Arine's Sanctuary Read Online Free

head towards the tor briefly before continuing. “They already know we’re coming and will be ready for us.”
                  Without further explanation, Arine grabbed Cavon’s hand and pulled him forward as she crept the remaining few feet to the edge of the forest. The tunnel was only fifty feet away, but if someone was watching them they both could be dead before reaching it. “Now!” she whispered as she launched into a dead run toward the tor.
                  A startled cry of alarm from the woods to her left reached her ears. She was right--they were watching the perimeter for Moreja returning to Sanctuary. Forty feet to go. She heard Cavon running hard behind her. The first arrow came at them with thirty feet to go. Twenty feet. More arrows rained down towards them. Quickly adjusting their course, she glanced over her shoulder long enough to make sure Cavon kept pace with her. Ten more feet. The tunnel mouth gaped in welcome. Their attackers screamed out for foot pursuit. Arine drew up short at the entrance to the tunnel, motioning Cavon through. Diving in behind him, she grabbed at his hand as she darted past him. “Stay with me now. Don’t ask questions, just move when I tell you to.” Timing now was critical. They needed to reach the door quickly.
                  The darkness in the tunnel didn’t hamper Arine a bit as her familiarity with the passage told her where she was. Cavon stumbled here and there, doing his best to run in the dark. She rounded another bend, stopping quickly. Reaching back and grabbing him by the arm, she shoved him toward a gaping hole in the rock. She followed behind him as the stone door closed seamlessly behind her.
                  “You’re late,” a voice gently teased.
                  Arine turned to the source of the voice. “We ran into some problems.”
                  A torch flared to life. Several women stood nearby, the mechanism to open and close the stone door visible behind them. “Is this the boy?” the one with the torch asked.
                  “Of course it is, Mestra. I don’t make mistakes.” Arine put her hands to her knees as she caught her breath.
                  Mestra laughed. “You’re out of shape, Arine. You need to spend time working on that.”
                  “I can still outrun arrows, and that’s what counts.” Straightening a bit, she nodded at the group. “Who does she want to see first? Me or him?”
                  “You. We’ve got a room ready for him. She wants to hear what went on from you before talking to him.” Arine stepped up next to Mestra, motioning Cavon to walk behind them.
                  Arine walked calmly with Mestra, keeping up a litany of small talk. Nothing more would be said about Cavon until Mistress Bryn decided to share with the rest of them. They walked up a tunnel, keeping an even pace. All the women had made the same run she’d just made several times, and knew how exhausting it could be. None of them rushed up the tunnel.
    Almost imperceptibly, the dim light in the tunnel began to increase and the roar of falling water reached Arine’s ears. Smiling slightly, her heart lightened with the knowledge that she was so close to home. The tunnel bent one more time, opening up to reveal the hidden city below.
                  Arine turned around to face Cavon. “Welcome to Sanctuary,” she said quietly. Reaching out and taking him by the arm, she pulled him forward.

Chapter Three
     
                   T he waterfall dropped into a partially hidden lake, churning the calm blue waters into a white torrent. A portion of the tor had broken off eons ago, letting sunlight shine down on small fields overflowing with crops. Shaded by what remained of the towering rock, row after row of neatly laid out buildings sat nestled in the shadows. Hundreds of people