The Diamond Sphinx (The Lost Ancients Book 6)

by Marie Andreas

  The aqueduct was dark. Padraig had reactivated his two clearthin glows, but nothing more. They were hovering above us.

  “Where will this put us out?” I yelled to Alric over the water. The nice solid walls surrounding us were doing a great job magnifying the sound of the crashing water.

  “No idea.” Alric nodded. “You might want to sit on the bottom of the boat. No idea if this will get worse.”

  I’d been so excited at not drowning; I was crouched on one of the boat seats. I quickly dropped to the bottom where the others were.

  “It is fascinating that this water continues to runs through here.” Not being able to be heard well wasn’t going to stop Covey from making observations.

  She had a damn good point. There was no doubt the aqueduct system was made well, but it was over two thousand years old. The reason there was this much water now was because whoever was behind that dig in the cavern had blocked the water far further up to release as a final solution if their workers failed.

  As if my thinking of it made it happen a new type of roaring filled the area. Padraig’s glows darted out ahead, just in time to see the water drop off into nothingness.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I hung on to everyone around me; Alric, Covey, total strangers, and we ducked as low as we could. The cliff was probably not nearly as high as it felt, because if it had actually been that tall we would have been smashed to bits.

  Instead, we were tossed about and the boat felt ready to flip, but the waters calmed down quickly. We were in a small pool with an extremely low arch at the end where the water was flowing out. The area was small enough that the dim glows lit the entire area. Enough to show there was no way out but that arch.

  “Girls.” I held up my hand to get the faeries’ attention. “How do we get out of here?” We obviously couldn’t go back the way we came, but we also couldn’t fit the boats through that tiny tunnel.

  “Weee gooo that way.” Garbage spun slowly and finally pointed to the tunnel.

  I turned to Alric and nodded to Padraig in the next boat. “Any other ideas?” I was not getting out of this boat until we were on dry land.

  Alric looked down at my clenched hands and then to the walls around us. “I think they’re right. These were made for water to go through, not people. Unlike the ones in the enclave, there’s no access for us.”

  “We’ll have to swim,” Covey said calmly. Her people, the trellians, were desert dwellers, but once she’d learned to swim, she loved it. She’d initially decided to learn to help me get over my fear. I was still terrified of water and she swam like someone born to it.

  “I can’t swim,” one of the Beccians said. A second nodded.

  “Okay, so you two and Taryn can’t swim. Can everyone else?” Padraig looked around the group. Everyone nodded, even Foxy. Just myself and the two Beccians couldn’t swim.

  “If we break up one of the boats they can use some of the wood to keep them afloat and get through.” Covey started looking for ways to rip the boat apart even before that idea was agreed on. I smacked her hand as she pulled on a piece of the side.

  “Taryn, all you have to do is kick,” Alric said. “We’ll stay near you and the other two. You’ll be okay.”

  Crusty dropped down and patted my head. “Is squirrelable.” The way she was nodding, I assumed that was good.

  “I thought squirrels were bad?”

  “No, no. Ones in mountains good. Play. Squirrelable is good.”

  Ahhh. Many times while we had been hiding in the mountains, the girls would take off for a few hours. They came back with nothing, so I figured they’d been out drinking. Instead they were making friends with the local squirrel population. And probably also drinking.

  “Okay, so then how is this going to be squirrelable? I can’t swim.”

  “Easy.” Leaf made a show of holding her nose and diving into the water. I would have been more impressed if I hadn’t known they could hold their breath in a bottle of ale for hours. She burst out of the water, spun, and dove back in.

  Foxy and two of the Beccians jumped in and started swimming toward the tunnel.

  “I’ll try.” The first man who’d said he didn’t swim held out his hand, and Covey slapped a piece of the boat in it. It was a seat, so not crucial, but I didn’t think it was a good thing to be ripping apart a boat I was in. He wasn’t a young man but slid into the water after the others and started kicking toward the tunnel. The other non-swimmer was even older and he silently held out his hand, took the offered wood, and kicked his way to the rest. Soon only Alric, Covey, and I were in the boats. Padraig had gone ahead with the others in case there was something dangerous at the other end.

  My fear was that there was more water. Like a waterfall, with emphasis on fall.

  “Taryn, after everything that’s happened to you in the past year, you’re afraid of this?” Alric went into the water but hung onto the side of the boat. Covey was holding the third seat.

  “We have you.” She sounded more encouraging than Alric. Then she jumped into the water as well. The boats were just bumping about and eventually I’d have to get out of this one.

  I went in. Images of water, boats, and drowning, slammed into me. They used to hit every time I got near any body of water larger than a bathtub, but they’d faded over the years. This was the first one in a while, and it didn’t seem as strong. Maybe after fifteen years, the fear was fading.

  I took the offered wooden seat and awkwardly held it in the water like it was a pillow and I was about to smack something with it.

  Alric swam a bit ahead but didn’t go through. Covey gave my legs a push with her own. “Kicking works better if you move.”

  “I’m trying to remind myself to breathe.” The fact was, I wasn’t as freaked out about this as I would have thought. Kicking did get me moving in the right direction and I didn’t have to go far. Alric nodded at my progress then went through the tunnel. Maybe after this settled down I could actually go back to see my home village.

  That thought was torn from my mind as Covey gave me a final shove, I entered the tunnel with my piece of wood, and the world vanished from beneath me.

  There was a waterfall. Probably at least twenty feet high. The fact that I hadn’t heard from any of my friends told me they’d died horribly and I was going to be next. I hung onto my wooden seat and closed my mouth and eyes as the fall continued.

  I slammed into the water, found I was still kicking, and bounced to the surface.

  To find my soggy companions, with the exception of Covey, standing on an odd beach in the cavern, wringing out their clothing. The water was stiller here, but continued to flow from a grate at the far end of the pool. There was some light coming from a tunnel behind them, and if I wasn’t imagining things, it looked like forest beyond that.

  “You can get out of the water, you know.” Covey came up next to me as I tread water.

  It took my brain a few seconds to get the rest of me to move. Covey pulled me up on the solid ground, then pried the piece of wood away from me.

  “Where are we?”

  Alric had watched me as I came out of the water, and I thought I saw him step forward. Instead he shook his head and stayed where he was. “I checked and it looks like we’re outside the hedge. We’ll have to close this side so people can’t try and get into Beccia this way.”

  “How can anyone get in this way? That thing is…huge.” As I spoke I actually turned around toward the waterfall. It was more like two feet rather than twenty. My fear of water was still alive and kicking apparently. “Never mind.”

  We squished and dripped our way to the cavern mouth and outside. The sun was just starting to come up; we’d only been in there a few hours. Like that waterfall, it had felt a lot longer. The woods around us looked amazing in the early morning light, green and golden. Especially after facing what I thought was going to be a watery death. That was until I looked behind us and saw the hedge. We were on the outside of it.

 
“We fix!” Garbage flew into the hedge before I could say anything. Directly into it. Leaf and Crusty followed behind.

  I waited for them to be flung back in our direction, but nothing.

  “How did they do that?” Padraig was watching the hedge for tiny returning bodies as well.

  I shook my head silently. They’d gone through without even the cats to help them.

  A few moments later a small gap in the hedge appeared. Followed by Amara. “Is my Foxy—” The rest of her words were cut off as Foxy ran forward, grabbed her, and tossed her into the air.

  “My love! You saved me!”

  Technically it was my friends and I, but Amara told us where to find him. And I really didn’t care as long as they were happy.

  “We probably want to get the hedge closed as soon as possible,” Alric said as he scanned the woods around us.

  “But I can take it down now,” Amara said from her vantage point in Foxy’s arms. “My Foxy is back.”

  “No!” All four of us yelled in unison. The other Beccians looked at us oddly.

  “You can’t drop the hedge. There are others out here, probably far more than you chased out when they grabbed Foxy,” I said. “They destroyed the Halin communal farm a few days ago.”

  “Destroyed it to starve us out,” one of the Beccians said. “I agree, we can’t let this mayor person, or the lady bossing around those guards, take over our city. But I have a family to feed. The hedge could hurt us as well.”

  “This isn’t the place for discussion,” Padraig held up his hands as more of the Beccians started to speak. “Let’s get back into the relative safety of the hedge first. We can meet at the Shimmering Dewdrop and we’ll tell you what we know about who you’re facing. Maybe in six hours?” He nodded when they didn’t look convinced. “You’ve been missing for five days; don’t you think your families might want to see you?” The Beccians finally muttered agreements and walked through the hedge, moving faster as they went to find their families. The way he took command was masterful. Padraig had never been to Beccia before this trip. He’d never met the mayor of Kenithworth and none of us knew who this woman was that had kidnapped Foxy and the rest.

  And there was no way anyone could tell that from looking at his calm, elegant face. If you put a crown on his head, people would follow him anywhere.

  I shuddered. It was a damn good thing he was on our side. When I’d first met Padraig, he’d been mad with grief, not only at the murder of his wife and friends, but at the supposed betrayal by Alric. The last few months had been a lot of change for him, and I had a feeling he was returning to the type of leader he’d been before the Breaking.

  The hedge closed tight right behind us. Amara didn’t care if it was up or not—she had her Foxy back, but she was willing to leave it up if we felt it needed to stay up. I had no idea how one would raise something like the hedge, let alone how much magic would be needed to keep it up and working. Then again, a tree goddess probably had unlimited magic. At least for things such as plants.

  We went in the back door of the Shimmering Dewdrop to be met by Dogmaela holding a cudgel. One she fortunately dropped once she saw Amara and Foxy.

  “Thank all! I’ve kept an eye on the food, mistress, as you asked.” She stood back to let us troop in. Amara gave Foxy a long kiss then followed Dogmaela into the kitchen.

  Lorcan and Mathilda were engaged in some heated debate and barely looked up to nod at our soggy entrance. The extra faeries and cats were missing however.

  I went closer to the fire as Foxy added some more logs. He even set up the second fireplace, the one he only used when things were really cold. “Where did the other faeries go?” The three who had been with us had taken off once they’d gotten Amara to open the hedge. But all of them missing was concerning.

  “Hmmm?” Lorcan finally completely pulled away from the discussion. “They went scouting. When Garbage and the others came to get Amara, they were given their marching orders.”

  Mathilda laughed. “You have been good for our little Garbage Blossom, or bad depending on how you view it. She was a tiny, orange general as she bossed them around. Only she, Leaf, and Crusty were to keep to the skies. The rest were told to mount their cat steeds and sent on recon missions.”

  “Sort of scary actually,” Lorcan said. “If those little ones get their collective selves together, there could be a faery uprising. And they’d probably win.” He didn’t seem concerned however.

  “All we’d have to do is give them ale and chocolate and that would stop them.” If I was any closer to the fire, I’d burst into flame. Covey and Padraig had gone into two back rooms to change. I was going to, but even wet, that fire just felt too good. Alric seemed impervious to both the cold and the wet as he went to where Lorcan and Mathilda were standing over a large map.

  I leaned that direction. It didn’t look familiar and it was a new addition since we’d left. But to get a good look I’d have to move from the fire. Wasn’t going to happen.

  “We have more of a problem than we thought,” Lorcan said. “I’ll wait to explain until everyone is changed and we’ve eaten. Amara has been cooking since you left and I fear not paying attention to such a serious breakfast would be a major mistake.”

  Alric scowled at the map. I knew that if it were up to him, he’d hear it now. The rest of us, and breakfast, be damned. He really was regressing back to his lone wolf state, and that wasn’t good.

  Covey and Padraig came out of the two tiny rooms, so I grabbed my pack from the corner of the room and went in one to change.

  Once changed, but still cold, I went back to the front. Amara, Dogmaela, and Lehua, a half-giant barmaid, brought out platters of food.

  I had a feeling Amara might be from the tree goddess culinary team. She had enough food to feed at least fifty Foxys. The rest of us sat down at two tables to tuck in. Alric stayed in front of the map looking soggy and annoyed. But the annoyance was directed to the map. He had the look people get when they’re trying to recall something, but it stayed just out of reach.

  “When he was young, and just learning magic, he used to do this all of the time,” Padraig said without even looking up from the massive amount of food piled on his plate. “Gets in his own world, too busy to eat. He once passed out at his desk and smeared love bane over the side of his face. Took a week for women to stop running from him. I would have thought he’d outgrown that.”

  Alric looked up with a glare, but quickly became sheepish and he ran his hand through his drying hair. “You’re right, I was too focused.” He looked toward me and I thought he was going to say more, but he stayed silent as he came to the table and let Dogmaela pile food on a plate the size of a shield for him.

  “You’re so tense I’m surprised you haven’t snapped in half.” Covey had already wolfed down half of her food and a pot of tea. “You were bad when Taryn left us, but I swear you’re worse now.”

  That was Covey: call things as they were regardless of whether folks wanted to hear it or not.

  I’d expected Alric to lash out and deny it. I knew he’d been colder to me after the initial reunion, but clearly others were seeing it too. Instead of a quick snarky or offended response, he looked thoughtful. Of course, his mouth was also full.

  He finally swallowed and nodded. “You’re right. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve just felt like there are ants crawling under my skin. It hit when we came to Beccia. I feel like I need to do something, but don’t know what.” He shook his head. “I apologize.”

  “Well, maybe there is something to that, lad.” Lorcan had finished his plate and was sipping tea. For a slender old man, he could pack food away. “There’s a reason the mayor wanted to come here. I do believe part of it was unfounded optimism that some of the relics would be here. But he’s looking for something else too. The map I have has some information, but not enough. It does look like the syclarions had been in the process of building something underground when whatever destroyed the Ancients happened.” />
  Chapter Fourteen

  That was a new and unwelcome revelation. “So, did the syclarions destroy the Ancients?” I thought Lorcan and Padraig had pretty much decided that the weapon hadn’t belonged to our scaly friends.

  “Not that we have evidence of. It doesn’t appear that they completed whatever they were doing when the end of the battle came. But the research does indicate they were locked in a long term battle when the Ancients vanished.” He took another long sip of tea, finally noticing that no one was eating. “Go on, finish your food. After that I’ll show you what the map indicates.”

  Amara came out of her kitchen just as we finished and were trying to push away from the table. “Do you need more?”

  The sound that came from us was a combination of a groan and no. Thank you was added belatedly.

  “I believe you have successfully fed us; gracious thanks to the leaves, trunk, and roots.” Mathilda did an odd move with her fingers, like a blessing, and then gave a half bow.

  Amara’s mouth dropped into an ‘O’ and tears started. She bowed back, then ran forward to hug Mathilda. “You know of the old ways. Thank you.” She reached up and placed a kiss on Mathilda’s brow. “Thank you all.” Then the last tree goddess ran back into the kitchen. I swore she was glowing a bit as she vanished.

  Mathilda met our questioning looks. “The thank you offering for the tree goddesses. I have a plethora of eccentric knowledge. I have to say I never would have thought to have used that in my life though.”

  We circled the map, which gave me my first full look at it. Maps were great, and finding a way to stop the end of the world was too. But so was no longer being cold, wet, and hungry. Now I could focus.

  “Wait, what happened to the wagon and your books and scrolls?” I tried not to think about the other thing they carried, the chest from the Dark. A neat little wooden box that hid spell books and other nasties that had belonged to the elves who tried to destroy their own people. And came way too close to succeeding.