perfectly still, waiting until her breathing fell into a steady rhythm. One thing he knew for certain was that he would never again be bothered by the boys teasing him that he liked Kate. He was no longer afraid to admit it and he hoped she felt the same way.

He dozed again but woke up to cold air flowing over his back. He reached for the cloak, then jumped to his feet. Kate was gone!

"Kate!" he called out, but there was no answer. He stumbled up the passage, but it was too dark for his keen eyesight to pick out any movement. He stopped, glanced back down, and caught a glimpse of green a long way off down the passage from where they had slept. Stumbling toward it, he called again, and this time heard Kate respond in a low voice.

When he reached her, he found Kate standing at the top of a steeper section, the cloak draped over her shoulders and the medallion outstretched in her hand, staring down a group of boulders below.

"What are you doing, Kate?" he asked, wondering if maybe she had been sleepwalking.

She turned her head slowly to him, a quizzical look on her face. "Did you hear him calling?" she asked.

"Who?" Corvan responded, looking below and half expecting the leader of the Rakash to appear from between the large rocks.

"The old man from the secret room," Kate said. "He wants me to come back." She held the medallion up between them. "Sometimes, when I hold this, I can hear his voice."

Corvan frowned. The only old man Kate could be referring was Rayu from when he hid her in the crypt. Somehow, his holding the medallion just before her and then dying entombed in the Cor Shield must be having an effect on her. There was no way to know for certain with all she had been through. "You must have been dreaming," he said. "Are you ready to walk a bit farther?"

Kate nodded slightly and shivered.

"Let me fasten the cloak for you," Corvan said, as he buttoned up the front. This time Kate did not resist wearing it and taking her by the arm, he turned her about and guided her back up the slope.

"I'm thirsty," Kate mumbled.

"If we walk a bit more, we can look for some water," Corvan replied, but he didn't have much hope. When they had first left the Cor shield, they had come across a few pools of water in deep pockets at the edges of the old watercourse, but lately there were none to be found. The last one had been more than four rests ago, and the effects of dehydration were setting in. Their food supplies in the cloth bag were running out, but without any water, neither of them wanted to try to choke down the dried-out bread that remained.

As he led the way up the passage, a deep fear seeped into his soul along with the darkness that pressed in around them. He wrapped Tyreth's scarf closer around his neck. Earlier, when she would not wear the cloak, he had offered the scarf to Kate, but she gave it back saying, "I don't like how it smells."

Now he took comfort by pressing Tyreth's scarf against his face and breathing in her lingering scent. He recalled her words in the prison cell, "be brave and it will be all right." Was that actually true? Was there any way out of this situation?

Kate stopped, looked ahead, and whispered hoarsely past her cracked lips. "Is it much farther? This night is too long. There are still no stars."

"We are getting closer," Corvan replied, giving her hand a squeeze. "How about we count out a thousand steps and see where that takes us."