Shadow War: Book 3 of the Shadows Rising Trilogy (WIP Rough Draft)

7. Only the Numb

9th of Eylestre

Ahead of me, Cog shifted his pack, and whatever had been clanking inside it subsided to a faint, rhythmic creaking. The only sounds in the tunnel were of our breathing and the steady beat of our footsteps echoing back to us as we jogged along by the light of our ambient torches, saying nothing.

There was nothing to say. Nothing to do but go back to the Hedgerose and hope Arramy and Phaestra would turn up.

They hadn't met us at the rendezvous.

We gave them long as possible before making the run to the extraction point on the main road, where Killspear was waiting with his vegetable lorry. They hadn't made it to the lorry, either, even though Killspear stayed for over an hour.

Now we were nearly back to the Inn, nearly two hours late, and had seen no sign of the captain or Phaestra.

Cog hadn't spoken to me once the whole way, his face set in rigid, worried lines that added a decade to his eighteen years.

I wasn't much better company. I kept going over and over that moment, watching Arramy turn and disappear into the shadows beneath the tracks. Had he made it out the other side? Where had Phaestra been?

I was still lost in a fog, staring at the ground, mindlessly following Cog's boots when he suddenly slowed as we came around the last bend in the tunnel. I nearly ran into him. My surprised, "Hey!" died on my lips as I finally took a real look ahead of us.

There were people everywhere, sitting and standing in the broad hallway in front of the hangar doors, gathered singly and in groups along the walls. The men were all between the ages of twenty and forty. The women were slightly younger, tending more toward twenty. There were boys and girls, too, probably in their early teens. No children younger than ten, no elderly, and all of them healthy even if they were tired and filthy.

My mouth dropped open. I looked at Cog.

He glanced at me, boyish hope flickering in his eyes as he finally broke his silence with, "I guess they had a good night." Then he gave the doorway a wag of his head. "C'mon. Boss'll wanna talk wiv us."

I shouldered my pack a little better and joined him, smiling and nodding as we wove our way out of the narrower north access tunnel and through the little knots of people gathered in the brightly lit hall that joined the hangar to the back room of the bunker.

Rugga, and Ynette were in the hangar, each of them at separate tables, handing out blankets, food, and clothing. Marin had her Facemaking gear set up near my obstacle course and was taking sylvos for false papers.

Ynette's face broke into a relieved smile when she saw us in the crowded doorway. Her smile faded slightly when she realized it was only the two of us, though. "Ey, where's Phae? An' Cap'n?"

"Got sep'rated," Cog announced, walking around the last of the refugees in line for Rugga's soup pot and dumping his pack onto the overstuffed armchair near the map table. He didn't elaborate. "Where's Orrelian?"

"'E's in back," Ynette called over her shoulder, going back to sizing up shoes and shirts for the steady stream of refugees filing by in front of her.

Moving much less energetically, I followed Cog, skirting a young man who was built like a prize fighter. Anxiety neededl at my middle, the grim reality that I was going to have to tell Orrelian what happened settling into my weary bones like lead. Assuming Cog didn't beat me to it. He practically worshiped Arramy. Had he seen me freeze? Did he know what Arramy had done to save both of us? Or that I had done nothing?

Orrelian was in the stacks – the seemingly endless supply shelves that took up a good third of the hangar – loading more blankets onto a trundle cart.  He saw Cog coming and straightened, shaking his head. He didn't say anything, merely held out his hand and gave Cog a warm hand clasp and a swat on the shoulder. Then his gaze fell on me.