Free Call to War by Adam Blade

reached for his sword. Gwen slipped her hands into her cloak and drew two axes, the blades angled down. As quietly as he could, Tanner pulled his sword and nodded to them. Carefully, he led them into the passage.
    I don’t understand , Tanner thought. Who would search for the future here?
    We follow our Chosen Riders into the deep caves. The tunnel narrows, and Gulkien brushes against Nera. She growls and drags her claws along the floor. The sound grates loudly until Gulkien grunts and constricts his wings — they twist and disappear into his shoulders.
    Castor glares and shakes his head at Nera.
    Gulkien’s yellow eyes flick back, looking for me. Yes, I know what he senses — I can feel it, too. The light is dimmer here, but I am calm as we form a line: Nera, then Gulkien, and me at the rear. Long ago, men died in this cave. I can feel death here, but I am not afraid.
    The floor of the tunnel drops, and there are lumpy formations on the ceiling, as if the rock had been alive once. I know we are going the right way. Someone is close.

T anner led the way through the darkness. He could hear Castor and Gwen running their hands along the wall. He knew that Castor kept his sword poised; Gwen held her ax low and steady. Tanner creeped down the center of the tunnel, clutching the hilt of his own sword. The close air reminded him of the armory, of running and screaming and the chaos of falling stone. Even as the light drained, his vision adjusted, squeezing the thin light into gray and white shadows. Behind him, Gulkien and Nera growled restlessly at each other again.
    Gwen whispered, “Do they know something we don’t?”
    Firepos hadn’t made a noise. Tanner looked back at her: She was watching him with steady, bright eyes. He waited for a message but nothing came. “Maybe,” he said. He saw a faint, flickering glow around the corner ahead.
    â€œOh, come on,” Castor said. “Do you really think whoever’s down here is watching for us?” A beam of blue light, as thin as a stick, flashed at Castor’s head.
    Tanner shoved him. “Get down!”
    The wall smashed around the light in a spray of rock and dust. Gwen ducked into the center of the tunnel as more of the wall fell in. Rock slabs crashed, breaking in a jumbled pile. She raised her ax. Nera leaped over the rockfall, with Gulkien and Firepos right behind her. Tanner saw Firepos’s wide eyes and tense, sudden movements.
    Castor pulled away from Tanner, and shouted, “Show yourself!”
    Silence. Tanner could only hear his own panting breath and the rustle of Firepos’s feathers. The whites of Gwen’s eyes shone in the darkness.
    Castor cupped a hand to his mouth. “You coward!”
    Another beam shot at him. He dove under it, rolling, and the light flashed into the ceiling behind them. Black rock exploded down, shaking the tunnel.
    â€œRun!” Tanner shouted, pointing to the glow of light ahead. “That way!”
    Behind them, the ceiling collapsed; the roof fissure gaped and cracked toward them. In another moment, the whole tunnel might fall.
    Castor shouted, “Are you crazy?” The ceiling gave in a rushing black wave behind them. “That’s where the attack came from!”
    â€œWe don’t have a choice!” Gwen said. “Go!”
    As the tunnel smashed around them, Firepos rushed to Tanner. He grabbed Firepos’s wing and leaped onto her back in one movement. A blue beam flashed past Tanner’s face, striking the wall. Rock cracked and exploded, and as Tanner neared the light, the tunnel widened: It opened into a vast, airy cavern of shiny black rock. Veins of silver ran through the black floor, and stumpy formations of white and green quartz clustered up the walls to a hole in the center of the ceiling that opened to cloudy daylight. There was another tunnel on the far wall.
    There was no sign of the Mask of Death. Instead, crouched at the center of