“The carvings on the pedestal are similar to the ones we found on the hillside,” Eirik said thoughtfully.
They were, though the symbols were all connected by knot work similar to the marks worn on the biceps of the Chrechte who led their brethren.
As one, the three dropped to their knees to begin examining the dais for the symbol of healing. Ciara found it in the center of the long side facing north. “I’ve found it, but there’s no indentation like on the larger one outside.”
“There is a mark for healing on this side, too,” Eirik announced a second later.
Lais said the same as Ciara was already scooting around to the side they had not checked yet. This one did not have the healing symbol on it; instead there was a carving that matched the one on the handle of her brother’s sword. Only in this carving, the conriocht’s stone was missing, though the dragon and griffin’s gems were set in place.
Ciara pressed her emerald to the spot and nearly fell backward as the floor beneath her feet began to move. Eirik was there in a second, his arm protectively around her, his grip on her tight, the message crystal clear. She was going nowhere without him.
The floor stopped moving and Lais swore with great reverence. “Well, will you look at that?”
The floor had opened up to reveal a set of steps in that strange green marbled stone leading below.
“The kelle said the Faolchú Chridhe was deep in the earth.”
“That is deep enough,” Eirik said.
Indeed it was. They could not see the bottom of the steps.
“I will guard the entrance,” Lais said.
Eirik nodded and turned his attention on her, his focus stern. “I will take the lead.”
“The stone is calling to me.”
“But your safety is my responsibility.”
“It won’t do the Chrechte any good if we don’t get the sacred stone.”
“Make no mistake, our people may need the stone, but your safety is of every use to me whether or not we retrieve the Faolchú Chridhe.”
First he’d called her his love and now this. Had she been wrong? Did her stubborn dragon mate care about her as something more than a means to an end for their people?
“I will follow you.”
“You will.” He turned and descended the stairs.
Arrogant, wonderful dragon.
The steps ended, but the passageway continued downward until it opened into a cavern that glowed with the strange green light of her dreams. The smell of water warned her before the torch Eirik carried revealed a small stream they would have to cross. The smell of minerals and steam rising from the stream indicated it was fed by the same type of underground spring as the other sacred Chrechte caves.
Without warning, Eirik swung her up with one arm so she dangled above the floor.
She cried out. “What are you doing?”
“Carrying you across. The water may well be too hot to touch.”
He was right, but she hadn’t even considered it. Concentrating on what her wolf senses were telling her, she realized the water was indeed very hot and could well have burned her badly if she’d tried to walk across the shallow stream.
Eirik made the crossing with a single leap of his long legs. He set her down on the other side. “Your father said there are other caverns like this, but it seems magical to me.”
“To me as well,” she whispered, her eyes taking in details her mind had difficulty comprehending.
The cavern was about half the size of the one above with dome-shaped walls that glistened with moisture and glowed with that odd green light. The ground was earth pressed flat, the scent stale with minerals she did not recognize.
A tall pedestal made of that foreign green stone stood alone in the center of the room. And on top sat an emerald the size of Eirik’s fist.
“We found it,” she said in a voice that barely made it past her tight throat. “We really did it.”
Her knees went weak and she would have fallen, but Eirik was there, holding her up, kissing her gently while his arms were granite hard around her. Giving safety, security and certainty that she was not alone and never would be again.
She took several deep breaths before taking a step forward, and then another. Her traverse across the cavern was tortuously slow, but her legs were more wobbly than they’d ever been.
They reached the pedestal together, Eirik’s strength still supporting her.
“What will happen when I touch it?” she asked, frightened and exhilarated all at once.