Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Gods of the Sea
Caius shifts, wrapping his strong arms around me and bringing me tight against his chest as the canyon shakes. Bits of rock rain down on us. The shaking settles. A fine layer of powder drifts over us like a dusting of deep granite snow.
“What was that?” I ask.
Caius pulls back, still clutching me by my shoulders. “Are you alright?” His eyes rove over me, searching for injuries. Dark tendrils lick up my legs and lash out of the shadowed corners, strangely familiar, an imagined comfort brought on by the quake.
Horns blare in the distance. Caius turns stiff as the sound vibrates through our bones.
“We are under attack,” he says.
Before I can react, Caius pulls me roughly to my feet, and then we’re running.
Back to the cavern where we scale the wall.
Caius slips back into his boots, collecting our anchors and repacking the ropes as quickly as our hands can move.
We run through the tunnel that leads to the geode.
Through the sparkling amethyst that scatters starlight from the phase stones looped around our necks.
Through the dark tunnels now illuminated with our own lights.
We run through the twisting corridors that lead back to the main cavern and into the chaos of the city proper.
The bridge leading back to the city center is packed with people.
It sways violently as we join the throng, and any semblance of peace I had made with the bucking death trap evaporates in the heat of bodies pressed together.
I clamp my eyes shut, my heart racing. I’m frozen in time, in this turbulent hell—but then a warm hand slides into mine.
Peace radiates off his skin. I shouldn’t find his presence so calming, but I do.
Gently, he guides me forward. I feel him maneuver my body in front of his; I’m still too petrified to open my eyes.
One strong arm wraps around my waist; the other laces our fingers together and guides us along the rope railing.
The rhythm of my heart evens out as it syncs with Caius’, which is a steady drumbeat against my back.
The earth solidifies under my boots, and finally, I find the strength to fully fill my lungs, the air hot and thick with sweat and fear.
“You’re safe,” Caius says in my ear as he maneuvers us out of the main walkway.
Finally, I pry my eyes open. Heat floods my cheeks; there is no denying what just happened with Caius’ arm still wrapped around me, the hard planes of his body pressed close against mine—
“There you two are!” Cressida shouts, weaving between the crowd to reach us. Dom follows just behind her, a sour look on his face.
I quickly untangle myself from Caius, running my hands over the fabric of my tunic, as if straightening my clothing will wash away the sight that both Cressida and Dom just saw.
A smirk twists Cressida’s lips. “Where have you two been—”
The horns blare in a three-beat rhythm before they go silent once again. Caius’ gaze goes distant. “There is trouble in a northern tunnel. Dom, take my sister and Oliviana back to our lodgings. It should be safe here at the hub.”
“Guārgia guide our way. Shine your life-giving light. Protect us from the creatures of Oinarriajī,” Dom whispers the prayer beneath his breath, his fingers twitching at his side, seeking the ground to press his prayer into the earth.
Dom nods, reaching out to usher us back to our rooms. But I duck under his outstretched arms and chase after Caius.
“Ollie!” Dom calls after me, but already a sea of panicked people separates us.
I storm up to Cauis’ side. “I’m coming.”
“It’s safer if you stay here,” Caius says.
I clench my jaw, matching his stride. He won’t win this one with me. The moment pulls taut, but with another set of horn blasts, there is no time to argue.
We make it to the next rope bridge, and I freeze. Damn it. Before I can try to summon the calm of Rui’s visualization, Caius thrusts his hand back and clutches mine, dragging me along behind him.
“You do what I tell you,” he snaps. “If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hide, you hide. This isn’t a game. Those horns mean danger, and I don’t know what I would do if…”
My head spins as I focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Cauis’ words blur at the edges of my mind, distorted, shimmering stones at the bottom of a creek—
Caius tugs on my arm, bringing my attention to the present and the northern tunnels he has led us to. “You can still go back. Seriously, Oliviana, this is not a job for a tinkerer.”
I drop his hand and straighten my spine, lifting my chin to meet his gaze.
“Master Tinkerer and how would you know? You don’t know what we’re facing.
” I stomp ahead. The burn of Caius’ gaze sears into my back as he rushes to take the lead, and I let him.
My petulance only goes so far, and I truly don’t know what we’re walking into.
A deafening roar rips through the tunnels, the vibrations clacking my teeth together and sinking into the very marrow of my being. Was that? It couldn’t be…
Caius turns to me, his eyes blown wide. “Oliviana, I think you should go—”
I don’t wait for him to finish that sentence.
Pushing past him, I storm through the tunnels that lead to the North reservoir.
Rui had shown me this section of the aqua structure when we first arrived, and as far as I can think, it is the only way a dragon could have gotten into this section of The Below.
The reservoir fills from a great freshwater sea that floods the tunnel during high tide, leaving a pool of water to feed this northern section of the city during low tide.
Carefully, I edge my way around the entrance and behind a rock formation to get a better view.
Three great beasts, unlike any I have ever seen before, prowl the cavern.
Their heads are like the dragons that soar over TóuKita canyon, but they have no wings, and their bodies are much longer, stretching nearly the length of the cavern.
While the dragons from home are painted in hues as rich as the gems we mine from the earth, these dragons are pale pastel, green, and blue and purple, their scales a wash of iridescence that reflects the phase lights as they undulate towards the Tǎnkaski guards who are attempting to push them back toward the sea with long pikes.
Rui lunges forward with his pike, leading the assault against the beasts. My heart drops. The violet dragon in the center sweeps her head, quickly jerking it to the side and snapping Rui’s pike in half. He curses and falls back only long enough to draw his sword.
“He is going to get himself killed,” I whisper. I search the cavern, looking for something, anything I can do to help. My eyes catch on the reservoir.
“What time is it?” I ask Caius.
“What?” He furrows his brow in confusion.
“What. Time. Is. It?”
“It’s four past second cycle. Why? You hoping the dragons have a bedtime?”
I glare at Caius—the rocks beneath us shift as another roar echoes through the chamber.
I don’t have time for this. I sprint for the reservoir.
I can feel Caius chasing after me, anger radiating off him in waves.
Four past second cycle means that the sea only just emptied from the chamber. The reservoir should be full.
“Get them out of here!” I shout over my shoulder at Caius.
“I am not leaving you—”
“Caius, trust goes both ways…please, I don’t have time to argue with you. Get the soldiers to fall back to the cave entrance.”
Indecision wars on Caius’ face.
“I need you to do this,” I plead.
Something in Caius cracks, and finally he nods, turning and running straight for Rui and his soldiers.
Good, that’s good, I tell myself as I begin to climb the ladder up the side of the reservoir.
Now, just to figure out how to get this thing to release.
I inspect the packed stone wall as I climb, taking in every detail, trying to see the workings of it, imagining how my father would explain the intricacies of the pieces.
A warmth builds in me, and then I see it, the same way I always see it when the inner workings of a machine fit together.
I climb faster now. Deep snarls come from behind me.
The dragons are moving closer. I can hear it.
I hope Caius got the soldiers to safety.
The water will come fast and unrelenting.
Once I reach the top of the reservoir, I sprint for the junction where the wall meets stone.
I snag a maintenance pole from a collection propped against the cavern wall and sprint back, one third of the way.
Wedging the rod between the stones there, I pry loose three blocks, then move on to the next section, where I remove four stones.
Then two for the next. That should do. I hastily descend a ladder at the center of the wall, knocking loose the stones that call to me.
My hands grow hot, and the iron rod in my hand glows faintly.
I work my way back to the bottom, sweat slicking my hands and making it difficult to keep hold of the rungs. With my feet planted firmly on the ground, I run my slick hands over my pants.
A scream pierces through the air. I turn to find the green dragon with its teeth fully embedded in the shoulder of one of the guards.
The creature whips its head to the side, slamming the man into the cavern wall before letting go.
His body falls limp to the ground, and my stomach plummets, unsure if he is dead or alive, but we are running out of time.
I need this to work now, before the dragons find their way into Tǎnkaski proper.
I climb back up the ladder at the far wall, plucking out stones as I go. My arms burn from the effort, and sweat pours down my face, stinging my eyes and threatening to blind me.
“Just a few more stones.” I push the words through gritted teeth.