Chapter 28 #2
“Blooding you. You’re officially a hunter now.” She tossed the knife in the air, grabbing the blade and thrusting the hilt toward Paige. “Keep it.”
The tent rustled, and Dewey poked his head from within, scanning the chamber. His eyes went wide as he spotted Paige. He wriggled around to free himself from the tent and zipped over to her.
“OMG, Paige! You’re hurt. Is it bad?”
“No, I’m just a little sore, but…”
“There’s so much blood!” He whipped around to face Drucinda and Devon. “Why aren’t you helping her?”
Paige screwed up her features before realization dawned on her. “Oh, do you mean the blood on my face? Drucinda put that on there from the panther. I’m not hurt.”
Dewey spun and squinted at her cheek. “Oh, right. That’s…disgusting. You should wipe that off.”
“Are you two finished with your schoolgirl chat?” Drucinda asked.
“No, Paige still has blood all over her face, and it’s gross,” Dewey said.
“Find a kerchief, then. And then we should head out. We need to find the Bronze Ring and get out of this cave before the panthers retaliate.”
“Retaliate?” Paige asked as she dug through her backpack for a tissue.
“Yes. I told you one of them got away.”
“Yeah, but I figured it would just slink away and hide after all its friends were killed.”
Devon barked out a sharp laugh as Thorn emerged from the tent in his snowsuit. “Doubtful,” the dragon purred.
Paige wiped at her face. “They’ll come back?”
“Inevitably,” Drucinda said. “And they’ll be looking for revenge. We just killed three of their pack mates. The colony will not be pleased.”
“Oh, great. That’s just perfect. I thought these were wild animals and outside of running into them again while we searched, we’d be okay.”
“Sorry, darling, no such luck. Now, we’ll stow the gear and put it by the entrance in case we need to make a quick getaway. We’ll be much faster searching without most of it.”
They broke down their camp within forty-five minutes, also removing the bodies from the cavern. With most of their gear stowed and ready for departure, they pulled on ice skates.
“Do we really need these?” Paige asked as she tied her laces and grimaced at the sharp blade.
Drucinda finished with her laces and rose to stand, gracefully gliding across the ice. “The cave network is vast. This will make exploring it much faster. Not to mention, increasing your speed if we’re chased by a pack of panthers.”
She spun in a circle, pulling her arms in tight before she flicked them out.
Paige wrinkled her nose at the move as she worked on tying her second skate. “I really don’t like her.”
“And to think she could have been your mom, kinda.”
“Don’t remind me. I would have been the biggest disappointment.” She finished lacing the skates and tried to stand, falling backward onto her rear.
A hand jutted out toward her. She flicked her gaze up to find Devon standing over her. “Thanks,” she grumbled as she accepted his help to get to her feet.
“Have you skated before?”
“A few times,” Paige said. “I’m not that fond of it.”
“Are we ready?” Drucinda asked as she skated past them.
“Ready,” Dewey said as he descended onto Paige’s shoulder. “I’m glad I don’t have to skate. It looks awful.”
“It’s actually quite fun,” Thorn said as he slipped past them, skates strapped to his four feet.
With lanterns in hand and the magic bag slung on Drucinda’s back, they skated into the large opening leading deeper into the ice caves.
The temperature dropped as they glided deeper into the caves. Paige shivered despite the thick snowsuit. “It’s cold in here.”
“They are ice caves, Paige.”
“I hope we find this stupid ring quickly. I really don’t want to be stuck down here with those panthers.”
The passage branched into three offshoots. Drucinda slid to a stop and studied each one. “We should split up.”
“We shouldn’t,” Devon said, shooting a glance at Paige.
“Staying together lengthens our exposure down here, which also increases risk.”
“Splitting up means one of us could become trapped by the panthers or the Transylvanians.”
Drucinda arched an eyebrow and slid her gaze to Paige. “We’ve all proven ourselves more than capable. But if someone doesn’t feel comfortable on their own, they should speak up. I’m perfectly fine and will take the passage on the right.”
Paige lifted her chin. “I’m fine. I’ll take the one on the left.”
“That leaves you with the center,” Drucinda said to Devon.
“We should set a time limit, so we all know when to check in.”
“All right. Two hours should be sufficient for a cursory exploration. Should you not be able to finish your search in that time, return here anyway, and we’ll discuss next steps.”
“Fine,” Paige said. She checked the time on her phone before sliding it back into her pocket. “See you in two hours.”
“Paige…” Devon called as she pushed off and glided into the dark passages on the left.
“See you in two hours,” she repeated over her shoulder.
“Devon likes you,” Dewey mimicked, doing his best impression of Drucinda.
“Great for him. I’ve got a job to do, and I don’t need Devon’s help doing it.”
“No, apparently not. Go, you killing that panther. That’s really a feat.”
“Yeah. I killed one, while Drucinda downed two of them and tried to bag a third.”
Dewey patted her on the head through her wool hat. “Still, it’s great work.” He changed his voice to his Drucinda impression. “For a noob.”
Paige chuckled in spite of herself as she slowed at the first fork, choosing the passage on the right. “I guess she has a point. She has a lot more experience than I do.”
“But you’re awesome in a different way,” Dewey said.
“Drucinda is awesome in all the ways.” Paige slipped into another icy corridor on her right, picking up speed.
“There’s got to be something she’s bad at,” Dewey said.
“Like what?” Paige asked as they skated along. The lantern did little to beat back the darkness the deeper they traveled into the cave.
“Let’s think to help pass the time. Maybe she’s bad at cooking. I bet you she is. She probably can’t boil water.”
Paige giggled as she sped deeper into the caves on a downward trajectory. “She burns her eggs.”
“Heck, she probably burns her toast,” Dewey answered.
Paige slapped at the thick snowsuit on her thigh as she doubled over. “She can’t even mix a salad well.”
“Nope. And her cookies taste like sludge.”
“Ewww,” Paige said, with another chuckle. Her laughter cut off abruptly when the ground disappeared from under her feet. She floated for a second, her stomach flip-flopping before her feet hit hard on the ice again.
She lost her balance and tumbled forward, sliding across the ice on her belly. Dewey fluttered into the air as the jolt jarred the lantern from her hand. It clattered across the ice, landing on its side.
“What the hell?”
She pushed up and glanced over her shoulder.
Dewey retrieved the lantern and lifted it into the air, his jaw going slack. “Oh, my gosh.”
Paige stared at what the light illuminated, crawling forward on her hands and knees. She stared down at the massive chasm that separated them from the passage they’d come from. They could never get back. They were stuck.