"Seto?" Ember called. "You need to wake up."
All the girls had already awoken to the sound of Aradyn yelling. It seemed that Rose had smothered her in blankets so tightly that she couldn't move and was attempting to force-feed her some of Wispice's soup. No one felt safe to return to bed after that, so they'd simply decided to stay up late (or was it early?) making unsafe quantities of popcorn and trying to get the others to laugh.
Now Ember was attempting to awaken the sorcerer from his slumber. There was no response, though she called his name several times.
"Seto!"
No answer. She pushed open the door, her concern growing by the moment.
Seto was curled up tightly in a blanket, his knees drawn towards his chin. "Hey, Em. I was trying to sleep." He didn't move at all, except for his mouth.
"Are you okay?"
He hesitated before saying, "Yeah."
"Liar." Ember walked over to Seto, feeling her tail twitch in frustration. "What's up?"
"Nothing, I'm just tired." He certainly looked it, his eyes large and sunken into his thin face, as though the sockets were trying to swallow them.
"Do you want me to bring you some food?"
"No, but thanks for asking."
"You must be hungry."
"I'm not," Seto protested.
"Come on, you can tell me what's wrong," Ember said, prodding his shoulder gently. He winced.
"Em, I'm fine."
"No, you aren't."
"Yes, I am!" he growled, his eyes flashing. When the flash of anger waned, it seemed to have sapped all his strength, leaving the sorcerer like a sheet of paper, frail and weak. "I'm just… please, Em, I'm okay."
She stared at him. Something was definitely wrong, but he wasn't telling her. Ember sat down beside him and stroked his dark hair, feeling him stiffen under her fingertips. "Seto, you trust me, right?"
"I… yes."
"Then you can tell me."
"This isn't about you, it's—" Seto shut his mouth suddenly and started again. "Ember, nothing's wrong, so what is there to tell?"
"You're a horrible liar, and you know it."
"Yeah, maybe I am." He sighed softly, wrapping the blanket even tighter around himself as though to form a shield against the world.
"Do you ever wish that I hadn't brought you here?" Ember asked quietly.
He rolled over to look at her, chocolate eyes scanning the amethyst ones. "Are you really so naïve?" Then, without waiting for an answer, Seto turned over again. "I'm going to sleep."
Ember left feeling confused. What did he mean? What was wrong with him?
Don't ask me.
I didn't.
Good.
Ember sighed and walked downstairs, to where Wispice was passed out on the couch. Rosewing was stretched out on the banister, snoring loudly. Aradyn had fallen asleep while she ate breakfast, her head on her plate of pancakes. So much for everyone being awake.
"Are there any leftovers?"
She wheeled around, tensing up. Ty was leaning nonchalantly against the wall, watching her, his green wings folded like a cloak around his body. She caught the scent of pine drifting away from him, the warm, sharp smell like a mild sedative, helping to calm her suddenly racing heartbeat.
"I can make something if you want," Ember said levelly.
"Nah, I was just asking." Ty unfurled himself and came to stand beside her, crossing his arms over his chest. His tail twitched. "So do I get flying lessons or what?"
"If you're ready."
"I am," he promised coolly.
"Now?"
"Why not?"
"Follow me." Ty trailed along after Ember like a shadow, his eyes dark and brooding. She did her best to ignore his sullenness as she led him towards one of the obsidian pillars that towered over the Ender landscape.
The giant black monolith rose so high that it was nearly impossible to tell where its massive length ended and the eternal night of the infinite void began. The stone glittered darkly, like a thousand eyes were blinking at the two small gnats in the endless cosmos. Ember heard Ty's sharp intake of breath, and snuck a glance at the brunette, who was gazing up at the seemingly never-ending column of inky darkness.
There was a notch in the base of the menhir, like a tiny tear in the fabric of some enormous tapestry. It was a door, and Ember pressed her entire weight against it. Slowly, it slid open with a grinding noise comparable to that of a tiger gnawing on stones. The gloom within seemed almost to radiate out, if such a thing were possible.
Ty hesitated before entering. In the total silence, his voice seemed unnaturally loud as he asked, "So what now?"
"We climb up," Ember replied, her voice echoing in a cascade of whispers, rushing away and trampling each other as they raced up the interior of the ancient obelisk, away into the depths of the darkness.
Up, and up, and up. Up the thin, creaking ladder. Ember didn't dare to look at the contraption she was placing her hands on; she'd made the mistake before. The pearly white material could not be mistaken for anything other than what it was. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep climbing up the rickety ladder of bone.
"Ember?" Ty whispered after almost two minutes of climbing. "I—are we almost done?"
"We're about a third of the way up."
She didn't turn around to look down at him, but she knew he nodded and heard him swallow hard.
That was his pride.
Excuse me?
He had to swallow his ego. That's why it was hard.
I don't get it.
He's terrified. There was a distinct note of satisfaction in Zariah's mental voice. And he knows you know.
After a few more minutes of climbing through the darkness, Ember realized that Ty was practically hyperventilating. "E-Em… are w-we d-done yet?" he almost sobbed. She could hear the sheer panic in his voice. Yep. Terrified.
"Almost there," she called to him, the echoes from her voice waterfalling down in a river of hopeful murmurs.
A few seconds later, she hit her head on something hard. Stifling a curse, Ember reached up, searching for the latch of the trapdoor. The strap was half-rotted and barely held as she tugged it, ducking out of the way of the heavy iron porthole.
The fresh air was wonderful to smell after the dank mustiness of the decrepit tower, and Ember pulled herself onto the roof of the pillar without a trace of regret for leaving the dusty murk of its inner sanctum. Ty surged up after her, collapsing onto the obsidian surface with a deep sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" she asked, glancing at him. A chill breeze ruffled Ember's hair and made her wrap her wings tightly around herself.
Ty was panting, and she, with her fine-tuned hearing, could actually detect the rapid thudding of his heart. "No. I hate the dark and I hate tight spaces and I'm just finding out that I really don't like heights. This has to be one of the worst moments of my life."
It's going to get worse, Zariah almost sing-songed.
I kind of feel bad for him.
No, don't. This is going to be fun.
Oh, poor Ty. I know what's going to happen! Ha! Ha! Muahahahahaha!
Here are the statistics for character favorites! You guys can vote again; choose up to two people this time!
Aradyn/Rogue: 1
Zariah/Ember: 1
Rosewing/Crimson: 1
Wispice/Mint: 1
Eguire/Ty: 2
Herobrine: 0
Seto: 0
Mitch: 2
Sky: 2
Jason: 1
By the way, this may or may not affect who's alive or dead at the end of the story. Just saying.
SOTC: "Secrets" by Mary Lambert.