by Priya Ardis
“But where is it?” Grey asked.
Matt rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know—”
“Don’t strain yourself.” Vane stood up and secured a sword into the golden belt that tied the leather skirt of his uniform. “I know where.”
***
We climbed up a wide staircase to the top level of the palace. Grey tugged at the toga the mermaids had fitted on him for the sacrifice. “Think I can get my wetsuit back?”
I grinned. “You don’t like wearing a skirt?”
“I think it’s cute,” Gia added. She sniffed at Blake. “Better than being smelly for a month.”
“You got a cell to yourself and regular baths, maiden,” Blake said. “The rest of us were packed into one.”
Gia blushed and stuck out her tongue at him.
“I’m so ready to get out of this hellhole,” Grey said.
I agreed. The palace wound this way and that. Vane led us without faltering. We snuck down abandoned corridors. Many were flooded with water. Vane continued to lead us with unerring certainty through the maze of corridors. Finally, we reached the last staircase. We’d gotten from the dungeons to the top floor. The strange echo of music, an aria, floated up from the middle of the palace.
“What is that?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s keeping them busy,” Vane replied. “Hurry.”
Still too weak to walk, Matt rode on top of the bull. The bull picked its way up the staircase with surprising agility.
“Where are we going?” Matt asked.
“The palace is built into the side of a hill,” Vane explained. “There are two frescoes of the red doors we came through. One is in the throne room. That room is too central to have a hidden passageway attached. I happened on the other fresco in a bedchamber—”
“You would,” Matt said.
“The bull will throw you if I ask him,” Vane said mildly.
Matt grimaced. We reached the top floor landing. Rich red tapestries lined the walls. Windowed walls showed off stunning vistas of Aegae. The setting sun sparkled in bright orange, purple, and pink across an endless sky. The wizards took out the few guards that lined the walls soundlessly. We hurried down the slick marble hallway to a central bedchamber.
The outer wall of the palace was partially open to the outside. From my vantage point, I saw what Vane meant about the bedchamber being ideally situated. It was built into the hill, with nothing below it or above it. It looked more like a covered bridge than a bedchamber.
I touched Excalibur, hooked to my side. I still wore my champion uniform, but had stolen a belt off a fallen guard in the dungeons. The gargoyles gripped their swords in front of them, afraid to let them out of their sights.
Vane flung open the gold doors. On the far wall, the wall that abutted the hill, there stood a massive bed with a golden canopy, the grand centerpiece in the room. The crest of the mermaids, the winding snake that Lelex was wearing as an armband, decorated a central beam across the top of the canopy.
“Lelex’s room,” Vane confirmed.
“I don’t see red doors.” Matt slid off the bull. He wobbled, but steadied himself.
I resisted an urge to run over and offer support. I noticed Vane was studying him too.
“The bed is up against the hill. Look closer. I have to find another thing.” Vane crossed to a big armoire and flung it open. An array of weapons hung inside. Vane cursed. “It’s not here.”
“The trident?” Matt asked.
Vane nodded.
“That is because I have it,” Leonidas declared from the door.
We all turned to look behind us. Leonidas stood in the hallway, backed by Theras and a large group of soldiers. I spotted Leonora hiding behind the soldiers. I pulled out Excalibur. The gargoyles raised their swords. The wizards outstretched their hands. Eighteen of us against a hundred of them—our chances were good.
Leonidas looked at Vane with a furious expression. “You have betrayed us most grievously, Vane. For this I shall make your death slow.”
“Get in line,” Matt muttered behind me.
Vane walked over to stand on the frontline of the standoff. He crooked a brow at Leonidas. “Would you like to see what your father has been hiding?” He took the crown out of his pocket and placed it on his head.
“That is not yours,” Theras spat.
Vane commanded, “Kavas.”
The emerald gemstone glowed. The massive bed creaked and started shifting to the right. Several of the wizards who were standing by the bed moved in front of it. Under the bed appeared a set of red doors that were perfectly matched to the size of the bed. Just like the doors we came through, these also had a golden bull carved on top. Vane focused Lelex’s crown at the golden bull. A soft beam of green light shimmered across the bull’s face. The red doors opened up.
A huge whirlpool began to swirl below us.
“What is that?” Leonidas asked.
“A passageway.” Vane took the crown off his head.
Vane glanced at me, then at Matt. It was a signal. Vane twirled the crown around on his fingers, carelessly dangling it over the whirlpool. Surreptitiously, I stepped up to the whirlpool. Matt did the same; then Clarence and the others followed.
Leonidas shouted. “Give me my crown!”
Theras noticed and stood on alert. “Leonidas—”
“If you insist.” Vane tossed the crown at Leonidas and shouted to us, “Now!”
Startled, Leonidas reached out to catch the crown. He dropped the trident. Vane waved a hand and the trident flew to him. Matt jumped into the whirlpool. So did the others.
“Follow them!” Leonidas shouted.
Vane beckoned the white bull. Red magic flowed over the animal. The mermaids advanced. Vane blasted them with a fireball.
“Go!” he shouted to me as he climbed on top of the bull.
I jumped.
Vane blasted the mermaids again before he urged the bull into the water. It was the last thing I saw before my head submerged. Going down the whirlpool reminded me of going down a slide, albeit an underwater one. Luckily, I still had gills. The whirlpool dropped me into a pond. The wizards had lit a few fireballs allowing dim light to flare through the empty cavern. The pond sat on one edge. Black rock like the one we’d seen at the first set of red doors made up the interior.
Matt fished me out of the pond and pulled me up onto the cavern floor. His eyes lingered on my newly healed arm for a second before going to my neck.
“Your gills are gone too,” he said.
I looked at the ring I was wearing and saw it had turned black.
“The whirlpool did something to the charms,” Matt said. “But our natural magic seems to be intact.”
Instinctively, I touched the Dragon’s Eye. The amulet warmed under my touch. I stared into Matt’s eyes. Knock. Knock.
Dark eyes flickered and I knew he heard me.
“The charm is closely tied to me,” he said. He opened his mouth to say something else when a rumble sounded behind us.
Vane and the bull free-fell through the funnel of the whirlpool. The bull emitted a pained groan. Vane floated them up in the air before they landed in the pond below. They glided smoothly onto the cavern floor, slightly more elegant than my dunk into the pond. The gargoyles wandered out into the darkness.
“There is a cavern here, Sire,” one called out to Grey. Grey made a face in response.
Gia came up beside me. “They drew straws to be the sacrifices, but Grey tried to cheat every time so he would draw the short straw—”
“He what?” I exploded.
“He’s becoming their leader, Ryan. And they adore him.”
Grey. A gargoyle leader. Their future king. I absorbed that. Gia watched me with sympathy. It seemed we’d all changed in a mere fifteen days. I wanted to ask Gia how she was, but couldn’t find the words. I put my arm around her shoulder. We leaned together, our heads touching.
“Let’s get going. They will soon be behind us
.” Vane jumped down from the bull.
He led it toward the tunnel. Gia and I followed. One of the wizards lit a fireball and threw it out into the tunnel. The dark passageway extended past the mouth of the cavern.
I stopped cold. “I’ve seen this before.”
A splash came from behind us in the pond. Leonidas’s head popped up from the water.
“Move!” Vane dragged me into the tunnel. Everyone else hurried inside. Vane, Matt, and the other wizards lined up behind us. They blasted the tunnel’s entrance. The tunnel shook as rocks collapsed to block the opening.
“Vicarati,” Matt commanded.
A rainbow of magic fluttered across the rocks before it sank into them and disappeared.
“It won’t hold them,” Vane said. “Leonidas has his father’s crown. They’ll be able to break through.”
“It will delay them,” Matt said.
“Matt, I’ve been in this tunnel before.” I looked around at the jagged rocks. “It’s the one from the snake vision. The one with the Minotaur.”
“Good,” Vane said as he came up beside me.
I demanded, “How could being trapped in the dark with a man-eating beast be good?”
“At least we know we’re in the right place.” Vane took a hold of the bull’s bridle. His eyes met mine.
I thought I saw his eyes flash with green. A shiver of unease went up my spine. I looked at his neck. His gills remained. I touched them. “How?”
“Mermaid magic, remember? Not a spell.” Vane pulled away with a sardonic smile. “Come on, champion, time to show our mettle.”
Clarence and another wizard lit fireballs on their palms and went in front of the bull to lead the way. I waited for the others to walk ahead of us before going to Matt.
“Matt, listen, about the Minotaur and this cave—” I gestured at the cavern. I had to tell him what Excalibur had shown me about Vane.
A fierce light colored Matt’s amber eyes, he caught my arm in a tight angry grip.
What had I done now?
CHAPTER 17 - THE WHITE BULL
CHAPTER 17
THE WHITE BULL
Matt’s eyes fixed on the black veins running just under my skin. “You didn’t need to do this.”
A dim blue fireball floated in the air beside us. It was a reminder of how close he had come to not making it. Usually, Matt’s magic burned so bright, it could blind a person. I glanced down at his hold. His knuckles had turned white from strain. I said simply, “It brought you back.”
He didn’t say anything.
“The arm is fine.” I tried to tug my arm away, but he held it tight.
“Don’t ever do it again,” he spat out. Releasing me, he stalked ahead.
I stared after him. Was it me or did every guy come with a crazy button?
“It’s you,” came the caustic reply.
“You’re welcome,” I shouted at his disappearing back.
To my satisfaction, his shoulders stiffened. He kept walking and with him went the light. It only took a few seconds in the encroaching blackness to convince me to run after him. I went past Matt to the middle of the group. I was going to have to figure out what was going on with Vane myself.
We reached the end of the passageway and emerged into another cavern.
A long narrow stone bridge stretched across a river of murky water. A gold carving of a bull had been gouged into the rock just before the bridge.
“Definitely the right place,” Vane said.
Grey put one foot on the bridge to test it. “It’s steady, but slippery. One wrong step on the slick stone and you’ll be swallowing water. What fun.” Grey took his first step onto the bridge.
“Wait.” Colin stopped him. He picked up a loose rock from the ground and threw it out over the bridge. Gigantic tentacles sprang from both sides of the bridge like snapping jaws. Suction cups lined with sharp spikes on the tentacles caught and crushed the rock with ease.
“Fun,” repeated Blake.
“Wizards! Blast this creature,” Vane ordered.
“Don’t collapse the bridge. We don’t have the energy to float everyone across. Who knows what else might be in the water,” Matt said.
The wizards all lined up. Colin threw another rock toward the bridge. The wizards shouted a spell. A tremendous gust of wind spun out at the creature. A roar filled the chamber and the whole cavern shook. Water lapped over the bridge. The river started rising.
“Great, that worked,” Gia said from beside me.
Grey touched his neck where the gills had been. “We can’t swim.”
“No.” Vane twirled the trident in his hand in contemplation. “We could try Excalibur.”
I took a step forward.
Matt stopped me. “She’s not going in without any forethought. You’ve risked her enough.”
Vane rounded angrily on Matt.
“We’re running out of time,” Clarence interrupted. “We need a glamor. A shield until we cross the bridge.” The older wizard muttered a word and his whole body disappeared.
“Clarence, wait—” said Matt.
“Shhh.” Vane held up a hand to silence him.
Clarence was already on the bridge. I squinted my eyes. A shimmer of dust made its way across the bridge. No one spoke as we held our breaths. The dust reached the end of the bridge. I let my breath out. A roar shook the chamber.
A giant female head on a long, slim neck rose out of a hole at the other end of the bridge. As wide as the bridge itself, its Medusa head had snakes instead of hair squirming out from its follicles. On its face sat one giant eye and a mouth with three rows of teeth.
“A gift from the Gorgons,” Vane muttered.
The creature emitted a shrill, rolling scream.
“Clarence, shut your eyes,” Vane shouted. “Don’t look at it.”
It was too late. The creature smiled. The cloud of shimmering dust in front of it solidified into a solid stone statue in the shape of Clarence. Tentacles flew out of the air and crushed the statue. Beside me, Gia let out a mewling sound of grief. I wanted to do the same.
Vane cursed. “It’s a Medusa. We have to cut off its head.”
“Or it’s a Scylla.” I replied. “We just passed Charybdis.”
“In which case cutting off the head will replace it with two,” Vane completed.
“How do we know which one it is?” Blake asked.
“How do we kill it, in either case?” Colin asked.
The bull snorted beside Vane. It stomped on the golden carving in the rock.
I looked at it. “What is he saying?”
“Hear for yourself.” Vane put his hand on my shoulder and put his other hand on the bull’s bridle.
“I will run across. I am fast. You keep your eyes closed. I will tell you when to strike. Then, I will be champion. I go to the great fields. I was saved for this. It is my time, Sire—“
Vane dropped his hand from my shoulder.
But I’d heard enough. “No.”
“Yes.” Vane jumped on top of the white bull, using one hand. In the other, he carried the trident.
They raced across the bridge. Tentacles rose once again. I watched, my heart in my throat, as the bull jumped through the tentacles with easy grace. They reached the hole just as the creature’s head rose from the water, snakes writhing. The bull jumped over the snakes. It landed on the other side right as the creature’s head fully surfaced. The creature whirled at the same time that the bull did. The monster caught the white bull with its eye. The animal turned to stone. His own still squeezed shut, Vane stabbed the creature’s eye with the trident.
The creature screamed. Vane stabbed it again, one vicious strike that drove deep into the creature’s soft pulp of a cornea. This time, the creature’s wail shook the whole chamber. It gave a great shuddered and fell forward, right on top of Vane.
“Vane!” I cried out.
Opening his eyes, Vane kicked the monster with both feet. Blood colored the water as it sank down into
its murky depths.
“Let’s go,” Matt urged.
Water splashed even higher across the bridge.
“Hold hands,” Matt yelled as he grabbed mine.
Gia held my other hand and we ran across the rapidly disappearing bridge. We reached the hole. Vane stood on the other side with the trident. The creature’s head drifted into the hole. Snakes floated lifelessly in the water.
“Step over it,” Vane commanded.
Matt jumped on the floating head. He crossed.
Next, the creature’s head squished under my feet. Two steps later and I stood on the other side too. As the others followed past the fallen Scylla, I went to the bull. I put my hand on the stone statue. A few wrinkles marred the smooth surface. The transformation had preserved the bull’s scars. I bit my lip. “We never even asked him his name.”
“Mahoksa. Great bull,” Vane answered. He came up beside me.
I faced him. “That was reckless.”
“I am reckless.”
“Why did you take out the eye instead of the head?”
Vane’s lips twisted into a small smile. “Maybe I believed you.”
“You didn’t hesitate at all. You knew the answer. When it screamed, could you understand it?” I frowned at him. “This is beyond your wizard abilities—to understand a rare creature such as this. You couldn’t possibly understand it unless you had mermaid—”
“I am a mermaid… sort of. Lelex changed me, Ryan. I’ve managed to keep myself intact, but part of me will always be mermaid. I will always have these.” He touched his gills. “I thought you understood that.” His pupils flared green. “Does that disgust you?”
“Of course not.” It worries me.
The mermaids were savages and Vane already had aggressive tendencies.
“Good.” His pupils returned to normal and he turned back to the bull. “We should put the creature to rest.” He raised his hand at the bull statue. “Antyakriya atasa.”
A sharp wind surrounded the bull. It whittled into the stone statue and ground it into fine dust. Vane blew into the air and the dust scattered, landing in the water.
It was a quiet group that went into the rough doorway beyond the bridge. Beyond it, we emerged onto another ledge. This time, there was no river. We stood on a cliff and below us lay the biggest maze I’d ever seen.