Spirit of the Towers

by Jamie A. Waters

  Sergei moved to stand on the other side of her and rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand. She looked up at him, and he murmured, “It will be fine, Valechka. You won’t allow anything bad to happen to them.”

  She frowned. “Are you still reading my thoughts?”

  He grinned. “Mmhmm. I’m rather enjoying it too. It will be even more interesting to see how you respond when I take you to bed. Perhaps we can even try some sensory deprivation to see how well you can direct me.”

  Valentina blinked at him. That definitely had some interesting and intriguing possibilities.

  Yuri moved along the edge toward them. “Now that Sergei’s distracted you from whatever you’re worried about, it looks like we’re ready to try this.”

  She narrowed her eyes, but Sergei chuckled and kissed her nose. “It would have worked longer if Yuri hadn’t pointed it out. I shall have to distract you more thoroughly later. It looks like Kayla has returned.”

  Valentina turned to see Carl helping Kayla back onto the ledge. Kayla issued some instructions to the team on the surface, and the cables she’d connected to the elevator grew taut.

  “Stop,” Kayla ordered. “Okay, hold them there. Hook up a few more power supplies to it. We’ll let you know when the elevator’s in position so you can try to raise it.”

  Everyone turned toward Valentina, waiting expectantly. Valentina swallowed and pulled off her gloves, shoving them into her pocket. She’d need direct contact with the figurine to make this work. “Go ahead, Ariana. You too, Kayla.”

  Ariana nodded and moved forward, placing her hand on the dragon. Kayla pulled off her gloves and did the same. The strange sort of awareness filled Valentina once again, and she felt their powers flow into her. Focusing on the statue, she gathered their collective powers and infused it with her own brand of elemental energy before directing it into the stone dragon.

  The hair on Valentina’s neck lifted, and she stared in wonder at the statuette, which was now glowing with that unearthly golden light. All her senses were amplified as power poured into her. She could feel the rock ledge beneath her feet, the sharp tang of ozone in the air, the molten fire deep within the earth’s surface, and most especially the dense moisture of the surrounding air. Even further beyond that, she could sense a rush of elemental power in what she assumed was the river. It called to her, beckoning her to hasten, and she hesitated.

  A sense of impatience filled her. It startled her for a moment because it wasn’t her emotion, but it belonged to someone else. Valentina wasn’t sure how she was picking it up, but she was confident it wasn’t coming from any of her bondmates. Maybe she was tapping into Ariana’s ability to read emotions and it was originating from the people within the elevator. But either way, it brought her attention back to their purpose.

  Valentina took a steadying breath and exhaled slowly, focusing her thoughts on the elevator. Reaching out with the energy of all the elements, she directed the figurine to begin loosening the rocks around the elevator. They began crumbling away, falling into the depths below. The elevator lurched, and Nikolai squeezed her shoulder.

  “Hold it steady, Valya,” he ordered. “We can’t allow the elevator to swing back and hit the wall on this side of the chasm.”

  She nodded, immediately recognizing the wisdom of his words. Concentrating again, she used the air energy threads to weave a protective band around the elevator. It was tight enough to hold the elevator in place but still allow the people trapped within it to breathe. With another part of herself, she reached out, pulling more of the rocks away with earth energy. There was a metallic groan as the elevator shifted and swung slightly out into the open area.

  A wave of relief surged through Valentina, but she still didn’t release the energy. If anything went wrong, she needed to tap into it quickly. “Kayla, tell them to start pulling it up.”

  Without removing her hand from the dragon, Kayla spoke into her headset. A moment later, the elevator began lifting into the air. Valentina watched it, holding it steady with their combined power. When it was almost to the top, she gradually loosened her grasp on it and knew the cables were holding it.

  “Okay,” Kayla said a few minutes later with a relieved sigh. “It’s on the surface. They’re prying open the doors to unload everyone. Once they’re out, they’ll send the elevator back down to rescue the next group. We don’t have communication with them yet, but we’re now picking up their vital signs. They’re showing signs of stress, but they’re all still alive.”

  Carl spoke into his headset and said, “It sounds like they’ve located more cabling devices too. They can bring us up soon. Veridian and Jinx are setting up the equipment.”

  “Good.” Valentina slowly released the energy she’d been focusing through the dragon figurine. With everyone safe, some of the urgency was beginning to lessen.

  “It was here,” Nikolai murmured.

  Yuri’s brow furrowed. “What was?”

  “My premonition. I didn’t recognize the location immediately, but everything fits. When I felt Valya’s fear and sense of urgency just a few minutes ago, I knew this was it. This was the spot from my vision.”

  “That was days ago. You don’t usually see events so far into the future,” Sergei said with a frown. “Have your abilities increased?”

  Valentina glanced over at Ariana and Kayla, recalling the dream she’d had after they’d used the figurine the first time. Both women had been present, but she didn’t remember much else. The dragon statuette flared brightly, and she winced, immediately averting her eyes.

  The ledge they were standing on began to tremble and shake. It collapsed a moment later, and Valentina plunged downward into the darkness below.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Valentina screamed, sliding along the rocky outcropping. Rocks bit into her hands as she tried to grab anything to stop her rapid descent. The ground continued to shake, pebbles and rocks falling along with her until she landed on a hard surface.

  Everyone rolled to an abrupt stop. Ariana winced, breathing heavily, and said, “I’m keeping the ground steady, but I don’t know how long I can hold it. I need to form a stable ledge so we don’t keep sliding.”

  The dragon figurine had disappeared when they fell. Valentina couldn’t even help her by using it to enhance her power. She looked over to find Sergei and Nikolai beside her. Sergei appeared relatively unharmed, but Nikolai’s arm was covered with blood. The anchor bolt cable they’d use when Kayla crossed the chasm was wrapped around Nikolai’s arm, cutting into it. Yuri was bleeding profusely from a gash on his head. Everyone else was alive and conscious, but they were all sporting some injuries.

  Valentina felt Ariana tapping into her power. A moment later, the ground trembled and rose beneath them, lifting to form a rocky ledge. Valentina rolled over and crawled to Nikolai while motioning for Sergei to check on Yuri. If she didn’t take care of Nikolai now, he might lose his arm.

  Reaching into the pack at her waist, she withdrew a small multipurpose tool and started to cut the cable wrapped around his arm. The wound was deep, slicing through muscles and tendons but stopping before it had cut through the bone. Nikolai winced, and she placed her hand over his arm and directed her healing energy into him. His arm began to knit back together, and Nikolai placed his hand on hers.

  “Thank you, Valya,” he murmured, his expression growing more relaxed as the pain dissipated. “The rest is minor. Check on Yuri.”

  She nodded and crawled toward Yuri, catching sight of Ariana checking on everyone too. With the two of them being the only healers, they had their work cut out for them.

  Sergei moved aside so she could sit next to Yuri. A deep gash stretched across his forehead and had just barely missed his eye. He’d been lucky, but she needed to stop the bleeding. She lifted her hand and pressed it against his forehead, ignoring the pain in her palms from her own injuries. She couldn’t heal herself, but she could help the people she loved.

  Yuri grimaced and opene
d his mouth to object, but she gave him a stern look. “Keep your mouth shut, Yuri. Don’t fight me on this.”

  His mouth twisted into a smirk. “If you want to keep me pretty, go ahead, Valya.”

  Valentina smiled and focused on his injury, using her energy to repair his wounds. The wound immediately began to weave together, and she intuitively knew it hadn’t been serious. Head injuries always bled so much.

  Bending down, she pressed a light kiss against Yuri’s cheek. “All better, and you’re still pretty.”

  Yuri sat up, and she turned around to assess everyone else. Alec had helped Ariana to her feet, and Kayla and Carl were looking over the edge. Brant and Lars were also unharmed and trying to figure out where they were in relation to the drop-down point. Valentina pulled off her harness and tossed the useless piece of equipment on the ground.

  Kayla tapped on her earpiece and swore. “We’re cut off temporarily. The earthquake must have knocked out our communication equipment again. It looks like we’re on our own until they get it back up and running.”

  Carl was still looking over the edge. “I think we’re farther down than the level where you found the underground river, Kayla.”

  Kayla nodded. “Yeah. We haven’t done as much exploration down here.”

  Valentina blew out a breath. At least they weren’t in any immediate danger, but that wasn’t a guarantee if another earthquake hit. It also wasn’t very reassuring that Carl and Kayla didn’t know this area well.

  Sergei reached over and carefully lifted Valentina’s hand, frowning at the blood covering it. Their rapid descent had cut open her palms and taken off a few layers of skin. One of the cuts was a little deeper than she’d initially thought, but it wasn’t as bad as it looked. But that didn’t seem to matter to Sergei.

  Valentina smiled at his concern. “It’s not so bad, Seryozha. I’ve had worse bumps and scrapes. The most important thing is that we’re all alive and relatively unharmed.”

  “I don’t like seeing you injured,” he said, lifting her other hand and cradling it gently while he assessed the damage. “You’re still bleeding.”

  Ariana turned toward her. “Allow me to heal you, Valentina.”

  She shook her head. “It’s minor. The bleeding’s almost stopped, and it’s helping to wash out some of the grit. Let’s get to safety first, and then you can. I’d rather you keep your energy reserve in case something happens again. The dragon figurine is gone, so we can’t merge our abilities. I dropped it when we fell.”

  “I see it glowing,” Kayla said, peering over the edge. “It’s not too far. We should be able to climb down to retrieve the dragon pretty easily. It looks like it’s on a more stable level anyway.”

  Valentina walked over to the edge. Kayla was right. She could make out the gold glow sitting in a pile of rubble. It was a good drop, but they might be able to make it without too much trouble.

  “I can form a ramp,” Ariana suggested. “Or we can try to use our air abilities to lower ourselves down.”

  Nikolai frowned. “I can help you with the ramp. It’s been a long time since I attempted such a thing, but I should be able to do it.”

  Ariana nodded and offered Nikolai her hand. “We can form a connection and combine some of our energy to create it. Kayla, if you’ll link with me too, your power will come in handy. We won’t be able to use as much compared to what the dragon statue can handle, but every little bit will help.”

  Valentina watched as they clasped hands, and the ground trembled. It was different from the earthquake, lesser somehow, and a moment later, another rock formation lifted in front of them. It elongated itself, stretching outward and sloping downward, forming a rocky path to the ground below them.

  Alec put his hand on Ariana’s shoulder. “Take what you need, love. You’re trying to do too much and depleting your reserves.”

  Ariana put her hand over his. “Thank you. That helps. Nikolai’s much stronger than I realized. He and Kayla did most of the heavy lifting that time, but you’re right. I’ll need to rest soon.”

  Valentina reached outward, surrounding Nikolai with her power. He walked over to her and kissed her forehead. “Thank you, Valya, but I’m afraid Ariana directed most of it. We’re fortunate to have such a skilled energy user as a teacher.”

  Ariana beamed a smile at Nikolai. “You’ve been an excellent student.” She darted a quick look over at Kayla and teased, “One of these days, maybe Kayla will let me pin her down so I can finish teaching her.”

  Kayla snorted and moved forward, walking down the rocky path. “If I had known how much Sergei and everyone was going to show me up with this training stuff, I would have handled our first few meetings a little differently.”

  Sergei chuckled. “If you had approached your training with more discipline, it’s doubtful we would have been able to kidnap you in the first place.”

  “Damn, that’s a good point,” Kayla admitted. “You didn’t get me just once either. That’s twice I could have kicked your asses.”

  Carl followed Kayla, moving carefully down the path. “You know, Kayla, these abilities have a lot more potential than I realized. If Ariana’s willing to show you how to create something like this path, think about how much scavenging you could accomplish in the ruins.”

  Kayla made a small noise of agreement. “I think you’re right. If these earthquakes keep happening, installing ramps into and out of our work areas would prevent a lot of accidents and downtime.”

  “Aha,” Ariana said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “I may get you into a training session after all.”

  “It’s about time,” Alec muttered.

  Kayla huffed. “I’m starting to think you’re all conspiring against me.”

  Valentina smiled and followed them down the path with Sergei right behind her. A low rumble reached her ears, and she lifted her head. “What is that?”

  “The river,” Kayla said, still navigating the path. “We’re closer than I thought. Either that or this is another branch of the river.”

  “Hopefully, it’s not the same branch that flooded the cavern,” Brant said from behind her.

  Kayla glanced at him over her shoulder. “What’s the matter, Brant? Can’t swim?”

  “With my luck, you’ll push me in,” he grumbled.

  Kayla laughed and hopped off the path, prowling around the area to investigate. Carl followed close behind her, speaking too softly for Valentina to hear what he was saying.

  Valentina stepped off the path and glanced around. This area appeared to be part of a cave with a solid, rocky ground beneath their feet. At least they didn’t have to worry about another ledge collapsing. An earthquake or the flooding river was most likely their biggest concern now.

  Walking over to the glowing figurine where it lay in the rubble, she bent down to pick it up and brushed off the dirt. “It doesn’t appear to be damaged.”

  She felt Sergei approach from behind, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She automatically relaxed against him as his heated energy swirled around her. Leaning over her shoulder to look down at the dragon, he said, “It’s lighting up this whole area. I believe it’s even brighter now than it was when you used it on that ledge.”

  Valentina nodded, turning over the figurine in her hands. She didn’t see a scratch on it. It made her wonder what it had been carved from that it could withstand such a fall. Even the delicate wings were still intact.

  “I sense something,” Ariana said, gazing around the cave.

  Alec frowned and approached her. “I feel it through our bond. Could what you’re picking up be more echoes from the past? I believe we’re close to the area where you sensed it before.”

  Ariana shook her head. “No, it’s different. When you last brought me here, I felt something, but I was trying to block it out. Now that we’re bonded, I don’t have to shield quite so much.”

  Lars walked over to them, his gaze sweeping the cavern. “There’s a strange quality to the air. Maybe th
e smell? I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s not quite right. What exactly do you sense, Ariana?”

  “I’m not sure I can put it into words. Emotions have different textures, and this is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s almost impatient, but there’s also curiosity. Those emotions are too simple to describe the complexity of whatever I’m picking up though.”

  Sergei tightened his arms around Valentina. “Do you feel anything, Valechka?”

  She hesitated. “Not exactly. When we were on the ledge and right before it collapsed, I felt impatient. It wasn’t me though. I thought I was picking up on Ariana’s empath ability because we were connected through the figurine. I assumed it was coming from the people in the elevator.”

  “That’s possible,” Ariana admitted. “You could have been using a variation of my energy when I channeled it toward you.”

  Alec closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “I think Lars is right about the air being different. I’m not sure how, but it doesn’t have the same quality on the surface. I don’t think it’s dangerous, but there’s something off about it.”

  Valentina gazed around the cavern, noting the dips and jags in the earthen walls. “Something about this cavern is familiar. I dreamed it.”

  Nikolai cocked his head. “You mentioned having a dream the other day. I know you’ve been practicing your abilities lately. I’m wondering if you’re tapping into my prophetic visions.”

  Alec frowned. “That sounds likely. Was there anything you remember?”

  Valentina shook her head. “Nothing specific. Ariana and Kayla were with me in the dream. It was more just feelings and impressions. But I think we’re supposed to be here.”

  “I hear something,” Yuri said, staring off where the cavern extended into darkness.

  Valentina tilted her head. “The river? I hear the low rumblings from it.”