“It’s okay Rika. Don’t let him get to you,” Danielle said.
“You still haven’t answered the question,” Ronan said. “How did you escape?”
“My captors were stupid. That’s how.” He rolled his eyes and turned a mocking smile on Ronan.
Ronan shrugged. “Danielle, Rika, let’s go. Brendyn, follow along if you like, just try not to get yourself killed.”
Danielle’s blue eyes flashed with anger. “Brendyn, drop the sarcasm. We’ve all dealt with a lot, and you’re only making it worse. If you come along, play nice.”
“So I’m supposed to follow this Meranthian? He’s a shard knight Danielle. We can’t trust him.”
Rika lunged at Brendyn with death in her eye and swung a leather gloved fist at his hooked nose.
Her punch missed Brendyn’s nose by an inch as he ducked beneath it. “Get this lunatic away from me!” He covered his head and crouched cowering away from Rika.
Ronan grabbed Rika by her elbow and held her back. “Don’t let him anger you. Let’s go. He’s wasting our time.”
“We can leave the horses in that cluster of trees.” Danielle said.
Ronan secured Reggie on a low hanging branch making sure he had room enough to graze on a thick patch of nearby grass. He tied Betty alongside Reggie and met the group near the smooth round hole leading into the cliff face.
“What is that?” Rika said
“It’s the service entrance to Freehold’s first aqueduct. It supplied Freehold’s earliest citizens with water in the years after its construction. Workers would use this tunnel to perform maintenance or check for problems with the water flow,” Ronan said.
Danielle pressed a few seeds against the rock face and sent nature magic coursing through them. A series of heavy brown vines twisted and spread along the cliff wall forming a living ladder that ended just below the round opening. “Let’s go.”
Ronan climbed the ladder, knelt on the entrance’s rocky ledge, and reached for Danielle’s hand.
She took his hand and climbed the ladder until she stood next to him.
Rika shifted into a small bird and fluttered up next to Ronan before shifting to her human form.
“Can you see anything down the hole Ronan?” Danielle said.
“Smooth, slimy, wet rock like a giant slide, and a few bats.”
“Bats?” Rika closed her eyes as focused concentration lined her face. She opened her eyes and shifted into a squeaky black cave bat before disappearing down the shaft.
“A few weeks ago she would’ve walked a mile out of her way to avoid a bat, now she is one.” Ronan chuckled and shook his head.
“I’m still firmly in the ‘go out of my way to avoid them’ camp,” Danielle said.
Brendyn climbed the vine ladder before joining Ronan and Danielle inside the dark hole. “Danielle, before I follow you and Mister Wonderful here down this dark, bat infested cave, can you tell me what we’re doing here?”
“Do you remember the book from the ruins in Salem’s Peak?”
Brendyn licked his lips, and his eyes flickered down to her belt pouch. “Of course I remember. Do you have it with you?”
“No. Sir Alcott has it. He’s Ronan’s friend.”
“What?” Brendyn’s eyes bulged, and his face went ashen. “Why would you entrust such a priceless artifact with a barbaric Meranthian?”
Anger flashed in Ronan’s green eyes. “There’s no person alive I’d entrust more with an item so rare and valuable,” Ronan said. “Who do you think translated it?”
Brendyn scoffed. “Spare me your outrage shard knight.”
“The book’s led us here Brendyn,” Danielle said. “It said Lora’s Heart lies beneath Freehold.”
“Please Danielle, some greedy Meranthian treasure hunter would’ve long ago looted it.” Brendyn said. “You’re not going to believe some dusty old book are you?”
“The Book of Order said Lora’s Heart can’t be found without a warden and guardian. Meranthia hasn’t allowed either inside its borders for two thousand years,” she said.
“Rika’s reached the base of the shaft,” Ronan said. “Come on. The ceiling’s low, you’ll have to slide down the passage.” Ronan sat on the slimy stone surface and pushed off slipping downward disappearing into the dark shaft.
Danielle lowered her bottom to the wet moss covered stone and slid ahead into the darkness. She pushed forward using her hands for the first few feet. She shuddered when the moss beneath her turned into a cold slimy ooze, and she began moving faster down the shaft.
As Danielle built up speed, a bubble of panic bulged in her mind, and she pushed back the urge to reach out her hands to slow her momentum. She dispelled the idea as images of thick mounds of bat feces raced through her mind.
Ronan’s body hurtled down the shaft in front of Danielle squishing through muddy slime.
As she descended, the shaft grew darker until Danielle couldn’t see an inch past her nose. The air surrounding her thickened, and the musty stench of cave rot filled her nostrils.
After what felt like an eternity, a warm pair of strong hands scooped up Danielle as the shaft ended abruptly.
“I’ve got you,” Ronan said. He held Danielle in his arms as if she weighed no more than a babe before setting her down.
A shrill high-pitched shriek followed as Brendyn shot from the dark shaft flopping against the slippery rock with the grace of a pregnant water buffalo.
“Oh, sorry about that,” Ronan said with amusement sprinkled in his words.
Brendyn groaned in reply and pushed himself to his feet.
“This passage travels a long way in two directions,” Rika said.
Trickling water ran beneath the team’s feet cutting through the pitch-black silence.
“The passageway definitely slopes.” Danielle said. She channeled shard magic and probed outward with her mind searching for any living organism. Beneath the flowing water she found a growth of algae covering the stone floor.
She raised her hand and sent nature magic outward toward the algae growth downstream. The passageway erupted with bright green translucent light causing the clean clear water to glow a phosphorescent shade of green. “That’s better.”
Rika stared wide-eyed at the glowing green tube opening in front of them. “It’s so beautiful Danielle.”
“Let’s follow the water downstream. It should take us deeper underground,” Ronan said.
As Danielle moved further into the ancient aqueduct, she kept up a constant supply of light feeding off the algae and growing more to cover surface area as necessary.
For the next thirty minutes Ronan led the team deeper into the heart of Freehold’s ancient aqueduct system until the stone around them lost any semblance of man-made origin. The smooth straight passageway gave way to natural rock formation created through the power of flowing water and eons of time.
Ronan held up a hand. “I hear something ahead.”
Danielle strained to listen, but heard only the lonely sound of running water trickling beneath her feet.
“The stream drops off ahead. I think there’s a waterfall. Watch your step,” Ronan said.
“Let me see what I can find out.” Rika shifted into the cave bat she’d bonded earlier and fluttered ahead disappearing around a rocky passageway.
“This is a waste of time,” Brendyn said. “Why would Lora leave the most powerful artifact in Ayralen history in this place?”
“Shh…I think I hear Rika coming back,” Ronan said.
Rika fluttered around the corner and transformed into her human form. “The passage definitely drops off. But, I didn’t follow the waterfall downward. The bats living in these caves won’t go near the base of the falls, and they begged me not to go any deeper.”
“Why?” Danielle said.
“They said nothing comes back from beneath the waterfall,” Rika said.
“That’s where we need to go.” Ronan said. “Come on.”
Brendyn crossed his
arms. “I’m not traveling off the edge of an underground waterfall based on a senile Meranthian scholar’s half-witted translation of an old book,” Brendyn said. “This is madness Danielle.”
“Suit yourself,” Ronan said. “We came here for Lora’s Heart, and that’s where we’ll find it.”
“I could order you to follow Brendyn. You volunteered for this mission,” Danielle said.
Brendyn laughed. “I volunteered to find him,” he pointed to Ronan, “and put him on the throne. As far as I can see, Merric Pride isn’t anywhere near here.” He twisted his face in disgust. “I didn’t volunteer to throw my life away at your whim. You go ahead. I’ll be right here dozing if and when you return.” He slumped against the wall, laid his staff across his lap, crossed his arms, and shut his eyes.
“We can’t complete the second phase of the mission without the heart,” Danielle said.
“Then we need to go back to Ayralen and file a report. You’re pathetic attempt at leadership has led to one epic failure after another, and the assembly will hear about it. I promise you that. As far as I’m concerned, this team is officially dissolved. I won’t follow you another step, girl.” He spat out the last words with contempt.
Danielle’s cheeks burned. He made excellent points, but returning to Ayralen right now would place the world at increased risk. She couldn’t allow magic to die simply because she lacked the courage to act. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I understand. Do what you must. Let’s go Ronan.” Her words came out flat and unapologetic.
Ronan set off again his feet sloshing through the ankle-deep water. “Rika how far ahead is the waterfall?”
“Maybe another five minutes on foot. Just be careful Ronan, I couldn’t see the bottom of the waterfall.”
Danielle followed Ronan using her staff to test the stone in front of her. She’d forced the algae to grow beneath the water providing a continuous light source. Without sunlight, no plant grew this deep inside the dark void of the crumbling aqueduct. “Ronan, have you explored this deep in the aqueducts before?”
“No, but I’ve heard stories from shard knights who have. They mentioned finding the skeletal remains of lost treasure hunters, fish with no eyes, and plenty of bats, but that’s it.”
The roar of water grew louder as the trio approached the end of the cave system and neared the waterfall’s edge.
Danielle channeled shard magic, and the mass of luminescent algae spread in a thick coat to the edge of the waterfall revealing the drop-off a few yards away.
Ronan inched his way ahead until he stood on the precipice. He leaned forward and peered into the pitch-black void beneath. “I can’t see any -“ With his body weight pitched so far forward, his feet slipped on the slick algae, and his momentum carried him ahead.
“Ronan!” Rika shifted into her hawk form but the narrow passage allowed no room to maneuver, and she shifted back.
Ronan lunged for the slick walls of the rocky passageway, and his fingers slipped on the muck covered rock.
Danielle’s breath caught, and panic left her locked with indecision. She stared jaw agape in shocked disbelief.
Ronan’s body went horizontal as his feet lost contact with the slippery ledge, and he began his plunge into the dark void.
Danielle pushed away her shock and without thought sent a torrent of magic racing through her heartwood staff.
Green energy wrapped around Danielle’s staff changing it into a malleable liquid form. The staff shot forward toward Ronan’s flailing body.
Danielle felt the weight of his form tug on the staff as she ensnared him in a cocoon of heartwood. “Rika, grab some seeds from my pouch and throw them at my feet. Hurry, I can’t hold him for long.”
Rika tore open the flap to Danielle’s belt pouch and grabbed a few seeds at random and tossed them at Danielle’s feet. She clutched the heartwood staff helping Danielle hold Ronan steady.
Danielle sent a flow of magic through the seeds until thick vines sprang up from the crystal clear green water flowing beneath her feet.
Heavy vines surged upward encasing the staff and locking it in place.
Ronan perched on the makeshift platform provided by the heartwood staff. “Danielle, can you pull me in?” His voice echoed in the vast emptiness stretching out below.
“Yes. Don’t move Ronan.” Danielle retracted her staff inch by inch until Ronan hovered over the streambed a few inches from her and Rika.
Ronan slipped off the flattened platform and found his footing. “Thanks Danielle.” His shoulders sagged with relief.
A loud cracking sound echoed inside the passageway’s narrow confines.
Danielle’s stomach fluttered, and a sharp tingle pricked her spine. “What was that?”
A series of splintering cracks rattled the surrounding rock, and Danielle’s stomach sank.
Ground crumbled under them as their combined weight proved too great for the passageway’s thin layer of rock.
Danielle’s stomach flip-flopped as the sickening sensation of falling left her mind gripped with raw fear.
Pitch-black darkness spread around Danielle with only the distant echo of water slapping rock far below.
Ronan plummeted beside Danielle. His arms and legs flailed as he struggled in vain to grab something to halt his free fall.
Fresh panic surged as Danielle reached for her staff and found it gone.
Ronan grabbed Danielle and cradled her preparing to take the brunt of the fall.
Danielle ripped open her belt pouch and pulled free a handful of random seeds. She pitched the seeds into the darkness around her and forced flows of magic through them as they fluttered free.
Long thin corded vines sprang from the seeds and latched onto the walls around them.
Danielle continued pumping out vines as they plummeted through the darkness. “Ronan, grab hold of the vines.”
Ronan lunged toward a shifting vine and grabbed hold. He and Danielle jerked to a stop as the vine groaned under their weight. With one arm securing Danielle, the vine creaked and strained under his iron grip.
Danielle sent magic coursing along the vine thickening and strengthening it until she and Ronan stopped and hung motionless in the dark chasm.
“Are you okay Danielle?” Ronan said.
“Yes, I think so. Can you see the bottom?”
“It’s so dark in this cave I can’t see very far,” Ronan said. “But I can hear the water splashing against rock. I don’t think we have far to go.”
A cave bat briefly fluttered around Danielle and Ronan before disappearing in the dark chasm’s hidden depths.
“That’s Rika,” Danielle focused inward willing her living armor to grow around her. A heavy vine wrapped around her and Ronan’s waist fastening them together. “The vines will keep me strapped to you. Start lowering us, and I’ll lengthen the vine as we descend.”
Hand over hand, Ronan descended the vine until they hovered over the nearby sound of water crashing against rock. “I’m going to let go Danielle. There’s a pool of water under us.”
Danielle clung to her brother as Ronan let go of the vine, and they dropped splashing into icy dark water below. She released the vines securing her to Ronan and sank.
Danielle’s chest tightened as she descended into black frigid water. She had no idea how far she’d sink or what creatures lurked in waters that frightened away the bats.
Relief spread through her as her boots touched solid ground after only a few feet. Danielle stood and gasped as the icy waist-deep water hit her skin like a thousand sharp needles.
“Rika!” Ronan’s voice echoed above the crashing sound of cascading water inches away. He craned his head twisting in every direction searching for her. “Rika! Where are you?” An edge of panic peppered Ronan’s voice as he scanned the darkness.
Something in the dark pool fluttered against Danielle’s leg, and she screamed kicking and splashing. “Ronan, something touched me.” Her words came out hot and urgent as she stared into
darkness.
Ronan pulled free his sheba blade strapped to his shoulder, and red light poured forth lighting up the pool and the cavern surrounding them.
Circling the pool’s clear water, a half-dozen thick bone-white serpents swam between Ronan and Danielle’s legs slithering across Ronan’s boot and bumping up against Danielle’s thigh.
Ronan placed a reassuring hand on Danielle’s arm. “Stay calm Danielle. Don’t give them a reason to attack.”
Danielle’s skin crawled. She fought the urge to further kick at the slithering beasts and focused on remaining calm.
Across the shadowy pool, the largest serpent coiled around a long piece of shiny red wood, and its white forked tongue flickered reflecting the red light. Albino flesh covered the serpent’s head where eyes should grow.
Danielle pointed to the beast. “Ronan, I think it’s wrapped around my staff.”
Ronan flashed his blade over the thick serpent coiled around the heartwood staff, and it slipped free slithering deep into the pool’s shadowed corners. From the murky depths, the serpent’s outline shimmered with faint red light before Rika shifted into her human form.
“I’m sorry Danielle. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Rika said. She slogged through waist-deep water and squeezed Danielle’s hand.
Tension drained from Danielle’s shoulders, and she relaxed. “It’s okay. I’m glad to see you. What are these creatures?”
“Scavengers mainly. They feed off bats that come too close or other creatures that drain from the waterfall. I’ve asked them to give us leave without harm, and they’ve agreed,” Rika said.
Beneath the water, the skeletal remains of several unlucky explorers laid flat against the pool’s smooth bottom. From the arms of a broken skeleton, torn bits of rotted clothing hung like loose rags. Another skeleton gripped a long curved dagger his need of it having long since disappeared. A third skeleton laid face down halfway immersed in the icy water forever frozen trying to escape up the rocky face of a slick boulder.
Danielle recovered her staff floating in the water a few feet away. A cold chill ran up her spine as a disembodied skeletal arm brushed against her waist. She nudged its fingertips setting it adrift and inched toward Rika and Ronan.
Shard Knight (Echoes Across Time Book 1) Page 31
