Journeying beside Hruine was very similar to journeying behind him. It speedy, efficient, and neither of them spoke. She saw him glancing at his compass and marking his trail. He made no effort to hide that. His compass was strange and glowed with an eerie blue light, and it didn’t look like it was always pointing north.

“What is it?” she asked eventually, curiosity getting the best of her.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled further ahead.

He didn’t trust her and watched her for treachery. That was obvious from the flicker of his eye, from his flinches when she made a noise, from the way he kept her at arm’s length. She absolutely planned on treachery, but not at this point of the journey. Not when he made such a convenient shield. Not when she could once again hear Darger and his cronies and their plodding footsteps.

The pace of the journey grew harder, and the glow of Hruine’s compass intensified. Before long, the compass flashed white twice, and the glow disappeared altogether.

At last, they were at their destination. The Tomb of Alkar'chuhan stood across a narrow river.

It was built like a tiered pyramid and at least half the size of the Temple. There were at least four floors protruding from the ground. The structure was built from hefty grey rocks, hewn smooth by age. Moss and ferns had sprouted between the bricks of stone, vines seemed to have burrowed through some bricks. Strangely enough, there was a waterfall running down one side of the pyramid into the river, and no visible entrances.

The entire area smelled of age and damp. The plants here were so deeply green that they seemed almost black.

“Stay here,” Hruine said curtly. Then he waded his way into the river, clothing and boots and all, and passed under the waterfall.

“Right,” Arainthe muttered. As if I’d listen.

Then she stripped off her cloak and outer tunics, rolled up her leggings, and took off her boots. Rolling everything into a bundle and clenching it tight to her chest, she made her own way across.