Crusty flew to my shoulder and patted my head. “Is okay. Good.” Her voice was barely a whisper and considering that neither of the sharp-eared elves acted as if they had heard her, I doubted she gave us away to anyone.
“Thank you.” I kept my voice as low as she had. It was a little odd being comforted by the craziest faery, but it felt good too. The middle of a rescue wasn’t where Alric and I needed to sort this out. But the time would come. Hopefully, not until I found a way to tell him and the others why I’d left. Padraig and Lorcan were patient. Covey wasn’t but she’d said she’d wait. Those three didn’t appear mad at me.
I hadn’t appreciated the weak light from the scattered lanterns until it was gone. The forest surrounding the ruins was darker than the pits of the abyss.
Padraig lit a clearthin, a modified glow that shed a little light but was invisible to anyone beyond its short range. He also took my hand and silently guided me through. We had to slow down; I was sure that was mostly for me. Alric was dropping to his knee from time to time, checking the dirt. After his third time, he got up, dusted his knee off, and bowed to Garbage. The great tracker had admitted defeat.
Garbage didn’t say anything, but flew high in the air above us, beyond the range of the clearthin glow. The other two stayed with us but the way they looked up I figured they had no trouble seeing her. She finally came shooting down, tore through our location, went about fifteen feet ahead, then dropped out of sight. Leaf and Crusty both flew after her while waving for us to follow.
Alric didn’t even look back as he led us after the faeries. Padraig held my hand, half pulling me along after Covey.
Even if it had been full daylight I probably wouldn’t have seen the crack in the ground. The girls were flying in and out of what looked like where the forest floor met up with a massive log. When we moved closer, the glow made it a little easier to see. There was a wide gash in the ground and the tree trunk covered up most of it. I didn’t know if this was the only entrance to the aqueducts over on this side, but it had clearly been used recently.
Alric got down and peered into the hole. He slid through, and then vanished. I held my breath until he appeared a moment later. “It’s a way in. Come down.”
He vanished again, leaving the three of us to climb in after him. I needed to make things right between us before I thought about welcoming that monster I’d become back into my life and just letting whatever it was deal with Alric directly.
Padraig’s dim glow bobbed along with us into the small space. The way opened up and started a sharp decline within a few feet.
The first and only time that I’d visited these aqueducts—the section a few miles away, under the regular dig sites—I’d fallen in. The ground beneath me had given way and I really didn’t have a chance to notice the entrance.
Padraig lit another clearthin glow so we could see better, but since we weren’t sure who was down here with Foxy, we couldn’t run regular glows. Alric was scouting ahead in the pitch dark. The petty side of me, who was upset about his growing coldness, hoped he’d at least stub a toe. Of course, being the stoic one, he most likely wouldn’t react even if he did.
The way appeared to be made of dirt at first, but that was just a few centuries worth of the stuff drifting in from the entrance. Once we got a bit further in, the path cleared and the smooth stone walls became visible. I reached out to touch them and was flung about five feet back on my ass. Luckily, the way was wide enough that I had a few feet before I’d hit the far wall. My left cheek flared with a cold stab, and a roar of jumbled voices smashed into my skull.
Alric was at my side right away, but his concern quickly cooled once he took in the fact I was intact and uninjured. He’d forgotten he was upset with me for a moment. Point for me—he still cared. Point against me—that reaction to the wall had hurt like hell.
“What happened?” He helped me to my feet but dropped my hand immediately.
Padraig and Covey closed in as well, the floating clearthin glows giving an odd orangish appearance to everything.
“I have no idea.” I rubbed my cheek, which was now almost feeling normal. “All I did was touch the wall. It tried to slam me into the other side.”
Padraig came closer and tilted my face toward the two clearthin glows. “You have a bruise on your cheek, did you actually hit the wall?”
“No.”
“That’s where the manticore is though.” Alric had leaned forward as well.
I stepped back from them. “I’m okay. I just won’t touch the walls. We need to get Foxy out, remember?” That was the problem with hanging out with smart and curious people—they were always being curious. I wasn’t happy about what had just happened any more than I was happy about what had happened at the Spheres. But shoving things aside for the immediate moment seemed the best course of action. I ignored the tiny voice that pointed out the Spheres had been over a month ago and I was still shoving those events aside.
Alric shot me a concerned look but said nothing as he resumed leading. Covey and Padraig both dropped behind me, which made me feel nice and safe. And like I was a little old lady they were afraid was going to totter over at any moment.
The path was extremely dry, which was good considering what we were walking down. The part I’d been trapped in before hadn’t been completely filled with water, but there had been enough to almost kill me.
We’d walked in silence for another five minutes when voices echoed down the dry aqueduct. Alric held up his hand to stop, and Padraig’s glows dropped even lower and became dimmer.
The faeries were flying back to us, keeping just above our heads, and flying silently. I didn’t see them until the glows reflected off their wings.
Garbage was coming in for a landing, so I held out my hand for her. She scowled around, but it was in general, not at any of us. “They have. Locked. We get.” She was tossing around her war stick as she spoke and I almost got stabbed with it as I grabbed her.
“No. You need to stay with us.” I looked to the other two faeries. “Everyone needs to stay with us. No one goes off on their own.” I didn’t look to Alric but my comment was aimed at him as well.
“How many others did you see?” Alric’s tone was far less cold than it had been with me.
“This.” Garbage flashed her tiny fingers. At least ten but it was hard to tell beyond that. I knew she could count, she was just upset about not being able to go war faery on the enemy.
“Were they all syclarions? Or Beccians?” We’d heard the syclarions last night, but the fact that no one was on guard was a bit odd for them.
Garbage scowled. “Two bad, rest from town.” She’d been hoping that if we thought there was a huge group of bad guys down there we’d be more likely to let them go down on their own. She was so smart sometimes and so clueless other times.
“I can do it alone, less risk to everyone.” Alric’s glance in my direction was too fast for me to guess what he meant. Beyond that it was aimed at me.
“No,” all three of the non-flying beings of our group said. The faeries were now muttering among themselves.
“Let’s keep going. Ladies, would you be our gallant scouts?” Padraig was laying on the charm, but it worked. “We can’t have you fight until we are sure our friends are safe. Then we will charge forth together.”
Leaf and Garbage beamed proudly. Crusty was chasing one of the feathers that was on her back. As long as Garbage agreed, we were fine.
“We do.” Garbage raised her war stick and they flew back down the corridor.
“So we’re just walking up and freeing our people?” Covey looked between Padraig and Alric. “Don’t you elves have a plan? What if the rest of them come back before we’re done?”
“You just stated our plan.” Padraig held up his hand. “We can get them out and flee. I have left spell markers on the path behind us. If anyone comes this way, I will feel it. Besides, if Alric doesn’t get to fight someone soon, he’s going to explode.” He raised an eyebrow
in Alric’s direction.
A flash of anger crossed Alric’s face, but he shook it off. “You’re right and I’m sorry. But if you wouldn’t mind letting me go in first, I’d appreciate it.” He didn’t wait but turned and continued down the aqueduct.
The people we were sneaking up on weren’t afraid of anyone finding them. At least that was my opinion based on the amount of noise they were making. Flickers of light coming from around the bend could be seen on the far wall. Even Alric signaled to pause.
“We can’t send them back down so soon. They die, we die. You heard her.”
I was expecting the dulcet tones of syclarions, but it didn’t make me any happier to hear them.
“They ain’t getting the job done fast enough. There are troops up top now. Not our guys.”
“Why didn’t you say so? The hedge dropped.”
“Just for a bit. They have to be that damn Kenithworth idiot’s army. We need the stuff now.”
“Get them ready to dig then.”
Two shadows crossed in front of the light as they went further down.
Alric took a breath, unsheathed his sword, and ran forward. Even though he’d agreed we’d go together, this was as close as he was willing to get to that. Padraig swore as he freed his sword and we ran after Alric.
The room was a massive cavern; judging by the way the walls were hacked apart it hadn’t started this big. The faeries were hovering high against the ceiling, barely visible until they dropped down. Of course, the little maniacs had their war sticks out swinging wildly.
The two syclarion guards in odd livery stood before us. A giant cage held a bunch of people, including Foxy.
“Taryn! Watch out, they have something down below!” His yell ended in a grunt as the guard closest to him used a staff to ram him in the gut through the bars of the cage.
Alric and the faeries attacked the two guards. Padraig, Covey, and I turned toward the dark hole Foxy had pointed to.
Chapter Twelve
There was a trail leading to the hole from the cage, and heavy-duty digger equipment scattered nearby. Two odd flat boats were off to the side and looked like they hadn’t been used for a few centuries. There were also what looked like bones of a person. They were dry and brittle, but the placement had to be deliberate. That it died in the motion of crawling away from the hole couldn’t be good.
A blast of flame came out of the hole along with a rusty sounding roar. The ground shook as the head of a dragon appeared. The prisoners fled as far back in their cage as they could, dragging the injured Foxy with them.
The head was definitely a dragon, but the bits of shine coming through the muck on it told me it wasn’t living. “It’s a construct!”
“That can still snap a head off!” Foxy was in pain, but, as always, was watching out for me. “An’ don’t use magic! It’ll strike back on ye!”
The dragon construct turned to us, effectively getting between the three of us and the others.
I wasn’t about to go up against a thing whose head was taller than me while I was armed only with a dagger. Padraig however, had no problem and charged forward with his sword. Covey moved forward at the same time and even had her own sword out. Had the dragon construct been fully functioning they might have been in trouble, as it opened its mouth for more flame. A wisp of smoke came out.
“Told you it was too soon; it’s out of fire!” The largest of the syclarions yelled at his partner just before Alric’s sword ran him through. The second one didn’t get a chance to respond as the faeries swarmed down and tagged him with their war sticks. The sticks were tiny and the movement of them was almost delicate. That just made it even more disturbing when the syclarion screamed in pain. Three more attacks and he crumbled to the ground. Alric finished him off with his sword.
The dragon hadn’t come further out of the hole and, in fact, seemed to be slowing down in its movements.
“Foxy, what is this thing?” I didn’t look back to him. Even though the dragon construct was slowing, there was a chance it could recover.
“They used it to make us keep digging; it’s a magical beast their boss lady fixed up. It’s supposed to be an Ancient.”
I waited for the rest of his comment. “An ancient what?”
“An Ancient.” One of the other Beccians got out before Foxy could. “It’s a metal beast made to look like the dead people that lived here…only they weren’t people!”
I turned back to my three friends. I would have thought that if the Ancients were actually dragons, someone would have figured that out in over two thousand years. Granted, there hadn’t been a lot to examine. Someone should have noticed. Dragon bones would be hard to hide and so would huge buildings.
Unfortunately, my three brainiac friends looked as surprised as I felt.
“Who claimed this was a representation of an Ancient?” Alric looked personally offended. Padraig and Covey looked confused.
“Some lady,” Foxy said. He had recovered enough to try and stretch one arm through the bars to the dead guard that the faeries had struck down. There were keys on the man’s belt.
Since the other three were busy muttering how impossible things were, and studying the slowly moving dragon head, I jogged over to the dead guard, grabbed the keys, and freed the prisoners. They all looked roughed up, with Foxy looking the worst. Not that it stopped him from swinging me up in a massive and painful hug.
Foxy was at least seven feet tall, with long floppy ears, and wicked-looking tusks that stuck up from his lower jaw. I’d never figured out exactly what cross breed he was. After over fifteen years of friendship, it seemed impolite to ask.
But whatever he was, I was glad to see him. And he was seconds away from crushing my ribs.
“Down!” I managed to squeak out as I pounded on his broad back.
He dropped me to my feet as the other townsfolk made their way past us.
“We need to get out of here,” one of the Beccians said. “Once that beast winds down and the guards don’t send the signal, the trap will close.” Everyone looked to the dragon head.
“But isn’t that construct the trap? If you didn’t obey it would burn you?”
“Nay, lass,” Foxy said. “They have something else as well. Not sure what it be, but they were too confident of it to have been false.”
The Beccians started going back up the way we’d come in. The aqueduct continued down a steep slope past this place, but looked even more foreboding than the hole the dragon head came out of.
“Does this dragon go all the way down?” Covey was already moving toward the hole to view for herself. None of my friends looked like they’d heard Foxy or the others.
I walked toward them. “Guys? Threat? Coming as soon as that thing stops moving?”
Foxy was staying with me but the Beccians were almost out of sight as they were swallowed by the darkness up the aqueduct. They weren’t running, but they were moving quickly.
“Maybe we can restart it.” Alric was just as inquisitive as the other two and he was leaning way too far over the edge of the hole to look at the dragon.
Padraig peered down with Covey. “Fascinating. It does look like a full construct. The engraving down the neck is definitely Ancient.”
“You’re going to die!” Foxy’s barroom bellow might not have been the best idea if those two guards had backup anywhere down here, but it got my friends to look back at Foxy and me.
Padraig swore and turned back toward the dragon. “If we can send the right code, reset this thing, it will stop whatever might happen. Ancients’ representation or not, this is a singular example of their work—we have to study it.”
“We can fight off whatever they send at us.” Alric went back to leaning over the hole.
Covey didn’t get a chance to rationalize their insanity before screams and a roaring sound filled the cavern.
My sword finally decided to show up and popped into my hand. Its scabbard was on the ground at my feet. I’d just gotten it belted ar
ound my waist when the Beccians rounded the corner. And so did the roaring sound—a massive wall of water.
“Water!” Leaf yelled, just in case any of us had suddenly been struck both blind and deaf. The faeries had been hanging around the top of the cavern after vanquishing their foe but now came down to the dragon.
“Good friend.” Crusty dropped down and patted the dragon.
I had no idea if it was what she did or something triggered by the water, but the dragon slid back down into its hole just as the water caught us. The huge hole the dragon had slid down filled with water and slowed the flood from getting us, but not enough. The Beccians ran past us and further down the dark aqueduct. We followed, but we were picked up by the water after a few steps.
Tumbling down the aqueduct in a massive copper-gold sarcophagus hadn’t been fun. But it was far better than the same ride while swimming. Or drowning in my case. I’d always been terrified of water, or at least had been after my parents had been killed while boating. It was one of the main reasons I’d never gone back to my hometown after I recovered and Mathilda ditched the faeries and me. It was across the sea.
The waves were slamming me about and I was saying good-bye to everything I knew, when two hands grabbed me and pulled me out of the water and into a boat. It had been Alric and Covey who grabbed me. I had no idea how they’d gotten to the boat in time and I didn’t care. Three of the Beccians were with us, and the rest were with Padraig and Foxy in the second boat. Old or not, the boats were staying afloat.
The current slowed the farther the water got from its release point. But it was still forceful enough to kill most of us if we hadn’t had the boats.
Actually, it might still be enough to kill us even with the boats.
The faeries were having a great time. They were flying just above the front of the wave, bouncing along the spray being thrown in the air.
The Diamond Sphinx (The Lost Ancients Book 6) Page 8
