Leah slept the night with one eye open in the bed furthest from the window.
When her door handle turned, she was awake in a flash.
Kieran gave her a bizarre look as she jumped up, back against the wall, one hand on her Hilt she'd kept under her pillow. "Ten minutes until we're leaving. Make sure you're ready."
Leah breathed a sigh of relief. She pointedly ignored her shaking hands as she unclamped her fingers from her Hilt and went about her morning routine, even managing some breakfast this time before Kieran called them to the gliders.
Leah walked over as he pulled theirs upright. "Hey, um, Kieran?"
He glanced at her. "What's up?"
She couldn't find the courage to tell him about the intruder last night. The chance of her reference journal being gone for good was too much to bear. She'd put too much effort into that damned thing to have some jerk take it. "What exactly happens if someone loses their Displacer back to the League?"
He didn't look happy, but he answered. "They'd better hope they find it, because otherwise they'll be staying here for several weeks until the League's next batch comes in. Even that wouldn't be certain, because the Displacer system is highly regulated and doesn't exactly have room for careless mistakes. Why?"
"I was just wondering," said Leah. "I think someone mentioned someone who was left behind at dinner."
"Just don't let that be you."
Leah's hands were almost too unsteady to operate the glider smoothly, but somehow, they got there in one piece, even if it was commentated by Kieran the whole way.
At the site, Kieran changed the groups, ensuring there was an even number of people able to harden Light in each group.
"We're going to try it this way," he said as he re-assigned them. To Leah's dismay, Sef was still a captain, and she was still in Kieran's group. "Make a Light sheet of each mural, shrink it, trace it. Simple. Include all details, and if you have time, borders are also of interest."
"Why are we doing this again?" asked Dale, eyeing Leah like she was a sand sandwich.
Kieran intercepted Dale's glare. "To say the least, the quality of work I saw yesterday wasn't up to standards. I understand you aren't all as artistic as Leah, but I expect to at least be able to tell what in the Spire's names is going on in the scene. Clear?"
"Clear," echoed the group.
"Good. Anyone need a tutorial on how to make Light sheets and imprint?"
After one last quick demo from Leah, the groups headed down the ladder and into the ruins. Leah spent the first ten minutes creating Light sheets of a corridor for one of her team unable to do so before returning to her own station. The other girls in her group were capable of their own sheets, and Kieran had taken it upon himself to ensure the other two groups were following through.
Leah could barely concentrate. She kept looking up, ensuring she could always see May, her group member she was to stay in vision of. She kept checking the shadows, expecting to see a grey-garbed figure waving her reference journal from the corners.
What did he want with her, anyway?
He'd mentioned something about the code in the symbols. About proving herself--though what she had to prove, she had no idea. That she was capable? If she met his standards, would he continue holding her hostage? And what if she didn't? He didn't want her telling anyone about him so would he simple make her... disappear?
She was trying to recall her lessons with her father about Hilt techniques when soft footsteps behind her frightened her right out her crystals.
Her dropped pencil was picked up by Kieran as he crouched beside her and handed it back.
"Just checking in," he said slowly. "Leah, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Leah, buring her head back in her sketch. "Just didn't, um, sleep well last night. Little overtired. I'm good."
Kieran remained beside her, silent, for several moments.
"Leah," he said quietly. "If something's wrong or you need to tell me something, it's my job as leader to ensure the welfare of my team. We may have got off on the wrong foot, but that doesn't mean you need to deal with your own problems, especially if it's within the team."
"I know," said Leah. She wanted to tell him. He seemed capable, like he could handle a lone intruder--but she couldn't lose her reference journal. The intruder had been watching their team, and she couldn't help but feel that he'd know if she told someone. Maybe she'd give it away herself. "Can I get back to my drawings now?"
As Kieran walked off, she was cursing herself in two dialects for not making a copy of her reference journal, and for leaving that damned window open--even if she doubted it would have made a difference open or not.
Kieran continued to watch her as they broke for lunch, gathering in the sun above so the others could recharge their Light store. Even when one of Sef's friends commented on how much easier her technique made recording the murals, Leah couldn't bring herself to accept the praise.
There was no sign of the stranger on the edges of the dunes as they climbed back into the ruins to finish off the day.
*+*+*+*
Night came way too quickly.
With the last rays of sunlight soaked into the heart, Leah had no idea how she was supposed to get out of the building without someone noticing her. She'd found herself telling Sef at dinner that she wasn't going to do any documenting tonight and instead catch up on her sleep. She made sure Kieran was well within range of that statement, banking on the fact that he was still watching her like a hawk.
Now, sitting alone in her room with the light shut off and the window open, Leah couldn't make herself climb out.
She's stuffed her bed with pillows in case Kieran checked in on her. She had her bag packed. Her Hilt didn't entirely fit and stuck out through the top, but she wasn't leaving it behind in a million years. Even if she was pretty sure she couldn't scare the stranger with it, she could at least make him think twice if she swung it around wildly or fired off a few shots at him.
It came down to one fact: How badly did she want her reference journal back?
The answer was that she'd spent too much time on it to not at least try. Even if the Displacer hadn't been in the equation, Leah would have gone after her reference journal. After Kieran's reaction to her theory about the symbols, she was starting to think she should have focused more of her efforts on getting her hands on things to decode.
With a deep breath, Leah swung one leg out of the window.
It was too high to simply drop. With no Light to harden on the spot, Leah pulled Light from her heart and hardened it into a narrow staircase, increasing its length until its bottom touched the ground. When she was safely outside, she pulled the still-gleaming Light from the staircase shell and laid it down on its side, hoping no one would question its presence until she came back. She knew her way to the town's gates by now and attempted to not look suspicious as she made her way through.
Somehow, she made it to the outside of the town's wall without being spotted, but there was no one in sight.
Her panic that she was early, that she'd misinterpreted what the stranger had said or that there was more than one gate she wasn't aware of was interrupted as a soft thud beside her spun her around.
The stranger was standing there, once more covered head to toe in his grey garb.
Leah began questioning her life decisions all over again.
"Wasn't sure if you'd actually show up, if I'm honest," said the stranger. "You don't exactly seem like the daring, risk-taking type."
Leah found her voice. "I want my reference journal back."
"I know," said the stranger, walking away from her. Leah hestitated, unsure if she was supposed to follow. He walked to a particularly bulgey patch of sand, only to grab what looked like a tarp and pull it back to reveal a glider. "It's in my bag, since I figure you might need it, but the Displacer is somewhere for safekeeping. You can have them back when we return."
Deciding asking where he got a glider wasn't going to get her anywhere, Leah glanced at him. "Can I at least have a name so I can call you something?"
She got the sense that he was smiling. "Call me Shade. Let's go. I know you can drive these things, I've seen you leaving in the mornings with that Radiant guy behind you swearing as you take off."
"It's yours," said Leah. "Why can't you drive?"
Shade tapped his chest, right where his heart crystal would have been. "I have too much human in me, Leah. Can't use Light the same way you can. Besides, you're the one working for her journal back."
"You're the one holding me hostage for it," grumbled Leah, taking the driver's seat and placing her hands on the crystal as Shade climbed on behind her.
She made the take-off as smooth as she could, putting more Light than she usually would have into the glider. She wanted this over and done with. Every minute she was away was another minute Kieran could walk in and discover nothing but pillows in her bed, and that wasn't a conversation she was keen for.
The desert looked different in the darkness. The air had a chill to it, the wind more biting than it was in the sun. Her skin prickled, the crystals imbedded into her skin feeling more like icy shards.
It was somewhat of a relief when they reached the hut.
Staring into the depths of the tunnel leading to the ruins, Leah was more than a little reluctant.
"You first," said Shade.
So down she went.
The slow-burning crystals lit up the corridors of the ruins the same way they did in the daylight hours, but Leah couldn't help feeling that the shadows were tighter around her.
Shade reached the bottom a few seconds after her and started walking. "This way."
Leah followed him mechanically, one hand on the Hilt in her bag. She'd seen Shade look at it, and he didn't seem the least bit concerned. She doubted it was because he didn't know what it was.
He navigated the ruins like he'd been here before. Even after turning into a dark corridor--one of the old sections the expedition had documented last time, Shade barely hesitated to pull out a crystal to light their way. In the brief glances Leah got of these halls, they seemed more or less similar, but she couldn't help wonder what had Shade's interest down here.
She didn't let herself think about how long it'd take someone to find her down here.
These ruins were completely misnamed, in her opinion. They weren't ruins at all. They were just a buried labyrinth that no longer had a use. Leah tried to keep track of their route, but it was almost impossible in the darkness. The few glimpses she caught of the murals would have to enough to figure her way out of here if it came down to it.
At some point, the corridor opened out into a room whose walls were barely touched by the light of Shade's crystal, but it was enough to tell Leah there were crystals embedded in the crystalite of the walls. That these murals were different.
"So," said Shade, stopping in the centre of the room. "This is it."
Leah allowed her own crystals to gleam, illuminating the room further. "How'd you find this?"
She knew Shade was grinning under the cloth. "The expedition team you're with found it last time. When they got back, let's say that their documentation of it went mysteriously missing for a bit."
Leah narrowed her eyes. "You're good at stealing other people's hard work, aren't you?"
Shade shrugged. "I don't know if I'd say the last one was hard work, exactly. It left a lot to be desired, especially after seeing how meticulous you are with yours."
"Why even bother?" asked Leah. "What's the point? Why not just join the expedition team yourself?"
"I'm afraid I wouldn't pass the entry exam these days," said Shade. "They only accept people with a certain amount of Radiant in them, even people who want to help. It's a shame really."
Leah's irritation grew. "So you're just doing it out of spite?"
"On the contrary," said Shade. "I'm looking for a cure to the Lightless parasite. I believe you, of all people, can appreciate that." As Leah drew breath to ask why, he raised a finger. "And before you ask, I have some Radiant blood, so it's in my interests. There's other reasons, but that's general idea behind it. Is that good enough?"
Like she had a choice. "I suppose."
"Good," said Shade. He opened his bag and handed her the reference journal. "You're going to need this. Over here."
He placed the glowing crystal on the floor and walked to one of the walls.
Leah realised why it was special immediately.
This wall had a door in it.
Two lines ran from ceiling to floor, far deeper than any of the other murals that decorated the walls. Lifting her forearm with its glowing crystal pattern to illuminate the ceiling, there was another horizontal gash there and one at her feet. The slab lacked a handle or slot--anything that could have been how it opened, but it was covered in symbols.
"The expedition team didn't get it open based on their notes," said Shade. "They deemed it some imperfection in the structure, but I think we both know the ancients didn't make mistakes. This is deliberate."
Leah ran her fingers over the gashes. "And what do you want me to do?"
Shade's eyes bored into her own as she glanced at him.
"Open it."
*+*+*+*
A/N - DUN DUN DUUUUN. Doors. =>
Wordcount: 27,141 [Over half wayyyyy, HYPE.]