Trinity Read Online Free Page B

enough.
    “ I think there’s
a cave here.” Nidan glanced at Kiana; her expression was
doubtful.
    “ Won’t the Wolves
see it?”
    “ It’s almost fully dark. If they’re searching for us
by night they’ll need to use brands. That will limit their vision.
They’ll never be able to tell this is a cave entrance.”
    Kiana tilted her head to the side
as she gazed at the entrance. “Can we fit?”
    “ I hope so!”
Nidan forced a grin to his lips.
    Kiana paused for a moment. “We’d
better get going then,” she said bravely. “Before those bastards
find us.”
    Nidan raised his eyebrows.
    “ What? Haven’t
you ever heard a girl curse before?”
    He
shrugged. “Several times. I just haven’t heard you curse
before.”
    Kiana laughed, though the sound
was strangled and forced and the humour didn’t reach her eyes.
“Even the incarnation of Miale is allowed to use bad language, you
know.”
    Nidan laughed with her; only his laughter was real.
Despite their desperate situation and everything that had happened,
she could still make a joke.
    Taking a long deep breath, Nidan
pushed himself into the narrow entrance. He had to keep his
breathing shallow, and there was a section that was so narrow it
felt like he would become trapped. He was glad that Kiana was
considerably slimmer than he was. His face scraped against the
unforgiving rock, grazing his cheek.
    Nidan froze, holding his breath as
an unwelcome sound filled the forest: the unmistakable snap of
twigs under boots. There was too much noise for it to be Finn and
Ciall. Nidan caught his breath and offered a silent prayer to Pios.
He made himself carry on. Behind him, Kiana had stopped and he
could hear that her breathing had become faster.
    “ You have to
move,” Nidan said through gritted teeth.
    Kiana didn’t respond and seemed to
be frozen with fear.
    After two more paces, Nidan broke
free of the narrow entrance and stepped into a pitch-dark space. He
turned round but Kiana was blocking any remaining light from
outside the cave. Feeling the wall carefully, he found the entrance
and managed to locate her hand. Her soft skin felt cold to the
touch.
    “ You
have to move. If you don’t, the Wolves will find you. You have to move.”
    Nidan tugged gently and let out a
sigh of relief as Kiana responded. As she stepped into the cave
beside him, he heard the sound of strangled sobs escaping her
control. He pulled Kiana close and gently covered her mouth,
willing her to be silent.
    He listened. The footsteps were
closer. He could hear the sloshing sound of at least, two men
tromping through water. Three more walked across the rocky ground.
Through the narrow entrance, he could just see the flickering
orange glow of fire. Briefly, he was able to see Kiana’s unusual
amber eyes, wide with terror, and the fine features of her pale,
untanned face. Then the fire moved away and the cave was once more
plunged into darkness.
    An age seemed to pass before Nidan
heard the footsteps moving away in the direction that he and Kiana
had been travelling. His heart thudded against his chest. The
Wolves had been too close. If Kiana had dallied any longer, they
would have been captured and killed. But they still weren’t safe.
They had to stay silent so their hiding place wasn’t discovered.
His tongue suddenly felt like a lead weight. Visions of nyxii fire
blazing through the narrow entrance plagued his mind. He could feel
the torture of imagined heat on his skin.
    Nidan did not let go of Kiana
until he was convinced that the Wolves had moved away. As soon as
he did, he felt her sink to the ground. He wanted to find some way
to reassure her but didn’t dare speak. Instead, he explored the
cave. It was deeper than he had expected.
    “ Let’s go further
in.” Nidan kept his voice low.
    He helped Kiana to her feet and,
stooping, led the way through the dark until his hand hit the back
wall of the cave. Exhausted, Nidan dropped down to the ground. He
wrinkled his nose against