by TR Cameron
He’s probably telling the story of the attack. Drama queen. “All right, you two, let’s get a move on,” she called, and the Drow laughed as he stood and limped toward her.
Her boss tilted his chin in her direction. “Back to the basement. I’ve given him access.”
They walked down together, chatting about unimportant things. At the bottom, Invel asked, “So, how is Emalia faring?”
Cali suppressed her grin. “She’s doing quite well and New Atlantis seems to suit her. I’ll return there on Monday. If you’d like to come for a visit, you’re certainly welcome to join me.”
He gave her a small smile. “I’d enjoy that very much.”
“Done deal. You know, assuming I make it from Oriceran alive.”
Immediately, his expression turned serious. “The area where you’re going has a history filled with tales of danger and death.”
“You take us to the best places, Cali,” Tanyith quipped. “You’re a really great friend to have.”
She tried and failed to glare at him and contented herself with her old standby. “Shut it.” To Invel, she said, “I appreciate the warning, but I have to go where the path leads. I owe it to my parents and to my house, but mostly to myself. I have to know.”
He nodded. “I understand. So, due east from where you step through.” He’d provided her with a compass that worked on the other planet to help her find her way and had shown her a map of the area. It was direct enough, merely a couple of miles of uneven but unobstructed terrain between the place he knew and where the entrance to the cave should be.
It’ll be simple. Easy. We’ve got this. “Thanks for everything.”
He nodded and summoned the portal. She jumped through before she could reconsider whether it was a good idea or not.
Sunlight baked onto her from the moment she emerged and made her eyes water. The surrounding area was grassland, with trees on the horizon in three directions and a mountain directly ahead of them. She raised a hand to her forehead to shade her vision and checked the compass strapped to her forearm. “This way.” Without hesitation, she strode forward and her companions followed.
“So, did Emalia find out anything about how the shard got here?” Tanyith asked.
She nodded. “One of the other houses, apparently being clever, but she didn’t know which. It seems they really like playing games against each other. Everything’s a challenge or a competition. So essentially, this wasn’t technically ‘stealing’ or ‘trying to kill us,’ but only a little adventure to see if they’re better at the game than we are.”
“That’s idiotic.”
Cali laughed. “Yeah, that’s one way to look at it. I suppose it makes sense if you were raised into it. Or something.” She shook her head. “Okay, I have no idea how this might make sense. The noble houses are freakin’ weird.”
Fyre snorted. “Yours is no exception.”
“Quiet you.” They plodded along in silence for a half-hour, except to point out potentially dangerous places where the ground looked uncertain. Finally, they arrived at the location Invel had instructed them to find, a thin crack that marked the entrance of a cave.
Tanyith shook his head. “That looks like a trap if ever I saw one. How did Emalia find this place again?”
“Oh, the other house told my parents where it was. It’s part of the challenge.”
“So yes, trap,” Fyre replied.
“Almost certainly.” She nodded. “But I bet we’re better than they are.”
Cali held her breath as she slipped through the crevice and her skin crawled as magic washed over her. A moment later, she pushed through into a small chamber. She summoned a ball of fire and tossed it up to hover far enough away from the walls and ceiling that she wouldn’t accidentally set anything alight.
I definitely need to work on my lightning magic. “It’s safe. Come on through.” Fyre was next and stood on his hind legs to fit, but his expected entrance didn’t materialize.
He snarled in frustration. “I’m blocked. Magic. Can’t get in.”
She frowned. “Maybe it’s a barrier to Draksa? Or creatures who are fundamentally magical?”
“Probably not,” Tanyith replied. “I can’t get in either.”
“It has to be tied somehow to House Leblanc, then.” She sighed. “Those bastards. It makes sense, though, for the purposes of the game.” She muttered a curse or two and looked at the exit. “I can’t leave now. I’m too close. You two try to find another way in and I’ll push on.” They hadn’t brought the comms as they assumed they’d be together and were doubtful that the devices would work on Oriceran in any case. “Fyre can keep us connected. Be careful.”
The Draksa rumbled, obviously disapproving of the situation. “You be careful. There’s no telling what these scumbags left behind for you.”
“Yeah. Will do.” She turned to face the other exit from the room, a small hole on the far side she’d have to crawl through. “Okay. Here we go.” She sent the fireball into the gap, now willing to set anything that annoyed her alight. It revealed a tunnel that extended farther than she could see. With a sigh, she lowered herself to her hands and knees and ducked through the opening.
Once I find out which house did this, I’ll make a special point of kicking the asses of the entire family line.
Chapter Twenty-Four
After several minutes of crawling and cursing, Cali emerged in a large chamber. Nothing thus far had seemed crafted and it appeared that whoever had set the game up had simply used the natural cave features to their advantage. Even though she hadn’t sensed a descent, this room felt like it was underground, with stalactites above and a thin line of water that meandered along a shallow channel from one wall to the other.
On the opposite side was another crack that looked similar to the one she’d entered the mountain through, but this one was thankfully a little wider. She took a step toward it but stopped cold.
Wait, it’s too easy. Get your head on straight, Cali.
She swept her gaze systematically across the chamber in search of obvious traps but found none. With a deep breath, she let her magic trickle forth. Often, of late, she didn’t know quite what she was doing and simply allowed it to flow with the intention of discovery behind it. When it reached the water, anise exploded on her tongue and she gagged from the intensity. The liquid glowed, both in the channel and where the surrounding stone was damp.
“Okay, that can’t be good.” She used her force magic to coat the floor of the cavern and trap the dangerous water beneath it. Once she’d locked that into place in a corner of her mind, she sent her power questing again. It found nothing else, so she crossed the space carefully and squeezed into the crack. Only when she was safely though did she release the former spell before she crouched to examine the next area.
Where the last area had been wide, this one was narrow and long, with two obvious exits on the far side. Two statues that looked uncomfortably like Atlantean enforcers separated the chamber into thirds, which left very little room to move past them on either side. The ceiling was high but stalactites stabbed down at random intervals to make flight a dicey proposition, especially given her general lack of finesse.
Decisions, decisions. What would I do if I was a jerkwad noble trying to kill an intruder?
The answer was uncomfortably simple—both routes were probably trapped. She trickled a thread of magic to search above and it returned a faint taste of anise. When she did the same with the statues, though, she received a much more prominent warning. The one closest to her lurched into motion, its stone suddenly as supple as flesh, and hurled a net at her.
Cali screamed in alarm and flung herself forward to pass under the net. The good news was that the statue blocked the other one from engaging her. The bad news was that it had drawn a large, two-handed sword and now strode toward her, its blank and lifeless eyes somehow menacing. She summoned her sticks and raised them in time to manage an X-block against a diagonal sword cut but had nowhere t
o go to avoid the front kick that followed. The reinforced jacket helped to dull the blow to her stomach but it still hurled her back several feet.
As soon as her boots touched the stony surface, she immediately ran forward and slid under another diagonal slash, then slammed her sticks into her attacker’s knees. Her hands ached from the impact, which seemed to accomplish nothing. She considered sneaking past, but the trident that stabbed at her between the first statue’s legs quickly disabused her of that notion. As she scrambled away, she let her right-hand stick transform into a bracelet again.
She glanced at the ceiling in preparation to launch herself to the far end regardless of the danger when she saw an opportunity. Raising her fist, she discharged a force blast and cracked a stalactite. It fell, impaled the statue beneath it, and shattered it into rocks. She did the same with those closest to the second one and grinned in satisfaction as it succumbed to the sharp missiles.
Her smile was banished by a cracking sound from above. Cali sprinted to the opposite side, chose the left opening at random, and dove through it a second before the ceiling caved in behind her. She sat and panted for several moments, then realized she received waves of worry from Fyre over their mental connection.
“I’m safe, no worries,” she said. “Relax, buddy.” The intensity diminished a little. “Have you found a way in?”
She could almost hear the growl in the surge of emotion that followed and she chuckled darkly. “Okay, keep trying and be alert. Their traps are magical and overlapping so far.” He didn’t send a specific reply, only a continued thread of concern.
Yeah. I’m a little worried too, to be honest. She summoned a small sphere of fire and rolled it along the ground down the passage. It illuminated a tunnel tall enough to walk in but too narrow for her to extend her arms at all. For better or worse, it sloped downward. Her instincts warned her that more dangerous obstacles likely lay below, and she assumed that probably meant the treasure did too.
Cali pushed herself up with a sigh and summoned her second stick again. She’d need every advantage possible if trouble manifested in the claustrophobic corridor. Her senses screamed caution as she crept ahead one step at a time and made sure to keep her weight on her back leg in case the ground below should prove uncertain. The tunnel ended in a room that had clearly not been created by nature. It was both long and wide, with pillars down the left and right sides to create an obvious walkway down the middle. Magical lanterns glowed, and she banished her unnecessary flame. Heavy stone blocks the color of sand formed the walls, engraved with symbols, runes, and designs she couldn’t identify.
At the end of the central path was what appeared to be an altar, and on it was a shining silver object, aglow in the crossbeams from three lanterns. Even from this distance, the runes were visible. The floor was made up of smaller blocks that resembled those in the walls with a different symbol etched into each.
When she looked up, the ceiling wasn’t as high as she assumed it would be. There was no doubt in her mind that a plethora of tricks, traps, and magical defenses stood between her and the shard.
“I’m in some kind of fancy room,” she sent to Fyre. “The sword piece is on the other side.” He returned caution to her, and she nodded. “Yeah, I know. I don’t trust anything in here.”
Her magic sensed danger all around, filled her mouth with the taste of black licorice, and gave her nothing specific enough to be useful. She remained where she’d stopped on entry, which was a single large block bordered by the smaller ones that stretched through the room. It was too far to launch herself, given the height of the ceiling. She’d need more of an arc than the available space would permit.
After a few moments of focused thought, she transformed her sticks into a jo staff and stabbed it at the blocks in front of her. One after the next, they crumbled until she found one that didn’t. She extended it to the next row and did the same thing. The discovery that the same symbol acted differently frustrated her, but she gritted her teeth and continued to test each one. Before long, she’d worked those ahead of her as far as three rows deep, but her staff wouldn’t reach any further.
Okay, it’s time to give this a try. She stepped onto the first and it wobbled beneath her but held. She stopped to catch her breath.
I should throw a force barrier over the whole thing and walk on that. As soon as it crossed her mind, she discarded the idea. While that might have worked on the initial trap, which likely relied on secrecy, they’d surely have considered that solution in the construction of this challenge. She could picture the ceiling falling or something equally catastrophic in response. A quick involuntary look upward confirmed that it was still stable, and she stepped onto the next block. She continued to test and step until she reached a set of tiles with a golden border on the near side.
Every game has clues, and this has to be one. Something probably changes after this.
Cali poked at the blocks ahead with the staff, but they didn’t seem to react in the least. With a frown, she commanded the sticks to return to bracelet form and summoned a force shield sufficient to cover her from head to toe in each hand. She’d seen enough movies to know the risks that came with tomb raiding, and while this might not be a tomb, it definitely possessed a funereal feel. She crept forward slowly, keeping her weight balanced, but nothing happened to alarm her. Cautiously, she stepped across a few more blocks, holding the shields to either side so she was almost cocooned.
With a creak and a crash, the surface behind her fell away. She didn’t wait to see where it had gone and simply sprinted ahead. Arrows fired from the walls on both sides, but her shields protected her from the impacts. Her attention faltered for a moment, but she shored it up, then shrieked when a giant ax swung at her from above. She did the only thing possible to avoid having her skull split in half and slid under it but the back of her head rapped on the stone as she landed.
Had she not been dazed, there might have been time to react to the part of the floor that suddenly tipped as she landed. As it was, all she could do was add another yelp when she plunged into the darkness and shouted, “Aspida,” to activate her shield necklace.
She pulled the shields in her hands inward until they touched, willed them to join together, and hoped for the best as she fell.
Chapter Twenty-Five
While it felt like an hour, it was probably only seconds before her descent was halted by the sound of shattering wood and grinding metal. She waited to see if anything else happened for at least another hour-seeming minute. When nothing manifested, she let the protective cocoon generated by her necklace dissipate. She settled a little lower and at an angle, but no further danger appeared.
The shield beneath her was attached to her left hand, so she curled into it, dispelled the right one, and summoned a tiny fireball in its place that she tossed into the air. It was light enough that it rose toward the ceiling. The flickering light revealed that she was in a wide pit lined with half-sized spears. Her shield had saved her from the points and her weight had broken their wooden supports. She shook her head.
“That could have been bad.” She didn’t sense anything from Fyre but sent him a message that she was okay. Sometimes, when she got worked up, the connection between them was drowned out by her own concerns.
She stood and let her shield fall before she conjured a couple more fireballs and tossed them into the corners. The pit appeared to have no exits other than the top, which had closed after she’d plunged through it. “Clever bastards. I’ll definitely find out who you are and introduce you to one of my favorite games. I call it ‘run like hell or get your legs broken.’” She continued to babble to herself as she looked around for options.
The walls were block, similar to those above but smaller with lines of mortar between the courses. That’s a possibility. She bent and retrieved one of the cracked spears that had a foot or so of wood left attached to the head. Her teeth gritted, she thrust it into the mortar at chest height, but all it did was chip the mate
rial slightly. With a growl of frustration, she drove it in again and again until it was stuck in place, then nodded.
Okay, at least I know it will work as a Plan B. She used force magic to snap off as many of the remaining spears as would comfortably fit in her belt but still allow her to move.
Cali checked to ensure her potions were where they were supposed to be because if she faltered, things would get ugly. She tried to think back to how she’d fallen but wasn’t able to recall what had actually happened. If the opposite side of the cover had gone up, it meant a crossbar support in the middle of a tilting platform. On the other hand, it might have hinges at the far end. She was fifty-one percent sure it was the former, so she decided to go up on the side that would lift at the top if she was correct.
Her magic coalesced into a set of force stairs, which reminded her of one of her first clumsy attempts at the technique shortly before she’d met Fyre. So much had changed since those days, to be sure. She made it about halfway up before the next stair refused to form.
So, something is blocking magic, which I suppose is logical and even necessary from their perspective. Jerks. She turned and jammed the spears into the wall one after another, then climbed them to position higher ones. Finally, she reached the top and pushed on the lid. It shifted an inch but no more. With a growl of annoyance, she shoved harder and the spear beneath her feet wobbled alarmingly.
She paused to catch her balance, ready to jump into the open space below if there was no other option. Her support held, and she sent her thanks out to the universe.
“One more break. That’s all I need.” The anti-magic spell or device or whatever it is might be set up to react to the presence of magic. If I’m lucky, that doesn’t include magic that stays inside the body.
Cali withdrew her energy potion slowly, drank it, and the power spread through her like a hot drink on a freezing day. She pushed it into her muscles and readied herself for her next attempt.