Chapter 31
31
SAOIRSE
A fter she had successfully passed through the garden gates, the invisible wards passing over her with a strange thrumming, Saoirse braced herself for the cavern to collapse into chaos in much the same way it had moments after Hasana and Rook had entered.
Instead of fragments of crystal exploding out of the floor, the cold garden of gemstones was utterly still as Neia joined her in the cave. Saoirse ached for a sword. Her hand instinctively went to her waist, but she found no reassuring pommel beneath her fingers. After she’d abandoned her outer clothes deep within the flooded tunnels with Rook, she’d been given a simple tunic and leathers to wear for the final trial. Without any means to protect herself, she felt incredibly vulnerable and exposed as the gleaming shards of crystal hung menacingly over their heads, waiting to drop like melted icicles in the sun. Saoirse exchanged a wary look with Neia. Already, their feeble plan had veered off course and the trial had only just started.
“Let’s go,” Neia maintained. “We’ll find Rook and Hasana and continue with the plan. Our separation is only a minor setback.”
Saoirse chewed on the inside of her mouth anxiously. Despite Neia’s confidence, she couldn’t shake the feeling the final trial’s turbulent commencement was an omen of things to come. She turned away from the opening of the Garden of Gods and trailed after Neia as she rounded a sparkling crystal stalactite. She prayed Sloane and Tezrus would soon follow, but she didn’t dare stop to look over her shoulder.
The stone chamber had been completely rearranged, with new growths of crystal and panels of cloudy diamond creating walls and obstructions in the middle of the regular path. Some tunnels appeared completely blocked off by translucent sheets of impenetrable quartz. Were Rook and Hasana just on the other side, fighting for a way out? Saoirse’s pulse roared in her ears as she stared at each glittering barricade, wondering if they were trapped within a dazzling cage of crystal just beyond reach. Were they screaming? Were the stone walls absorbing their cries for help? Her heart twisted painfully in her chest at the morbid thought.
No , she told herself. They’re all right . Both were resourceful and even if they were trapped somewhere, Tezrus would be able to pinpoint their location within the Garden of Gods using his stone-singing abilities. Saoirse shoved her worries back behind the fortress in her mind. She imagined a crystalline exterior forming over her rising emotions, sealing them into submission just like the sheets of gemstone surrounding them. If she couldn’t remain detached from her anxiety, one compulsive decision could jeopardize the plan.
Chips of agate jutted out from the walls like unfurling flower petals. Bands of color shot through the stone, appearing to move like rippling water as they passed by. The lace-like edges that scattered and swirled through the rock looked like freshly tilled earth. The various shades of green reminded Saoirse of clinging moss, further reinforcing the cave’s namesake. But despite its obvious splendor, the Garden of Gods felt austere and cold, a mere imitation of the life and greenery found on the surface world.
“This is the chamber of agate,” Neia confirmed. “There should be a left turn up ahead.” True to Sloane’s description from the night before, the path split off into three directions, each tunnel brimming with shining crystals of various colors. They took the left path and entered the amethyst tunnels.
Saoirse’s breath caught in her throat. The walls were carpeted in deep purple, each jagged edge of amethyst glittering with violet fractals that appeared infinite. Every inch of the tunnel was lined with geodes, small shards pointing inward toward the center of the passageway. It was beautiful and suffocating all at once, the ceiling and walls seeming to close in on them. After several minutes of walking, the amethyst tunnel opened into an adjoining chamber cloaked in shadow. The moment they slipped out of the tight corridor of quartz, the knot of fear loosened in Saoirse’s chest, and it felt easier to breathe.
If she remembered correctly, they needed to turn left once more. She caught sight of the next tunnel and stepped forward. The earth buckled underneath her foot, and suddenly she was falling.
“Saoirse!”
She slipped into the earth, her body going weightless as the floor collapsed out from under her. She clawed at the sides of the crevice as Neia reached from above, hands flailing wildly. Her fingernails split as she dug them into the collapsing floor, panic flaring to life as she continued falling through the narrow fissure.
“ Saoirse !” Neia screamed again.
Their fingers briefly touched, but she couldn’t get a solid grasp. Saoirse dropped as the crevice ripped open even further, slicing through the stone floor like a knife slashed through a sail. A new tunnel gouged deep into the earth, shooting straight down at an almost vertical angle. Neia’s face grew smaller and smaller until her shock of white hair was completely consumed by shadow and there was nothing but an endless spiral of darkness above her.
Saoirse slid down the cleft of rock, clothing tearing and skin chafing against the shaft. She couldn’t see anything as she tumbled through the earth. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t grasp for air. Her stomach plummeted with her. She tried to stop herself, bracing against the sides of the vertical shaft and pushing with all her strength, but gravity took hold and dragged her deeper into the abyss. She felt her fingernails break as she fought for a hold.
The tunnel abruptly deposited her into a damp, flooded chamber. She fell from the ceiling and splashed into a pool of tepid water. She sank into its silty depths, awareness and shock splintering along her spine as the water enveloped her. Her titansblood -addled lungs were startled by the sudden loss of air, and she choked on the cloudy water for several seconds.
Pale shapes flitted in and out of view, trails of bubbles drifting in their wake. At the back of her mind, she vaguely recalled Neia’s distant warning that Wyrms hunted for cavefish. When Wyrms detect the vibrations of cavefish in flooded quarries, they burst through the walls and swallow several fish at a time. Instinct kicked in and she began to swim toward the surface, a frenzied desperation to crawl out of the pool before a hungry Wyrm came for its next meal overcoming every sensation. The white cavefish darted around her, blind and unseeing.
There was a dim light shining above the warped veil of the pool and Saoirse kicked toward it. Her eyes burned through the silt and her heart pounded in her throat. She crashed through the surface of the water and blinked in the faint light.
She looked up at the ceiling. The narrow fissure she’d fallen through loomed at least ten feet above her. It was impossible for her to climb back up and rejoin Neia. She swam over to a soft embankment, her feet catching along the silty floor. She pulled herself out of the pool and slumped against the cave floor, staring up at the dark hole in the ceiling with watery eyes. Panic threatened to pull her under as she struggled to regain her senses. She was now separated from all her companions, and she had no idea how far she’d fallen into the earth. She had no sense of where she was in the labyrinth of cave systems.
Calm down , Saoirse told herself. Just focus on one thing at a time.
She slowed her breathing and closed her eyes, focusing on inhaling and exhaling. She felt her fingers curl into her hands, broken nails scoring crescents against her palms. She pushed harder, wincing as her nails bit into the soft flesh. The pain jolted her out of the panicked stupor and sobered her.
She pushed herself into a sitting position. Her clothing was completely soaked through, and her wet hair was plastered to her neck. She looked around the darkened chamber and took note of her surroundings. Several stalactites hung to the floor, meeting the rising points of stalagmites to form thick columns. The compounded columns continued further down the cave like a grove of trees. She caught sight of something glinting in the shadows, lodged between two pillars. She looked back at the silvery pool and watched the translucent cavefish scatter out of view.
On shaking legs, Saoirse forced herself to walk carefully toward the glinting surface in the distance. She kept her eyes on the ground just in case a new hole decided to open under her again. She stalked past the towering pillars of stone, looking between each darkened row for any sign of danger. Gooseflesh crawled up her damp arms. She had the distinct feeling of being watched.
The glinting thing in the distance turned out to be a thin sheet of reflective crystal. Saoirse studied herself on the glass-like surface. She looked positively haggard. With bandaged arms, hair slicked to her skull, sodden clothing, and dark smudges of color under gaunt eyes, she looked like a drowned girl who’d just woken up in the Underworld. Saoirse’s eyes trailed along the edge of the crystal mirror, following the seam between the sparkling sheet and the mineral column.
She walked further down the chamber, noticing several more floor-to-ceiling panels of crystal glinting between the pillars. They grew more frequent, multiplying her reflection as she approached. It was like a garden of mirrors, each one a different size and level of clarity. Some made her look squat and wide; others stretched her body so she appeared taller than Rook. At some point, the cavern walls became completely lined with glass-like shards of crystal. Everywhere she looked, her own sunken eyes stared back at her. Mirrors protruded out of the earth every few steps, warping Saoirse’s already questionable concept of direction. The unspooling cavern reflected behind her, making it seem like there were an infinite number of snaking caves and columns in every direction. It felt like she was walking toward several duplicate versions of herself, framed by an unending crystal dimension that uncoiled into glass and shadow.
Her head started to spin. Her warped reflections grew unsettling in her peripheral vision, and she felt the sudden urge to break every shining surface she passed. In the corner of her eye, she thought she saw one of her reflections smile.
Her heart nearly stopped.
She backtracked and came to stand in front of the crystal panel, eyes growing wide as she peered at the smiling version of herself. Lips pulled back to reveal sharpened teeth. She blinked and the eerie reflection stopped smiling, replaced by a bewildered Saoirse with haunted eyes. She was going mad down here.
She pressed her back against the polished stone and slid down to the ground. She bracketed her head between her arms, chin lowering to her sternum as the world went in and out of focus. Her breaths came out in shaky whisps, her lungs feeling shallow as she fought to inhale. There wasn’t enough air.
My brave girl. I love you , came her mother’s voice.
Saoirse envisioned her mother within that horrid cell, confined in the unending cold and numbing silence for eight years. If Eleyera could survive the ravaging dark, so could Saoirse. She would be brave. For her mother. For Rook. For herself. With one last shuddering breath, Saoirse lifted her head.
“Saoirse?” a distant voice echoed.
She jumped at the sound, shooting up from her huddled position. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She peered around a shard of crystal, eyes squinting through the darkness.
There . A pale cascade of blinding white hair reflected in the crystal mirrors, coming closer. A torn gown of blue silk rippled in the glass-like surface.
“Sloane!”
Saoirse all but ran to the Terradrin princess. Relief flooded her terror-choked mind as she threw her arms around Sloane. She was real and solid, not an imagined face in the shadows. Sloane was momentarily stunned by Saoirse’s embrace, her spine rigid as iron. Then she hugged her back and awkwardly patted her wet hair.
“You made it through the gates,” Saoirse breathed. She scanned the woman’s moon-pale complexion and angular face. Her painted lips were smudged, a steak of crimson smeared on the corner of her mouth like blood. But aside from her disheveled appearance, Sloane looked relatively unharmed. She looked over Sloane’s shoulder. “Where’s Tezrus? Is he safe?”
Sloane nodded and a loose tendril of white hair fell across one sharp cheekbone. “Tezrus is safe. He’s looking for the Moonstone Shard with Hasana and Rook.”
“Thank the stars .” The plan was well in hand despite all their missteps.
“We need to get out of here and meet up with the others.” Sloane’s ghostly eyes darted around the cavern. “We still have time to save your mother.”
Together, they navigated the unnerving garden of mirrors until they reached the end of the chamber.
“What happened after Neia and I entered the Garden of Gods?” Saoirse asked as they began climbing up a sharp incline. Mercifully, there were no more mirror stones in sight. She never thought she’d be so happy to see a dull limestone passageway in her life.
“We headed in shortly after you disappeared into the garden. My father’s underguards never saw it coming. They barely had time to react before Tezrus and I were on the other side of the gates. My father was furious, of course. With the killing wards draped over the archway, he didn’t dare send anyone else after us, just as we predicted. It was quite satisfying to see his befuddled face on the other side.”
“That was the last time you’ll ever have to see his face. Once we find the Relic and free my mother, we’ll escape from the Under Kingdom and you’ll never have to set foot here again. The world will be yours.”
For the first time since capture, Saoirse felt that elusive ember of hope being stoked back to life in her heart. They were so close to freedom she could almost taste it.
The tunnel opened into a new cave, this one lit by torches of undying flame. The clusters of organic crystals had returned, but this time no unsettling reflections leered back at Saoirse. Shadows crept along the quartz walls, appearing misshapen as the torchlight danced along the geometric latticework. Paired with the blue-tinged crystal walls and the chilled air, it felt like she’d stepped into a chamber of ice. It smelled like decaying flowers and rotting fish.
Saoirse’s eyes caught on a shock of white in the corner of the room. She crept closer, brows furrowing as the mound of color gradually sharpened into a limp body. Her hand darted to her mouth. It was a woman.
A sheet of bone-white hair covered her face, but the rich velvet gown gave her identity away. The fine hairs on the nape of Saoirse’s neck stood on edge. Cracks of confusion snapped along the mental barrier in her mind, buckling like heavy footsteps against the frozen surface of a pond.
“ What ?”
She moved the woman’s blood-soaked hair from her face. The blood was rust-colored and old, making her hair stiff. She struggled to comprehend what she was looking at. Like the vague wisps of a dream forgotten in the light of day, her mind sluggishly took in Sloane’s lifeless body without fully understanding. Her skin was already pale in life, but she appeared completely ashen and leached of all color.
Saoirse’s eyes snapped over to where the other Sloane was standing.
“What?” she stuttered again, slowly piecing the sickening scene together. She looked back down at the broken woman on the ground, her milky-white eyes unseeing and lifeless. A trickle of dried blood leaked from the corner of her crimson-painted lips. There was no warmth in her skin, no receding flush of color.
Her wounds weren’t fresh. In fact, they appeared to be days old.
Saoirse watched as the Sloane who’d saved her from the chamber of mirrors began to grin. Pearlescent teeth sharpened and elongated between her full lips. Her pale hair lengthened to her waist, the roots turning black. It poured down her white lengths like ink spilled across a fresh sheet of ivory parchment. Her white lashes turned kohl black to match her hair. The center of her star-bright eyes imploded like a hole ripped in the heavens, a flush of black swallowing her eyes whole.
The Sea Witch unfurled her clawed fingers. A shard of glimmering moonstone sat in her palm, roughly the size of a sword pommel. The Terradrin Relic glowed with ethereal light.
Selussa had finally come.