Lord of the Night

Chapter 57: The Mantle

I had expected the Mantle to resemble the Guardian base: a maze of tunnels deep beneath the desert, accessible only by a warper. But instead of plunging into the ground, we skidded across wet mud, sputtering to a halt near some rocky formations. Even with my night vision fully activated, I could pick out only a blurry outline of the stones, glittering eerily in the artificial light of the warpers' headlights.

The doors of the warper I was in floated open, and its eight metal legs stamped down.

"You can get out now, Brothers and Sister," said the driver.

The heavyset Guardian and a slimmer female exited, but for once, I was not eager to leave the warper. I wanted to see Isalio as soon as possible, but I knew I wouldn't be of much use to him if I wasn't prepared for whatever would greet me here.

I leaned forward to talk to the driver. "I thought the Mantle was underground."

She nodded, and her gold-studded earring sparkled, contrasting rich brown skin and buzz-cut black hair. "It is, but we have to enter on foot. They don't have the infrastructure to support warpers."

I wondered why the Guardians there had never bothered to build a runway. Then, squinting at the rocky structure lit up by the headlights, I realized they hadn't built this place at all.

"The Mantle is a cave," I said.

Another nod. "A very old one. From the conversations I overheard at drop-off, this place was first inhabited before the First Guardian. It was later abandoned and then rediscovered fifteen years ago, just soon enough that people could go into hiding when the dominion of Demons began."

"People... including Demons? Frasch—" I caught myself. "Leader Fraschkit said there are Demons living here."

"That's what I hear. Haven't seen them yet."

"But it's safe?"

"Everyone has a different idea of what's safe, Brother."

Unease pinched my stomach. "The warpers took twice as long to return this time. Did something happen?"

She blew out a breath and raked fingers over her cropped black hair. "Apparently no one here likes Demon royalty, Brother. The Demons here hate the Demon royalty most of all."

I tasted blood and realized I had bit my tongue. Fuck, why did each place I sent Isalio seem even worse than the last? Wasn't there anywhere he could be safe?

I drew a shaky breath. "Where was the Demon Prince taken?"

"I didn't ask. I just do as I'm told, Brother."

I frowned, examining her more closely. She was quite young, I realized—not as young as Andradkut, but young enough that her navy-blue uniform was still unadorned by medals and unstained by blood.

"What's your name, Sister?" I asked.

She met my eyes fully for the first time, looking unsettled. "I'm Nakjun, but I'm not your superior, Brother."

"You can drive a warper better than I can, Sister Nakjun, and I certainly appreciate that right now. If you can't enter the cave, where will you leave the warper?"

"There's a forest valley just past the hill where the Mantle hides their transportation methods."

"I can go with you." I felt obliged to offer, but I shamefully prayed she would refuse.

She shook her head. "I know where to go. Better to get everyone through faster."

The nameless bodies we had buried weighed heavy on my conscience, so I paused for a moment as I exited to commit her name to memory—Nakjun, Nakjun, Nakjun—and to pray I would never have to bury her body.