Even below the ground, they could feel the heat growing as the sun neared rising. No one wanted to move in the terrible heat, stretched out as flat as they could go against the rock, sweating their way into dozing as they waited for the day to pass.
Unsurprisingly, Neddryn found he couldn't sleep. Uneasy thoughts of Althrasia and the Shadow’s corruption kept intruding in his mind.
He had been so sure he had heard the Cappy’s voice during his argument with the squire, Shamlan urging him not to give up his faith while Sparrow had been questioning hers so vehemently. Hearing voices — especially voices of those taken by the Shadow — was a sure sign the Shadow was taking over inside him, and Neddryn was struggling not to let that fear overwhelm him. They already had enough problems as it was without him having a nervous breakdown...or flipping out entirely and going rogue like his old captain had.
It wasn’t just the fear over losing his mind that ate at him, though. Some part of him wanted to hear the voice of his old friend, desperately even, as Neddryn’s memories of him and everything else slowly trickled away like sand into the black hole the Shadow had made in his mind. The tighter he held onto the memories, the faster they seemed to fade, but that small burst of happiness when he could hold on enough to recall —
The thought slipped away.
With an effort, Neddryn turned his mind back to the biggest problem facing them. Explaining to the squire what he wanted to do had been simple enough, but a lot less simple was actually doing it. How did one contact a god, even in His own home Sphere?
