by Ardis, Priya
What place in his life did Merlin have for a slightly messed up, mostly ordinary high school girl? That was the part I couldn’t see. Yet, something inside me reached for what lay underneath. Matt. The one he thought he saw, but still struggled against.
The waterfall rippled in front of me. I got up and moved closer to it. Matt followed me. Catching me, he turned me until I faced him. Two hands slid along either side of my jaw. I held my breath. Would he finally let go and just allow himself to just be? He turned up my chin and backed me up until we stood just outside the spray of the waterfall. Like the pitter-patter of soft rain, water kissed my skin. Matt leaned down to graze his lips along mine. The waterfall gushed forward, completely soaking me.
Matt stepped out of the way.
“What the hell, Matt?” I yelped.
Water ebbed and I stood dripping wet in the cave. I crossed my arms over my chest and hugged myself. I glared at Matt who remained completely dry.
“I knew it.” He pointed to the water. “It’s Vane.”
My heart thumping, I whipped around. I saw nothing but water. “You’ve been in here too long. You’re having delusions.”
Matt grabbed my elbow. “He has Poseidon’s powers, Ryan. He’s in the water. The Ella Falls must lead back to a river which attaches to the ocean.”
I yanked my elbow away from him. “Not surprising, since we are on an island.”
“I knew he’d react if I tried to kiss you.”
“You kissed me to needle Vane?”
“I—” Matt smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry?”
I gave his back a hard shove. With a grunt, he fell into the pool. Sputtering, he flailed in the water. I smiled in triumph. “Still sorry?”
Matt sank into the water. After he didn’t come up for a few minutes, I moved closer to peer into the water.
Matt’s head popped back up. He was treading water. “It’s deep under here.”
I sighed. “A passage?”
“Let’s find out.” He dove underneath.
Muttering, “Crap,” I jumped in.
The orb shot into the water. I sank into the pool. I wasn’t a particularly strong swimmer, but a current, like a dorsal fin in the water, caught me and sped me through. Vane’s hand, I suspected. Inside a blanket of warmth, the current wrapped around me and sent me twirling and twisting until it spat me up and out at the other end. I landed gently in another rocky cavern, exhilarated by the wild whirlwind ride and disappointed that it was over. The orb floated up and out of the pool just before the water threw up Matt next to me.
He lay facedown on his stomach, vomiting water. “That b-bastard.”
I thumped his back and found it icy to the touch. I had to suppress a smile. Vane must have tortured him, it seemed. At the moment, I wasn’t feeling too sympathetic.
Matt grabbed my hand. Rolling over onto his back, he pulled me on top of him. Every inch of my body pressed against his. Thin, wet layers of clothing did nothing to hide that we fit together perfectly. He said huskily, “You’re warm.”
Behind us, the water grumbled. Matt’s eyes went to the pond.
I scrambled off him and sat down by his side. “I am not the pawn between the two of you.”
Matt sat up, shivering still. “All you have to do is pick a side.”
I stood up. “What if I don’t want to?”
“Then we may all lose,” he said quietly.
“Give me the Dragon’s Eye.”
“Why?”
“To get dry. Otherwise, you’re going to catch pneumonia down here.” I held out my hand and wiggled my fingers. “He already knows we’re here.”
“You don’t need to keep going to him to get rescued,” Matt ground out. He took out the handkerchief with the amulet. Instead of handing it over, though, he took my outstretched hand in his while holding the necklace himself. “Zusyati.”
Green magic floated over us. We were dry in seconds.
I arched a brow at Matt.
He shrugged. “This way, I don’t have to talk to him.”
Issues with a capital I. A sense of foreboding went through me. I had to stop this. I had to find a way to stop them from tearing each other apart and taking the rest of us with them. I asked, “Does this mean you can leech off him to do magic?”
“Yes and no. A drying spell takes very little energy. I can’t do anything big without his help.”
The orb zoomed ahead of me as I moved to step into the darkness. The cavern curved at the top, dotted with stalactites that pointed down at us like sharp fangs. At ground level, neat rows of stalagmites led up to another cliff. The orb danced out over the edge. Light shone down on a valley of nothing but rock, like a miniature Grand Canyon.
“There is nothing here!” I said.
“Are you sure?” Matt took the guidebook out of his pocket. He threw it down at the canyon. Instead of dropping like a stone, the book zigzagged in the air like a kite, descending slowly into the valley.
I stared up at it. “You want to go down?”
Matt went to the edge of the cliff. “These tests were given to the knights to prove themselves worthy. The first test was to prove virtue, and the second test was faith.”
I held up a hand. “I am not sky diving without a parachute.”
On cue, the pool erupted behind us. A gel-like snake of water rose up and flowed toward the edge of the cliff. Reaching us, the front piece of it shaped itself into a water-gel boat with outstretched wings. Below the boat’s prow, the figurehead of a horned deer took shape. Then, the whole gel structure solidified into ice.
“A reindeer pulling a sleigh,” I murmured. “Cute, Vane.”
Matt set a foot inside the ice-sled to test its sturdiness. It held. He scowled. “Apparently, your chariot awaits.”
“Don’t look so happy about it,” I said dryly. The snake-hand of water squiggled in the air. I gave in to its demand and walked along the edge of the cliff to the boat.
Matt jumped out of the boat. “Dealing with him always has a price, Ryan.”
Before I could do more than let out a squeak, he tackled me and sent us over the edge of the cliff. I screamed as I tumbled down a thousand invisible steps of compressed air. Each gust of air hit me with the force of a sledgehammer. Finally, I reached the bottom. The air stopped about fifteen feet up and I slammed into the rocks down below.
Luckily, I knew how to tuck and roll, but the jagged surface of the valley made it impossible to set down gently. Matt fell even less gracefully than I did, landing face-first on sharp rocks. He groaned and got up, looking mostly all right. I stood up with effort. Bruises tattooed my arms and judging by the way the rest of my body ached, I had no doubt there were more. I spat at him, “Are you crazy?”
“We didn’t need the sled.” He brushed blood off a small cut on his forehead and stalked off toward the hidden island. The orb bobbed happily after him.
No, apparently, we needed to eat dirt instead. I yelled at his back, “You better have a plan for us to get out of here.”
Nine stone columns held up the rock awning that covered the tiny island. The columns rose out of a moat, evenly spaced across the circumference of the island. We waded through the waist-high water of the moat onto black rock.
I knelt down to touch the odd-looking granite. “Matt, this stone is the same as the one that held Excalibur.”
“I’m not surprised.” He pointed to a column behind us. On the back of it, a figure of a woman in a toga was carved into the rock. Her arms, like branches of a stone tree, rose up and connected to the awning above. Water flowed out of her mouth and back into the moat. A sentinel, she guarded the island. Matt floated the orb around the island in front of the other columns. “They’re all women. Nine women. It has to be the Nine Morgans.”
“Nine Morgans?”
“In legend, Morgan Le Fay and her sisters guard the entrance to Avalon.” Matt floated the orb to the center. On a rectangular dais lay an enormous stone sarcophagus.
“This isn
’t an island; it’s a tomb,” I whispered.
Matt walked over to the casket. I followed. An odd picture had been etched on the top of the stone coffin. In the rough shape of an umbrella, a stick-like body supported a curved line of the ten heads of Rawana. Matt took out the cross from his pocket and held it over the etching. A hiss of wind fluttered through the darkness. I stared down at the casket. “The body could be the stem of the cross and the center head the top.”
Matt tried to fit the cross on the center head, but the circles didn’t match. “I don’t understand. This should be the key.”
Another whisper of wind whistled past me, tickling my ears. An intangible memory, fuzzy and unclear in my mind, nagged at me. “There’s something really familiar about this—”
Behind me, Matt muttered, “Rawana held the nectar of immortality inside his navel. I wonder if that’s the answer.”
I whipped around just in time to see Matt press the cross vertically down the center head. “Wait, Matt. Don’t touch—”
The stone depressed into the slab and swallowed the cross. Matt looked at me smugly, “It worked.”
The island trembled. Around us, the stalagmites moved. Not in a good way. They started sinking into the water. The awning began to lower. We were going to get squished.
Matt cursed and jumped up on the casket, sliding over to me. “Run!”
We sprinted toward the edge of the island. We didn’t even get close to getting off the rock. A neat row of stalactites fell off the awning and straight down into the moat to form an impassable barrier. We were trapped inside the tightening jaws of death.
“Matt—”
“I’m on it.” He drew out the Dragon’s Eye and unwrapped the handkerchief around it. The sapphire amulet shone dully under the orb’s artificial light. Matt frowned. “I don’t sense any magic.”
Above us, the awning slipped another few inches. More stalactites fell down around us. Matt handed the amulet to me. I took it, but the gemstone had never felt so cold and dead.
“It’s not working,” I cried.
“The rock must be interfering somehow.” As if he couldn’t help it, he added snidely, “You won’t be able to run to him to be rescued for once.”
The remark broke the last thread of my already battered composure. In jerky movements, I stuffed the unresponsive amulet into the pocket of my pants and turned on him with a vengeance. “Have you completely lost your mind? I know you don’t trust him, but ever since you lost your power, you act as if you hate him. You say you care about me, but this whole trip, all you’ve done is to tell me over and over again how much I’ve screwed up. If you really cared, you could at least try to be forgiving. Being with you shouldn’t have to be so painful.” Out of nowhere, tears sprang to my eyes. Annoyed at myself, I rubbed them away. “I thought I knew you, but I’m coming to see that I don’t at all.”
Matt frowned, but without a hint of any remorse. “Ryan—”
“Forget it, Matt. If I’m going to die here, right now, I want to do it alone.” I stalked off across the rock. The amulet jangled heavily in my pocket. I drew it out. The gemstone winked dully. The quiet in the chaos, it sat without life. Vane couldn’t help me, yet I still undid the clasp and slipped on the silver chain. I didn’t really want to die alone.
A sense of calm filled me as soon as the red gemstone settled against my skin, just above the cleft that encased my heart. A spear of rock slammed down from above just in front of me. The impact knocked me backwards and I landed hard on my tailbone. The stone stalagmite lowered a few more inches. The stone face of the Morgan watched the destruction of the island impassively, but from this angle, I noticed a detail I previously missed.
Matt walked over. “Ryan, listen, please—”
I turned to him, pointing excitedly at the Morgan. “Matt, look at her face. She has pointed ears.” I touched my ears. Gia and I got pointed ears when we were temporarily transformed into mermaids.
Matt peered at her, then the next closest Morgan. “It looks like all of them are mermaids. In Greek, the nine water nymphs, the Muses, the daughters of Hesperides, guarded the isle of immortality.”
“Look at their mouths,” I said. The Morgans’ mouths all formed a small O. “They’re singing. Water nymphs used songs to lure men to their deaths. On the rooftop, I heard Leonidas. The mermaids’ power is in their singing. We need a mermaid to sing.”
My shoulders drooped. The Dragon’s Eye sat cold on my skin. There was no mermaid to help us. No Vane.
Suddenly Matt laughed and drew out a plastic vial from his jacket pocket. “We may not have a mermaid, but we do have wind. The sound of the wind will be enough. We only need the key, not real mermaid magic.”
I perked up. “What else do you have in there?”
“I keep trying to show you,” he said archly, throwing the vial into the air.
It exploded. A wild whirlwind screeched around the island, threatening to send me flying. Matt grabbed my hand and pulled me up close to him. Sober, amber eyes framed by thick lashes held my gaze. Warm fingers shoved back swirling hair from my face.
“Ryan—”
“Later,” I shouted.
Matt’s fingers tightened on me. “There may never be a later—”
More rocks crashed beside us. The wind picked up huge chunks that flew around like bouncy balls. I shouted, “We have to get to the casket. It’s our best bet.”
The rocks played a deadly game of “whack-a-mole” with us as we bobbed and weaved through them. Just as we reached the casket, a soulful aria filled the cavern. The Morgans sang a poignant melody. Despite my non-wizard status, I swayed in place as waves of magic washed over us. Beside me, Matt fell to his knees. I held myself upright by sheer will. Every bone inside me felt as if it were turning to liquid.
In a haze, I watched the ten heads swirl around in circles. Then, the depressed center head, the one Matt pushed, glowed with golden light. Rays spread over the circling heads, connecting them until they lit up, one-by-one. The Morgans’ aria pitched even higher. Matt passed out and fell forward on the ground.
I wanted to lean down to catch him, but couldn’t. Gravity seemed to have increased, making my whole body heavier. The sides of the casket rose up and pushed open the top of it. The stone kept rising until they reached past my head. It was the outline of a doorway—two vertical slabs with the lid of the casket balanced horizontally across the top. A trilithon, I realized. Golden light flashed inside the doorway. A portal opened.
I saw mist on the other side.
Then, the wind died down. The aria stopped.
I jerked forward, almost falling on my face as I suddenly became free once more.
I knelt down to Matt. The Morgans started sinking rapidly into the water. More rocks crashed around us. One sharp fragment fell straight down to split my skull. I jumped aside at the last moment, but it sank deep into my shoulder. The awning started to slip-slide down. I had to get out before Matt and I became little more than pancakes. With a cry, I tore the wretched piece out of my shoulder. Blood seeped down my chest. I hooked my hands under Matt’s armpits. My shoulder burning with pain, I heaved his shoulders off the ground. Somehow, I dragged him into the mist.
CHAPTER 10 – KRONOS’S FURY
CHAPTER 10
KRONOS’S FURY
I fell, plunging straight down between the banks of a narrow river. I sank deep into the water and swallowed several mouthfuls before I pushed myself back up to the top. Coughing, I glanced around the water’s surface. Matt was nowhere to be seen. I dove under the water again, but I could see nothing in the murkiness. I made several dives before my body forced me to take a rest.
Above me, the darkening sky showed a fading sun and emerging moon. A familiar outline of stars shone from a healthy blanket of blue sky. On the riverbanks, trees swayed under the direction of a quiet breeze. I moved toward the bank. Maybe Matt managed to make it to land.
“One cannot enter Elysium so easily, little one.”
The giant of a man sat casually on the smooth boulder. Sharp cheekbones on his handsome face gave him an austere countenance. The regal way he held himself reminded me a little of Lelex, the mermaid king—which was not a good thing. He scrutinized me. “Who are you? I wait for the sword-bearer. How did you come to be here, little girl?”
I swam closer to the bank. “I am the sword-bearer.”
Rawana guffawed. “I do not believe it. You cannot be the great wizard-warrior the Father said the Lady would dare to send. You are so delicate. Scrawny.”
I stared back at him. “How are you still alive, King Rawana?”
“I am not, in a mortal sense,” he answered. “You have found a piece of my spirit, left to guard this place. I pay penance for my misdeeds.” Rawana stood up. My breath caught. Behind him, previously hidden by his big body, I spotted a black lion. His mane and body glistened with dark fur. Huge amber eyes watched me quietly, yet the lion remained frozen in place.
Matt.
I demanded, “What have you done to him?”
Rawana let out an outraged roar. Drawing a scythe from behind his back, he put his foot on the lion’s head. “Tread carefully, warrior.” He emphasized the last word with a sneer. “I am not one who suffers a slight.”
“That much I know,” I muttered.
He kidnapped Seetha in retaliation for an insult to his sister.
Sharp teeth flashed at me as Rawana smiled. “Your lover has been changed to reveal his true form.”
True form? Matt’s lion had never been black. My stomach churned. Had I done this to him? “We are not here to fight you. We are looking for the water of life.”
