by Linsey Hall
“It’s not meant to be easy, or anyone could be a Dragon God.”
Suddenly I felt like a little kid. “Okay. I’ll figure it out.”
“See that you do. And soon.” She disappeared, her form blinking out in an instant.
When her magical energy left the air, I sagged. Fates, she created a tense atmosphere.
My stomach grumbled, reminding me of my second goal. Sulis’s answer might have been dissatisfying, but breakfast wouldn’t be. I left the circle, cutting across the lawn as the winter wind whipped through my hair. The huge castle doors swung open as I neared, and I stepped into the warmth of the entry hall as my sisters and Lachlan entered from the other side, sandwiches and cups in hand.
“Brought you breakfast.” Bree held out a sandwich and cup.
I took them gratefully, biting into the egg and bacon sandwich with gratitude. I chewed and swallowed. “Hans is the best.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Rowan polished off her sandwich, then turned to the library. “Hopefully Florian can help us figure out what Labirinto di Orvieto is.”
I ate my sandwich as we walked down the silent hall. Too silent. “It really feels like everyone is missing.”
“It’s horrible,” Bree said. “Ali and Haris have gone to report to Jude. Hopefully she has more info about what’s going on. Maybe one of the other teams figured something out.”
I hoped so. But we were such a small group now that what were the odds? It might be up to us and whatever this Labirinto di Orvieto place was.
I polished off the last of my sandwich and coffee as I stepped into the library. The ceiling soared high above, and the book spines gleamed in the firelight. The colorful paintings that were hung on the shelves—some right over the books—gave it an inviting feel. The fireplaces burst to life upon our entrance, and the Pugs of Destruction looked up from their bed by the hearth.
“Hey, guys,” Bree said.
Mayhem yipped, her little wings fluttering.
“Florian!” I called.
As usual, the ghostly wailing came first. Florian really liked to make an entrance. Normally, I’d fake being afraid. And I did my best this time, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was too worried for my friends. Too angry at the Fates. It didn’t sound like Florian was into it, either. His wails ended early, and when he entered, his face was downcast. Even his fancy eighteenth century attire looked unkempt, the ruffles at his throat in disarray.
“I just can’t get up the energy for the usual stuff,” he said. “I feel so helpless here, with everyone gone and me unable to go out on reconnaissance.”
“I understand,” I said. “But we have a way you can help, now.”
His face brightened, and he gave a little jump that unsettled his tall, curly wig, sending it an inch to the left. “Really?”
“Really. We need to know what—and where—Labirinto di Orvieto is,” Rowan said.
Interest lighted in his eyes. He tapped his chest. “Sounds Italian. Central Italy, perhaps. It’s ringing a bell.” He turned and drifted off toward a shelf in the corner. “Come, come.”
We followed him, going toward a section that I’d never entered before. Normally, we went to the ghost library, which was located behind this one and accessed through a secret door. “We’re staying in the main library?”
“For now.” He bent low and pulled a big, leather-bound book off the shelf. The cover was a deep burnished red that gleamed in the light of the fire. He set it on the table and began to flip through it.
As he searched, I turned toward the shelf behind me, something drawing me there. A small old book sat at the far edge. I stared at it, something buzzing in my mind.
As if in a trance, I reached for the book. It was so old that I feared it would fall apart, but the binding stayed secure as I picked it up. Florian and the pugs took good care of the library, so even the most ancient books were in good condition.
Through a haze, I could hear my friends talking behind me. But all my attention was on the book. I opened it to a random page in the middle. An illustration of a black bird covered the entire right page.
Battle Crow, it read across the top.
Something in my chest lit up. I recognized this. Or felt something for it, at least.
“Ana!” Bree shouted.
I startled out of my haze, looking up at her. “What?”
“We’ve found them.”
“Oh.” I shut the book, shaking myself out of my trance as I put it back on the shelf and joined my friends.
They pointed to a page in another ancient book.
“Labirinto di Orvieto is a series of underground passages in the city of Orvieto,” Florian said. “It’s hill city in Italy that is riddled with a series of caves beneath the houses.”
“It’s a city under a city,” Bree said. “Like The Vaults here in Edinburgh, but much bigger. And it dates back before the Romans.”
“Wow. So we think the Fates’ headquarters might be there?” I asked.
“It’s reasonable to think,” Lachlan said. “The hill cities are incredibly secure. They’re more like cities on top of plateaus, surrounded on all sides by cliffs. Many are accessed by a single bridge, making invasion nearly impossible.”
“Do the Fates own the whole city?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t have thought so, no,” Florian said. “Someone would have noticed that. Though I could be wrong. You must get to the city above ground before you can go to the underground portion. But there is a complex process for entrance the city. There is no bridge. The only access is through a portal that is guarded. You must apply for entrance and be approved.”
“By the Fates?”
“Or someone who works for them, I think,” he said. “Though they’ve managed to keep their presence there a secret from most, the entry process has always struck me as strange. I thought it might be a crime family who owned the city and implemented that rule, but perhaps it was them instead.”
“They’re kind of a crime family,” Rowan said.
I couldn’t agree more. “Surely there has to be a way to sneak in?”
We didn’t have the time to go through the approval process, and it wasn’t likely we’d be approved even if we tried.
“We need to figure out if there is another access point,” Lachlan said. “Do we have any record of what the city looks like?”
Florian leaned against the bookshelf, his brows creased. “Roughly five hundred years ago, during the height of early cartography, the Protectorate sent out a number of map makers. They may have recorded the city.”
Five hundred years ago was a while, but it wasn’t like the architecture in those ancient cities changed much. The Etruscan caves under the city were over two thousand years old, so five hundred years was nothing.
“Let’s look at them,” Lachlan said.
“I’ll be right back.” Florian bustled away.
“Do you think this is it?” I asked.
“It’s our only hope right now,” Bree said.
I had to agree on that.
A few moments later, Florian returned with some ancient-looking, rolled-up parchments. He spread them carefully out on a gleaming wooden table, and we leaned over to study them.
After a moment, Rowan pointed. “Look at that. Is it a well to an underground river?”
I grinned. “I think it is.”
I studied the image, which was a side profile of the city sitting on the plateau. In the middle, there was an incredibly deep well that plunged hundreds of feet down to a river that ran under the city.
“It looks like the river comes up from underground beneath the city and flows out through the side of the plateau,” Florian said. “At the halfway point, the well accesses it and draws the water into the city. It’s called the Well of San Patricio.”
Bree leaned over the drawing, squinting. “The well looks really wide. And like maybe there is a spiral staircase all the way around it.”
“That’s our entry point.” I grinned a
t my friends. “We’ve found our way in.”
10
Under the cover of darkness, we climbed into the small wooden boat that floated on the river in central Italy. The rest of the Protectorate was still out hunting other clues, so it was just Bree, Rowan, Lachlan, and myself. Bree’s boyfriend, Cade, was still looking for clues given by a seer, though I was starting to doubt that anything would turn up from that.
We’d waited until nightfall, wanting the safety of the dark. We’d also needed time to get a small boat and find the river.
Once we were ready, Lachlan had created a portal, and we’d dragged the boat through, then launched it on the river that came from the town in the distance. Orvieto towered overhead, an ancient-looking city crouched on the plateau that rose high over the land.
The boat wobbled as I stepped in and found a spot on the little bench next to Rowan in the front. Bree sat in the back, with Lachlan in the middle. He picked up the oars and began to row. The vessel cut silently through the water. As we neared, Bree’s magic swelled on the air.
“Time to disappear,” she said. Her illusion magic cloaked us, turning us invisible as we rowed upstream toward the city.
Tension tightened my muscles. There would be guards—there had to be.
We neared the cliff face, and I caught sight of two demons standing by the gate where the river entered the plateau. They had dark gray skin and pale white horns. Their eyes were equally white, with no pupils to speak of, and they stared into the darkness.
I felt Rowan’s hand grip my thigh, and it was easy to read the signal. She’d take the one on her side while I’d take the one on mine. Silently, I drew a dagger from the ether, then hurled it at the demon closest to me.
The blade sank into his neck, and he reached up, gurgling. It did no good, however, and he collapsed. The other demon had just opened his mouth to shout when Rowan’s steel cut off his voice. He keeled over with a thud.
“Nice,” Bree muttered.
Lachlan rowed up to the entrance, letting the boat drift right up to the metal gate that plunged into the water and blocked our way.
“Trade me, Ana.” His quiet voice drifted toward me, and I took the oars, letting him take my spot at the bow of the boat. It was a bit awkward since Bree’s invisibility illusion made it so we couldn’t see each other, but we didn’t capsize, at least.
As I rowed to keep us pressed up against the gate, I could imagine Lachlan leaning out of the bow of the boat to touch the metal and melt it with his magic.
When the gate began to glow red-hot, the water began to steam. Would lookouts be able to see the steam rising off the river?
My muscles tightened as I waited, keeping us in place with slow strokes.
Finally, the gate was hot enough that it melted, sagging into the water.
“I’ve got it.” Lachlan took the oars from me, his hands replacing mine on the shafts.
Once we were in the tunnel, Bree dropped the illusion.
“Hopefully that’s the hard part,” she said.
“Somehow, I doubt it.” The river flowed through a natural tunnel that was about twenty feet wide and ten feet tall. It smelled dark and wet, and worse—dangerous.
“The magic is strong down here,” Bree said.
I shivered, not liking the prickling sensation. The oars swooshed through the river as Lachlan rowed, cutting through the water.
In the distance, something splashed.
I twisted to look at Rowan. “Suspicious?”
“Maybe.” She squinted into the dark and whispered, “What do you see, Bree?”
“Just gloom.”
There was hardly any light down here, but I hesitated to ignite my lightstone ring just in case there was someone there. I didn’t want to lead them right to us.
Then the water splashed again.
It sounded like some kind of sea creature splashing at the surface.
Please be a fish.
Quickly, I drew my sword from the ether and leaned forward, straining my eyes.
Bree gasped. “Attack!”
A second later, I saw them, racing toward us through the gloom. Five women mounted on sea monsters. The women had weeds for hair and pale green skin, and their weapons were impressive pikes made of bone. Their monsters looked like giant sea snakes with spikes all over them.
“They’re guards.” I stood, lunging for the one who approached my side of the bow.
Up close, she smelled of seaweed. She hissed, revealing long white fangs that matched those of the serpent she rode. Her green eyes blazed into mine as she brought her mount right up alongside the boat and swung her blade.
I met her thrust, my blade clanging with hers. The force of it shook my arm, and she was fast, swinging again from the other side. I sliced and parried, evenly matched.
All around, my friends fought the guards. But more were coming, a mix of men and women. We’d be overrun soon. Fear tasted coppery on my tongue. Desperate, I lunged for her, plunging my blade into her chest.
She stiffened, her eyes going wide. Dark magic rolled out from her, making my hair stand on end.
I kicked her in the shoulder, dislodging her from my blade and sending her falling into the water.
Three more guards were approaching, each riding a sea monster.
They had an advantage, and I wanted it. Without hesitating, I jumped onto the serpent who was beginning to swim away from the boat. Cold water soaked into my boots as I grabbed the reins. The beast hissed and thrashed.
Instead of yanking the reins, I reached for the creature with the new earth power that I had been experiencing. The one that had allowed me to feel what was happening in the land around me.
It worked with animals, too, it seemed. And the sea serpent was pissed.
I pushed a sense of calm toward the monster, willing him to relax. He stopped thrashing and waited.
“Thanks, fella.” I nudged him in the side with my heels, and he plowed through the water, aiming straight for the other guards.
Their eyes widened when they saw me, shock turning their faces pale.
“I like how you think!” Bree shouted.
I heard a splash and had to assume that she was jumping onto her own sea monster. But I was too busy with the oncoming attackers. There were three of them, crowding around me.
I swung my blade toward the nearest one, slicing the steel across her throat. Blood sprayed, hitting me in the face. I gagged, turning my attention to another guard.
Before I could attack, her blade sliced out and swiped me across the shoulder. Pain sang through me, a sharp ache. I ignored it, lunging toward her and sinking my blade into her chest. Quickly, I yanked it out and moved my mount away from hers.
Lachlan appeared at my side, riding a serpent that was even bigger than mine. It had horns and three eyes, each a different brilliant shade of green. He swung his blade toward an oncoming guard, decapitating him in one fell swoop.
“I tried freezing time around these guards.” Lachlan dunked his blade in the water to wash the blood off. “But it didn’t work. I think something blocked it.”
“Maybe the Fates’ magic,” I said. “Their power is over past, present, and future, so maybe they have that ability.”
“Aye, makes sense.”
It was a shame we couldn’t use that gift of his while we were here, though. It was perfect for sneaking into places.
Behind me, splashes indicated another fight. I turned, catching sight of Bree and Rowan finishing off the last two guards, burly men with short weedy hair and green skin. As they fought, I dipped my hand into the river and washed the blood from my face, then inspected the thin slice at my shoulder. It was superficial, thank fates.
When the last of the guards were floating to the bottom of the river, I grinned. “Well, this was cool.”
“I quite like our new friends.” Bree petted hers on the neck. “Feisty, but I like them.”
“They only settled down once they saw Ana’s serpent grow calm,” Bree sa
id. “I think you’re riding their leader, Ana.”
The serpent turned around and looked at me with one big green eye.
“Is that the case?” I asked it.
The serpent didn’t nod or say anything, but I figured she was right. Our boat was already drifting away with the current. We could chase it, but I had a better idea.
“Will you take us to the bottom of the Well of San Patricio?” I asked. “When we’re done, you can free.”
Again, the serpent didn’t respond, but it moved its flippers and pushed us through the water, heading upstream toward our destination.
“I think that’s a yes,” Bree said.
“Aye,” Lachlan said.
My serpent led the way, and the others followed. Even the ones who’d lost their riders. They were herd animals, it appeared, and I was riding the boss.
The water rushed by my legs, cold and fresh. As we traveled, the tunnel grew smaller and darker, the water deeper and faster.
Lachlan pulled his mount up beside mine. “This was smart. If there are any more creatures underwater, they’ll recognize our mounts and perhaps leave us alone.”
I tapped my skull. “Always thinking up the good plans.”
“And you just wanted to ride a sea serpent.” Rowan laughed.
I pointed to her. “Okay, true on that one. Don’t want to admit it, but true.”
Soon, the magic in the air thickened.
“We may be getting close,” Lachlan murmured.
“As we approach, I’ll hide us with an illusion,” Bree said.
“I’ll muffle sound,” Lachlan said. “We can talk to each other as long as we’re close, and they shouldn’t be able to hear.”
Stealth. I preferred that plan. “Let’s do it.”
After another hundred yards, light began to glow from up ahead. Lachlan’s magic swelled briefly on the air. A few moments later, I lost sight of my friends.
Bree had made us invisible.
My heart thundered as we approached the light, which made the water glow green right beneath it. I slowed my mount, who I called Nessie in my head, and drifted slowly toward the bottom of the well shaft.
I tilted my head back. Above, the shaft of the well rose hundreds of feet toward the sky above, built of strong stone blocks. It was nighttime and dark out, but bright torches lined the wall all the way up through the shaft. The shaft was punctuated by hundreds of windows, and through them, I could spot the stairs that wound in a spiral all the way up to the top, twisting around the outside of the well shaft.