ECHOES OF OBSIDIAN

CHAPTER3

Shadows of Trust

Elena's POV

My heart thumping in my ears, I stood motionless as Adrian pushed the knife up to the neck of the stranger. Her chest heaving with each short breath, her eyes grew terrified.

"Adventure, wait!" I hurried ahead, reaching for his arm. "let her speak."

His jaw tightened as he paused. The protective impulse that had erupted the minute we were ambushed was radiating off him. But something about the woman's eyes caused me to believe she was not a threat—not yet, at least.

Adrian inhaled deeply and gently relaxed his hold, not lowering the knife totally. He scowled and said, "Start talking." "And make it brief."

Holding her hands in submission, the woman climbed to her feet. She looked young—early twenties, maybe—and her long brown hair was twisted with leaves. She looked messy, but her eyes were piercing and her intelligence flickering beneath the terror was evident.

She started, her voice shaking slightly: "My name is Tessa." "I—have been monitoring the amulet for years. It fits inside a bigger network, one that has been researching its influence. I had to track it when I heard it was returned. To locate you.

I looked at Adrian, who seemed unconvincingly committed. And just exactly how were you supposed to assist us? By crawling up on us in the middle of the night?

Tessa gave her a head shake. "I was not trying to sneak up on you. I was trying to warn you.

" warn us?" I questioned, approaching closer. "about what?"

She gasped shakily, her eyes flitting between Adrian and me. About the others. There is a minority that wants the amulet and is considerably more deadly than you could possibly know. They will absolutely stop acquiring it.

My gut started to knot more tightly. Though we knew there were individuals after the amulet, hearing her talk of them made it seem more real, more immediate. I looked at Adrian once more; he still had not lowered his guard.

"How are you not working for them?" His voice was cool as he asked.

Tessa's cheeks dropped, a flutter of frustration replacing her terror. I'm not with them right now. For years I have been running from them. She paused, as if giving her next words much thought. "Look, you have little time and I realize you have no cause to trust me. They will be here shortly; they know you carry the amulet.

"Who are they exactly?" I crossed my arms and asked. "You keep talking about them, but we have no idea who we are up against."

"They are known as the Obsidian Circle," Tessa said, her voice falling as if even mentioning the word would bring disaster right here. " Built on old power, they have a hidden hierarchy based on which they believe the amulet is the key to regulating that power. They seek it for themselves—to change the planet.

Adrian let out a sour laugh. Sounds to be a conspiracy theory.

Tessa cast a quick glance at him. "I wish it were just a theory. But I have seen their capacity. Anybody in their path will be killed.

Her words weighty the cabin's air, and I felt a chill run down my spine. Should her observations be accurate, we were far more vulnerable than I had ever thought. The amulet had already rocked my life, and now it was drawing me more into a world I hardly knew.

Looking over at Adrian, I sought some comfort but his face stayed blank. Although he was adept at hiding his feelings, I could see his fingers tightened over the knife—he was on edge, same as I was.

Assuming we believe you, Adrian murmured, dropping the knife at last. "What do you have in mind?

Tessa sighed with relief, but the strain stayed in her eyes. "We must first migrate. Eventually they will track us here. We must keep ahead of them and work out why the amulet picked Elena.

I stiffened when my name came up. "Why is everyone still repeating that? That the amulet *choose* me? I did not seek this.

Tessa grinned. No one requests it. But the amulet's power is not haphazard; it searches for individuals able to bear its weight. That explains why it came to you.

Her quotes made me shiver. Nobody selected for anything felt like someone I could relate to. Every response I gave seemed to sink me into a sea of secrets, and more questions followed from every direction.

Adrian moved forward, fixed on Tessa. "You will help us sort this out if you are truly on our side. But if you are lying—that is, "

Tessa said, "I'm not," her voice strong. I promise you; I am not lying.

None of us spoke for a minute. The weight of the circumstances sank down on me; the air seemed doubtful. Her speech was raw honesty, so my inclination was to trust her; nevertheless, I couldn't get rid of the impression that she was hiding more.

I broke the silence by saying, "Alright. Suppose you are speaking the truth here. Going on, what do we do?

Tessa's eyes danced with resolve. "We have to track the Keeper."

Adrian's face grew darker. The Keeper? Simply said, that is a myth.

Tessa gave her a head shake. "That's not a myth." Real and possessing the key to releasing the amulet's full power is The Keeper. Should we locate him, we might be able to halt the Obsidian Circle before it catches up with us.

I looked at her, my head whirling with the weight of all she was saying. Though none of this made sense, a hidden order, a mysterious Keeper, ancient power—was the only thing that made sense. The only way out of something much more than myself trapped me in was ahead.

"We have little time," Tessa said, looking nervously toward the entrance. "We already have The Circle on our route. We have to get ahead of them catching up.

As Adrian pondered our choices, his jaw tightened and I could see the gears whirling in his head. He nodded curtly at last.

"Fine." Still, we do this my way. Tessa, we will follow your guidance; yet, should you make one mistake—“

"I won't," she answered sharply, her voice strong. "Like you, I just want to survive this."

Adrian stared at her long, hard then turned to face me. "Are you okay with this?"

I hesitated, staring at Tessa then at him. We couldn't afford to sit around waiting for the Obsidian Circle to locate us; there was no doubting the danger we were in if Tessa was speaking the truth. Whether or not it was dangerous, we had to act.

Indeed, I said at last, my voice was more consistent than I had felt. "Let us locate this Keeper."

I started to get more and more uncomfortable as we packed and ready to leave the cottage. Like a continual reminder of the peril hovering above us, the weight of the amulet around my neck seems heavier than usual. Although Tessa had provided some responses, the clock was running out and there was still a great lot we knew.

As we traveled over the forest, Adrian led the way; his eyes searched the darkness for any indication of threat. Tessa strolled next to me, her deliberate motions suggesting constant attack expectation. The three of us seemed tense, an unsaid knowledge that trust was brittle and readily destroyed.

A low growl came from the woods just as we arrived at the brink of the clearing. My heart beating, I froze as the sound got louder and more direct. Adrian whirled with his hand already on his knife.

"We are not alone," he said.

A dark figure moved with amazing speed out of the woods before I could respond. Tess gasped, dread widening her gaze.

"They discovered us."