The entire rock face gave way, thundering down the mountain, shaking the upper rocks loose. Smoky and Shade scattered, racing back toward us to avoid the sudden avalanche. Shade grabbed Delilah as he came to her, and they managed to clear the rocky area just before the entire deposit gave way and roared down the mountain below us. As the rocks cleared away from the path, taking the troll with them, I caught my breath. My hands were still tingling.
The clouds burst then, drenching us with a cool rain, and the lightning began to play against them, thunder echoing behind. My heart was racing as Delilah pressed against me, her eyes glued to the storm that I had called in. I knew what she was feeling because I was feeling it, too. Ever since we had been caught in the massive sentient storm that had destroyed Elqaneve and killed both our father and Queen Asteria, we had both been leery of thunderstorms. But this one, I had caused. And all I could do was hope that it played out quickly and then departed.
The downpour soaked us within less than a minute. My cloak helped deflect some of the water, but it still managed to get through. I shaded my eyes to stare up at the play of lightning against the clouds.
“Might want to put away weapons.” As I spoke, it occurred to me my staff had a metal tip, and I lowered it, holding it so that it was horizontal rather than vertical.
“Troll’s dead,” Bran said. “Rocks are gone.”
“And we’re all going to catch our death in this,” Delilah grumbled. But even as she spoke the sudden squall vanished and the clouds started to part, heading off again for whatever climes they had hailed from.
Smoky snorted. “Nah. I may not be able to transform into my dragon shape, but…” He motioned for us to back away, then in the next moment, launched something toward the ground. It hit and the temperature suddenly soared, along with a brilliant flash. “I stole one of Rozurial’s firebombs,” he said with a grin. “Crowd in and the heat should dry us out in a few moments.”
The air around where the bomb had exploded was toasty warm and there was a tidy fire burning. It was almost too warm, but right now that was good for taking the edge off. The heat radiated into our clothing and while it didn’t dry us out all the way, we were a lot warmer and drier. We stood there until the heat began to dissipate, then Smoky motioned for us to fall in line again.
“Let’s get moving, and hopefully anybody else along the path will have seen what played out and will think twice before attacking us. Because there’s no way they could miss all of that.”
He set off again, and we followed suit. We marched on for another hour, gradually making headway up the mountain. According to my computations, we were halfway there. Another pile of rocks littered the way, although smaller and easier to see around. There was enough room to crouch behind, but Smoky checked out the rock fall closest to the mountain and gave us the thumbs-up.
“Nothing here, and the rocks down the slope are too far to worry about as long as we keep an eye out.” He glanced at me. “I suggest we stop and if you need to relieve yourselves, take advantage of the rocks for privacy.”
He had a good point. We couldn’t march all night without going to the bathroom. We’d reach the Cavernica Redal around two in the morning, by my calculations, and we had all eaten and drunk plenty of water. I motioned to Delilah and we headed to the back of the rocks. She kept watch while I made use of the makeshift privy, and then I stood guard for her. Thank gods somebody had thought to bring toilet paper on the trip. Leaves weren’t all that comfortable, nor were they plenty in this area.
The men took their turns while I pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer, then handed it around. “You know, I used to think about what I’d miss when we returned home from Earthside, after our stint was up. I guess that’s a moot concern now. Now, I have to think about what I’ll miss about not making the rest of my life over here in Otherworld. At least we can visit, though.” I paused, then looked at Delilah. “You still don’t know where you’ll end up, do you?”
She ducked her head, frowning. “No, the Autumn Lord hasn’t given me a clue. Shade, do you know?”
He shrugged. “I’m about as clueless as you are, to be honest. I don’t know where he’ll want his child raised. Our child.”
I thought about her path. Delilah was slated to become the mother of a child by the Autumn Lord, with Shade as the proxy father. Given the choice between her fate and mine, suddenly ruling the Court of Dusk and Twilight didn’t seem so intimidating. Kids were never on my “must-do” list. But Delilah was suited for motherhood, and I suddenly hoped the Autumn Lord would keep her Earthside. I wanted to know who my niece—or nephew—would be. I wanted to play auntie and buy them outrageous presents that she would never agree to.