Plague Arcanist (Frith Chronicles Book 4)

by Shami Stovall

  Two four-foot jumps weren’t impossible, but landing on a small platform and jumping again would be tricky.

  Vethica stood on the other side of the room. “What’re you all waiting for? Use your sorcery and get over here.”

  “They want to attempt it as though they were mortals,” Adelgis said.

  With a laugh, Vethica shrugged. “Go on, then.”

  “These mystical scarabs want people to jump well before bonding with them?” Fain asked as he glanced over the edge of the pit. “That’s odd.”

  “Actually,” Adelgis said in a matter-of-fact tone, “the khepera are mystical creatures of both the body and the soul. Most legends regarding their initial creation talk about the harmony they achieve between the physical and the emotional. It isn’t surprising to see that some of the traps would require physical precision. On the other hand, I suspect the rooms in the labyrinth will have two ways to complete them, because—”

  “I get it,” Fain interjected. He motioned everyone anyway from him. “I’ll go first, just to see if it’s trapped.”

  Wraith dropped his invisibility and lifted his head, his ears perked straight up.

  Felicity also hovered nearby, watching intently.

  “You’re going to hurt yourself,” Karna said, rolling her eyes. She stepped in front of Fain and swished her hand. “Watch a master.”

  Before Fain could protest, she took two powerful strides toward the pit, leapt at just the right moment, hit the platform with a single foot, and then continued with her momentum to jump again, clearing the last four feet of the pit with a graceful arc. She had the fluidity of an expert dancer, and I could’ve watched her leap over the pit all day.

  When Karna landed, she barely made a sound, but the stone platform in the middle of the pit crumbled away a second later, the stones clattering against the jagged bottom.

  “It broke?” Fain asked. “Of course it did…”

  I stared at the pit, wondering if that had been intentional. Was that part of the trap? The platform would break after someone stepped on it?

  But then, how had Vethica gotten across? How would the rest of us continue?

  To my fascination, the stones of the pillar shook and trembled. A moment later, they rolled together, stacked themselves back into place, and once again created the platform. Any cracks in the rocks melded and sealed, like flesh knitting together after an injury. It only took a minute, and the platform was just as I remembered it.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  Adelgis motioned to the pit. “Khepera are creatures of renewal. Their magic can refresh anything, not just the body and soul. If their magic is on the traps and puzzles here, I assume they will all reset once activated or solved.”

  Clever. That would prevent the need for people to enter the maze to reset everything.

  Fain rotated his shoulders. “Okay. I think I can handle this.”

  He backed up a few feet, giving himself room for a running start. After two deep breaths, he sprinted for the edge. I held my breath when he jumped, and for a half second, I thought he was going to overshoot the pillar. Thankfully, he landed, and just like Karna, continued with his momentum for the second jump. He landed on the other side of the pit with a stumble and huff, far less graceful, but without much difficulty.

  Again, the pillar and platform collapsed into the pit. Adelgis observed the reconstruction with narrowed focus, never blinking until the structure had refreshed itself.

  “Beautiful,” he said.

  I didn’t see much majesty in reforming rocks, but I nodded nonetheless. It was impressive, to say the least.

  Karna glanced across the pit and met my gaze. “Well?” she asked. “Are you coming, Volke?”

  With a short exhale, I backed up a few feet. I was afraid of falling, but I didn’t want to be the odd man out—the pressure to succeed increased tenfold. Tense and ready, I ran toward the edge, leapt, hit the platform, and then jumped again, probably harder than I needed. I hit the other side with a foot leeway.

  The pillar collapsed, reformed, and repaired itself.

  Wraith whined, his tail slowly shifting from side to side.

  Fain patted my upper arm. “Have your knightmare go get him, would you?”

  I motioned to the shadows, and Luthair slipped across the pit, rose up as an empty suit of plate mail armor next to Wraith, and then took the wendigo into the shadows. In only a matter of seconds, Wraith was on the other side of the pit, though he seemed grumpy and panted when he emerged from the darkness.

  “Moonbeam,” Fain said. “Wait there. Volke can send his knightmare over again.”

  Adelgis shook his head. “We said we were attempting this as mortals, remember?”

  Fain snorted back a laugh. “C’mon, man. Don’t make this awkward. No one thinks less of you for needing help.”

  “I’ll make it across on my own.”

  “Yeah, but in how many pieces?”

  Felicity floated around her arcanist, her tentacles playing with his long hair. Adelgis waved to the pit. “Go to the other side and wait for me.”

  His ethereal whelk, untethered by gravity, floated over without a problem.

  I knew, deep in my gut, Adelgis couldn’t make this jump. He had spent too many days inside reading. He never moved with much energy or exertion, and for years he’d had an abyssal leech feeding on him from the inside. Then again, he could read my thoughts—and everyone else’s—and I wondered if that doubt somehow pushed him to prove us wrong.

  Adelgis examined the pit a second time, his focused gaze going over every inch. I thought he might give up, but then he smiled. “Oh,” he muttered. “Here it is.” He walked to the wall and then stepped off the edge of the pit.

  “Hey!” Fain barked.

  But Adelgis didn’t fall. Instead, he stepped onto a stone ledge. It was small—too narrow to fit an entire foot—and it was so well blended with the stone that I couldn’t see it until Adelgis was physically on top of it. The ledge extended from one side to the next, and Adelgis slowly inched his way across, taking careful steps and leaning his back against the rough wall whenever he needed extra balance.

  Once across, he brushed off his coat and trousers.

  “I knew you could do it, my arcanist,” Felicity said as she “clapped” two of her tentacles together.

  “How did you know there was a ledge?” Karna asked.

  “Well, I was trying to tell you all about the khepera, but I got interrupted,” Adelgis said. “You see, there was once an older wise man who took the khepera trial of worth. He entered the Grotto Labyrinth with nothing but his cane. The records say the people of New Norra thought him crazy and that he would surely die, but he managed to bond with a khepera and emerged from the labyrinth a day later. If a man like that can complete the maze, then the obstacles we’ll face probably have a solution that doesn’t require physical prowess.”

  That intrigued me. The khepera were creatures of body and soul, so why wouldn’t they require physical prowess for their trial of worth? Perhaps the body portion was more than just strength. Physical perception—the ability to spot the ledge in the dim lighting of this underground maze—could be argued was part of the body.

  Rumbling filled the maze, along with a series of clanks and metallic echoes. The cacophony came so sudden and from out of nowhere, I almost thought I was trapped in a nightmare. Luthair emerged from the darkness and merged with me, his shadows wrapping around my whole being and forming as black plate mail.

  Scraping added to the awful noises.

  “The labyrinth is moving,” Vethica shouted. “We have to go!”

  She turned on her heel and ran out of the room. Everyone else chased after her, but I stayed in the back to make sure no one was left behind. Once I was in the hallway, the ground shuddered. I glanced back to see the room with the pit shift and move away—like it was on a circular tray that had been spun around.

  A new room appeared in its place, one with mirrors and lights spark
ling down from the ceiling.

  Then the noises stopped, just as abruptly as they had begun, leaving the quiet hum of cogs behind the walls.

  Everyone jogged to a stop and took a moment to breathe deep.

  “You weren’t kidding,” Fain muttered. “It really does move. If we had still been in that room…”

  “We’d have gone to a different portion of the maze,” Vethica said. She held up her map. “That’s okay. As long as we stick together, we’ll make it out of here. Just… don’t take so long in the next room. According to this, the maze moves every hour, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but we also shouldn’t risk it.”

  Everyone nodded in response.

  “Let’s keep going,” Karna said. “Now that we know what to expect, it can’t be too difficult, right?”

  28

  Riddles And Traps

  Vethica entered the next room—another cave chamber secured with a heavy door. The rest of us waited outside, hoping she’d be successful. I paced the hall, restless and anxious to finally meet one of these khepera.

  “It’s a riddle,” Adelgis muttered. “Vethica is having a difficult time answering.”

  Fain sighed. “Ironic that she’s the one wasting our time now.”

  Vethica had been in the room for close to ten minutes. How complicated was the riddle? Then again, I had never been that great with puzzles, and if Vethica was under pressure to succeed, the stress might have stripped away some of her problem-solving skills.

  “She’ll be fine,” Karna said. She leaned against one of the rough walls and then grimaced. After moving away, she rubbed at her lower back. “We just need patience.”

  “Nice outfit, by the way,” Fain said, his gaze moving up from her high boots to her tight breeches-like trousers, until finally lingering on the simple bandage wrap over her chest.

  Karna flashed him a smirk. “You like it? This is what I wear when I don’t know what forms I’ll have to take.”

  He tilted his head. “Whaddya mean?”

  Without warning, Karna shimmered and shifted, her doppelgänger magic taking full effect over the entirety of her body. Her hair grew shorter and darker, her body slightly taller, her fingers and the tips of her ears frostbitten…

  In a matter of moments, she appeared to be Fain—though Karna kept her original outfit. All pieces of her clothing seemed to accommodate the slight change in size, each capable of stretching. That explained why she had opted not to wear a belt.

  Fain looked away, his shoulders stiff. “You can change back. I understand now.”

  “What’s wrong?” Karna-Fain asked, his voice a perfect match to Fain’s. “You don’t like your own look?” He ran his hand down his sides and then across his stomach, feeling every indent of muscle.

  It seemed odd to watch Fain sensually caress himself, but also amusing in a surreal is this really happening kind of way. Karna had a distinct way of moving that made everything sexual. Did she do it intentionally? Or was this how she always conducted herself, even when alone?

  “You’re wiry,” Karna-Fain said as he felt his own thighs. “I like that in a man.”

  Fain gritted his teeth and remained silent.

  “Or perhaps you’re worried I’ll examine every inch of you and then report back to all the ladies on the airship?” Karna-Fain ran a hand down the front of his trousers.

  “Karna,” I growled, my face hot.

  Fain half-laughed and offered a smirk. “I’m not worried about that. I just didn’t realize… how much I look like my brother. He died a while back, and I’d rather not have the reminder. Satisfied? Will you change back now?”

  After a moment of reflection, Karna dropped her magic and returned to her previous form—an athletic dancing girl with long, blonde hair. After shrinking somewhat in size, she had to readjust the wraps around her chest, tightening them back into position.

  “You’re sentimental, for a pirate,” she said, disappointment in her tone.

  “Renegade pirate,” Fain growled.

  “Renegade just means you’ve left your crew. It doesn’t mean you’ve given up on that way of life.”

  Adelgis chuckled, drawing everyone’s attention. “Fain was a bad pirate. And by bad, I don’t mean wicked. I mean he was an incompetent pirate.”

  “Thanks, Moonbeam,” Fain forced out. He ran a hand down his face, his frostbitten fingers pinching at the bridge of his nose. “Way to have my back. Really appreciate it.” The sarcasm was so thick he could choke on it.

  “You were often held back by morals or sentimentalities,” Adelgis continued. “And you weren’t the best combatant. I doubt you’ll return to a life of cutthroats and scallywags. Karna appreciates knowing that.”

  To my surprise, Karna laughed aloud. She sauntered around the group, mulling over the statements. “I wondered why someone like Volke would spend his time with you two, and I think I’m starting to understand.”

  Before the conversation could continue its levity, Adelgis snapped his attention to the door. “Vethica solved the puzzle. We can enter now.”

  I pushed open the stone door and stepped inside. Unlike the last room, which had been large enough to accommodate an eight-foot-wide pit, this one was small, perhaps five feet by five feet. And it was cut in half by a wrought iron fence, no gate or door. Twisted into the metal were two simple sentences:

  I’m only seen when your eyes are closed

  I’m fun, frightening, never composed

  Vethica stood on the other side of the iron fence, her arms crossed. “You need to speak the answer aloud,” she said. “Then the path will open.”

  “The answer to what?” Fain asked.

  “The riddle woven into the fence.”

  “That’s the riddle? It’s barely anything.” Fain glared at it. “I don’t even think those are complete sentences.”

  If I wanted, I could shadow-step through the fence without problem. However, despite the cryptic and short clues, a part of me knew the answer. It had clicked in my mind the moment I had read the riddle.

  “A dream,” I said, loud enough to echo in the room.

  At first, nothing happened. Then, a few seconds after the last of my voice disappeared into the hallways of the labyrinth, the iron fence creaked and moved aside. It was pulled into the wall by machinery and magic, allowing a narrow opening for someone to walk through.

  “You solved that quick,” Adelgis said.

  I nodded. “It’s because of you. I don’t usually think of dreams, but… I have a lot lately.”

  He tried to hide a smile by rubbing at his jaw.

  Fain, Karna, Adelgis, Wraith, Felicity, and I managed to slip through the opening before the gate shut itself. I suppose we failed in our test to complete the maze as mortals, since I was the only one to solve the puzzle, but so far no one had violated the rules of our little game by using their magic.

  We traveled down the next hall as a group, and when we were confronted with seven more pathways, each lit up with glowstones and scarab-carved jewels hanging from the ceiling, Vethica went straight for the first hallway. She checked her map several times while she hustled down the hall, and I trusted that she’d find us the way.

  The next door we came across was just as plain as the rest. Vethica pushed it aside and went in.

  I exhaled, ready for the long haul—perhaps another ten minutes of joking and bickering—but after a short sixty seconds, Adelgis motioned us inside.

  “She solved it,” he said.

  Fain pushed the door open, and we stepped in.

  The room was empty, except for the tiles that lined the floor. Some tiles were black, some white, and others were the natural tan of sandstone—all one foot by one foot. Vethica stood on the opposite side of the room, just beyond the tiles.

  “I assume we have to step on the correct tiles?” Fain asked.

  Vethica nodded.

  “And what happens if we don’t?”

  She motioned to the floor, as though offering him to try.
>
  Fain sighed. “For once, I’d love the fates to give me a good surprise,” he muttered under his breath as he tapped the toe of his boot on a random tile. Nothing happened. Fain’s eyebrows knit together. He slammed his whole boot back on the same tile.

  A loud grinding of gears screeched from the walls. Vethica stepped into the far hallway, shielding herself behind the rocks.

  I placed my hand on my sword and waited. Three seconds and then a flurry of darts shot from the cracks in the wall, spraying across the room.

  Without thinking, I stepped in front of Karna and blocked the darts with my forearm, as though I still had my shield. Three darts—thin and needle-sharp—pierced my coat and shirt and punctured my skin. They didn’t go deep, perhaps an inch, and they didn’t hurt much. I had suffered through worse.

  To my surprise, Luthair had formed in the split second the darts had fired. He stood in front of Felicity and Wraith, his plate armor too hard for the darts to harm him. Ten of the projectiles were on the ground around Luthair’s feet. They had tinked off his shadow-metal.

  Fain and Adelgis stood close together, but neither had been hit by the darts.

  “Curse the abyssal hells,” I growled, ripping the three darts from my forearm. “Are these poisonous?”

  “No,” Vethica said. She held up her map. “The notes here say they’re just meant to puncture.”

  Karna wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me close. “And here I thought you didn’t care about me,” she whispered in a playful tone.

  I used some of my wootz cotton to wrap the tiny puncture wounds. I couldn’t allow even a single drop of tainted blood in the Grotto Labyrinth. I even took a moment to wipe the darts clean—just in case.

  The darts on the ground shook and then rolled back to the wall, drawn by the renewal magic to reinsert themselves. I held my darts, fearful they could still contaminate someone. The magic wasn’t strong enough to rip them from my grip, and while the rest went back into the cracks of the wall, mine remained.