The stable was slightly more stable than it looked like it was from far away. The part of the structure that was broken didn’t include the bones of the building and the least important of wooden walls were the only major casualty, or so Sulaiman claimed as they entered through the side entrance. Priscilla didn’t know enough about architecture to refute him, and glanced over the interior.

  There were a few stalls still intact, so they could stable the horses at least. But if Priscilla didn’t want to sleep on the hard ground, her only other option was to set up her sleeping roll on slightly damp hay. It wouldn’t even be the worst place she’s slept before (do not ask her about her junior year of college’s spring break – just thinking about strawberry yogurt still made her shudder) and though the stable smelled like wet horse, Priscilla thought she’d sleep fine.

  They ditched the horses and began to walk around the perimeter, giving the larger patches of poison a wide berth. A swath of trees to the east of the dining hall were nearly flattened and it was also the place where the poison was most concentrated, creating a small pool that hissed as raindrops hit its surface. A half-corroded boot rested at the edge and Priscilla tried to ignore that a foot still filled it.

  “I’m not an expert,” Priscilla said quietly as they paused to stare into the darkened forest, “but I think whoever’s on watch should keep their eyes in this direction.”

  The boys silently nodded and Kavil didn’t move while Sulaiman turned toward only one place left to check out – the destroyed inn. Priscilla hesitated for a moment before reaching out to lightly touch Kavil’s elbow when she saw that Kavil hadn’t looked away from the boot she pointedly didn’t look at. He jerked at her touch, his feet nearly slipping in the wed mud. Priscilla caught him by the very same elbow and planted her feet, arresting his momentum before he stumbled forward into the edges of the poisoned pond, but she overcorrected a little too much so he crashed back into her.

  They tumbled backwards onto the wet grass as her own feet slipped and Priscilla landed with a soft grunt as Kavil’s weight fell on her. At least the ground was soft because it was so wet and she had her hood up so the mud didn’t get into her hair.

  “Careful there, savior,” Priscilla wheezed, managing a smile as she looked up at Kavil. Kavil’s left arm had gotten tangled with hers and his other hand quickly pushed against the ground to pull him off her chest. He stared at her for a long moment, long enough that Priscilla raised her eyebrow and cocked her head, wondering just how long he planned to keep that up. With the low light from the moons obscured by rain and the fact his hood fell forward to further shadow his face, Priscilla couldn’t quite read his expression. She was fairly certain he didn’t hit his head during the fall, so it shouldn’t be shock or pain that kept him still.

  But her fun was cut short when Sulaiman asked slowly, like he dreaded the answer, “Why are both of you on the ground?”

  It broke the moment and Kavil quickly scrambled off Priscilla. He stuck out his hands and Priscilla got her feet back underneath her while gripping him tightly.

  “Gravity picked a fight,” Priscilla said as she pulled her hands free to try to use the rain to help get some of the mud off her sleeves, “and, alas, we lost because she’s a tenacious bitch.”

  Sulaiman gave her a flat look before sighing. “Be more careful.”

  This time when he turned, Kavil and Priscilla fell in line after him.

  Getting closer to the inn turned out to be tougher, but not impossible as Sulaiman led the way after assessing the potential paths before them. They started by the front entrance and walked along the edges, their eyes constantly moving. The only other signs of people they found were what little remained of bodies, and Priscilla grimaced each time because she saw the way the light in Kavil’s eyes grew dimmer with each failure.

  As they drew what had been the dining room, Asha’s emotions, which were normally duller when there were others around, became sharp as the artifact’s attention zeroed in on it. Priscilla stared too because she finally understood what part of the destruction that had had her unconscious ringing alarm bells.

  The walls of the dining room and the inn were all splintered outwards, like something had broken out of the house rather than the toad’s tearing the walls down from the outside. In fact, what had been the storeroom next to the inn’s kitchen looked like it had nearly been destroyed as all three walls and door were cracked away from a central point. There actually wasn’t that much poison, it was more of a mucus with a purple tint than anything, except what was that in the center of the room? She could barely see a slightly jagged edge of something around the broken wall, but its color was different from everything else around it even in the low light.

  A tight grip on her arm stopped Priscilla in her tracks as she had instinctively taken a step forward to get a better view.

  “What are you doing?” Sulaiman hissed.

  “I think something’s over there,” Priscilla said absently as her bond with Asha practically burned with urgency.

  Sulaiman stared at her but she barely minded his confused look, eyes locked on the mysterious object to make sure she didn’t lose it.

  “Is it a person?” Kavil asked, speaking for the first time since they began patrolling.

  Priscilla winced but shook her head.

  “It’s too small,” Priscilla said, “but I’d like to get a closer look at it.”

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  Sulaiman’s gaze lingered before he pulled out his shield, bringing it up to chest level and taking a tentative step forward. “Step exactly where I do,” he cautioned and Priscilla followed best she could as she kept her gaze on the storage room.

  They were about a foot from the wall when Sulaiman halted, raising his arm so Priscilla didn’t walk past him.

  But it was close enough that Priscilla could see that what she saw was a length of jagged gray object sticking out of the ground, standing tall despite everything else around it laid flat as if a large weight had pushed down on it.

  “That’s certainly suspicious,” Priscilla murmured as she pointed it out to the others.

  Kavil frowned, stepping forward to look over Sulaiman’s shoulder.

  “I think…” Kavil squinted at the stone. “I think I feel divine power coming from it? It’s faint but now that I’m looking at it… If I get a closer look, I might be able to sense what type of deity infused its power. I’ve only channeled Gaelea’s grace myself, but my aunt taught me a little bit about the other gods’ domains.”

  Sulaiman sighed as he glanced between both of them.

  “Are you two suggesting that we wade through the poisoned muck to get to that thing?” Sulaiman asked, tone conveying just how little he wanted to do that. “If that thing really does have divine magic, it’s likely a trap that will explode if we disturb it through touch or magic.”

  “I’d bet five gold it’s related to why this inn was destroyed,” Priscilla said, just barely keeping herself from trying to get closer since it was less than ten feet away, “and I’d rather know more about what happened than remain in ignorance.”

  Kavil glanced towards the sky and Sulaiman sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose as he muttered something about idiots with no self preservation. Kavil raised his hands with a determined expression and then the rain that had been steadily falling on their heads changed their trajectory toward the store room instead.

  The water and poisoned mucus that had pooled within the wreckage was joined by the diverted rain and then the entire mass slowly split in the middle. It moved lethargically, the liquid thicker than water, but clean ground appeared, a pathway just large enough for one person to walk.

  “Don’t you dare–” Sulaiman started when he realized what was happening but Priscilla was already darting forward, eyes on the prize. She didn’t know how long Kavil could keep this up and she wouldn’t waste this opportunity.

  This close she saw it looked to be made of rock and was roughly six inches long. There was something gouged into the side up and down but dirt had worked its way into the grooves that made it hard to tell what it was supposed to be.

  She didn’t hesitate to wrap her right hand along its length since the possibility of it being a trap was miniscule, and was intent on getting back as soon as possible.

  A sharp ringing sound filled Priscilla’s ears, like tinnitus on steroids.

  Fear, Terror, Futile Pleading, T????h????e???? ????P????r???i????c?????e????? ?????o???f???? ????a???? ????P????r????o???m????i????s?????e????, Begging, T?????h????e????? ????P?????r????i????c???e??? ????o?????f??? ????H?????o?????p???e????, Fear, Denial, Dread, T???h?????e???? ???P????r???i???c????e??? ????o???f????? ???A????r???r????o????g???a????n????c???e?????, TERROR.

  A sudden spike of emotions from Asha was unexpected and made Priscilla freeze even as her fingers wrapped around the surprisingly warm chunk of rock. Her heart thundered in her ears, Asha’s emotions flooding her systems and making Priscilla breathe shallower.

  The world around her faded away for a moment, replaced with a vast and unending darkness.

  The sound of broken sobbing echoed in that darkness, and acute sorrow welled within Priscilla because though she couldn’t see who was crying, certainty welled within her – she could not save the person who was crying, not in any way that mattered.

  A sense of helplessness sank deep into her bones as the sobbing grew louder and Priscilla’s heart tore in two.

  “How long are you going to stand there?” Sulaiman’s voice cut through the vision.

  He sounded as if he was momentarily grabbing her by the ear and dragging her away, and that shocked Priscilla back to reality, to the rain filled storage room, to the patter of raindrops atop her coat, to the soggy boots around her feet.

  Priscilla switched what hand was holding the stone and immediately Asha’s emotions dialed back to their normal intensity. She blinked away the tears that had welled in her eyes and hoped the rain would help disguise them as she quickly made her way to where the boys were standing.

  As soon as Priscilla was clear, Kavil let out a sigh of relief and gravity retook control of the mucus, oozing back over the ground. Kavil wiped his forehead and he was breathing heavier as he turned to Priscilla.

  “What is it?” Kavil asked, leaning forward. Priscilla wordlessly held it out, still reeling from what happened. She had no idea what the fuck just happened and Asha had gone completely nonreactive in their bond, the artifact’s emotions tightly controlled and withdrawn.

  Priscilla was so busy worrying about Asha that it wasn’t until Kavil gasped and dropped the stone that she finally refocused on the world around her.

  “It’s burning hot,” Kavil said, holding his hand to his chest as he stared at the rock.

  “Really?” Priscilla asked, pushing what happened away to freak out about it later when she had a chance to speak with Asha privately. “It was a little warm, but it was manageable to me.”

  But Priscilla didn’t get to pick it up again as Sulaiman snatched it up with a glare. And then he paused, giving the rock an assessing gaze, eyes flickering between it, Kavil, and Priscilla.

  “It feels as cool as a rock that’s been left out in the rain should be,” Sulaiman said slowly. “Maybe even colder than it should.”

  “Hmm,” Priscilla said, and then darted her left hand forward to brush her fingertips to it again. It was still pleasantly warm to the touch even as Sulaiman pulled it away from her, giving her a judgemental glare.

  “Why do you insist on being so stupid?” Sulaiman snapped, taking a step away from her and giving Kavil a wary glance, as if worried he might do the same. But Kavil seemed perfectly content to not touch the rock again, staring at it with confusion.

  “Did it change temperature when I touched it?” Priscilla asked.

  Sulaiman opened his mouth like he wanted to snap at her but took a deep breath and shook his head.

  “I’m going to keep this with me,” Sulaiman said in a firm tone that told them his mind wasn’t going to be changed, “as it seems to be reacting to the two of you. Now that we have your mysterious rock, which I still think is trapped, I think it’s safe to say that we’re the only ones in the area and we should get back to the stables to rest for the evening.”

  Priscilla opened her mouth to ask if she could search a little more for another stone but Sulaiman’s stink eye had her closing it just as fast. She’d do another search in the morning then, when there’d be more light to make it easier.