I opened my mouth to answer and stopped.
‘Maybe they thought it was too powerful?’ Sonder said doubtfully.
‘No,’ I said with a frown. ‘She’s right. If it was that useful, there’d have to be one hell of a good reason for them to give it up.’
Sonder suddenly got a thoughtful look. ‘You know …’ he began, but as he did my precognition flashed a warning. I looked into the future and my fatigue vanished as I pulled myself to my feet. ‘Damn it.’
Luna scrambled up, pocketing the cube. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Khazad again.’ I looked through the futures, calculated. ‘We’ve got less than five minutes. Sonder, which way?’
Sonder hesitated. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Then we go with your first guess.’ I turned left and started down the white corridor. Luna followed me without hesitation and Sonder hurried after.
We reached a crossroads. A doorway led into a long hall, while the corridor went further, bending out of sight. Behind, I could feel Khazad following in our footsteps. He was moving faster now and I wondered if he had some way of tracking us. ‘Into the hall,’ I said. ‘We’ll seal the door behind us.’
‘But we’ll be trapped!’ Sonder protested. ‘The door at the other end’s sealed too!’
‘We can open doors faster than Khazad can.’ I glanced back; I thought I could hear footsteps. ‘Out of time. Let’s go.’
Luna stepped through and with only a moment’s hesitation Sonder followed. I stepped inside and touched the control crystal on the wall. The area across the doorway darkened and became an opaque wall of force. The sound of distant footsteps cut off abruptly and everything was silent.
‘Can he get in?’ Luna asked absently. She was playing with the crystal again.
‘Eventually,’ I said, reaching out with my senses to search ahead. ‘We just have to …’ I trailed off. ‘Someone’s here.’
Luna and Sonder turned, their eyes flicking. The hallway was crowded with square pillars, providing plenty of cover. I reached into my pocket for a weapon. ‘Show yourself,’ I said, my voice echoing around the columns. The silence stretched out, tense.
Movement, footsteps. A man leant out from behind a pillar and stopped, staring. ‘Verus?’
It was Griff. I searched the hall quickly and verified no one else was inside. ‘Master Griff!’ Sonder said in relief.
Griff walked closer and the four of us stood still for a moment. Only Sonder had relaxed; Griff and I were watching each other closely. Luna had hidden the cube away, and I kept my hand in my pocket.
Then Griff spoke. ‘You okay?’
I nodded, and the tension eased suddenly. ‘You?’
‘So far.’ He looked at the door. ‘You closed it?’
‘Khazad’s outside.’
‘Shit.’ Griff ran a hand through his hair. ‘I was hoping I’d lost him.’
Now that Griff was closer I could see that he looked on edge. There were rips in his clothing, and he had the look of a man who’d been fighting hard. ‘What’s at the end of the hall?’ I asked.
‘Locked door. I was trying to get past when I heard you.’ He looked at Luna. ‘You got that cube? Maybe that’d do it.’
The four of us came together, Luna staying a little back. I took my hand from my pocket but didn’t drop my guard. ‘What happened at the entrance?’
Griff grimaced, his hand creeping towards a rip along the side of his coat. ‘Khazad and that bastard Onyx tried to take my head off. Didn’t miss by much, either. If they hadn’t been in such a hurry …’
‘No one else made it in?’ I asked
Griff shook his head. ‘We’re all there is.’
The hallway bent right and left and right again, ending in a sealed door. I studied the door for a second then nodded and walked up to the controls, pulling out a tool. ‘I can open it. Griff, I’ll need you to throw up some barriers. Khazad’s going to be in the hallway before long.’
Griff gave a glance at me and Luna, then nodded. ‘Will do. Sonder?’
Sonder jumped eagerly. ‘I’ll help!’ The two of them disappeared back around the nearest corner.
Luna watched them go, then looked at me. ‘You think it’s one of them.’
I nodded as I began working on the controls. ‘Or both.’
Luna stood there for a while. ‘Can you tell which?’
‘I can’t see beyond a choice that hasn’t been made,’ I said. ‘Right now we need them and they need us. Once that changes …’
I didn’t finish, and Luna didn’t ask me to. We couldn’t depend on either Griff or Sonder, and our only sure ally was Starbreeze. It was tempting to call her, just for the reassurance of having her around, but Starbreeze couldn’t carry Luna, and the air elemental was our one trump card. I didn’t want to reveal her to Sonder and Griff until I had to.
