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Cyrdel saw darkness before the light.
If this fall has any bottom, they would either shatter it or find their guts splashed on a hard surface without ceremony. The darkness around them thickened, swallowing what's left of the light from above. Cyrdel pressed the bridge of his spectacles up his nose as he rummaged the back pocket of his trousers for something—anything.
Airene grunted as she tucked Ravalee and June under her arms, her red-gold hair whipping her face and scattering in wild flames around her head. "Cyrdel, don't you have something?" she screamed at him.
The wind from their fall drove his hair away from his forehead as Cyrdel glanced at Ravalee who stared pale-faced at the bottomless pit before them. He clicked his tongue. "What entrance is this?"
As expected, there was nothing of value in his back pocket. Holy Nira. He tucked his right leg to his chest to reach the buttoned pocket at the leg of his trousers. His body suddenly shifted, his stomach turning along with it, and found himself falling head-first. Worry about that later.
"How should I know?" Airene's stern voice echoed past the darkness surrounding them. "Airese said to look for a sign and say a word. There's nothing about entrances or falling!"
Cyrdel cursed, remembering the scattered plans in his father's study that he once pored over without the King's permission. The fall. He knew where they were. "You just led us straight to the Center!"
The wind pulled them faster as if sensing Cyrdel's realization. He muttered another string of curses disregarding Ravalee who glared at him and Airene who stared at him like she didn't know who he was. He continued digging around in his other pockets and found nothing except that blow dart. Well...unless blow darts could shatter ceilings or provide huge cushions, then why use it now?
Cyrdel opened his palm and shook his head at Airene. "Some rysteme spell, perhaps?"
"There's nothing that I know of," Airene said. "I was never a good student at the Academy!"
Cyrdel blurted another string of curses. Dear gods, they're going to die now. Then, before him, light slowly bled from somewhere beyond and pecked at the darkness. He narrowed his eyes. Light...where did that come from? He glanced to his left and, for the first time, noted the walls he could now see. They're...blue.
Walls meant rooms behind them. If they're in the Central...then the ceiling to the throne room wasn't going to be that much further now. Cyrdel clamped his jaw shut to prevent another torrent of curses from spewing out his mouth.
Still, Nira's leggings.
"Come on, Cyrdel!" Ravalee screamed. A sudden gust of wind drove all her hair to her face.
"Don't look at me. I got nothing!" Cyrdel screamed back as Ravalee sputtered. "June?"
The half-blood muttered something incorrigible, stirring in Airene's arms. He's still pretty much out of the world.
