The Sapphire Manticore (The Lost Ancients Book 4)

by Marie Andreas

  “That’s the spell. It will cast light for us, but for no one else. You and I are spelled into it right now. If someone else were to meet us down here they wouldn’t see anything at all. Not the glows, their light, or us.”

  Since I was pretty sure that Padraig wasn’t going to stop and teach me this spell while we walked, I gestured around us. “Where is this path? It’s growing a lot damper down here.”

  “We’re almost down there, it’s actually a waterway modeled after one that was in our homeland—one built by the Ancients. My people had begun exploring the aqueducts when the Breaking began and we had to fight for our lives.”

  I was a little torn at his words. I’d seen the Ancient aqueducts he spoke of. In fact, I’d actually gone tumbling down one in an Ancient sarcophagus a few months ago. Seeing a newer version could be interesting to say the least. But my parents had died in a boating incident. One I had no memory of, but I didn’t need the memory for the terror to be real.

  “I really don’t like boats.” I could tell Padraig about my trip in the waterways under the ruins in Beccia later. Right now I needed to not get on a boat.

  “You’ll love these though. Small, very safe, harmless.” Padraig wasn’t watching me, but looking for something on the wall. We kept moving forward, then I noticed there was only wall, we’d come to a dead end.

  “It has to be around here somewhere. I know it is.”

  “Padraig, I really, really don’t like boats. Not small ones, big ones, none of them.” I was glad for the dead end as it meant I was kept away from the boat for a bit longer. However, if someone was chasing us, more importantly, me, and trying to kill, me, I really didn’t want to be trapped in a dead end at the bottom of a very long staircase.

  At this point, even though Padraig said no one could see us under this weird glow, I felt as if the glow was screaming, ‘they’re down here! Come shoot!’

  “You’ll be fine…here it is.” He pushed a series of rocks embedded in the wall—there was no way I could duplicate any of these patterns—and a three-foot wide section of wall pulled back.

  “Did you guys build all of these secret places when this was created? Or add them as the years went on?” I touched the stones as we went by, such great work, the halves fit perfectly when closed.

  Padraig’s soft laugh echoed from the cavern he’d stepped into. One I was still holding back on entering.

  “Half and half. The Breaking left an already suspicious people even more so, so some were built when the buildings were set up—like this, for instance. Others have been added as paranoia grew.” I couldn’t see him. The weird glow was staying above me, but he sounded like he was moving away.

  “You might want to step in quickly, that door will shut in a few seconds.”

  Boats versus being lost in this place with people trying to kill me. What a choice. I bolted through the doorway, the orange glow zipping in as well, and the door pulled shut.

  “Wasn’t that cutting things a bit close?” The doorway behind me had changed to solid wall. I wouldn’t be able to get back out this way without Padraig, but he’d almost gotten me trapped out there.

  “I told it not to shut until you crossed through, there was no danger.” He stuck his head around from the side walkway he’d gone to. “Except for you taking too long. It would be nice to get to your friends by tonight.”

  “Thanks.” I started to add more but I got a vicious poke in my back. Then another. “The faeries are awake.” I heard Bunky buzzing at them, but the kicking continued. “And we’re not going to get them to settle down.”

  Padraig’s sigh was so loud they probably heard him upstairs in the main chamber. He’d been fascinated by the faeries, but he clearly could also see the difficulties they could cause.

  “We should get away from the main entrance.” He motioned for me to follow him. Just from the sound I could tell he was nearer to the water.

  The tunnel was good sized, not as massive as the Ancient aqueduct I’d gone tumbling through, but still very high. Padraig raised his hand up. The weird orange glow bounced high in the air, showing off way more than I really needed to see.

  I had no idea how deep it was, but the water running through the tunnel was at least twenty feet across. The ceiling was probably closer to thirty—very similar to the Ancient ones from my recall. And there were three small, flat boats sitting there looking ready to cause our doom.

  Logically, I knew sailing, boating, whatever, was probably fine. And it wasn’t the boat’s fault my parents went out during bad weather.

  Nevertheless, right now I was seriously reconsidering running upstairs and taking my chances. Except that I had no way to get that secret door open.

  A few more kicks into my back brought me out of my terror for the moment. How such tiny feet could inflict so much pain I would never know.

  The pack was big but hadn’t been that heavy. Most likely some sort of spell was on it. I set it down on the driest spot I could find on a damp rock bench and undid the knot. Bunky almost hit me as he flew out. He might have agreed to travel in there, but he clearly wasn’t a fan. Followed, to my surprise, by the faeries. Flying.

  “You’re better!” I held out my hand and Crusty Bucket sat on it and wiggled her wings.

  “He fix us.”

  Garbage and Leaf flew to Padraig and started flying in circles around him.

  “How did you do that?” I petted Crusty a few times, and then she flew off to join the dance around Padraig.

  “I assure you, I have no idea.” He watched them with a bit of wonder. “I still hadn’t figured out why they couldn’t fly.”

  “Give us magic drink, all better,” Garbage said, and then finally noticed her surroundings. “Where be?”

  I rubbed my forehead. Trying to figure out faery physiology was almost as bad as figuring out their brains. “So, poisoned nectar, that could have killed a person about a million times bigger than you guys, cured your weird non-flying issue?”

  Leaf flew up and stretched. “Guess so.” She shrugged to the others, “What poison?”

  Padraig looked as confused, concerned, and perplexed as I felt. “I would love to know how that worked as well, but we don’t really have time for that. I’m not sure how much information Lorcan will be able to get to Alric when he gets him free, but it would be best if we get to Lady Qianru’s house before he does. Unless you really want all of your friends believing you are dead.”

  I hadn’t thought about that, nor was it good. “Lorcan might not be able to get him to leave, not if he thought there was a need to avenge me.” I would need Padraig’s help if I was going to sneak back into the castle.

  Padraig’s eyes went a little wider, and then his crooked smile showed itself. “I thought so. Alric talked about you a lot when he came back with the gargoyle but insisted it was a professional interest. I thought otherwise.”

  If we weren’t about to get into something out of my nightmare, I would have asked him some serious questions about that. What had Alric said about me? His visit back would have been right after the gargoyle incident. He would have thought he’d never see me again, since his people originally thought there was only one dangerous relic out there.

  I so needed to corner Padraig when our lives weren’t in danger and find out what was said.

  He took off his pack and put it aside, then started pulling one of the boats close. There was a light current in the tunnel, or it seemed to be light. The way the tied-up boats pulled told me it might not be so light. Besides, to me, anything deeper than a bathtub had too strong of a current.

  “Alric will be fine. Lorcan’s biggest issue is going to be to get Alric out without seeming like he is. Plus, we don’t want anyone else to overhear you’re not dead, that’s why he may be limited in what he is able to tell him.”

  Padraig had been looking at me while he pulled on the rope. Bunky and the faeries had been flying around the cavern above us, chittering in native faery too fast for anyone else to hear.
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  I was the only one facing the sea monster as it rose out of the water.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “What is that?” I forgot all about us trying to be relatively quiet. Hopefully the double walls of rocks behind us would block my scream.

  The faeries and Bunky dove down, the girls yipping and waving their war blades. Bunky buzzed menacingly above them. Padraig whirled, his spirit blade appearing in his hand and moving like an extension of his arm.

  I screamed again, softer this time, when my own blade decided to make an appearance and showed up in my hand. At least it wasn’t on the ground this time, but still, the damn thing really needed to warn me.

  The monster wasn’t as huge as it seemed, or so I told myself. It had no eyes that I could see but massive dark sensory orb things where its eyes would be. The thing looked like it had been rolling in a pile of seaweed. It took me a second to realize that was part of it.

  “Stand back! It’s a sea witch. Not bright, but very aggressive.” Padraig stood near the water, one hand upraised with his sword, the other one was held out like a claw—most likely he had a nasty spell at the ready.

  The creature hissed. I don’t think it liked being called stupid. Nevertheless, it seemed to be focusing on the faeries and Bunky more than us. They were staying out of its reach after their initial diving session, but the creature followed their movement.

  “Is it supposed to be here in this tunnel? Doesn’t seem like a great place to put it.”

  “It’s not supposed to be anywhere—they are extinct.”

  Another hiss from the creature and a longer study of Padraig. Its movements toward Padraig were far more aggressive than toward the girls and Bunky.

  “I really think it understands you.” Even though I was pretty sure I had my magic, and my sword had made sure I had it whether I wanted it or not, I had no idea what to do.

  The faeries started diving again, then pulled up short, and yelled for Bunky to do the same. They buzzed around, looking very confused as the sea witch seemed to be using its appendages to get them to move aside. When that didn’t work, it shot a waterspout at them. Crusty got hit but Bunky caught her before she could fall too far and they all moved further away.

  “Okay, is this how they are supposed to act?” The thing before us looked like it was as confused as we were. It was also shrinking. I moved a bit closer to see what it really was when it shot me with a waterspout and knocked me into the corner. I was okay, just dazed.

  Therefore, I missed seeing the attack, but I heard it. An inarticulate roar, that came from somewhere nearby in the tunnel. I did get to see Padraig be knocked off his feet as a shape, all in black, slammed into him.

  “I know it’s your fault. You let one of those damn creatures out and it killed her.” I’d heard Alric yell before, but never like this. I shifted myself to get up but the waterspout had been strong enough to wedge my foot behind the stone bench.

  “I didn’t hurt you, or kill your wife. But you won’t listen—”

  “Alric! I’m alive! Stop beating him up.” Judging from the grunts, Padraig wasn’t fighting back, and Alric wasn’t holding back.

  I could make out both elves now. Alric was soaking wet, shoving his sopping hair back to look into the darkness where I was stuck. He had Padraig by the collar and shook him. “If this is a trick.”

  “It’s not a trick. It’s me—that monster thingy pushed me back here and I’m stuck. Padraig was helping me escape.”

  Alric was at my side before I even finished. I was hoping he’d first free my foot—it was stuck awkwardly—but he instead looked at me, grabbed my face and kissed me with more passion than I’d ever felt. Okay, that was better than freeing the foot first.

  I was enjoying the kiss when the stench hit me. Gagging is not good for a kiss, no matter how passionate, so I broke off and fell back against the rock bench.

  “Oh my gods, what is that smell?” I looked past Alric to the sea witch just in time to see it shrink to about the size of Bunky and flop on one of the boats. “Is it that thing?” I took a sniff. Nope, it was much closer.

  Alric looked embarrassed and stood back. “Sorry, it’s me. Lorcan’s plan to get me out only partially worked. Unfortunately, the secret passage he got me to collapsed and dumped me into this muck. That water is vile.” He darted forward, quickly helped me get my foot free from the bench, and then stepped back a few feet away.

  Padraig had held back during our display but moved now. He was rubbing his left shoulder, and his limp was a bit more pronounced. He went to the boat where the former sea witch was working its way across.

  “A sea slug? A disguise spell on a sea slug. You used my own spell against me?” He dropped his head and his shoulders started shaking. “You bastard.”

  Then he lifted his head. I’d been afraid he was upset but the shaking was because of laughter.

  Alric started laughing too. “It was the only thing I could think of to distract you until I could get to you. I didn’t want you to get on a boat.” He waved up at the faeries and Bunky. “Sorry, you all. I tried to get you out of the way.”

  They all started to dive down to greet him, but then pulled up about three feet away. Bunky sounded seriously distressed as he circled over Alric’s head. One of his favorite games was to slam into Alric. However, apparently even a construct could smell him at this point.

  “Lorcan got a note to me that Padraig was in the tunnels, but the message was torn and most of it was gone.” He looked back to Padraig. “The way he wrote that you were down here, and mentioned the shadow monster, made me think you were behind it. I am sorry.”

  Padraig shook his head and held up his hands—his sword had vanished again. Pretty sure it took off right when Alric appeared. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I am sorry we couldn’t let you know she was fine.”

  The stench started hitting me harder. Yup, passionate kissing involved lots of body contact. Normally a good thing, but not so much when the person you were kissing smelled like a swamp on a hot summer day. My clothes stunk.

  “It’s great that we’re all friends. But we can’t go on the run smelling like this. Seriously, even Bunky won’t come near us.”

  The girls all nodded emphatically from some cleaner airspace above us.

  “Look in the bottom of your pack, Lorcan was packing a lot of clothing in there.” Padraig shrugged. “He doesn’t have true foresight vision, but he gets inklings as he calls them.”

  I opened the pack and started setting out clothes. Enough for the three of us to change a few times—I really hoped that was meant for the road and not some other event that was going to destroy clothes.

  Most of them were varying shades of black, dark gray, and dark blue. I think he was packing for us to be sneaking. Which, if we ever got out of this tunnel—and its nasty water—we would be doing.

  I pulled out a tunic and pants that looked like my size. There was only one pair of boots at the bottom, and I assumed they were Alric’s size. Padraig and I just needed to change clothes but Alric had been completely dunked in the stuff.

  Padraig led us to a waterspout, hidden around the corner from the bench. It had a spigot, so the assumption was that folks traveling these secret pathways often needed to rinse off. That didn’t help me not wanting to even get on these damn boats, let alone have to travel any distance in them.

  He bowed. “Ladies first.” Then he and Alric moved out of sight. It didn’t take long to peel off my clothes, rinse off as best I could, and change. It didn’t hurt that the water was ice cold. I finished adjusting the belt to find Garbage giving me a thoughtful look.

  “Need move.” She scowled and nodded her head. “All too slow.” I didn’t like the way she was eyeing the top of my head. I was not going to have her try to race me again.

  “Your friend Bunky says we need to move faster. Are you decent?” Padraig said from around the corner, which made Garbage nod.

  “Wait, you can understand him?” He was my litt
le construct, but I couldn’t touch him nor understand him. I came out from behind the wall. “I left my dead clothing back there. How can you understand him?”

  Alric had actually been closer to the makeshift shower than Padraig, so he nodded as I passed and went to go de-swamp himself.

  “I’m not sure, nor do I know why, but he and your faeries seem to want us to move faster.”

  “All yours.” Alric stepped out from behind the wall looking wet, but his usual sexy self. He also didn’t smell, which was a major plus. “There is something going on outside of the castle. I didn’t get a chance to find out what, but they doubled the guards.”

  “That’s not good.” Padraig came out looking much better. When his good side was to you, he looked like the other elves, but then he moved and you saw all the damage. I was getting used to it though.

  The ground shook at that moment, enough to have icky tunnel water slosh dangerously close to coming over the edge.

  “Now. Now!” Garbage flew down, landed on my head, and started pulling my hair in the direction of the boats. “Now! Go!”

  I reached up and grabbed her. The faeries had a bad habit collectively of building, well, bad habits. This was one I didn’t want them adding to their repertoire.

  “She’s right,” Alric said as he looked down the left tunnel. His sword had appeared. I knew he and Padraig had way more control over their swords than I did. However, it still was a bad sign.

  It was made worse a second later when my sword joined the group. Maybe it just felt left out.

  Padraig ran to the boat he had been pulling forward before Alric’s monster showed up. Luckily it wasn’t the boat said monster was currently sitting on. The little thing bore no resemblance to the sea witch Alric’s spell had put on it, but it still wasn’t something I wanted to ride with.

  Alric was right next to Padraig and held his hand out. Garbage had burst free of my hand and was now tugging on my hair without the standing on my head part.