"How do we get the flowers?" asked Hannah. "There are bugs in the ground on three sides around them."
Ernie raised his hand. "I can get them."
"Great," said Pi. "Just be careful."
While Ernie focused internally as if he were meditating, Aurie watched her sister. She'd never looked more radiant, as if she were an angel of battle in her element. It was strange to think how different they were. Aurie preferred working within the given structures, making them better, even incrementally, while her sister trampled over the system to get her way. At the moment, their two styles had complemented each other wonderfully. Aurie hoped there wouldn't be a day that their different methods would cause a rift.
"Whoa," said Hannah.
Ernie hadn't moved, but the plants were growing rapidly. The branches snaked out and upward, leaves bursting from limbs as the plant strained to reach them. After a minute, a flowery arch connected with the obsidian portal and the purple flowers knitted themselves into crowns.
Ernie plucked them off and handed them to each person. He had a pleased look.
"I tended his gardens in the Spire," said Ernie proudly.
"We should get moving. I'm not sure if the waves will start since we didn't kill any eggs, but let's not give them a chance," said Pi.
"Before we go," said Aurie. "Did anyone else feel that spark of electricity when we first arrived? I'd never felt that before."
Based on the nods, it appeared everyone else had too, but no one had an explanation, so they continued with the plan.
In a single file line, they followed a torturous path out of the fort that avoided the sleeping adolescent bugs. Once they were on the far side of the secreted walls, Pi led them into the trees.
They kept to a line, Pi in front since she'd spent the most time in the jungle, Ernie next, then Aurie. Hannah stayed in back. Skating over the earth as if it were hardwood flooring, Hannah made loops to make sure no bugs were sneaking up on them.
But nothing attacked and the team made it to the crest of the nearby hill.
"Aurie. Can you climb up and find out if the bugs have attacked the fort? It might give us an idea if we're being followed," said Pi.
Aurie enchanted her hands and feet with the dexterity of a monkey and scurried into the canopy before the rest of the team could exclaim.
The view took her breath away. She'd always lived in cities and had never gotten a chance to explore the wilderness. It was weird to think they'd been coming to this place once a week for nine months, but this was the first time she'd actually noticed her surroundings.
Aurie almost forgot why she'd climbed up, until she looked back into the valley to the fort. It was empty.
With a grin on her lips, Aurie made her way down. She kissed her sister on the forehead as soon as she could.
"Thank you," said Aurie.
Pi got a suspicious look. "What?"
"For this. I'm glad you got us to try one last time. The view was spectacular," said Aurie.
Pi rolled her eyes. "You're so weird."
Her sister had brushed the compliment off, but the blush in her cheeks was unmistakable.
"Any sign of the bugs while I was up there?" she asked.
Hannah had finished a circuit of the hilltop. "Nothing directly. A few times I thought something was watching me from the corner of my eye, but I couldn't catch it. Might be the unfamiliar territory. I'm used to standing on the wall waiting for the next wave."
Ernie scratched at his arms. "I feel it too. I feel like something's been removed from my skin. Like I was varnished before, but now I'm exposed raw wood."
The experience was mutual. Aurie resisted the urge to itch, or she didn't think she'd stop.
"Where do we go from here?" asked Hannah.
"I don't know," said Pi. "That's why I had the books made. I thought they might help us figure out where the queen is located. It's a real shame the scholars that wrote it didn't figure that out. Probably too busy avoiding being murdered."
Aurie focused on the book inside her head. Having the knowledge without the experiences to implant it there was a lot like surfing the internet about a subject. A lot of time was lost trying to figure out where it was located. Typically, the scholars in Arcanium meditated on the information to mind map it before they tried to call upon the details. But the Harpers didn't have time for that.
"It might help if we knew what they eat," said Ernie.
"Omnivores," said Hannah. "Though I don't see anything besides plants around here."
Everyone looked around. "I haven't seen a single critter, like a squirrel or anything like that. The book details some mammal-like creatures, but they're mostly subterranean or very good at hiding."
"The bugs are a super predator," said Aurie, almost as a surprise. The knowledge bubbled up without warning, which made her feel like someone else was speaking. "They've wiped out their food sources, so they eat mostly plants and fungus to survive unless they're locked in a grand battle between colonies. But that doesn't happen too often."
"I bet they live in a cave system," said Pi.
"Augh," said Hannah. "No caves please."
"Did you see any areas that look like they could have caves?" asked Ernie.
"Let me check," said Aurie, making her way back up the tree system.
The second time in the canopy Aurie forced herself to pay attention to the details, rather than getting lost on the majesty of her surroundings. A cliff on a distant hillside seemed like the only place that could have a cave, though she supposed any opening in the ground could lead to one. It was their best shot.
Before she went back down, Aurie checked on the fort. This time, it was crawling with bugs as if it were an ant farm upended. Scouts were heading into the trees, some in their direction.
She went back down as fast as she could. Everyone sensed the concern on her face.
"The bugs are out," said Aurie. "We'd better get moving."
"Did you see a cave?" asked Hannah.
"Possibly," said Aurie. "Only one way to find out."
"Better than hanging out here waiting for them to find us," said Pi.
They moved out immediately at a hurried pace. Yet, the sense of adventure was still there, which was probably why Aurie felt strange.
The foliage grew denser, leaves slapping at Aurie as she followed her sister. The air was thick and earthy, stronger as they moved towards the other hill. Beads of sweat formed on Aurie's forehead, which she wiped off from time to time.
As they entered the next valley, Hannah yelped. They circled around her as she held her arm. Blood ran through her fingers.
"I caught a thorn. Ripped my arm right open," said Hannah, grimacing. "It hurts, a lot."
"I can fix that," said Aurie.
Closing the wound didn't take long. Hannah looked uneasy as she knocked the crusty blood from the faint pink line where the thorn had cut her.
"That's weird," she said, poking the scar.
"What?" asked Aurie.
"I had lots of cuts and bruises from our earlier attempts, but they never left a scar. It hurt a hell of a lot more this time," said Hannah.
"Maybe they upped the realism for the final try," said Pi.
"Yeah, I guess," said Hannah, though she didn't believe it by the look on her face.
"Oh no," said Ernie, eyes wide with fright.
"What's wrong?" asked Pi.
"Before, when I was, you know, lost in the wish spell, I could easily be distracted by the slightest thing, the shimmering wings of a dragonfly, the shape of a clump of dirt, the colors of a flower. Sometimes, I would get lost examining a spell. You probably haven't noticed it, but when we portal here, there's a protective spell that keeps us from actually dying here. It's clever, powerful magic that was placed on the portal stones. When we get sent to this plane of existence, we get sent back to the same starting point. Time. Place. Everything. But since you can't actually travel through time, it's a sort of weird pseudo reality that allows you to exper
ience it briefly without impacting it."
"I always wondered why the bugs were in the exact same spot each time we came back," said Hannah.
"So what's wrong? Did we get sent to the wrong time or place?" asked Pi.
"No," said Ernie, face etched with worry. "We got sent to the same bug fort we get sent every time. The only difference is that this time is for real. There's no protective spell to save us from death. If we die, we're dead for good."
The reality sunk in. It felt like being slowly lowered into a grave that you'd dug yourself.
"We can't even go back to the fort. It's crawling with bugs," said Pi, nearly to tears. "I'm so sorry, guys. I've killed us."
"We're not dead yet," said Aurie. "And you didn't do it. I bet I know who it was."
"Priyanka Sai," said Pi immediately. "That bitch."
Hannah sucked in a breath. "I bet that's who I keep seeing out of the corner of my eye. I swear someone's been following us, but I thought it was nerves."
"I don't think Priyanka is our big concern right now," said Ernie.
"Of course she is," said Pi. "You didn't see her move. She could kill us all in the blink of an eye. I only survived last time because of luck."
"No," said Ernie, pointing behind them. "The bugs have found us!"
The hillside glittered with hundreds of glistening mandibles. The angular bugs came careening through the trees. Chitinous death surrounded them on three sides.
The Harpers fled into the valley towards the cliff. Their head start was eaten up by the quicker bugs, probably drawn on by the excitement of a fleshy meal. Aurie wondered if they had memories of the previous battles, and knowing finally that this was for real, could barely contain their salivation.
Darts rained down from above, shredding the foliage and impacting into the trunks, narrowly missing them. The ground burst open before Aurie. A burrowing bug lay in wait. Aurie threw a solar spear into its maw and ran through the curtain of ash.
Their headlong rush came to an end when they reached a crevasse. The gash in the earth was at least a hundred feet wide and stretched into the distance in both directions. Looking into the darkness, Aurie heard more chittering bugs beneath them, climbing over themselves, toothy maws ready. They would have to make their stand here.
The Harpers, even minus two of their number, were not without defenses. In the fights at the fort, the bugs came in strategically, testing their skills in a variety of ways. In an open valley with kills in sight, the bugs attacked with mindless ferocity which left them exposed to counterattack.
The four of them rained death upon the bugs. Aurie launched hailstorms of solar spears, destroying the darters from a distance. Ernie brought the forest to life, and vines wrapped themselves around the insects, ripping them to pieces like leafy krakens. Hannah turned into a human battering ram, which kept the attacking bugs off balance as she flew into their midst, knocking them away like bowling pins before circling around to hit the next group. Pi had brought her explosive seeds. The bugs were turned to mush whenever she hit, which was nearly every time, guided by her magic. The Harpers functioned like a well-oiled bug killing machine.
After what seemed like an hour but had probably only been the span of a few minutes, there was a lull in the fight as they had destroyed the first few waves of bugs. More were coming down the hillside, but the gap gave them a minute to get a breather.
"We need to get across this hole," said Pi. "If we can get to the other side, we have a chance. Then maybe we can circle back around and use the portal to get back home."
"We can't jump that far, even if we use verumancy," said Aurie.
"I wasn't thinking about verumancy," said Pi.
Aurie knew that look in her sister's eyes. "No. No way. It's too far, and there's nothing to work with. I can't lie a bridge into existence."
"What if I can extend some vines across the gap? Could we walk across those?" asked Ernie.
The pit was too deep and too wide. The bottom of it had to be crawling with bugs.
"I don't know," said Aurie.
She didn't want to drop them. She'd never tried something this difficult. Even in the practice room, the conditions had been set up for her to succeed. She was exhausted from the fight, the running, and the fear of getting shredded.
Pi grabbed her by the shoulder. "You have to. It's our only shot to escape."
They didn't give her the chance to refuse. Ernie waved his hands, and vines climbed through the air towards the other side.
"We'll keep 'em off you while you build the bridge," said Hannah, skating back into the forest.
Pi weighed her bag of explosive seeds. It looked like she had used up about half of them. "These are no good if we're dead."
While explosions went on behind her, Aurie focused on the vines, picturing a bridge in her head. She imagined the foundation deep into the ground, the beams crossing the wide gap held up by invisible girders. By the time the vines had touched the far side, she had the spell of mendancy ready, and let it flow out her lips.
She took the first step herself. The leafy vines provided a walking space about a foot wide. Aurie didn't look to see if anyone was following her. She kept describing the bridge: how strong it was, how many earthquakes it had survived, that it was the first bridge ever created, made by the gods, and that it would exist for all time.
She talked about great marble pillars lifting up from the depths, carved into titans that held the bridge above their heads. She told the story of how the beams were forged in a volcano, hammered into shape by Hephaestus himself.
Aurie was vaguely aware of the shouts behind her. The others had followed her across the abyss, keeping the way clear of bugs with their terrible magics.
When she was halfway across, she had a moment of awareness, as if she were a cartoon character who'd run off the edge of a cliff and had realized they were not on solid ground anymore, which was the only thing required to turn gravity back on.
The vine bridge dipped lower. The spell started to unravel. Aurie imagined the four of them falling into a sea of mandibles and stabbing chitinous feet. This was the danger of mendancy. If you couldn't believe the lie anymore, it was doomed to fail.
But she kept it up and, rather than thinking about the consequences, focused on the description of the bridge and how it had survived ancient calamities.
When they were about twenty feet away from the far edge, Aurie started to believe that they were going to make it. She focused on the lie even more, the flood of faez like a raging river.
When she saw him, the surprise nearly popped the bubble of her magic. She held on, but stopped, bringing their progress across the crevasse to a halt.
Frank Orpheum stood at the threshold of where the bridge and the ground met. He wore the expression of a villain as if he were portraying one for his greatest role.
"You robbed me of my victory," said Frank Orpheum. "I was so close to what Invictus would never let me have in all those years."
Though it took a supreme force of will, Aurie glanced behind her to see bugs crossing the bridge behind them. Her friends were wearing out. Pi looked almost out of seeds.
Aurie didn't bother asking. She knew what he wanted. Could see it on his face, but he said it anyway.
"I could make them love me. All of them. They would build shrines for me, make a religion out of my every breath. I have the power, but this damn binding keeps me from unleashing it. Invictus tricked me all those years ago. I didn't kill him, but I was glad when he was dead," he said.
Through gritted teeth, Aurie said, "You weren't going to get that anyway. The wish spell couldn't be used for that. Ernie said so."
"You're so limited in your thinking. I wasn't going to let Priyanka use the wish. She wasn't even aware that she was working for me. I'd hypnotized her many years ago. It helped that she'd always had a crush on me," said Orpheum.
Aurie couldn't hold it much longer. She needed one of the others to knock him aside, but she was in the way. They we
re teetering on a thin bridge.
"It's too bad you won't make it back," he said. "You showed such promise with your falsehoods. I know Invictus didn't make you his special snowflake. That was all a lie. But I need you to die here so no one will know. It's just a shame I couldn't do this from the other side. I really don't like bugs."
Aurie was ready to sprint across the space when he dazzled her with a bit of hypnotism. She was mostly immune to his charms, but the momentary distraction destroyed the lie of the bridge. Her mendancy failed. The vines collapsed, dragging the four of them into the abyss.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Pi remembered climbing a tree behind their neighborhood when she was seven years old. It was a tall pine that stretched above the maples in the small grove.
She'd wanted to climb it because she saw the boys taking turns seeing how high they could go; the bravest boy stopped about two-thirds of the way from the top, because the tree was less ridged up there.
Pi knew that because she was smaller than the others, she would be able to climb higher, but cognizant of the risk, made preparations in the form of a harness of bungee cords that allowed her to stay connected to the tree should her hands slip. The bungee cords made her look like she was wearing a thrift store steampunk outfit, especially with the goggles that kept the pine needles from poking her in the eye.
While the other kids, including her sister, Aurie, were playing on the swing sets and jungle gyms, Pi climbed the tall pine. The bark was full of sap, and halfway up her fingers were sticking together, but she kept climbing. When she crossed the highest point that the boys had gone, a wellspring of pride made her tingly with excitement. But she wasn't done yet, and making careful handholds, reapplying her bungee-cord harness at each point, she reached the tippy-top of the tree. She was so high that her weight bent the tree and it swayed in the wind. Pi stayed up there for an hour while the others, oblivious to her feat, ran around the playground.
While Pi had been afraid of falling the whole way up, not once during her climb had she allowed that fear to silence her thoughts.
Web of Lies (The Hundred Halls Book 2) Page 23