Not yet. Flame out, Amaya.
Should fight. It was all but a snarl, but her light died. I wished I could say the same about her fierce screaming, but at least it was only inside my head.
The sickly light of the pillars spread tendrils across the darkness, lifting the shadows in some sections of the cavern but casting others into deeper darkness. Our niche fell between the two. Whatever was coming through that gateway had only to glance our way and we were gone.
Then, suddenly, the light stopped pulsing and a shadow stepped through. It was a man—a tall man, with broad shoulders and dark hair. As he strode toward the exit, the light between the pillars died, leaving only the sickly glow of the runes to lift the sudden darkness. It wasn't enough, and the stranger became little more than a shadow, hinted at but not fully fleshed out.
He paused at the north point of the circle and waved his hand over them. The light in the six runes died and he strode toward the tunnel, quickly disappearing. Oddly enough, though he'd appeared taller than Jak when he'd first come into view, I had no sense that he was in any way restricted by the tight confines of the tunnel. Maybe it was just the weird light that had made him seem taller.
As the sounds of his steps faded, Jak bent closer, his breath warm against my left ear as he murmured, "Now what?"
"We wait."
"But if he came through those pillars, why can't we use them to exit?"
"Because he'll sense the magic kicking in and will either give chase or send something after us."
"Either option is better than getting caught in this damn niche."
"Not when we have no idea if the pillars are both exit and entry. For all I know, the exit point here is nothing more than a ruse. It could be what I sensed down at the other end of the tunnel."
"But Ilianna said—"
"That she didn't understand the entire spell. It won't hurt to wait, Jak."
"It just might if that man comes back and sees us," he muttered. "Just because I have a knife doesn't mean I can use it."
"Then it's a good thing I can use the sword, isn't it?" I all but snapped.