In the distance the dark tower stood like a crone’s finger. Between us was a cracked, flat plain. Immense shadows slowly crawled across that blighted land. Formless monstrosities called Marrow-Suckers made their home there. Something about the tower called to them too. Or perhaps the dark tower was just their hunting ground.

“What now?” Julien asked. His voice sounded like an exposed live wire. Of the three of us, he was the least stable.

I wiped dampness off my brow. It wasn’t hot exactly yet I continued to sweat. “We have to wait.”

“Why? We can see it. We’re almost there.” Esme whined. Maybe she was cracking faster than Julien. There was no way to tell who was worse off until they snapped.

I put my hands on her shoulders. Her skin was smooth and uncomfortably cold to the touch. “We have to wait until the sun goes down, Esme. Otherwise the guardians down there will come straight for us. There’s nowhere to hide until dark.”

For once, neither one argued with me and that scared me more than anything else.