Graced by Sophia Sharp Read Free Book Online Page B

was stronger than a material cal ed indestructible . She did not want to spend too much time thinking on what that could be. They emerged at the clearing, with the rubble of the tower lying right in the middle. Gray was in the same spot Laura had left him, keeping watch over the entire space. Alexander took a few quick strides, and was kneeling by the dark pieces of rubble and dust before anyone else. As Laura and the rest of them surrounded him, Madison spoke. “When do you think it happened?”
    “Not recently.” Logan was the one to answer. He pointed to the outside of the clearing, where Laura was surprised to see that edges of vines and other smal shrubs had started to creep in. “I think the tower is what kept the forest’s growth at bay – kept the wilderness away from the clearing. But with it destroyed…”
    he shrugged. “Wel , you can see what is happening.”
    “Do you think it was done by the Vassiz who fol owed us into the mines?” Laura asked.
    “Maybe,” Logan replied, “or maybe by some who came only a bit later. What I am worried about, in either case, is whether our path back to the sanctuary may have become slightly more muddled.”
    “Do you mean…?” Alexander began, and Logan nodded.
    “I do. The elders are surely now wel -aware of the sanctuary, and they likely have it guarded. In fact, I’m nearly certain they do, especial y if they saw the need to protect the mil .”
    “But then how would we get in?” Laura asked.
    “I don’t know if getting in is a viable option, anymore,” Logan answered. “Although there is one saving grace.”
    “And what’s that?”
    “Remember how unsettled Algar and his brother were becoming about staying watch at the mil ? The Vassiz , none of them tend to enjoy staying in one place for an extended period of time. Especial y when we do not see the need for it. So while al that came here on order of the elders are likely stil here, they are growing restless. And as such, sloppy. If they are guarding the entrance to the caves, we may stil be able to slip by them undetected.”
    “It does complicate things,” Madison offered, “but I do not think we have any choice but to press on. Laura?”
    Laura thought for a second, then nodded. “We wil have to be more careful. But we need to get in those caves to see if Rafael survived.”
    “It is agreed, then,” Alexander said. “We keep on as before.”
    “But what I do wonder,” Laura said, “is why anyone would see the need to destroy this tower. It couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with us, could it?”
    “Yes and no…” Alexander began slowly. “Didn’t you say earlier there were markings on this tower as wel , and of a different kind?”
    “That’s right,” Logan answered. “They were written in the ancient Vassiz language. I was able to read a smal part of it before, but the rest… wel , it is a forgotten tongue.”
    “What I suspect, then,” Alexander said, “is that the markings may have said something that the elders did not want others to know.”
    “Obstructing the past,” Madison said careful y, “is something the elders have been known to do.”
    “But if it is al but a forgotten tongue,” Laura wondered, “why would the elders worry about it? There are not many that could read it, are there?”
    “I think not,” Logan said. “Myself, I lucked out in that I came across an ancient book in a long-forgotten place that contained some elementary transliterations of it. But most would not know it. Besides – it is rare to find an erudite Vassiz .”
    “You’d have more luck finding a fish that flies,” Alexander laughed.
    “Then again, why take the trouble to destroy something like this?” Laura asked. “Especial y if it were made of allurvai ?”
    “ Allurvai ?” Madison seemed shocked. “Is that what you think the towers were constructed of?”
    Alexander smiled at her kindly. “You missed my explanation of it before. But I believe that is the only