Kaede huddled against the warm and solid form at her back and tried not to remember the feeling of nothingness beneath her feet. She’d come a hair’s breadth from plunging downward, with nothing to break her fall but the metal floor stories below.
Mari’s arms tightened around Kaede’s body and pulled her closer. “Where is Hakusan?” she whispered, the flimsy words withering away to be lost in the dark void.
“Wherever we left it,” Kaede replied, finding her body relaxing into the warmth surrounding her. Mari had a musky scent, and Kaede let it fill her lungs and her head with an almost drowsy contentment.
“Where we left it?” Mari asked. Kaede felt the vibration of the words against her back.
“No one can move Hakusan but us. We left it against the wall of the cavern somewhere. We have to fi
