Page 67 of Hearts on Fire
“Fine.” With a last look at Elex’s sleeping form, I followed the sky fae out of the cave.
Twenty
AMBER
Spreading its wings, Voron’s bird leaped from his shoulder and flew ahead.
From the short, narrow tunnel, we entered a much wider one. It had a long red rug on the floor and a high, arched ceiling which made it look more like a hallway in a castle than a mountain tunnel. Rows of stone statues on each side of the tunnel strengthened that illusion.
Upon a closer look, I realized these weren’t just statues, but gargoyles in their stone form.
I stopped in my tracks, feeling their eyes on me.
“Why are they here?”
Voron turned back over his shoulder, then glanced at the stone people on either side of us.
“They live here.” He shrugged.
“With you?”
“Yes. Though I’m often just as confused as you are why anyone would want to put up with me.” That was said with a hefty dose of sarcasm but not a trace of self-deprecation. Arrogance was strong in this man.
“Are they the king’s men?” I asked cautiously.
All of them would come to life in the morning. If they served King Edkhar, it was best for Elex and me to be out of here at the first light of day.
“No,” Voron bit off. The resentment in his steely stare at my mentioning the king gave me hope. “These aremymen. The king didn’t want them.”
“He didn’t? Why?”
“Look closely, Amber.” He touched the shoulder of the gargoyle closest to us. “This man has no wings.” He slid his fingers along the arm of another man, whose wings were out but their tips barely reached his elbows. “This one’s wings are too small to carry him in flight. And this one…” He touched yet another statue, passing by. “His are the wrong shape. He can’t fly far.”
The wings of the third man appeared to lack the hard spines. The leather membrane hung loosely from the main bone of the wing that was its leading edge.
“And this one?” I pointed at a man who appeared to have perfectly shaped wings, proudly displayed over his shoulders.
“His magic is too weak to lift him. You do know it’s not just the wings that make them fly?”
I knew that gargoyles cared about the type and strength of the magic they possessed.
Voron proceeded down the hallway.
“King Edkhar loves perfection. The men he finds lacking have no chance to succeed in his kingdom.”
“So, they come to you for help?”
He exhaled a laugh. “No. I’m not theirrescuer,dear Amber. Most of them were here before I came along.”
That left me only more puzzled, but the hallway ended, and we entered a wide, tall cave that could rival King Edkhar’s Great Hall in size. Instead of the crystals, however, bats squirmed silently under the high ceiling. Steady streams of them flew in and out through the cracks in the rock. The view of the star-studded sky blinked outside the mountain.
Keeping a cautious eye on the bats, I followed Voron down the red rug across the room to a huge fireplace with a log burning inside. To my relief, there were no bats directly over this area. The creatures clearly preferred darker corners of the giant cave.
“Some wine?” Voron inquired, heading to a round table set between two high-backed armchairs in front of the fireplace. He lifted a crystal carafe with blood-red liquid glistening in it and gave me a questioning stare.
Wine seemed like a great idea. My nerves had been strung tight for days and my throat felt parched right now.
“Please.” I nodded.