Dreamthief

by Tamara Grantham

Fourteen

  The ice cave’s warm air surprised me. My frozen fingers began to thaw, and I removed my cloak. Water trickled somewhere, with an echo that came to us like a drumbeat. After the rift of Earth and Faythander, evolution had changed more than just the species inhabiting each world.

  Magic had transformed Faythander from a world like Earth into a world alien to humans. The ice caves were evidence of it. The walls sparkled, humming with magic trapped beneath. They shone crystalline blue. Bursts of magical energy sparked like lightning through the walls, warming the air while managing to keep the walls frozen.

  Kull and Heidel removed their cloaks. Heidel grasped her knife, its blade glowing blue in the sparking magic.

  “Be cautious,” she said in hushed tones. “These caverns will be quick enough to pass through, but they are filled with magic.”

  A thin layer of sand coated the floor. Our boots made little sound as we walked, the magical bursts lighting our path. The cave grew wider and taller until our footsteps echoed through an immense chamber.

  Heidel kept her knife close.

  The trickle of water grew louder. Stalagmites and stalactites rose from the ground and grew from the ceilings, some of them taller than Kull. Blue crystals, like those in Fan’twar’s chamber, grew like sentinels guarding our path.

  Our footsteps echoed off the walls. Heidel’s gaze grew sharper under the light. Kull’s face remained calm, though the light made his chiseled features more pronounced.

  For once, Kull and Heidel didn’t argue. They didn’t even talk. But I didn’t blame them. We didn’t need the attention. If something dangerous lurked in these caverns, talking would draw it to us more quickly.

  The tunnel dropped at a steep angle. As we descended, a huge lake came into view, and the rhythmic sound of waves filled the still air. Turquoise water lapped at a shore of silver sand. Though the magical glow lit the water, it didn’t shine far enough to illuminate the far shore. The preserved wooden husks of several Viking ships lay on the near bank. Rusted breastplates and helms littered the area around the vessels.

  “Brimlake,” Heidel whispered. “These are the sacred waters our first ancestors found when they crossed into Faythander. The other shore lies in Earth Kingdom.”

  “Amazing,” I answered, speaking softly.

  Kull pointed to a tunnel down shore. “We’ll follow the lake out of the cave. It should lead us to the temple.”

  My shoes sank into the sand as I followed the Wults along the water’s edge. Rippling waves lapped at the shore as I peered across the lake. It looked so beautiful, but I couldn’t push away the feeling that something dark lurked here. The uneasy feeling grew until I felt my skin break out in a cold sweat, as if something sensed my magic. I tried to focus on anything but the lake.

  Heidel’s black blade glinted off the water. I watched the steady, back-and-forth motion of her braid, but still, the feeling wouldn’t relent.

  This was magic I’d encountered only a few times before—the first time in my bathroom mirror, the next in Jeremiah’s bedroom, and most recently, I’d felt it in the wreckage of our light carriage. I knew what Faythander magic felt like, and this was not Faythander magic.

  We hiked past the ancient ships. They seemed undisturbed by time. I stared in fascination at the dragon-carved maidenhead, the long rows of oars, and the tall mast where a sail would have caught the wind.

  Once we passed the ships, I expected to find an exit that led away from the lake, but the underground waterway was larger than I’d first thought. The lake continued on, as vast as an ocean. We followed it with the ships at our backs, the only reminder of the Vikings’ crossing.

  Kull stopped. He unsheathed his sword. “What is that?”

  I peered in the direction he indicated. An altar sat far in the distance. A form hovered near it, black and without shape, like a puff of smoke. Heidel’s knife reflected the lake water as we stepped closer.

  The smoke took shape. What once looked insubstantial now seemed to have a head and shoulders. It drifted around the altar. The air around it turned gray, as if it sucked the light from the room.

  Fear sped my heart. The feeling of other-magic came strongly now. I sensed it in that creature—whatever it was. As we drew closer, its shape disintegrated. Red pinprick eyes lingered before it disappeared completely. When we reached the altar, the magic faded.

  Heidel ran her hand over the worn stone.

  “What was that creature?” Kull asked, his voice quiet. “I’ve never seen such a thing.”

  “I haven’t either,” I said. “A being like that shouldn’t exist here. There’s no record of spirits with that amount of dark energy, here or on Earth. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Could it have crossed from the Brimlake?” Kull asked me.

  “I don’t see how. The Brimlake leads to Earth.”

  Heidel peered across the lake. “It was a Regaymor.”

  I eyed her.

  “Its presence was meant as a warning,” she said softly. “We must leave this place.”

  Kull nodded toward the far wall. An alcove rested under a ledge of broken shale. “We’re close. Let’s keep going.”

  We moved away from the lake. Sharp rocks replaced the sand, and our shoes crunched over the uneven ground.

  I tried to focus on anything but the pain throbbing in my shoulder. I knew I could only hold out for so long, but I didn’t want to slow us down.

  We entered a tunnel that led away from the lake. Kull ducked under the low ceiling. In this part of the cavern, fairy toadstools grew along the floor and walls. Lit by magic, they glowed bright blue, adding light to our path. After a while, the chill returned, and we put on our cloaks.

  “Almost there,” Heidel said as she threaded her arms through her cloak’s sleeves.

  Wind whistled ahead. A steep path led us upward. Gray sunlight seeped inside, casting pale light over patches of snow glistening on the cave’s floor.

  I pulled my cloak closer as we neared the cave’s mouth. A blanket of snow crunched underfoot as we climbed to the top. We stepped outside the cave and discovered a broad, snow-covered plain stretching as far as we could see. Gray pillars pocked the white monotony.

  My heart sped up. This was the place I’d seen in Jeremiah’s dream.

  “The Borderlands,” Heidel said. “We’ve arrived.”

  A scanty gathering of clouds marred the piercing blue sky. The sunlight reflected off the snow. I shielded my eyes to get a better look at the stones. They resembled the pillars of Stonehenge, though they were arranged in a haphazard formation, as if they had been tossed from the sky and landed where they now stood.

  Wind blustered past, bringing with it flurries of snowflakes that bit at my exposed skin. We started down the hill with the wind at our backs. It howled in our ears. I pulled my hood closer, but the piercing wind only sounded louder, eerily similar to the wail of a lost soul.