The Past Lies Ahead (A Throne Of Glass Fanfic)

Chaper 61

They took a couple steps back when the wall before them began to move, rearranging itself, and Aelin cringed at how much noise it made. When the wall finally stopped, and alcove  was situated in the middle of it where the discs had been mere moments ago. In the alcove was a box, similar tot hat of a jewelry box, only smaller. Old Aelin stepped forward, and gingerly lifted the lid. She released a breath full of relief, and picked up the items inside and held one up for Aelin. She took it, and studied the little sliver of stone.

«This is it? This little thing contains unimaginable power?» She said with disbelief. 

«Correct, all this trouble for some pieces of rock. Anyway, we should talk later, and we need to get out now. Someone must have heard all that ruckus.» Old Aelin said, then headed towards a clear wall.They couldn't portal in, since Erawan would have sensed it, but they most definitely would portal out. Once again she cut her arm and swiftly drew the marks that would take them out of this place, while Aelin stood guard listening for any sign of an approach. She put her air against the crack in the door, straining to hear anything from the other side. 

Clanging of moving metal reached her ears, still far away but approaching.

«Aelin, hurry up, someone is coming.» she hissed, glancing over at Old Aelin who had still some marks left. Aelin glanced around the room, they would need to hide.

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He had just finished putting on his armor, when the reverberation, slight but still noticeable, in the floor had him pause. Cursing, he set of at full speed towards his tomb, to where his keys were hidden. He had planned on getting the keys before walking into the battle, to teach those worthless creatures exactly what he was capable of, but now someone had broken in. The fires had been a diversion, but not for the attack outside the city, no that was also a diversion for whoever had snuck into his tomb.

Fierce rage pummeled him onward into the long dark tunnels, they would die slowly and painfully for trying to steal from him.

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Aelin pushed open the lid.«Get in, there's no time.» she hissed at the one who was still drawing up the marks. Old Aelin quickly looked at her, then something like fear crept into her eyes as she realized what Aelin had meant. 

«No, absolutely not. I'm not going in--» she protested, then stopped as a door banged open. The door where they had killed those six guards. Old Aelin cursed under her breath, then quickly sketched out two more marks, before running to Aelin and the coffin. She hesitated a second before climbing in, cursing again, and Aelin followed closely behind. As she lay down she saw the marks glow and the portal come to life, then she slid the lid back into place over their heads.

There were barely room for them both, but they fit. Old Aelin lay flat on her back, with Aelin now face down on top of her. She felt Old Aelin grip her arms, holding on tightly as if her life depended on it, and her breathing short on the verge of panic. Aelin winced as Old Aelin's nails dug into her.

 «Close your eyes and imagine Rowan with pink hair, or as a pink feathered hawk.» she whispered as silently as she could, into her hair.«Take deep breaths, you're not in here alone. You've got the most beautiful woman in the world in your arms.» 

Old Aelin huffed out a breath at that, but before she got to reply a door slammed opened and rushed footsteps ran into the tomb.

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The door was locked with a simple mark of locking, and it took him barely three seconds to get past it. Then he hurried down the corridor, and quickly breaking through the nest locked door as well. He paused, taking in the scene before, before rushing over to the open alcove. 

Gone. The keys were gone, he had been too late. He glanced to the left, where an open portal shimmered in the darkness. They must have gone through there. He went over to the portal, staring into it, trying to figure out if it lead to another world or just another location in this one. It just lead into a forest, and it could be any forest anywhere... He made to walk through it, to hunt down whoever had stolen the keys, but the portal winked out closing before his face.

He stared at the blank stone wall. His curling into a snarl before he roared his rage at the wall, then turned towards the door. A few guards had followed him down, and now stood stiffly watching him. «Copy down the marks before they flake of.» he commanded, then went back up into the keep. In meantime, he would go outside the city walls and deal with the pests there.

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Erawan's soldiers had began to regroup and fight back more efficiently. Rowan signaled to his commander to call for a retreat, it would do them no good to lose too many warriors today. Besides the goal was to take the attention away from the keep, which they had done, and he hoped that it had bought whatever time they had needed. One by one, the Fae shifted and took to the skies with swift and sure strokes of their wings. 

Ilken appeared in the horizon just as he reached the cloud cover, and Rowan intensified his efforts. They would not go head to head with the flying demons, not now at least. Now they headed back to meet up the Bane and Dorian's armies.

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After lying in the suffocating coffin for what seemed forever, they could finally hear the last person leave the tomb. They waited another few minutes before inching open the lid, making sure that the room was actually empty before climbing out. Aelin helped Old Aelin out, who was shaking violently and sagged to the floor. She took several deep breaths and muttered a string of words under her breath. Aelin recognized it as the phrase Sam told her about before they had moved to Antica. Aelin took her hands, and squeezed gently.

«I'm sorry, but there was no time to find another hiding place.» she said apologetically. Old Aelin gave her a weak smile.

«I know.» she swallowed hard, and squeezed her eyes shut then released a shaky breath.«I'll have redraw the portal.» She pushed off from the floor and headed over to the wall again, burning away the flaky marks of the previous one. This time they were not interrupted and they successfully opened the portal, taking them several miles away. 

They didn't go to Rifthold, since they both suspected that Rowan wouldn't sit there waiting for their return. Instead the chose a location on the plains halfway between Morath and Rifthold, hoping to find him on the way.