Rebecka Evertrue's Arc

Chapter 13 of 66

The crawler climbed the last of the ridge road with its cloak gone and its paint bright against the pines. Rebecka watched the trees for movement. The cave mouth showed ahead, a dark seam in the rock ringed by pale crystal that caught the morning light. She had sent her crow before dawn with a message for the people hiding inside. She did not know if the crow had reached them. If the cave stood empty, her family would sit on open stone with four arrows and no walls. Marcus stopped the crawler in the trees below the mouth. "I'll go in first," he said. "No," Rebecka said. "If it's empty, we turn around before they see the vehicle from the slope. I go. You keep her in the cab." She slipped out. The crystals along the cave mouth hummed faintly as she came near, a low note under her boots. She kept the bow raised. The bow read the dark and stayed quiet. No target. She stepped inside. The passage bent and opened into a wide chamber lit by veins of gold running through the walls. Empty bedrolls. A cold fire pit. A cup on its side. No people. Her chest went tight. She turned to go back for Marcus and the crawler. Wings snapped open behind her. She spun, arrow drawn, and stopped with the point a hand's breadth from Lark Brightwind's chest. His huge wings folded down at once. He held both palms open. "It's me," he said. She lowered the bow. "Where are they?" "Deeper in. Second chamber. The crow came at first light." He held up a black feather. "We moved them off the front room in case someone else read the message. Twenty-two. Three children. Your mother is with them." Rebecka's knees wanted to give. She kept them locked. "Katia is here?" "She came in yesterday. She has been waiting for you." "Marcus has Ninka in the crawler. She's asleep." "Bring them in. I'll cover the mouth." Lark drew his sword and stepped past her toward the light. He paused. "The outrider you dropped. Was he alone?" "He was alone. But he tied a marker before I killed him." Lark's voice went quieter. "Then they will come." "Yes." She went back down the slope. Marcus lifted Ninka from the swing without waking her. Rebecka carried the quiver and walked ahead with the bow ready. At the cave mouth Katia stepped out of the shadow and took Ninka from Marcus's arms without a word. Her face was wet. Rebecka let her mother pass and turned to look back down the ridge road. The trees stood still. For now. "We're inside," she said. "And they know where inside is."