Chapter 12 #2
“It is beyond the reach of most, but how do you think Damon’s mother and sisters were spirited out of Zephrine?” She sniffed and made the motion with her hand again. “Come along—the longer we delay, the greater the danger Damon faces.”
I drew my knife and handed it to her hilt first, then tugged off my ring. She nodded her thanks, then turned and marched out.
I crossed my arms, fingers clenched but hidden, though I dared say the glow of the heat pressing against their tips might have been visible. “Has Aric given you a location for our meeting?”
“No, he simply said ‘Where the blue water ponds.’”
“There’re only a couple of lakes in the tunnel system, so that at least cuts down the search area.
” Aric might have had the advantage of time to plot his revenge and place his traps, but I knew those caverns better than he ever would, and hopefully could use that knowledge to get around whatever surprises he had waiting.
“Where was Damon snatched, and when did it happen? Do we know?”
“It happened in the thermae. We found the attendant knocked out and drag marks that led up to a wall. We called in an earth mage, who found a lever on the other side of the wall that slid that section aside; he’s currently reading the earth to see what information he can gather.
As to the when, we’re presuming it happened just after he and the Prioress finished casting their storm across the peaks. ”
Which would explain how easily Aric had gotten the drop on him. Spelling the weather shield and then sending it over the Sheer would have left him exhausted. “Do we know if the hidden entrance into the thermae is new or old?”
If it was new, then there were likely to be others placed in strategic positions that would need to be found and closed off, just in case the worst scenario happened and he either escaped me or got the upper hand. If that did happen, he’d come after Garran next.
“Old, according to our earth mage. We’re presuming some past king—or queen—didn’t want the inconvenience of having to use the corridor like everyone else.
” Garran tapped the scroll in front of him.
“We’ve found what amounts to a ground plan of the tunnels throughout the palace, and their connections to the nearby natural system, but there’s nothing that mentions a blue lake. ”
Of course there wasn’t, because why would Túxn make things easy now? “Do we know if Damon had stripped off before he was knocked out?”
“His boots still sit under a nearby bench, but we believe he’s otherwise fully clothed. Why?”
“I gave him a tracker when he and the team first went into the tunnels, so we might be able to use it to find him, depending on where they are.”
If Aric hadn’t found and destroyed it, that was. Though why would he, when he wanted us to find them?
“If Rishi cannot read their location in the earth,” Garran said, “that is a good second option.”
I hadn’t realized that was a possibility, which just emphasized how damn tired I was.
I really hoped he was able to give precise directions, because it would definitely make progress through the tunnels that much faster, and we needed all the time we could grab right now.
The riders might have moved on, but a major attack was still coming—a last, deadly throw of the dice by the Mareritt, if you will—and it was going to take all our skills and strength to survive it.
And right now, I didn’t have a whole lot of strength left, be it physical or fire.
I rubbed my arms uneasily, the heat in my fingers sending sparks skittering along my borrowed coat. “I’ll go fetch the receiver now.”
Garran nodded. “Make sure your guard is in that room before you enter, just to be safe.”
I smiled grimly. “Trust me, anyone I do not know will be surrounded in a wall of fire so fierce their fucking skin will start peeling.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Neera murmured.
I glanced at her grimly but left without comment, taking the stairs two at a time and running around to my room. The door guard acknowledged me with a salute, his eyes a little wide at the flames flickering across my hand, then opened the door.
I didn’t immediately enter. “Janis? Report.”
She appeared in the doorway and saluted. “Nothing to report, Commander. There has been no entry into the room aside from the guard delivering your items since you both left.”
“Thanks.” I entered, grabbed the receiver, and switched the thing on. After a couple of seconds, a soft bleeping began, and the arrow in the center of the screen shifted, pointing a few degrees to the west.
Relieved, I switched it off to conserve the magic that powered it, tucked it into my coat pocket, and then stripped off my harness, backpack, bow, and knife sheath.
Aric would think it suspicious if I was wearing it empty, and I wanted him to do nothing more than see and savor his victory over me before I handed him defeat.
I walked back out and spotted Garran, the Prioress, and half a dozen soldiers striding toward me.
“That didn’t take long,” I said, surprised.
“Four witches for a simple spell does speed things up.” She stopped in front of me.
“You must not touch the knife before you confront Aric; doing so will delete the spell and make it visible again. Had we more time... Anyway, you also must ensure the blade is secure in Damon’s flesh.
I would suggest aiming for his shoulder or thigh—both are easier targets than an arm and will cause less damage than a gut wound. ”
“Unless I hit a main artery and he bleeds out,” I muttered.
“Do not hit an artery,” she advised. “Turn around.”
I did so. She raised my coat and tucked the blade under my belt at the back of my pants.
“And the ring?” I said, turning back around.
She handed it to me. Energy stirred across its stony surface, then faded away. I slid it over my finger and glanced at Garran. “You’re obviously planning to come in after me, but you shouldn’t. Esan needs you alive.”
His smile was coldly determined. “Nothing and no one will stop me, however ill-advised it may be.”
“Garran—”
“ Bryn ,” he cut in brusquely. “Esan can afford to lose another king more than she can our drakkon queen. I am leading the retrieval team whether you like it or not.”
“And I will be with them,” the Prioress said mildly. “If your mission fails and both you and Damon are killed, then my fury will rain down on Aric so swiftly, he will pray for Vahree to take his soul.”
A tiny piece of me relaxed. Garran was a fine fighter and with six men could no doubt cope with any physical traps that might await—but the Prioress’s presence all but guaranteed survival against any non-physical traps there might be.
“Fine,” I said. “Just make sure you keep far enough back that he doesn’t hear you.”
“None of us are stupid, Bryn.”
“No, but it nevertheless makes me feel better to put it out there.”
We entered the thermae, and my gaze was instantly drawn to Damon’s dusty old boots sitting neatly under the bench, alone and forgotten.
I drew in a deeper breath and released it slowly in an effort to ease the rising tide of anxiety, but failed miserably.
We made our way around the dividing wall to the section that held the towels, robes, soaps, etcetera, as well as the side door for staff to use.
The tunnel entrance lay on the rear wall, and while the light from the room barely lit the entrance, that was enough to reveal it was a reasonable width.
Even so, given Damon’s size and weight, it was pretty obvious Aric hadn’t overtaken Damon alone, let alone dragged him through Túxn only knew how many miles of tunnel.
“Any luck, Rishi?” Garran asked.
The burly, middle-aged man nodded. “The weight of three lies to the northwest—two near a large body of water. There is also an odd deadness in the ground to the left side of where they stand that I cannot see past.”
“Another earth witch?” I asked.
“Most likely, given there is little other reason for the particular patch of ground to be sterile when the rest is not. I doubt it’s one of ours, though. Their energy is unusual.”
“‘Unusual’ is one description of Makki’s energy, but it can’t be him. Damon sent his ass back to West Arleeon days ago.”
“I am not familiar with General Makki’s energy,” Rishi said. “But as I said, this energy is not a native one.”
I glanced at Garran. “Do you know if any of his men are missing? Aside from Makki?”
“Those restrained in the main barracks remain, but it’s totally possible Aric had already sent men into the tunnels by the time you and Damon confronted him.”
Given the man was a master of forward planning, it really wouldn’t surprise me. I glanced back to Rishi. “Sorry, please continue.”
He smiled. “There is a long, narrow tunnel entrance that leads from the lake cavern, and the third man waits near its entrance, which lies about a third of a mile off the main exodus tunnel into East Arleeon. It is extremely narrow, little more than a quake fracture in the wall.”
Meaning no doubt that third man would attack the minute I’d squeezed through.
Or try to, because unless he was well-protected against flames, his ass was ash.
I accepted the light tube Garran handed me, gripping it tightly as I stepped into the tunnel and looked both ways. Darkness dominated in either direction.
“Head left from here,” Rishi said. “Follow the right tunnel at all intersections until you reach an intersection of three. Take the middle—it will lead you to the main exodus tunnel. Head left from there until you reach the stalactites, then move into the military zone influx tunnel that lies to the right there. The lake entrance will be on your left.”