Kelfor (The Orthomancers)

Chapter 15

We walk for around three hours the following morning before we become aware that we are nearing our final destination. There are fewer trees now, but those that we do pass are also bigger. The ceiling of the tunnel has risen sharply, too, so that it is opening out. We can no longer see it in some places.

We are not speaking very much. Our surroundings have hushed us. The others seem as aware as I am that we are about to witness something absolutely extraordinary. We are walking more quickly. Even Vannis has lost his habitual attitude of boredom. He is carrying Kalyka. I eye him sideways as we walk. Perhaps all of us have changed. It has been a long journey.

Zivan is the only one of us who seems unmoved and unchanged by the surroundings. Her intense expression is the same one that was on her face the first time I saw her, when she was up before Quondam Azrial. Her fierceness, her anger, her loyalty to Torch. The three things that dominate her are still there. She is determined not to soften, not to become closer to any of us.

She catches me looking at her. "My job is nearly over."

"Your remit was to get me to Kelfor?"

She nods.

"And what will you do then?"

She pauses. This is surprising; she usually shows no hesitation. "I ... I want to find Torch, but I also want to know just what it is that the orthomancers found in Kelfor. In any case, I will stay with you until you discover what it is you are supposed to do. My task was to get you to Kelfor, but I think it implicitly included keeping an eye on you until you found whatever it is that has the potential to save the Inmuri people."

"I thought you didn't care about the Inmuri people?"

"I don't. I do care that nobody else is forced to the Xenokarth like I was."

My mind flips back to the hours I was held at the Xenokarth. "Yes."

"If you need help, let me know."

I stare at her curiously. I didn't expect that offer. "I will."

Vannis has put Kalyka down. He has had enough. I grin. Not a saint yet, then. "Hey," he is complaining, "I don't see why I should do all the heavy work!"

Furian sweeps Kalyka onto his own broad shoulders. He gives Vannis a withering look. "You have only been carrying her for a half hour!"

Vannis shrugs. "She is heavy! She can walk!"

Doven stiffens. "She is only little! Even though she can walk she would never keep up with this pace. Be reasonable."

"How handy that you have been wounded," snaps Vannis.

Doven goes pink. "You really are poisonous, aren't you, Vannis?"

Vannis looks at his nails. "I do my best."

Doven gives him a hard push as he passes. Vannis almost falls.

"Here! What do you think you are doing?"

Doven grins. "So sorry. My injury must have made me lose my balance."

Ammeline starts to laugh. Vannis turns on her. "I don't get what you are laughing about. Your boyfriend will probably slit your throat in the middle of the night."

"No, no." She smiles sweetly. "He will slit yours first."

Vannis is exasperated. "Bah! I have had enough." He neatly slips past Doven, who has stopped to listen. "I am walking on."

I would like to stop him. I don't want him to be the first to reach Kelfor. I wonder if he manipulated that whole conversation to give himself an excuse. I wouldn't put it past him.