It was well into the night when Ariana awoke. Darkness still covered the landscape beyond her window. It had taken her hours to fall asleep, visions of the carnage permeating her every thought. Michael had the best of intentions, this she knew. But knowing Sara was in imminent danger was too much for her to bear. She lay awake, staring at the canopy above her bed. She would go to Eidolon, with or without Michael's aid. Her heart raced at the thought. She'd already been face-to-face with Garren and survived. She'd have to take that chance again, or live forever with the knowledge that she could have done something to save Sara, yet chose not to.
She'd spent weeks with Bronach, reading everything she could find on the history of Eidolon and Adoria. She'd learned much from the writings of the Braeden, and had secured a map leading her there from the northern border of Adoria. She would have to rely on her wit and ability to improvise. A few days earlier she'd found the amulet that had once belonged to her mother wasn't any ordinary necklace at all, but a key of sorts. According to the legend on the map, where an exact likeness of it was drawn, it appeared to be related to the Braeden tunnels below Eidolon. The history she'd read explained that whatever magic protected the divide between Adoria and Middengard had also been forged to protect the tunnels – the Ereubinians would never have known they were there.
She rose from her bed and changed into the only clothes she had that would blend in at all – the ones she wore when she escaped from Palingard. The blood from her wound had ruined her blouse but she'd managed to find one similar. She pulled on her riding boots and a long brown cloak. She looked to see if Kaitlyn had stirred, but the girl lay silent in her bed.
She leaned over and glanced down at Koen, who was sound asleep. She didn't wake him. When he discovered her absence, he'd alert the others. She took one last look into the room before she left. She would have to be more than cautious, as Michael tended to roam at odd hours. She couldn't tell if it was because he'd always had strange sleeping patterns, or if he'd been burdened by a heavy mind since her arrival.
The halls were silent, as she'd hoped. The fastest way to the stables was to pass Michael's door, but she didn't dare take that route. She took the long way, through several tunnels and back through the main dining hall. She finally made her way into the night and around the corner to the stables. She'd been given a horse, a beautiful chestnut with a black mane. A gorgeous beast, it reminded her a little of Shadow, but minus the cowardly demeanor. Ariana patted him on the neck saying, "and that is why I named you Midnight."
She led him out of the stables before mounting him. They made their way through the back passages that would take them out of Cyphrus and into the Adorian woods. It would be some time before they reached the borders.
As she rode, the snow fell fast and heavy. The wind picked up and she wondered if this had been a wise decision. But the image of Bella's body dropped crudely in the dirt urged her forward.
It had been hours since she'd left. The sun was coming up over the horizon, and she had yet to reach the border. She knew Michael and the others would rise soon and find her missing. She squeezed her legs against her horse, and he took off. They couldn't be far from Middengard. As soon as the words had formed in her head, the scenery changed. Her horse stepped down from a two-foot embankment onto the floor of a field. She looked back, surprised. She hadn't expected the ground to be a different height, but it shouldn't have surprised her, considering the landscape outside of the border she had found at the edges of the cavern the day before. Her heart stopped for a moment – this was it, she couldn't turn back now. She wondered, perhaps too late, if the only dangers would be in Eidolon, or if she'd even make it that far. She reached into her saddlebag and grabbed a compass. Comparing it to the map, she turned her horse north and raced onward.
She stopped several times during the first day to rest and drink water. Once she reached the marshes, she slowed considerably, her boots filling with water as she mucked through, leading the horse by his reins.
She dismounted another hour into the journey to rest. According to the map and her estimate of how many miles they'd been riding, she was within a mile of Eidolon. She decided it would be in her best interest to leave her horse there.
Michael would have long since been made aware of her departure and this thought brought a small stab of regret. She didn't want him to worry, but it was unavoidable. She tied the reins to a tree, hesitant to leave her weapons behind. As much as she wanted them with her, she wouldn't be able to conceal them in her cloak. She ran her hands down the mane of her horse and rubbed his nose.
"I'll be back," she whispered. She was trying to convince herself more than inform the horse. She walked in the direction of Eidolon.
It was a barren place, much darker than she'd envisioned. The gates weren't guarded, which made her nervous. She supposed it was because the city itself hadn't been attacked in centuries. The last time Adorians were in Eidolon openly was nearly two thousand years earlier.
Eidolon was expansive, a great black nothingness that seemed to go on forever. There were only small bushes and shrubs to hide in along the edge of the wood. Past that was a barren field of tangled root and mire, where she'd be seen long before she reached the gates.
Ill at ease, she rested with her back against a great rock, covered mostly in moss and leaves. Absently, she played with her necklace, running the amulet along the chain as she wracked her mind for ideas. Though the map had shown her how to get to Eidolon and that there were Braeden-built structures below the city itself, it gave no hint about how to find the entrance or if the amulet was indeed a key at all.
After nearly half an hour, she had convinced herself that crawling along the ground was the only way she would have any chance of entering the city. She'd started to lower herself to the ground when her necklace was snatched from her neck.
She froze, thinking that any moment Garren would again show up out of thin air, but after a few minutes of silence, she started to wonder if she hadn't imagined it. She placed her hand where the amulet had been, and indeed it was gone.
She brushed aside moss and leaves, and dirt, finding nothing but Ezzai worms and Shiela bugs. She was about to give up when her fingers grazed over something that didn't feel at all like stone.
She pulled everything back, wiping the dirt away to uncover an intricate design carved into the rock.
I was right!
More desperate than before, she rooted around until, clutching the amulet in her hands, she crawled back to the stone and slid it into a crevice in the design's center.
Suddenly, the rock shifted beside her and a narrow passageway opened, exposing stairs that led into the ground. Plucking the necklace from the lock, she tucked it into her pocket.
She reasoned with herself that she should feel afraid, but she simply wasn't. She felt more assured now than before she'd left Adoria. Sara is here!
Candles were lit along the walls, as though someone stood guard to await her arrival. As she passed through the empty corridors, she saw that paintings adorned the walls, and remnants of life – pots, papers and clothing – still rested in nooks and crannies.
My father was here…
It wasn't long until she found the first door. A faint golden star had been painted on the wall just a few feet back, and she realized this must signify the division in the courts – if what she'd read was correct concerning the layout of the city.
Pressing her hand against the door, she leaned her ear to it, listening for any sign of life on the other side, and heard nothing but her own shallow breathing.
It took a short time for her to gather the courage to pry open the door and peer into the night beyond. She stilled her mind and slipped through to the other side.
Turning to examine the door, she gasped to see that it was no longer there – or, if it was, it could not be seen. Panic momentarily seized her, but a lumbering Dragee nudged her onward before she could give her fear a foothold. She made her way along a darkened corridor until she saw a gleaming white temple in the distance.
Adorian stone, she mused.
She studied the attire of those entering the temple, and found that she had been right in her estimation of what middle-lower-class Ereubinians wore. Bravely, and somewhat blindly, she stepped forward onto the steps and made her way into the temple.
She could tell right away who was human beyond the temple doors. The humans peered out beneath dark scarlet cloaks, but what struck her was how attractive all of them were. Perhaps those who manned the temple couldn't be burdened with the presence of unsightly servants. Or worse, perhaps this place was used for worship of a sexual nature. She seemed to recall a description of a breeder, but hadn't lingered on it long. The very idea made her feel sick.
She traveled deeper into the temple, hearing the curious sound of laughter. Great curtains were hung along most of the walls, to keep the draft down, but it worked to her benefit and she slid easily behind the one nearest the voices. Peering out, what she saw left her speechless.
His wings were bloodied and torn, ragged from beatings and neglect. His face was wan. A collar was fastened around his neck, glowing with a dull amber light. She thought of how she'd seen Gregor in her dream, held by humans in red robes.
"Well done, well done," an Ereubinian whose voice matched the laughter she'd heard came from a darkened corner in the room. Something about his face felt as if she'd seen him before – he favored Garren physically.
He walked up to the Adorian and, to her bewilderment, handed him a blade.
She expected the Adorian to gut the Ereubinian, but instead, at the sound of a single-word command, the Adorian turned on the two humans who held him and took the blade to their guts.
Clasping her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out, she whipped around and closed her eyes with her face against the wall, her heart pounding. She heard a voice telling the Ereubinian that observance would begin soon and waited until they left before forcing her eyes open.
The Adorian remained seated calmly in the room, blood covering his hands and soaking his clothes. She stared at him through the curtain, wanting to do something, wishing there was some way to snap him out of whatever spell he was under.
What foul magic is this?
Mournfully, she turned to leave him, remembering that if Sara had been chosen as a breeder, she would be in observance as well, dressed in white robes.
It felt like an eternity before she was able to find a white robe that would allow her entrance into the sanctuary. She slipped it on just as the humans passed through the doors.