I run, searching for a high place.
Twenty meters out from the mouth of the fissure, I see a tall rock to the right. I scramble up it and scan the horizon toward Lost Ark.
Nothing.
The city is too far, and the natural stone ridge we just crawled out of sits directly between us and the tower. Whatever I hear, I can't see.
"Shit! Damn it…"
I climb down.
"Oliver. How many miles did we ride from Lost Ark to the base of the tower?"
Oliver thinks for a second. "Ten. Twelve, maybe. A little more."
"That's what I thought."
I look at Rhayne. At Lola. Both of them are standing there waiting on my decision, and I can see the four days of cave sitting on them. Lola's eyes are half-closed, Lullaby's case riding heavier on her back than it should. Rhayne's Cloaked Cape is still tuned to the color of the rocks behind her and her hands have a faint tremor she hasn't noticed yet.
Ten miles at a run, carrying them, is not on the menu.
