Page 107 of Dawn of Hope
“There’s probably a simple explanation. Don’t be worried until we have something to worry about.”
He pulls the door open and large raindrops blow inside. He ducks out of the frame and I follow, shutting the door behind me. The wind and the rain are strong, making it difficult to see, and I am drenched in seconds.
“I’ll go check the bunks, you check the tavern,” Dane calls over the wind.
“I’ll go to the training grounds after. Maybe he’s staying under the trees.”
Dane nods before squeezing my hand. “We’ll find him.”
He jogs toward the bunks, and I speed in the opposite direction.
“Fin!” I scream as loud as I can, hoping he can hear me over the storm. “Fin!” I barrel down the walkway toward the cavern. I can hear Dane calling out for him as well, which means he isn’t at the bunks. “Fin!” I scream again as I round the corner and looked into the tavern.
Empty.
He isn’t here. I run quickly, calling his name repeatedly and check every area I can think of. The showers, the girls’ bunks, the armory. Nothing.
He isn’t here.
I need to get down in the clearing. Maybe he took shelter under the trees.
The storm clouds make the evening darker than normal, and I know night is rapidly approaching. I slide myself down the sides of the ladder, not bothering to wait for the platform to lower.
“Fin!”
I run across the clearing, rain pelting my face as I squint, trying to see clearly. I run to the training area, scanning it and the surrounding trees, but it is empty.
Dane’s calls get closer. He must be in the clearing now, too.
My breaths are becoming shallow and my fingertips are tingling.
Where is he? Why isn’t he answering?
“Have you found him?” I yell toward Dane as I run back onto the path, checking the cages I was locked in on the first day. They had a roof. Maybe he sought them out for shelter.
“He’s not over here,” Dane yells back.
I try to choke back a sob.
No. There is no way he is gone. He always makes it back, every night.
I run back to the clearing, straight to Dane. “I need to go look for him.”
“We can go just outside the portal, but we can’t go far. It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s dangerous for him too!” I yell at him, fury rising in my veins. I am not angry at Dane, and he doesn’t deserve that. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sorry. I just need to make sure he’s okay.”
Dane’s arms wrap around me and he pulls me in close. We stand in the middle of the clearing, rain pouring down on top of us, and I let the tension in my shoulders drop. Another sob wracks my body, causing Dane to hold me tighter before I push him away.
“I’m going to go look for him.”
I climb the ladder faster than ever before and barrel through the walkways to the armory. I sling weapons across my body, making sure I am heavily armed going out at night in this storm. Dane comes up beside me and pushes the door wider, pulling out his own weapons and stowing them on his body.
“We can’t be out long. The rain isn’t letting up, and it’s not safe.”
I whip my body toward him. “It’s even more unsafe for Fin.” I slam the door to the armory and run back to the platform. I need to get out there.
These emotions are foreign to me. I’ve never cared this much about anyone in my life. I had no one I needed to look after or make sure they made it home. If something happens to Fin, I will be devastated. I won’t even know how to break the news to his family, how to find them. I might not even be able to try if we can’t figure out how to replenish the dust.