by T. A. White
In the center of the room was a circle of inlaid stones with a sphere floating above it. There were channels and grooves on the floor, and on the sphere. Tate glanced up. The ceiling echoed the channels and grooves below.
Each tunnel, even the one they’d just exited, looked like an inky blot of darkness. Tate held her artifact up. Its light did nothing to penetrate the black.
“It’s hard to believe, but yes.” Gabriella looked around in wonder. “I’ve never seen anything like this. If we die, it may just have been worth it. The tale of this will certainly put a stick in the Academy’s craw. They won’t believe us.”
“Was this the trap?” Tate asked.
“I don’t know. We triggered something, but I’ve never heard of this being the result. I’ve heard of the green light before. It usually causes severe burns to its victims.”
“How are you feeling?” Tate asked Dewdrop.
He held out his arms and turned, letting her see his entire body. “Burn free so far.”
“Let’s keep it that way, shall we?”
Tate took a step forward and was brought to a halt when Gabriella grabbed her arm. “Wait. We don’t know what else waits here.”
“We can’t go back,” Tate said. “The only way is forward and to do that we need to explore.”
The most interesting thing in the hexagon shaped room was the sphere floating in the middle of it. Tate had a feeling any traps would originate from there. That also meant it was probably their best bet in getting out of here.
She stepped closer to it, stopping at the deep groove that circled the sphere. A network of mini grooves ran in jagged lines from the edge of the circle to connect to another small circle directly under the sphere. She stepped over it, making sure not to step on one of the mini grooves and held her breath.
“You’re kind of crazy, you know that?” Gabriella said.
“Oh yes,” Dewdrop responded. “We are well aware, but it’s the kind of crazy that usually works out in the end.”
“And you follow her willingly?”
“I’d take her crazy over the self-interest and self-involvement of others every time.”
Tate ignored the discussion behind her, examining the sphere. She couldn’t figure out how it was just floating in space with nothing to support its weight. It should have been impossible.
Ilith shifted around her neck. Tate’s hand was suddenly on the sphere.
“What are you doing?” Gabriella sounded out of sorts and like she really wanted to tackle Tate to keep her from doing anything else.
It was a good question. One Tate didn’t have the answer to.
“Ilith, what was that?” Tate muttered under her breath.
The dragon’s tail thrashed but didn’t respond otherwise.
“You’re going to get us killed,” Tate hissed as softly as she could. She didn’t need Gabriella asking who she was talking to.
The sphere’s grooves lit up, blue running in a line, radiating away from where Tate’s hand was placed. Tate tried to take her hand back, hoping that would stop the light show. Her hand didn’t budge.
The grooves in the floor lit up. First the ones touching the circle before cascading into the rest of the floor.
Tate looked up. The ceiling was doing the same thing. Only every time the blue filled a circle, the circle began rotating. The next would rotate counter to the first.
“Maybe you should take your hand off the sphere,” Dewdrop said, staring up at the ceiling.
“I’m trying. It’s not working.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have touched it to begin with,” Gabriella growled, sounding like a pissed off wolf.
“Thank you. I never would have figured that out without your help.”
The entire sphere was lit up now, every groove glowing with that blue light. Tate’s artifact pulsed in her hand, those same lines glowing with a white hot intensity.
Above the sphere, a globe of translucent blue appeared, rotating to mirror the spinning movement of the lines above. In the middle of the circle, white lines appeared. They were stacked on top of each other. White squares were randomly interspersed. A white dot pulsed in the middle of the globe.
“It’s a map,” Tate said.
“It just looks like a bunch of lines to me.” Gabriella tilted her head as if that would help her see what Tate was seeing.
It did on first glance look like lines. Maybe a design of some unknown nature. Tate’s memory for spatial features was pretty good. If she thought of the pulsing dot as their current location, she could see the three tunnels branching away from her. One of those tunnels led back to a square that rested just beneath another square. That could definitely be the chamber they’d just come from.
She touched the dot, trying to trace one of the lines back to a familiar part of the tunnels. Everything looped in on itself, making it indecipherable even with a map. The globe pulsed and zoomed in on that dot, blowing it and the surrounding area up.
“Whoa, how did you do that?”
Tate shrugged.
Gabriella touched the blue and yelped, yanking her hand back. The smell of burned flesh filled the air.
“Whatever this is, it’s coded to you,” she said, cradling her injured hand against her chest. Her voice was tight with pain.
“I think you’re right.”
“It will make an interesting case study if we survive. Even if you call a Savior ancestor, it’s still rare for a descendant to be able to bond with any of the ancient’s workings.” Gabriella’s smile was a touch wry. “I’d be careful around the Academics. They’ll put you to work waking up all of their old finds. You might find yourself spending the rest of your life in tunnels very like these.”
That was a cheery thought.
Tate planned to stay out of tunnels if possible from now on. Two was enough for her.
A scream echoed down the tunnel behind Dewdrop. They all turned to glance behind them.
“It might be pertinent to find the path out faster rather than slower,” Dewdrop said.
“I agree.” Tate turned back to the map, touching it to tighten focus or look at it from afar. “I can’t find the way back to where we started, but I think this way might lead to the ocean.”
All they needed to do was get above ground. They could walk to the nearest civilization from there.
“Which path?” Gabriella asked.
Tate studied it for a second longer. “That one, I think.”
She pointed to the one on the right.
“Good enough for me.” Gabriella headed in that direction, stepping carefully despite the sounds getting closer.
The sphere shut down, but stayed lit, Tate’s hand coming unstuck. She stared at the hand for a moment.
“Let’s go.” Dewdrop grabbed her arm and hurried her to where Gabriella was disappearing into the dark.
He went through the arch, Tate steps behind. The little boy of before appeared in front of her seconds before she crossed the arch. She couldn’t stop in time, stepping right through him as if he was a ghost. Chills raced up and down her spine.
I know who you are, a small voice hissed into her mind. I know what you are.
Tate landed on the other side of the arch and turned. Nothing but tunnel stretched behind her.
“Tate, are you coming?” Dewdrop asked from several steps away. Gabriella waited on the other side of him, watching her with a questioning gaze.
“Yeah. I’m coming.” Tate’s eyes searched the tunnel behind them before she turned and gave him a shaky smile. “Just wanted to make sure we weren’t being followed.”
He looked like he only half believed her. “Let’s go. Gabriella says she smells saltwater.”
She nodded. Dewdrop and Gabriella began making their way down the tunnel. Tate glance behind one last time before turning and following them.
Chapter Sixteen
Tate’s stomach was rumbling by the time the tunnel walls turned into rough rock and the passageway opened out on shallow salt water pudd
les. Time had lost all meaning below ground. Judging by her hunger, it was close to dinner.
Water marks above their heads made it clear that this tunnel entrance was under water during high tide. The need to be out of the tunnels by then made the three of them move faster. Tate sloshed through knee high water and tried not to think of the sea creatures that made their home in the shallows. She just hoped nothing poisonous or hungry got hold of her.
“I think this is it,” Gabriella said, her movements becoming quicker. In her haste, she stepped into a deeper portion and ended up in water up to her chest. She used her arms to wade through until she found shallower water.
She was right, the sky stretched over an ocean that reached to the horizon. Waves made it difficult to walk as they waded out of the tunnel.
Tate tripped over an object in the water, made invisible by the harsh shadows. She fell forward and caught herself on the wall.
“Are you alright?” Dewdrop asked from a few feet in front of her. He turned back and sloshed to her side.
“I’m fine. I just tripped over something.” Tate crouched down and lifted a wooden barrel. It was heavy and took a good bit of strength to force it all the way out of the water. Once she had, she saw why. A chain with an anchor was attached to the bottom of it.
Dewdrop and Tate looked at each other over the barrel.
“Looks like we aren’t the only ones to have discovered this cave,” Dewdrop said.
“I guess not.”
“What do you think is inside?”
“Let’s find out.” Tate pried open the lid, keeping the top out of the water as best she could. They peered inside.
“Bones?”
“And artifacts it looks like.” Tate drew a cylinder out. It looked bronze but had etchings all along the top.
“What would these be doing here?” Dewdrop asked the question they were both thinking.
“Are you two coming?” Gabriella called from the mouth of the cave.
“We’d better go,” Tate said, looking past Dewdrop to where Gabriella waited. “Let’s keep this find to ourselves for now.”
Dewdrop nodded and helped her replace the lid. She let the barrel sink until it was just barely above the water. She fished around at her feet. Rough stone met her fingers and she pulled coming up with a small pebble. On the wall next to them she made a straight line followed by two slashes. Hopefully the owners of the barrel wouldn’t notice her scribbles. It was the only way she could think to make sure she could find her way back to this exact spot.
Task complete, they sloshed their way to where Gabriella waited impatiently at the mouth of the cave.
The tide was out but they still had to move carefully through the water as they mirrored the coastline until they could wade to shore.
Tate collapsed onto the rocky shore, exhausted. Dewdrop fell onto the ground beside her. Only Gabriella remained standing, observing the land behind them.
“We’re probably a few miles north and east of the site. It shouldn’t take us more than a few hours to work our way back,” Gabriella told them.
Tate groaned. She was already tired.
“Can’t we rest for a few minutes?” Dewdrop asked on his back, one arm slung over his eyes.
The sun was steadily sinking on the horizon behind them. It would be dark before they found their way back to camp.
“Not unless you want to spend the night out here. We’re losing daylight. We need to make time while we can still see.”
Tate struggled to her feet and helped Dewdrop do the same.
“Do all Silva have your endurance?” Tate asked. She wanted to know so she could plan not to have them with her on her next mad scramble through dangerous terrain.
“We are known for having superior physical abilities over most humans and Kairi.”
Figured.
“However, I am considered one of the best specimens of physical ability in my own kind.”
“That’s just lovely,” Dewdrop said, sounding like he felt anything but. “We’re stuck on the journey from hell with someone who never gets tired. What’s next?”
“You know you’re not supposed to ask that,” Tate told him. “Now, we’re going to encounter something odd and probably deadly on our way back, and it’ll be all your fault.”
*
Despite Tate’s prediction they managed to avoid any more surprises on the way back to camp. It helped that they had Gabriella with them, who had an uncanny knack for finding the easiest way through the swamp.
They straggled into the Academic’s camp a few hours after dark. The light from Tate’s artifact worked just as well above ground as it had below.
Tate’s arm was one throbbing mass of pain by the time they reached the tents that were lit up with enough light to make it seem like the middle of day. The number of people had doubled since they’d been away.
All Tate wanted was to find a nice horizontal space to lay down. Her stomach rumbled. Maybe food, too.
“Halt,” a Silva man stepped from around a tree, a bow with arrow cocked pointing directly at them.
“Bane, watch where you point that thing. Otherwise I might need to teach you manners for your Ayer,” Gabriella said, arching one eyebrow.
Unlike Tate, who felt like she’d been dragged through the mud for about a hundred miles, Gabriella looked as fresh as she had when they’d gone into the tunnels. In her element. Cool and unconcerned, with every graceful movement hinting at a wildness just below the surface. Out here, away from the city, Tate could see that the trappings of civilization were just that. Trappings. This was where Gabriella and the rest of the Silva were most at home.
“Gabriella, you’re alive.” The man looked like he was seeing the ghost of his ancestors. More to the point, the arrow never wavered from them.
“Why wouldn’t I be? And Bane, drop the arrow or I’ll do it for you. Or do you not remember what happened the last time you pointed a weapon at me.”
The man finally pointed the bow and arrow at the ground. He looked no less dumbstruck at their presence. “Because the Academic’s assistant and the mediator said you fell afoul of one of the traps and were yanked out of existence.”
“And you believed them?” Gabriella placed her hands on her hips.
“They had convincing evidence.”
“As you can see, we’re all alive,” Tate said stepping forward. “Perhaps we can get food and rest instead of standing here talking.”
She wanted to ask why he was roaming the periphery of the camp with weapons and threatening physical force to those who ventured near but decided that could wait until she’d had food and sleep, and had talked to Jost.
Bane shared a glance with Gabriella. One full of meaning that Tate was too tired to try to decipher. “Of course, Witness. This way, please. Lord Dampier has not been himself since your disappearance.”
It took Tate a moment to figure out who he meant by Lord Dampier. She’d forgotten that was the title Jost had set up as his cover.
They were led to a tent that hadn’t been there when they’d come through earlier in the day. Many of the tents looked new. To accommodate the new arrivals? Why hadn’t they just gone back to the city?
The white canvas of the tent was rolled entirely up on one side leaving it open to the breeze. A mesh net kept bugs from eating the people inside alive.
“Mediator, your witness has returned,” Bane said.
Jost raised his head from where he was going over a set of papers on a table. He looked tired, his eyes bloodshot and his face worn.
“Tate.” His eyes held hers for a long moment.
Danny, whose back had been to them, whirled to face her. He crossed the room in large strides and swept Tate up into a bone crushing hug. “I can’t believe it. We thought you were dead.”
“Easy there, friend.” Tate pulled back and patted him on his wide shoulders. “As you can see, news of my painful demise was greatly exaggerated.”
“Not for lack of trying, though.”
Dewdrop’s voice was tart. “Is that water?” He indicated the glass and carafe at Jost’s arm.
“Whiskey.”
“Close enough.” Dewdrop grabbed the glass and gulped down the liquid, coughing as it slid down. He poured another glass. “That burns.”
Jost took the glass from him before he could gulp that down. “This is too fine a vintage to be guzzling. I’ll call for some water to be brought in.”
“And food?” Tate asked, feeling hopeful. The grumbling in her stomach had long since turned into an empty hole that was eating her insides.
“And food.” Jost gestured at someone outside the tent.
Dewdrop helped himself to a seat, Tate not far behind. Gabriella stood at the entrance, looking unsure of what to do with herself.
“Please sit.” Jost gestured at a seat across from Tate. “I’m interested in what you all have to say about your adventure.”
Gabriella took a seat.
“What happened while we were gone?” Tate asked.
“You mean after the Academic assistant declared all of you dead?” Danny said, folding his arms across his chest.
“Dead?” That was new.
“Yes, dead. All three of you disappeared in that blue light.”
“So you automatically jumped to the assumption that we were dead?” That seemed a little presumptuous.
Jost nodded. “Josef said this has happened before. That it’s a common trap that leaves nothing of the person behind. Just turns you into stone before obliterating any physical proof that you were ever there.”
Tate made a hmph sound. In a way, she could see how it would seem like the light had destroyed them. Especially if you never saw any sign of the person again, which given the complexity of the tunnels was a possibility.
“They may need to revise that assessment. The light just transported us somewhere. It didn’t harm us at all.” Tate left out the part where Gabriella and Dewdrop had been frozen in place for a good long while. She also made sure her sleeves were down to cover the silver tattoo around her wrist that she had picked up in the chamber. “After that we simply had to find our way out of the tunnel system and then back to camp.”
She didn’t bother presenting her theory that they weren’t transported but rather called out of the time and place where Jost and Josef were. There was no way to prove it, and she’d rather not start this story off sounding crazy.