Page 144 of The Last Remaining Light

“Hold. Still.”

Another growl escaped him, and he bowed his head. Elowynn inched a finger under the bandages to lift them, then poured more directly over the wounds. The alcohol hit the deeper cuts and Caelyn swore so much, even Lora looked impressed.

Korvel watched silently as Elowynn continued cleaning the wounds with ruthless determination. He looked like he was enjoying the pain being inflicted.

“Lady Elowynn Selvicta,” he observed carefully, “you possess a surprisingly brutal bedside manner.”

Elowynn didn't even look at him. “Shut your mouth, Korvel. He is alive enough to complain. That is all that matters.”

Korvel made a placating gesture with his palms and looked back out the door.

Another hiss escaped Caelyn through clenched teeth. “That. Is. An… ergh!” He gritted his teeth. “...alarming standard.”

“It is an effective one,” Elowynn quipped before tossing the empty flask aside.

Korvel looked absolutely offended before going over to retrieve the flask. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“…I still don't like you,” Caelyn muttered.

Alyra snickered while Lora outright laughed.

Chapter Thirty

“The most troubling discoveries are not the things that attack us. They are the things that recognize us.”

— Master Vaelor, private lecture notes

For a little while, Elowynn had allowed herself to believe they had found a reprieve. The lantern burned steadily upon the crate beside them and Caelyn was conscious. Alyra had removed the crystal shards from his back and wrapped the worst of the wounds. Even the constant trembling beneath the city seemed farther away than before, muted by stone and exhaustion.

The hope proved foolish.

The momentary peace dissolved when the screams began.

The sound reached them through layers of rock and distance, distorted enough that Elowynn couldn't determine whether it came from the tunnels nearby or some collapsing district above. A second scream followed before the first had fully faded. Then a third. The sounds curled through the chamber and filled every corner like smoke.

Alyra was the first to move. She rose smoothly from her place near the wall and retrieved her resonance blade from where it rested beside the lantern. The light from it reflected across the old cabinets behind her and sharpened the lines of her face. Korvel pushed away from the stone wall near the doorway. He tilted his head slightly, listening.

Lora looked directly at Elowynn, her eyes wide. Her expression alone said how frightened she was. Ordinarily Lora would have filled the silence with a joke, a complaint, or some wildly inappropriate observation about their circumstances. The fact that she remained silent now was far more alarming than the screams outside.

Only Caelyn remained utterly motionless.

Throughout their childhood, Caelyn had always reacted first. He’d noticed storms before they reached Lumenshire's cliffs. He’d sensed trouble before it arrived. She could still remember him appearing outside the library one mid-sun. It was moments before a shelving collapse that would have buried her beneath half the abbey's history section.

At the time she had assumed it was a coincidence.

Now she wasn’t so sure.

His gaze remained fixed on the chamber door with a focused expression.

"What is it?" she whispered to him.

His eyes shifted to hers, and for a moment she thought he'd brush the question aside the way he brushed aside pain, concern, and every burden he believed should be his alone.

Instead, he said, "They're close."

No one dared to ask who he’d meant, but every set of eyes were wide with uncertainty.

Another sound drifted through the corridor outside. Not screaming this time.