The journey back to the Ashen Market was a tense, silent flight. Sarah clung to Edward's arm. Her knuckles were white. She said nothing. Her mind was a whirlwind of terror. A strange, profound sense of surreal displacement.
One moment she was a student. A civilian. A normal girl. The next, a fugitive. Led through the dark, secret arteries of the city by a trio of legendary, terrifying figures from the underworld.
They finally reached the hidden portal. A shimmering, distorted patch of air in a forgotten, subterranean cistern. Edward led her through.
The world changed. The cold, damp air of the sewers was replaced by the warm, spicy, and faintly dangerous atmosphere of the Ashen Market.
The effect of Sarah's arrival was immediate. Profound.
