by Chant, Zoe
Which was reassuring, in a way. As long as she was useful, they wouldn’t harm her. Probably.
But once they find what they’re after...
It was probably best to worry about that once she’d actually made it to the artifact.
For all she knew, the map was a joke. Maybe there was nothing there. Maybe it was just a particularly difficult level of geocaching. She’d find a little tin box, and there’d be no magic, just a little booklet to sign her name.
Or maybe the magic was real, and whatever she’d find would be powerful enough that she could make her escape.
Worry about it once you get there, she told herself, struggling up a steep mountain path.
First, she had to make it there. She was only useful to them as long as it looked like she knew what she was doing...
Fortunately for her, it seemed like she’d been right about everything she’d worked out.
There had been several symbols on the map that she’d at first thought were code. But in fact, it was much easier than that.
When the steep path ended in what looked like a small ravine with no way out, Chiara stopped and raised her eyes.
The stark mountainside towering above her was intimidating. Not much grew up here except for grass and lichen and the occasional bush.
But there, a little to the right, was a strange protrusion from the wall of rock. Together with a crack that ran through the mountain there, it looked a little like a face with a large nose.
Despite the danger she was in, Chiara smiled.
The nose.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Zane still had the map, but she didn’t need it anymore. She’d stared at it so often and for so long that she could call it up in her mind whenever she needed it.
Old, faded parchment. A twisted path through the mountains.
And a nose right above where the path continues.
“There’s nothing here, boss,” one of the men called out.
Several of them turned around to stare at her from their shadow-tainted eyes. Chiara suppressed a shiver.
Ignoring them, she moved forward.
“It’s right here,” she said, even though she couldn’t see anything. The ravine ended before them, and there was nothing but rock towering above them...
She looked up again, searching for the nose. She was almost beneath it now.
She stepped past the men, continuing down the ravine for a few more steps. Still nothing but rock.
She looked for the nose again. Almost. Three more steps to her right—and she was face to face with the rock. The nose of stone was directly above her.
She frowned. Had she been wrong?
The rock was covered by moss. There wasn’t a single opening in the wall, not even a tiny crack where a clue might be hidden.
Frustrated, she reached out to try and brush the moss out of the way—and her hand went right through it.
A small gasp escaped her.
“Here,” she said, kneeling down to carefully push what had looked like moss to the side. Beneath, there was a small opening.
A moment later, she was pushed away as two of Zane’s men took over. It took them only a few seconds to reveal the opening.
There was a hole in the rock. It wasn’t large enough for a grown man to walk through it—but it was large enough to crawl.
And crawl they did, one after the other.
It was dark inside. Chiara tried not to think about centipedes or spiders. Fortunately she wasn’t the first to go. They probably didn’t trust her enough for that. And as long as it meant that Lou was the first to step on a centipede, she was more than all right with that.
It turned out the tunnel wasn’t long. After less than a minute, the darkness grew lighter. Then, one after the other, they made their exit into yet another mountain valley that didn’t look much different to the one they’d just left.
Only this one wasn’t on any hiking guides. It couldn’t be reached by any paths. This was a part of the mountains that was inaccessible—unless you knew about the secret tunnel, she supposed.
Chiara took a deep breath, straightening and stretching her aching back.
Okay, what’s next? First the nose—then the tree.
It was weird, now that she thought about it. There hadn’t been any trees for a while. She didn’t think trees could grow that high up in the mountains.
Still, the map had been right so far. She had to trust in it. Or at least, she had to look like she knew what she was doing, because she had no doubt that Zane would get rid of her the moment she became useless.
Chapter Six: Jared
Jared had been flying for nearly an hour until he made it to where the dragon must have landed. He could see marks on the ground where claws had dug into the earth, and he could feel that Chiara was somewhere nearby.
There were footprints on the ground as well—several sets of them that his griffin could make out in the light of the morning sun. The shadow dragon hadn’t been alone.
He’d have to be careful. Jared was outnumbered, and he had no powers of his own to use against a dragon.
Still, he had his wings, and he was smart. If he could just find Chiara, they’d somehow make it out of here, no matter what it would take.
Jared shifted back into his human body. The mountain air was clear and cold, so that he felt grateful that like all mythological shifters, his clothes shifted along with him.
He wasn’t exactly wearing hiking gear—but it would suffice. Wings would be more useful up here anyway.
Now he just had to find Chiara...
He followed the trail up a tiny mountain path. Soon, there were no more footprints to make out on the rocky ground—but if they’d taken this path, there wasn’t really any other way to go.
In any case, something inside him still pulled him forward. As fragile as the connection between them was, his heart unfailingly pointed towards Chiara, like a compass of golden light inside his chest. He wouldn’t rest until he’d found her.
The sun had risen in the sky when the path finally came to an end.
It had led him to a small mountain valley—little more than a gorge, with walls of rugged stone rising high on both sides of Jared.
He ventured forward very carefully, but everything was silent. There was no one in the gorge he could see—and there was no way out of the small valley.
Had they taken flight from here?
Jared looked up, scanning the sky. But there was nothing to see above him. There wasn’t even a single bird in the sky. How would he find them if they’d found what they wanted and left?
His heart ached, the way it had done since he’d first seen the shadow surround Chiara’s hotel. The ache hadn’t changed—it was still a pull, something inside him pushing him forward. He needed to get to her before it was too late.
There was nothing in the small valley where a group of men could be hiding, no path leading onward that he could see.
Still, he followed his heart, carefully making his way down the gorge until he’d almost reached the end.
And there, almost hidden by the play of shadow and light on the rocks, he finally saw where they’d gone.
There was an opening in the rock. It was large enough for a man to crawl through, a tunnel leading straight into the mountain. And there were fresh marks, moss hastily shoved aside.
Jared went down onto his knees and began to explore.
Inside, everything was dark. He couldn’t hear any sounds. For all he knew, this was the retreat of a wild animal.
But his heart still urged him forward. The pull was stronger now, and so he followed.
The tunnel wasn’t as long as he’d feared. After a minute had passed, the gloom began to lift, and there was light in the distance. When he made his way out at the other end, he found himself in another mountain valley—and once more, the valley was empty.
Still, this valley was green with grass, and he could see footprints once more. Someone had come through not l
ong ago.
He was still on the right path.
Hurriedly, he followed their trail. Every now and then, he could hear birdsong now. The valley was shaded by the mountains towering all around them, but enough sunlight fell in that here and there, flowers bloomed.
There was a strange calm surrounding him. It felt as if he’d entered a sanctuary, a place where humans didn’t belong. He couldn’t say how he knew, but he didn’t think that anyone had set foot in this place for a long, long time.
That was, until the shadow dragon and his lackeys had decided to disturb the peace of this place...
After he’d walked for twenty minutes, he reached a small brook. The water was clear and ice cold, but he stopped for a moment to drink.
Then something on the other side of the brook caught his attention.
He jumped across it easily, then knelt down.
There.
In a tangle of thistles, a flash of color had gleamed that didn’t belong. It was a thread, he now saw. Carefully, he pulled it free.
The thread was purple. Purple like the shirt Chiara’d worn...
I’m still on the right path.
He clenched his fingers around the thread, taking a deep breath as relief and a new worry rose up inside him.
But what do they want from her? Why not just steal her map?
They probably had no idea what to do with it. It was Chiara who’d figured out where to go.
Which meant that she was useful to them—as long as they hadn’t yet reached the mysterious symbol and what was hidden there.
It has to be another elemental dragon. Someone who probably has no idea what’s going on. Someone who isn’t used to his power yet, and who doesn’t have a mate.
That had to be the shadow dragon’s plan. Find and kill the fifth elemental dragon before anyone else could find him.
But Jared wasn’t going to let that happen. He’d find Chiara. And together, they could warn whatever dragon lived hidden in these mountains.
But first I have to find her...
The trail of footprints kept following the brook, and Jared in turn followed the footprints.
In the distance, he heard the musical tinkle of falling water. The closer he came, the louder it got, until it turned into the roar of a waterfall.
And when he at last made his way around an outcrop of stone, he suddenly found himself face to face with it.
At his feet, a pond spread, the water clear and blue. It was this pond that fed the small brook—and the pond in turn was fed by an impressive waterfall.
Water came tumbling from far above, rushing past rocks. A faint rainbow glistened above him, the tiny droplets of water in the air reflecting the sunlight.
The sight was beautiful—but Jared felt nothing but dread. Once more the path had come to an end, and Chiara was nowhere to be seen.
Where did they go?
The urge forward was even stronger now. But there was nowhere to go—unless he shifted and flew upward, toward the source of the waterfall.
He climbed the rocks that surrounded the pond. A cool mist of water hung in the air. He’d almost decided to shift and explore the rocks above when he saw another telltale gleam on the rocks to his right, leading straight towards the waterfall.
When he made his way over there, he found a small bracelet nestled between the rocks. It was one of the bracelets Chiara had worn—a simple band of leather with a good luck charm strung on it.
Or, knowing Chiara, probably a charm against abduction by aliens.
Jared smiled helplessly as he lifted it up to his eyes, then slipped it onto his own arm.
Should have bought a charm against shadow dragons...
Only he didn’t think that something like that existed. Their enemy was a lot stronger, and a lot more complicated, than whatever human conspiracy theories had been able to come up with.
Still, the charm had worked, in a way. Chiara’d been able to leave him a message.
Only I have no idea what it means...
He studied the rocks before him. He’d originally assumed that the men who’d abducted her would have flown up towards the waterfall... But in that case, there would have been no need for Chiara to balance on these rocks.
The large stones surrounded the pool, overgrown with moss. Now that he took a closer look at them, he could see that feet had passed this way.
Instead of flying up, they’d walked across the rocky rim of the pond—which led straight to where the waterfall came rushing down.
With new determination, Jared made his way along the same slippery path. The roar of the water soon became so loud that he could hear nothing else.
Once or twice, he nearly slipped. There was so much water in the air that it was difficult to balance on the stone, and he could still not see where this path was leading.
Only when he’d taken one final jump towards a ledge right by the side of the waterfall did he see just where their footprints had led him.
There was a narrow path behind the waterfall. It was invisible from the outside—but now that he stood right next to it, he could see that the ledge led behind the veil of water.
Jared took a deep breath, holding on to the string of light inside his heart that told him Chiara was still alive. Then he made his way inside.
Chapter Seven: Chiara
Chiara was gasping for breath when they finally allowed her to rest.
She didn’t know for how long they’d walked. They’d made it to the waterfall noted on her map—and then they’d found the cave hidden behind, just like the map had promised.
And now they were somewhere underground. They couldn’t be far from the maze now.
She felt tears well up in her eyes. She was so close.
She’d been right—for once, she’d been right about everything: about the werewolves, about the scary supernatural world out there, about the map. This should’ve been her reward. The way to get her life back, once she’d triumphantly returned with proof that the media wouldn’t be able to brush off as a lunatic’s crazy conspiracy theories.
Instead, she was a prisoner of the same supernatural forces she’d wanted to expose.
“Hurry up,” Zane said.
One of his lackeys pushed her forward.
Chiara gritted her teeth, but marched on. The men had brought flashlights, but even so she felt cold sweat run down her back when she stared into the dark opening yawning before her.
If they leave me down here without light, I’ll never find my way back out...
“Move,” one of the men barked.
Taking a deep breath, Chiara went forward.
The tunnel she’d entered was just like the other tunnels that had led them down here. But from what she’d learned from the map, they should be very close to the maze now. The entrance had to be somewhere nearby—unless they’d missed a side tunnel in the darkness?
Chiara bit back a curse as the ground suddenly seemed to fall away beneath her. Flailing, she reached out with her arms to hold on to the wall—but it was too late.
The tunnel led steeply down here. A moment later, she landed painfully on her behind. Beneath her, the stone was smooth—smooth enough that in a sudden moment of courage and madness, she remembered her time on the playground as a child.
The tunnel was as smooth as glass. It felt exactly like a slide.
Gritting her teeth, she released her hold on the tunnel’s wall.
And then she began to slide down, slow at first, then faster and faster.
Triumph filled her, even though she had no idea what she was doing or where she was going. But she was going so fast now that it was impossible for them to keep up with her—and right now, that was all that mattered.
It was exactly like going down a huge water slide.
Only there was no water here, and everything was dark. Somewhere behind her, she could still hear the angry cries of her captors.
But right now, for all that she was sliding into the unknown, she was free again.
When she finally came to a stop, her limbs were trembling. She’d half feared that she’d end up smashing right into a rock or falling into an abyss.
Instead, the ground had leveled again—and her eyes had grown used to the darkness.
At least that was what she thought before she realized that somewhere in front of her, the gloom was lifting.
It was still impossible to make out more than the faint shape of rocks around her, but there was definitely a small light at the end of the tunnel.
Maybe I’ve made it out of the mountain...
Or maybe she’d found the entrance to the maze that had been marked on the map.
Hurriedly, she forced her aching body up before her enemies caught up with her, then made her way toward the light as quickly as she dared.
The further she walked, the brighter the light grew.
She was still inside a tunnel that felt unnaturally smooth beneath her feet. But now that there was light, she could see that it wasn’t the dark rock she’d been used to.
Instead, she was walking through a tunnel made of crystal.
The light glinted and gleamed all around her now. The view was beautiful, so much so that it nearly took her breath away.
No matter where she looked, the crystal reflected the light in gorgeous shades of gold and pink and light blue. It was like being trapped inside a diamond.
And then she reached the end of the tunnel and stepped outside.
For a moment, she couldn’t move, her captors forgotten as she took in the incredible sight.
More crystal—crystal shining in all the colors of the rainbow, spreading as far as the eye could see.
Before her, a giant cave opened up. It was filled with crystal arches and crystal walls, gleaming and sparkling wherever she turned. She didn’t know where the light came from. They were still underground, after all. But even so, the crystal seemed to pulse with golden light, its hue changing to a soft blue, pale rose, then back to gold again.
The maze.
Chiara took a dazed step towards an opening in the crystal wall before her.
And then she heard sounds behind her.
Without thinking, she broke into a run.