CHAPTER SEVEN #2
I silently cursed my own foolishness. I’d been so distracted by the snow and ice and so determined to get out of the Frozon biodome as quickly as possible that I hadn’t bothered to scan the path for traps.
If I’d been in a Techwave facility, I would have been blasted with cannon fire instead of water, and I would have been dead.
Or worse, some bounty hunters could have knocked me unconscious, trussed me up like a solstice ham, and shipped me back to Callus Holloway.
I couldn’t afford to make such a stupid, sloppy mistake in the real world. Not if I wanted to keep Vesper safe.
Despite the biting wind whistling across my body and the pellets of ice once again stinging my face, I held my position for several more seconds, until the two nozzles had completely iced over.
When I was certain the water trap had been played out, I shoved my hands back into my armpits, trying to bring as much warmth as possible to my chilled fingers.
Next, I glanced down and studied the flagstone beneath my boots.
I had to squint through the cascade of ice pellets, but I spotted a small drop of water carved into the top-left corner.
I studied the other flagstones ahead. A few more stones had the telltale water drop carved into their left corners, but most were smooth and blank.
I hesitated, wondering if the answer was that simple, but my body was numb, and I couldn’t afford to stay in the Frozon biodome any longer.
Even though the water trap hadn’t touched me, the resulting dampness had made the air even more frigid.
I drew in a breath, shifted my weight into my toes, and hopped onto the closest unmarked flagstone.
My boots thumped against the stone. I tensed and kept a wary eye on the fountain, but no more castle windows opened, and no more nozzles appeared. I exhaled and moved on.
I skipped, hopped, and jumped from one safe stone to the next like I was playing a child’s game. On the backside of the fountain, the path straightened, and I quickly strode through the energy shield that cordoned off the Frozon biodome.
After the frigid snowscape, the cool air in the maze was as warm as a sauna.
I jumped up and down, shook out my arms and legs, flexed my fingers and toes, wrinkled my nose, and slapped my cheeks several times.
The numbness that gripped my body slowly faded away, replaced by a welcome, if painful, tingling.
My skin was dry, tight, and chapped, but I hadn’t suffered any major, lasting damage from the extreme cold.
I exhaled with relief, then hurried on.
A few hundred feet later, I came to a large junction where the path split off in five directions.
Once again, all the paths looked the same, and I had no idea which way to go.
I reached out with the bond, hoping to use it to plot a course forward, but Vesper didn’t seem any closer, despite how deep I was in the maze.
A frustrated growl rose in my throat, but I closed my eyes and reached for the bond again.
This time, I focused solely on the velvety ribbon of Vesper in my mind.
Her presence still felt faint and far away, so I concentrated on gripping the ribbon and then slowly moving along it, like I was putting one hand in front of the other and climbing along a horizontal rope.
The ribbon vibrated with tension, and I turned my head, following the motion . . .
The velvety ribbon of Vesper stilled. I opened my eyes and found myself looking down a path that led to the left. I shook my arms and legs out a final time, getting rid of the last of the tingling, then strode in that direction.
Clank. Clank-clank. Clank.
I stopped. What was that? No more noises sounded, but dread pooled in my gut. I knew those odd sounds, even if I couldn’t remember exactly what they were right now.
Wary, I eased forward, once again scanning the walls around me, as well as the path ahead. I didn’t see any traps, and I quickly made it to another junction, where the maze once again split in five directions. I hesitated, unsure of which path to take—
Shock punched into my chest as though someone had just stabbed me with a stormsword. The sharp, unexpected emotion threw me off-balance, and I staggered to the right.
Click.
A flagstone depressed under my boot, and a silver nozzle jutted out of the honeysuckle vines to my left. On instinct, I threw myself forward and down onto the path.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Blaster bolts shot out of a weapon hidden in the wall. The bright orange streaks sliced through the air at chest height and slammed into the vines on the opposite side of the path. Smoke and sparks boiled up into the air in an acrid cloud.
Several seconds ticked by. No more bolts shot out, so I lifted my head and climbed back up to my feet. Careful not to trigger another trap, I went over and plucked a honeysuckle blossom off one of the damaged vines. The blackened, brittle petals crumbled to ash in my hand.
Given the minor burns I’d seen on the House Battis Hammers in the locker room, I had assumed the blasters and other weapons in the maze would be set to stun, just as they had been for the other warriors.
But the scorched vines and acrid smoke still billowing into the air indicated this weapon had more than enough juice to inflict a serious injury, maybe even a mortal one, if I was unlucky enough to get hit in just the wrong spot.
Puzzlement filled me. Why change the intensity of the weapons for me and Vesper? Was this part of Lord Aldrich and Lady Verona’s truebond training program? But why would the Colliers risk us being so badly hurt? It simply didn’t make any sense.
I dusted the ash off my hand, even more wariness flickering through me—
Another sword of shock stabbed into my chest. This time, I was able to maintain my balance, although my heart started pounding with worry.
Vesper? I called out with my telepathy. Vesper!
I didn’t receive a thought in return, but the velvety ribbon of her vibrated like a viper warning of danger.
Something was wrong.