Chapter 11 The Onyx Gates

• The trek east tested every scrap of endurance Bobby possessed. Each day blurred into the next, demanding more—mud caked her boots, thorns tore her sleeves, and hunger hollowed her belly. Rory and Donna trudged beside her, silent but steadfast. They traveled mostly at night, hiding during daylight hours in abandoned dens or thickets dense enough to conceal their scent.
• Doubt circled in Bobby’s mind, relentless. 'What if he doesn’t want her? What if he’s nothing like she hoped?' The necklace grew heavier with each mile, a promise, a burden.
• On the twelfth night, Rory signaled for silence. "There." He pointed ahead, where the trees thinned and the ground sloped upward. Through the branches, torchlight flickered. Stone walls loomed, black and imposing, crowned with iron spikes. Towers rose above the forest, their windows glowing gold in the dusk. "The Onyx Fortress."