Chapter 109
We followed the dragon through the passage.
At the end of the corridor was a chamber that was almost painfully simple compared with the enormous cavern we'd just left.
No murals.
No statues.
No elaborate mechanisms.
Only a single pedestal stood in the centre.
Something rested upon it.
A small, irregular piece of deep crimson crystal. Thin veins of pale light moved slowly beneath its surface, as though something within it were still alive.
The compass in my hand reacted instantly.
Click.
Click.
Click.
I stepped closer to the pedestal. The dragon watched me.
"The First Fragment," I whispered.
"Well, I've shown you what you needed to see." The dragon turned toward the entrance. "I'll be outside. I'll leave the door open."
I blinked. "Wait. You're leaving?"
The dragon glanced back at me.
"Oh, and one more thing." It stretched its neck from side to side, seemingly more interested in loosening its muscles than in whatever was happening around us. "Be quick. You may take the fragment, and then you might want to leave these chambers."
It paused. "And try not to get yourself killed."
I stared at it. "You're just... leaving us here?"
"I have been imprisoned for centuries." The dragon gave its wings a small stretch. "I have places to be."
"What places?"
"Anywhere that isn't here." It turned toward the passage. "All right. May luck favour you two."
And with that, it disappeared through the entrance.
I stared after it. "That is one weird dragon."
Rhaevan stepped toward the pedestal, his attention already shifted back to the fragment. I followed him and reached toward the crystal.
My fingers closed around it.
I pulled.
Nothing.
I tried again. Still nothing.
"Of course."
I planted my feet and pulled harder. The fragment didn't even move. I tried channeling magic through my fingers, but the crystal remained completely unaffected.
"Great," I muttered.
"Cassiane." Rhaevan's voice made me stop. "Look at the carving surrounding it."
I looked down. He was right. A shallow, circular depression had been carved into the top of the pedestal. It looked familiar. Too familiar.
I glanced at the compass in my hand. "Wait..."
I held it over the depression. The moment it touched the carved outline, the three concentric rings shifted.
Click.
The compass opened. I stared. Inside were three small diamond-shaped spaces, each one just large enough to hold a fragment.
"Three spaces..."
Before I could say anything else, the crimson crystal began to move. It slowly lifted from the pedestal, a faint golden light surrounding it. Then the fragment floated toward the compass.
I instinctively stepped back.
The crystal rotated once in the air before settling perfectly into the first diamond-shaped space.
Click.
The compass flashed. The crimson light from the fragment travelled through the rings, spreading across the entire device. Then, just as suddenly, the light vanished.
The three rings closed, and the compass returned to its original form.
I stared at it for a moment, then slowly lifted it from the pedestal.
"So..." I turned it over in my hands. "The compass isn't just a compass."
Rhaevan looked at it. "It's a container. Or a key. Possibly both."
I looked down at the faint crimson glow barely visible beneath its surface. "And if I'm not mistaken..." I turned it over again. "...there are three spaces."
I looked at Rhaevan. "So we have-"
A violent tremor shook the entire chamber. I stumbled, but Rhaevan caught my arm before I could fall.
"What was that-"
Another tremor tore through the chamber. This one was worse.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
Cracks raced across the walls.
The pedestal groaned.
Rhaevan's gaze immediately swept across the room. "I think the fragment was stabilising the chamber." He looked at the floor. "Now that it's been removed-"
The ground beneath us split with a deafening crack. The rest of his sentence became completely unnecessary.
"Oh."
The floor lurched. I grabbed Rhaevan's arm. "Cassiane, run!"
I didn't need to be told twice. We sprinted toward the passage as the chamber shook violently around us. Stone rained from the ceiling, and the walls groaned. We were almost at the entrance when the floor beneath us cracked open.
A jagged fissure tore across the chamber, widening rapidly until it separated us from the passage.
I skidded to a stop. Rhaevan caught my shoulder before I could stumble over the edge. The entrance was only a few metres away. Unfortunately, those few metres now consisted of a rapidly widening chasm.
I stared at it. "Oh dear."
The ground trembled again. "Can this get any worse?"
As if the chamber had been personally offended by the question, a deafening crack echoed overhead. I looked up. Several massive stone pillars had begun to collapse.
"Never mind."
The first pillar came crashing down.
"Don't answer that."
Rhaevan grabbed my hand. "Move!"
We ran. Again.
Behind us, pillars began to collapse.
The pedestal shattered completely, sending fragments of ancient rock skittering across the floor.
I quickly shoved the compass into my satchel and pulled it tight against my chest.
For one brief moment, I looked back. The chamber we had entered only minutes ago was already being swallowed by darkness and falling stone.
Cracks spread rapidly across the floor and climbed the walls.
Whatever enchantment had held this place together was gone.
"Keep moving!"
Rhaevan grabbed my arm and pulled me sharply to the side as another chunk of rock crashed down where we had been standing. He tightened his hold around me and tried to teleport.
I felt the familiar pull of magic.
Then... nothing.
I was still standing there.
Rhaevan's expression hardened. "This chamber has anti-teleportation magic."
He held me tighter, his gaze sweeping desperately across the collapsing chamber as he searched for another way out. Another violent tremor tore through the mountain, and the ground shifted beneath our feet as the cracks widened.
My satchel suddenly slipped from my shoulder.
"My compass-"
I lunged for it, my fingers catching the strap.
But my footing didn't.
The ground disappeared beneath me.
I screamed as I plunged into the steep crevice that had opened beneath us. Rhaevan's hand closed around mine and he yanked me toward him, but the surface beneath him cracked further before giving way completely.
We fell.
I barely had time to scream before Rhaevan's arm locked around my waist. His other hand shot upward, catching the edge of the ledge above us.
The impact nearly tore his shoulder from its socket. He grunted, but somehow managed to hold on.
I clung to his robes, keeping the satchel pressed against me as my heart hammered so violently that I could barely breathe.
Above us, the passage continued collapsing.
Below...
I didn't want to look.
Naturally, I looked anyway.
The cliff disappeared into absolute darkness.
"...How far down is that?"
Rhaevan didn't answer.
"Rhaevan."
"Don't look down."
"Too late."
"Then don't do it again."
"Excellent advice. I'll remember that during my next free fall."
His grip tightened around the rock.
I stared miserably at the cliff face. "My ancestors were insane."
Rhaevan glanced at me, clearly struggling for breath.
"They built secret chambers inside mountains." I tightened my grip on his sleeve. "They chained dragons. They filled everything with anti-teleportation magic. Then they made the entire place collapse when someone took one stupid fragment!"
My voice rose as panic took over.
"Ardentia really went out of its way to make sure nobody could have a normal archaeological experience! This was not how I wanted to die! Curse you, you freaking ancestors!"
"Cassiane."
His voice was different now. Calm. Firm.
"Look at me."
I did.
His face was strained, but his eyes remained steady.
"Hold on to me. You aren't going to die. I won't let go."
He shifted his grip, desperately searching for something more secure, but there was nothing. Only the sheer black cliff, broken stone, and darkness below.
I tightened my arms around him, burying my face against his shoulder.
Rhaevan looked upward, his breathing growing increasingly laboured as he searched for a way to swing us toward the opposite side of the fissure.
"If I can swing us toward the other side," he said between breaths, "we might be able to reach the entrance."
I lifted my head and looked across the gap.
The opposite ledge was several metres away.
"That's your plan?"
"It's the only one I have."
He adjusted his grip.
"On my count."
I wrapped both arms around him, bracing myself against his chest.
"Ready."
Rhaevan pulled himself upward, the muscles in his arms straining beneath his robes. He swung one leg toward the nearest projection of rock, his fingers tightening around the ledge as he tried to gain leverage.
Then the stone beneath his hand cracked again.
His eyes snapped upward.
I wrapped both arms around him, held him as tightly as I could, and squeezed my eyes shut.