Chapter Thirteen
Ladon
“Are you sure about this?” Mira asked, a little apprehensive.
We were standing at the base of a massive pile of rubble where the tunnel leading to the lower chambers had caved in. It was dark; the only light we had to rely on was the single mage lamp that Bianca held.
I was ready, excited even, to venture beyond the rubble wall and find Vessina. For the first time since I found my brother unconscious in Emilie’s arms, I felt hope. We were so close to getting him the help he needed.
“Let’s go,” I said. While Emilie, Aven, Bianca and Marco took turns grabbing rocks and tossing them to the side, Mira and I used magic to remove the larger boulders. Magic flowed from my fingertips and through the air, dipping beneath the heaviest stones and lifting them with ease.
Marco grumbled as he went to pick up another rock. It wasn’t my problem that he wasn’t an earth wielder. Marco was like my brother—a fire wielder. I supposed he could’ve melted down some of the stone, but it would’ve taken longer than removing it through manual labor. He’d get over it.
We cleared the path faster than I could’ve hoped for, and Bianca picked up the lantern and stepped forward, leading the way.
Beside me, Emilie carried a small piece of paper—a hand-drawn map that Jesse had been kind enough to give us after we signed our agreement.
Neither he nor Jade were willing to venture into the lower chambers with us.
“Good luck,” had been his parting words before he chuckled and walked away.
I didn’t need luck on my side. I had hatred. And fury. And retribution. Luck would merely be a bonus to the drive I had within me.
Emilie studied the map in the low light of the mage lamp. “We should take the first right and then go straight until the tunnel slopes down.”
Everyone nodded, trusting her completely.
There was no way to know for certain where Vessina would be since she was free to roam after being trapped in the caves. But Jesse felt confident that Reyna’s lab was her likely hiding spot.
The map was far from perfect, as Jesse and his supporters hadn’t spent much time in the lower levels before sealing them away. But Jesse had started his cartography project before they abandoned the tunnels, using his memory to fill in some of the blanks afterward.
We took the first right turn as Emilie had suggested, and it didn’t take long for the ground to begin to slope. It was gradual at first, but then it became a challenge not to slip on the loose gravel beneath our shoes.
“Here,” Emilie said, pointing to her left.
We continued to make our way deeper into the mountain with Emilie and Bianca leading the way. I didn’t think it was possible for the tunnels to get even darker or for the air to feel even thinner. It was an eeriness I’d never known.
“What’s that?” Aven asked.
I looked ahead to where he gestured. A small yellow-orange light infiltrated the darkness, flickering occasionally.
“A fire?” Bianca asked. “They wouldn’t leave a fire burning in an abandoned tunnel, would they?”
It would’ve been incredibly foolish if they had. Imagine making such an effort to take control of Murvort, only to turn the prime estate to cinders. The Holdens were too ambitious and too smart to let that happen.
We cautiously approached the light, Bianca peeking around a corner once we were close enough to see what was causing such a sight. She quickly whipped her head back, her eyes wide with alarm.
“What did you see?” Emilie asked.
Bianca licked her lips and spoke softly, like she was afraid to disturb whatever was in the next vault. “Dragons.”
“Have you fucking lost your mind?” Aven hissed.
Dragons existed in our world, but they hadn’t been spotted in Lourova in centuries. The only ones I knew of kept to Moridia—the wild continent full of magical beasts and barren of humanity, save for a few research outposts. But I wouldn’t put it past Reyna to somehow bring a dragon back to Murvort.
“Are you certain?” Mira asked.
“Well, I’ve never seen one before, but are they black and breathe fire?”
I could tell Mira and Aven were holding back their laughter despite the inappropriate timing.
“There’s no way,” I said. “These caves are too small for a dragon to fit.”
“Maybe it’s an infant,” Mira said.
“It’s not very big,” Bianca admitted. “Smaller than a foal.”
I shook my head. I was no expert on beasts, but surely even a baby dragon was larger than a foal. I pushed forward and took Bianca’s place, edging to the corner so I could see for myself.
When I craned my neck to see into the next chamber, I immediately caught sight of what Bianca had seen. But it wasn’t a dragon. In fact, it was three—no, four—small flying creatures that I did not recognize. I pulled back and frowned.
“Well? Do you believe me now?” she asked.
“No.”
Bianca snorted.
“That’s not a dragon. I’m not sure what they are. They looked… They looked like bats. Overgrown bats that happen to breathe fire.”
“They did say Reyna liked to experiment on animals, did they not?” Marco asked.
“That’s horrific,” Emilie said, her features pinched together in anger.
“What should we do?” Mira asked.
Aven answered quickly. “Kill them.”
“No!” Emilie and Marco exclaimed at the same time. An echo rang through the tunnel, and I hoped we hadn’t disturbed the tiny creatures. Were they aggressive? Or would they flee if they sensed a threat?
“They’re innocent,” Emilie added. “We can’t kill them.”
“Personally, I’d love to take one back to Renoa to study,” Marco said.
Emilie glared at him, and I smiled. Indignation looked good on her. I loved it when she got riled up. That was probably why I teased her for so long, and continued to do so today.
I snapped out of it and turned to Marco. “We will not be bringing back any extra passengers on our way home. The two prisoners are more than enough.”
It was difficult to tell in the low lighting, but I could’ve sworn his shoulders slumped at my disapproval. He’d get over it.
“I could freeze them,” Bianca said. “It wouldn’t kill them. Just enough to ground them and keep them from flying away. And keep them from shooting flames in our direction.”
“You can do that?” I asked.
“I can try.”
It would have to be good enough. I didn’t see many other options—at least none that kept them alive and appeased Emilie’s righteousness.
I looked to her for approval, and she nodded.
“Do it,” I told Bianca.
We traded positions so she was closest to the chamber once more. She slowly crept around the corner and extended her arms, palms facing up. The temperature rapidly began to decline, and I watched her fingers turn an icy blue.
The fire-breathing bats didn’t notice what was happening at first, but as soon as they did, they let out an ear-splitting screech. Flames lit the chamber, though I could only see the light as it crept into our hiding space.
Bianca’s magic pulsed and hummed. I shivered but kept close watch in case they attacked her.
Slowly, their cries subsided, and their flames with them. There was a chorus of thuds, and I assumed that the creatures had fallen to the ground.
Bianca lowered her hands and waved us forward. “It’s safe now.”
We passed through several more chambers and tunnels of various lengths. I lost track of the number of turns we made, but Bianca and Emilie consulted the map frequently.
“We’re almost there,” Emilie said.
Right after she spoke, a disturbance came from up ahead. It was a hellish combination of hissing, roaring and squawking. Like every beast imaginable was fighting till the death. And maybe they were. They’d been trapped down here, and food was scarce. Perhaps they’d turned on each other to survive.
Marco began to retreat, his eyes as wide as saucers. I grabbed his arm and tilted my head. “Don’t you dare.”
He blinked a few times, glancing back and forth between the source of the noise and me. “I… I don’t… I should’ve…”
“You’re right where you’re supposed to be. We need you. And there’s no safer place than with us.”
I was used to calming nervous soldiers—young warriors who stepped onto a battlefield for the first time. It didn’t matter how much a person prepared—the first experience with real combat was enough to make the strongest person’s knees wobble.
“Bianca and Mira, lead the way. Aven, I want you at the rear with me. We’ll proceed carefully and be prepared to strike.”
Marco found a comfortable spot between the strongest of us, and Emilie fell back, closer to me.
“You know I can handle myself, too,” she said.
I grinned. “I know you can, princess.” She had learned a lot in a short period of time, but she still wasn’t as good as Bianca or Mira.
Not that I would tell her that. I liked this version of her—self-assured and prepared for the worst. It was much better than beaten-down and defeated. “Maybe I just want to keep you close.”
To prove my point, I reached for her and trailed my hand up her spine. I felt her shiver, and she shot me a look of surprise. She whispered, “Someone will see.”
They wouldn’t. It was too dark, and she was too close for anyone to notice anything suspicious. Aven was the only one with a view, and he was focused on the tunnel ahead, straining to see any surprise attacks. I dragged my finger down her spine for good measure and felt her relax.
“Ready?” Bianca asked from the front.
I responded, “Ready.”
We turned the corner, and the dark tunnel opened into a massive cave.
The walls were lined with cages upon cages of various sizes.
A monstrous enclosure sat in the center of the room, and above it, the ceiling was cracked open and letting a pale blue light inside from far, far above our heads. Like a chimney that reached the sky.