Under A Divided Moon

CHAPTER 5- THE ARCHIVES

RHY’S POV

the following morning I had sent for Nyra to meet me at the eastern gates.

When I got there, she was already waiting, dressed in dark clothes with her hood up, away from my face.

She looked at me when I approached.

"You’re late again," she said.

"I had something to deal with."

"Your father?"

I stopped, "Am I that obvious?"

"You seem quite angry."

"Don't I always look angry?"

"No, it’s evident in your voice"

I almost smiled.

Almost.

Before I remembered she had rejected me

I walked towards her. “i found something”

"What?”

she paused.

"Your mother requested to meet my father years ago, but he denied it."

her eyes widened, "Why?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell."

She looked away from me.

“I knew it.”

“Knew what exactly.”

"I had a feeling he would be involved in whatever she found"

"You suspected it?"

"Yeah, my mom wrote his name several times in her journal."

"So why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't know if I could trust you."

"And you still don't?"

she met my eyes, “I don't know.”

At least she was being honest. "That's fair."

Her eyebrows raised slightly. "Is it?"

"No."

A tiny smile appeared on her lips before she caught herself.

But I noticed.

and she noticed me notice it.

"We need to find the other symbols, but I don't know where to search."

I nodded. “I agreed.”

"Although I found something in my mother's journal that could help."

"What is it?"

"She mentioned a place where the Hollow Archive... Do you know where that is?"

"I've heard of it. Everyone has.”

The Hollow Archive was the ancient archive in the neutral territory kept in the dominion library.

"Why would she check there?"

“She wrote that if she couldn't find the answers in Silverpine, she would look where the five territories once met."

I thought about the torn pages for a second.

"And you think the archives have records of the symbols?"

"I think it has records of everything, not just the symbols."

"Then I guess that's where we're going."

"You don't have to come with me."

"I know."

"Then why are you?"

"Because you shouldn't have to figure this out alone, and I want to help. I'm simply curious."

Her expression softened for a second, then just like that, her walls went back up.

"We're just investigating."

"I'm aware.”

“Nothing more."

I almost laughed.

"You're very keen on making that clear."

"I have to."

I turned towards the gates. "When do we leave?"

"now, I know someone in ironclad who can get us in the neutral territory"

“you think I cant?”

I laughed.

“pretend to be humble for a second”

“if you say so, boss” I said, trying to hide my smile

“lets go”

We exited the eastern gates walking side by side, the guards stepping to side when they saw me approach.

The last place I usually wanted to leave were the stormhawlboarders not because there was anyyrhing particularly fascinating about them but because everything outside the gates were unpredictable and out of my control.

I knew every corner of stormhawl, every building, every path, every road. I knew my people and exactly who was responsible for them.

And today, I was exiting with a silverpine wolf.

someone from the rival pack.

I glanced over at nyra who had a stern expression on her face, completely unaffected by prying eyes.

“they seem curious” I said referring to the guards staring at her

“I can tell, they make it so obvious”

“can’t say I blame them”

She looked up at me, “what does that mean?”

“it means you’re beautiful”

She stopped but I kept walking, unable to hide the grin that formed against my lips

My car had been waiting for us beyond the main gates of stormhawl.

I opened the passenger’s door for her as she got close.

She stared at it for a beat then looked at me.

“Really?”

“Just say thank you and get in”

She rolled her eyes before getting in.

“you’re welcome”

I walked over to the drivers side and entered the car.

“I didn’t say thank you”

I laughed before putting the car in drive.

I pulled onto the main road, and for a few minutes of the drive, neither of us said a word.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable, it was just present.

Nyra stared out the window, watching the roads pass.

“So, your friend at Ironclad?”

“Yes, what about my friend?”

“Will they actually be able to get us through?”

“Of course, it's their territory.”

“So, for someone that doesn’t trust me you seem to have a lot of plans.”

“I don't trust you. I trust my contact.”

“Noted”

I should have been thinking about the archives or what I was about to find.

But instead, I was thinking about the woman sitting next to me and the fact that I didn't feel uncomfortable being beside her.

And my world seemed perfectly content with having her beside me.

The drive to ironclad had been more silent than I anticipated.

Nyra kept to herself the whole ride.

Ironclad was nothing like stormhawl

I pulled into the small clearing just in front of the main road and switched off the engine then something caught my attention

A scent.

faint and unfamiliar.

it lingered in the air for just a second before it vanished.

my grip tightened against the steering wheel.

something wasn’t right and I could feel it.

“nyra” I spoke breaking the silence as I parked the car.

“yes”

She finally looked at me.

“Whatever it is we’re about to find in the archives, someone or something definitely doesn’t want us to find it. So we have to be careful cause something tells me it already knows we’re here”

She didn’t respond but the look in her face tells me that she knows.