Chapter TWELVE: Liss

                                    

                                          
Eager was an understatement. Liss couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this much anticipation. The day leading up to the scouting mission had dragged from one mundane task to another-–breakfast to rounds, lunch to more rounds. By the time the sun began its slow descent through the hazy sky, her fingers were itching with excitement. 
It was a cool evening. Fog swathed the valley in a pale sheet, but dreariness was common in Cradelow. There was a kind of electricity in the air, like standing near a lightning strike. The little white hairs on her arm stood on end as she huddled next to Dev within the copse of trees where they'd met yesterday. 
Dev pulled out the map he'd drawn, angling it so they could both see. "I figured we'd start here and take a circuitous route to avoid the Lightkeeper patrol."
Liss grinned. "Lead the way, navigator." She wasn't as familiar as Dev with the nooks and crannies of the valley, but if there was a rift in the goddess' barrier holding them hostage in Cradelow, or a spark of magic hiding in the darkness, she'd find it.
Moss squelched under their boots as they picked their way through the trees, moving away from the village and its possibility of prying eyes. Liss doubted anyone would follow them, but it might raise suspicion if someone spotted them outside the village after dark. The Lightkeepers would question Dev, but whether they'd reproach him was a different matter. The Council might let the infraction slide, since he was newly Engaged. They might even condone the behavior. Either way, Liss didn't want to find out.
"This way," Dev gestured, indicating their path with the same hand that held his map.
Liss followed him over the forested foothills that rolled up the valley, increasing in steepness as they neared the mountains. The last stubborn rays of sunlight sunk beneath the stone cliffs, immersing them in the pseudo-darkness of a misty twilight. Liss almost regretted that they hadn't brought torches, but it was wiser to rely on their night vision than chance exposure.
When they came to a clearing in the canopy at the crest of the first hill, she paused. Up here the chilly air dispersed some of the fog, and she could see the pointed tops of the trees and stars emerging overhead, twinkling like celestial fireflies. An unexpected sight in dreary Cradelow. 
"Wait," she called down to Dev, who was already descending the other side of the slope.
"Am I moving too quickly?"
"No. This is higher elevation." A modest summit, but a good place to start. "The visibility is better here. I want to try a rune."
He looked doubtful. "The hills get much steeper closer to the mountains."
"Yes, and we need to check as many spots as we can. "
Liss stooped to the ground, flipping open her notebook to the first blank page.
"How many stops are you planning?" Dev asked a moment later. 
"How should I know? I've never done this before."
"Well, I have, and I can tell you we'll be lucky to get a couple hours' sleep to spare as it is. If we stop every few minutes to draw a rune and wait around to see if anything happens, we won't get very far."
There were a lot of ways Liss might have responded, and not all of them were nice. She withdrew her drawing pencil. "It won't take long," was all she said.
The pattern of whorls flowed from her fingers with practiced efficiency, her pencil hardly lifting from the page. "This rune is called the Seeker. If there's a rift nearby, or if magic has somehow seeped through Hona's barrier, it will show us."
"How will we know it's working?"
Dev sounded calm, but his eyes scanned the darkness and his right hand fidgeted at his side. Liss realized he'd brought a weapon. It was probably in his pocket. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, but grateful was probably best. The Darkbane were the only people in the valley, but they weren't the only hunters.