Have Artifact, Will Travel (The Immortality Curse Book 5)

by Peter Glenn

  This was it. This was the moment of truth. Shadow Jaguar grabbed for the ball. I let him get his hands all the way around it, then he took off like normal.

  I eyed the distance for a second, making some quick measurements, then I grabbed Grax’thor and let her fly. She sailed through the air as I ran after her in her wake.

  My blade smacked right into the rubber ball, flinging it out of Shadow Jaguar’s hands. The demon looked back at me with what appeared to be a frown on its face, but I paid it no heed.

  I burst forward, scooping up the ball and turning back around as quick as thought. This was my last shot at this, I could sense it.

  That dark warning presence came for me again when I was still quite a ways from the hoop. There was nothing for it. I’d have to risk a distance throw.

  My feet finally gave way as I felt dark, sinister arms grabbing at them, and I let the ball go, throwing it with all my might toward the hoop.

  Both Shadow Jaguar and I watched the ball fly through the air as if in a trance. Miraculously, it flew true, and a second later, it made its way through the hoop, securing me another point.

  The dark presence surrounding my feet gave way instantly. I scrambled back up to a standing position. In the distance, the spectral scoreboard disappeared, a glowing green five on its screen the last thing that was visible.

  I faced Shadow Jaguar just in time to see it fading to nothing in front of my eyes. It had a slight grin on its face as it disappeared, like it was honoring me for a game well played. I gave the creature a salute, lingering on it for just a moment more than was maybe proper—it had been a worthy opponent—then turned my attention back to Allie, and Isaiah.

  “Now what do we do?”

  As if in response, the ground started to shake once more. I had to concentrate to keep from falling on my face again. Stone creaked against stone, and I watched in amazement as a large doorway appeared in the far wall of the ball court where the spectral scoreboard had once been.

  The shaking stopped a moment later, and I was left staring at a gaping entrance to what I presumed to be a massive basement that ran under the field.

  “Now the fun part starts,” Allie said.

  8

  “The fun part?” I scrunched my nose and frowned at Allie. “What do you mean the fun part?”

  Allie laughed. “The real trials, silly.”

  Oh, of course. The real trials. Like fighting for my life against a shadow demon wasn’t enough for one afternoon. Of course there would be more.

  “So what’s next, then?”

  Allie pursed her lips and looked around for a second, then shrugged. “Not sure, really. No one else I know has made it this far.”

  “But people you don’t know have made it this far before?”

  “Probably. I mean, it wasn’t that hard to win a game of Death Ball, was it?”

  I snorted. Not that hard. It hadn’t been her life on the line. “I guess not,” I muttered. Better that she think it was no big deal for me. I’d look better that way.

  “Do we just go into the new tunnel, then, you think?” Isaiah asked. He pointed one bony finger toward the gaping hole in the far wall.

  “It’s as good a plan as any, I suppose.” I faced Allie again. “Any words of encouragement first?”

  Her lips curled upward. “Don’t die?”

  Great. Both of them were sarcastic. I shook my head and started for the new opening.

  It didn’t take long to cross the field. The hole in the wall was framed nicely on each side by a massive stone column, almost like the doorway had always been there instead of only appearing moments before. It looked welcoming in a way, which only chilled my blood all the more. If it looked that welcoming from the outset, there just had to be something sinister down there.

  Allie was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Winning the Death Ball game hadn’t been as easy as she’d made it out to be, but if I were being honest with myself, it was far from impossible.

  Heck, I beat it, and I’m not exactly in tip top shape or anything. So it was highly likely someone else had beaten the game before me. But the Jade Jaguar was still buried down there somewhere, which meant something else had killed them.

  What that was, I was pretty sure I was about to find out.

  As I headed through the archway, I had the distinct impression that I was entering another world. Or dimension, perhaps. It was eerily similar to what I imagined it would feel like walking into the underworld.

  Was that the reason for the rumors that the Jade Jaguar held the key to the underworld? It wasn’t so much a power of the artifact as it was a feature of the pathway to find it? I felt like I was onto something there, but I didn’t give it too much further thought. I still needed to survive long enough to get the darn thing. Then I could see for myself.

  A slightly crumbling staircase led down into the bowels of the earth just beyond the archway. It disappeared into the darkness quickly, leaving me guessing as to how deep the cavern went. It didn’t help that it was also pitch black down there, and I didn’t even see a hint of a torch anywhere in sight.

  Not shocking, really, considering how long this place had lain hidden. Even the best of torches likely would have rotted in three millennia.

  “Hang on a second,” Isaiah said from behind me. “I’ve got this.”

  The mage swirled his fingers in the air and conjured forth two of the little light orbs that he’d used the night prior.

  Allie let out a slight gasp.

  “He’s a mage,” I told her in a patronizing tone. “Didn’t you know that already?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  The welcoming presence of the orbs lit up our immediate surroundings, giving me a slightly better feel for the size of the cavern we’d just entered. And the place was massive. Several feet above us, I could make out the ceiling of the cavern, filled with stalactites of all kinds. Or were they stalagmites? I could never remember which was which. Either way, one of them came down far enough that I could almost touch it.

  The bottom of the staircase was still invisible, but I was now able to detect a curve in the pathway, like it spiraled along some sort of stone column.

  “Well, I guess we go down,” I told my companions.

  They nodded, and we got going. I took the lead—silly me, I know. Why not push Allie into that role? But I figured she’d just hem and haw and come up with some excuse as to why it should be me anyway. She was crazy like that. So I didn’t fight it.

  Besides, I still wasn’t completely keen on living. Or at least, I still wouldn’t have minded something coming along to end everything, even if I was no longer actively seeking it out. Though truth be told, even my malaise was starting to waver. Darn LaLuna and Grace. They could be so lovable sometimes.

  One of Isaiah’s light orbs went ahead of me, floating in the air and matching me step for step. We followed the path down farther than I would have thought humanly possible, making at least one full circle around the spiral before the staircase finally petered out into a small opening in the stone walls.

  Another archway. This one was considerably smaller than the one up top. Barely big enough for me to fit under it without ducking. Isaiah had to duck, actually, since he was taller than me. But the overall construction and design looked similar.

  Beyond the archway lay another spacious cavern. The walls down here were all smooth, even the ceiling, and the air felt much less damp than it had near the entrance. Almost like something had taken away all the moisture that was supposed to be there.

  Honestly, it kind of made my skin crawl. At the very least, it felt kind of itchy and uncomfortable. We’d barely started, and I already wanted nothing to do with this place.

  Let’s just hope the rest of the journey was quick.

  “Can your little light orbs fly ahead of us?” I asked Isaiah. I wanted to get a better feel for what this cavern had in store for us.

  Isaiah nodded. “Should be able to. Here.” He thru
st his arm forward and one of the orbs floated forward several feet, growing brighter as it went along.

  Soon enough, the entire chamber was visible. There was some sort of writing running all along the walls. Likely something in the Olmec dialect, though nothing I recognized. Like I said, I’d done a little studying, but not much.

  A series of tiles ran along the floor not five feet away from where we were standing. Each of the tiles had a distinct marking on it. A letter, or perhaps several letters—it was hard to know which—had been engraved into each of them. The decorative tiles spread across almost the entire room up until about ten feet away from the exit, which stood like a dark, menacing portal on the far end of the space.

  Overall, it was pretty, but also foreboding. I didn’t like it.

  “Any ideas what we’re supposed to do in here?” Isaiah asked.

  I shrugged. “Don’t suppose any of you speak any Olmec, do you? No?” Allie, and Isaiah both shook their heads, but I’d already guessed the answer. Too bad Rick wasn’t here. He probably would have known what it all meant.

  “Well, I’m guessing the inscriptions on the walls tell us what to do, but since we can’t read any of it, we’re just going to have to guess.”

  “Who’s going first, then?” Allie asked.

  “Let me guess, not you?” I fired back at her.

  She held up her hands. “Hey, I’m just a guide. Far too valuable to be lost to a trap like whatever this is.”

  I scoffed. “Oh, and I’m not?” I rolled my eyes as Allie giggled a little.

  Allie gave me a wry smile. “Well, if the shoe fits...”

  I had half a mind to deck her right then and there. Let her fly onto one of those tiles and see what happened. Solve two problems at once.

  “Enough, children,” Isaiah chided both of us. “We can bicker later. Right now, we need to find the path forward.”

  I lowered my head and gave a barely perceptible nod. He was right. I was just stalling anyway. I was the lucky one. If anyone was going to go first, it made the most sense that it would be me. Maybe my luck would save me. Or at the very least, it would keep the others from harm. Either was a good outcome in my book.

  So why was I so hesitant to do anything? Why was my fledgling desire for life suddenly so strong? I glanced down at the pocket of my jeans at the familiar bulge of my phone. Could I maybe send one last text to LaLuna just in case?

  Nah, there was no way it would work all the way down here. I was just stalling.

  I turned my attention back to the tiles. There had to be some sort of pattern to them. Some sort of design for which ones were safe and which weren’t. I just had to figure it out.

  I felt a sudden, strong urge to reach out and trace the patterns with my fingers. But something didn’t feel right about it. I resisted, and the urge grew even stronger.

  Part of the trap, I figured. And yet I’d never heard of a trap that could manipulate your feelings like that. This must be some strange magic.

  Straining against my own desires, I stayed still studying the patterns on the floor with nothing but my eyes. This was like a game now, and I was determined to win. To beat this magic.

  That’s when I saw it. Every fourth row or so, it looked like the pattern on the tiles repeated, just a little bit offset from the previous set. So if I could find the right tiles to step on for the first four rows, theoretically I could make my way across by just copying it all the way down. I just had to pick the right one to start with.

  “Do you have any bright ideas for me, Grax’thor?” I asked my sword.

  The runes on its surface swirled, forming a series of words. Aren’t you dead yet? they read.

  Oh, Grax’thor. You’re dependable as always. Never change, sweetie. Never change.

  I looked at the floor tiles again, trying to think up everything I knew about Olmec civilization. Which, granted, wasn’t much. If only Rick had come with us. He’d know just what to do here. But no, he and Isaiah hadn’t gotten along at all.

  So where to start, then? All I really knew about Olmecs was they were obsessed with ball games and jaguars. Maybe one of those had something to do with the floor tiles, then? I leaned in closer to the nearest tiles, squinting in the low light to examine it more carefully. The urge to touch it came again, almost overwhelming me. But I held fast.

  The pattern looked vaguely… familiar. Was that a small jaguar under the letters on the tile to my left? It had to be.

  Well, there was only one way to know for sure. Either this was going to be my moment of triumph, or it was going to be a really short search.

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, gingerly placing my foot on the tile. My heart was racing so fast I could feel it beating against my ribcage, threatening to break through. I held onto that breath, afraid that something as simple as exhaling could set the whole thing off unintentionally.

  Sweat dripped down from my brow, threatening to overwhelm my vision, but I didn’t even dare wipe it away. Not here. Not now.

  My foot scraped the top of the tile. Nothing happened. My nerves started to ease just a little. I put down a little more weight on the tile. Still nothing happened.

  I let out a long, shaky breath, trying to calm my racing heart, and put the rest of my weight on the tile. It held up just fine.

  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Allie said from behind me.

  Pfft. What did she know? It hadn’t been her life on the line.

  I spun around to face her, putting on the biggest grin I possibly could. “Cakewalk,” I said. “Nothing a man of my intellect couldn’t figure out.”

  “Aww,” Allie said. She came over and patted me on the cheek. “That easy, huh?”

  My face turned beet red, and I reconsidered my stance on punching the lights out of her. But for Isaiah’s sake, I held back.

  Smoothing myself off, I settled for a dirty glare. “There are jaguars on the safe tiles. Stick to those, and we should be able to make our way across the room.”

  “Fantastic work, as always,” Isaiah said. He raised his fist, and I gave it a little bump. At least he appreciated me.

  “Let’s just get going, shall we?”

  Everyone agreed to that plan. I turned around and scanned the next row of tiles, finding the jaguar a little quicker this time. I stepped onto it slowly, and it held as well. Another sigh of relief escaped my lips. It had been just as easy as I’d thought.

  The next several steps were easy, but as we made our way across the room, the gaps between safe tiles got further and apart. I almost had to jump a few times to make it. How had people in the past made it through this? Most of them were shorter than I was. Of course, maybe that had been the idea—no one could get across.

  At one such point, I had to scramble at the last second as my foot slipped and part of it landed on a neighboring tile. A whomping sound filled my ears as a massive stone column fell from the ceiling, crushing that tile under foot and missing me by less than a centimeter.

  My heart practically leapt out of my chest. One second slower, and I would have been a pancake, and I wasn’t even that fond of pancakes.

  But I’d made it out in time.

  I glanced backward at my companions several times. They followed my footsteps exactly, and before too long, we were across the floor and standing at the edge of the archway into the next room.

  This archway was a little bigger than the last and had several figures etched into it. One of them looked like one of the fabled werejaguars. Another looked kind of like a man in a space suit.

  Had Rick been less crazy with the ancient astronaut stuff than I’d thought?

  I shook my head to clear it. He was totally crazy. It must be the strange, dry air, and the stress down here getting to me.

  The next room was vastly different from the one before it. It had a long, stone archway that ran along the course of the space over a deep chasm. The room itself was circular, with small alcoves in four different spots, including the one we were currently standi
ng in.

  Even with Isaiah’s orb shining brightly above us, I couldn’t make out what was in any of the alcoves. I just hoped the one straight across from us was the right one, because I didn’t see any way to get to the other two.

  “It looks a little too safe,” Isaiah said a moment later.

  “Agreed,” I replied. “But I’m not sure where they’d even hide the trap. The pathway looks completely clear.”

  “Just be on your guard,” he told me, patting me on the shoulder.

  “You got it.”

  I took a deep breath and put one foot onto the stone archway. Nothing happened. It stayed perfectly still.

  “Well, that was easy.”

  I stepped forward with my other foot and my whole body lurched as a grating noise filled my ears, and the world around me spun. It was all I could do to get my other foot down onto the archway next to the first one before I was torn from the platform only to fall down into the murk.

  My head felt dizzy, and the stone archway came up to meet me as I lost my balance. I wrapped my hands around the stone and clung on for dear life as it spun around and around in a circle, carrying me with it and far away from my companions.

  So there had been a trap in this room, after all. I just hadn’t been well prepared for it.

  “Mommy!” I squealed, hoping no one could hear me. I was starting to feel sick, and my head was spinning.

  The archway finally came to a stop a few seconds later. It was now perpendicular to how it had started, running between the two alcoves that had originally been on the left and right sides of the room.

  I laid there for a moment, letting my head clear itself and trying to regain full control over my movements. I wanted to throw up so bad, but I didn’t even have that much to lose. Just a quick breakfast consisting of some toast and a few strips of bacon.

  What? The buffet at the hotel had been sorely lacking.

  Besides, that wouldn’t have looked very good in front of Allie, and I still felt like I had to prove I was the better of us somehow. Stupid girl.