Elaria Silverstan's Arc

Chapter 14 of 22

The low tunnel sloped down for twenty paces and opened into a wider chamber. Elaria stopped at the threshold. A pool of meltwater split the floor from wall to wall, dark and still, deeper than her chain could measure. Steam rose off its surface in thin curls. The far side held dry stone and a low doorway cut into the rock. Lia shifted in the cradle, and a thread of frost crept down the cloth toward Elaria's belt. Elaria knelt and tested the water with the back of her glove. Warm. Warmer than anything she had touched in days. She drew her hand back and watched a film of ice spread from her fingerprint and then thaw again. If she waded in with Lia at her chest, the cradle would freeze the whole pool around her legs. The ice would lock and crack, and Lia would burn against the chill of it. They would not reach the other side. She lifted the orb higher and saw the bridge. It ran from a shelf to her left, arched over the water on thick frozen pylons, and ended at the dry stone beyond. Iron rails lined both edges. The deck looked old but solid. The arch held the walkway a full body-length above the pool. High enough that Lia's cold would not reach the water below. Elaria climbed onto the shelf and stepped onto the bridge. The boards held. She crossed at a steady pace, one hand on the rail, the other braced over the cradle to keep Lia level. The pool steamed beneath her. At the midpoint she felt the rail's iron bite through her glove, and she did not slow. She stepped down onto the dry stone on the far side. Behind her, the pool stayed dark and liquid. The crossing had cost them nothing. A wooden post stood beside the doorway. Two carved arrows pointed off into the dark of the next passage. The lettering was faded but readable: Frest Hills, Dent Hills. Elaria knew both names. She had seen them inked on the chalk map back in the corridor, two of the landmarks circled along the route to the crystal. She pulled the folded copy from her coat and held it under the orb. The signpost named real places on her path. Someone had walked this ground before her and marked it for whoever came next. She turned the cradle so Lia could see the arrows, then started down the tunnel the post pointed toward.