Page 95 of Ancient Magic

“I used to play the floor is lava when I was bored and waiting for a customer to come into the tent, but I never expected to actually have to navigate one.” Micha didn’t need the acrid edge to her scent to know Skye was battling a sudden surge of panic. He could hear her heart pounding as if it were threatening to leap out of her chest. “We can’t risk stumbling through the dark.”

“We can’t stay here.” Micha lifted her hand and pressed it against his lips. “I’ll go first. I can sense the heat and where the lava is spreading. Follow my footsteps exactly.”

Turning, he held on to her fingers. Then, reaching back, he grabbed her other hand so he could wrap her arms tightly around his waist. Before he could take a step, however, Skye was burying her face in the middle of his back.

“Micha, no. It’s too dangerous.”

He hesitated. Should he ask if she’d had a vision? He didn’t want to. What choice did they have but to go forward? But while he was willing to take a necessary risk, he would be a fool to deliberately charge into a death trap.

“Skye...” The question died on his lips as there was a pulse of heat against his stomach. Glancing down in surprise, he realized one of the charms dangling from Skye’s bracelet was hotter than the others. Much hotter. “Are you using your magic?”

She stiffened in surprise. “No. Why?”

“You’re hot.”

“Micha,” she chided.

Whirling back to face her, he held up her arm to reveal the charm that was surrounded with a dull glow valiantly battling against the oppressive darkness.

“See?”

“Oh, you’re right,” she breathed.

“Is the magic reacting to this place?” he asked as the glow spread to encompass them, revealing Skye’s distracted expression as she stared at the charm.

“Yes.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

She didn’t answer, her head tilting to the side as if she was lost in her thoughts.

“Right?” he repeated.

She slowly nodded. “I think so. It’s reacting to the spell that’s stored in that particular charm.”

Micha frowned. There was a hint of confusion in her voice that warned it wasn’t all good news.

“And?”

“It’s not mine. It’s Peri’s magic,” she revealed.

As she spoke the name of her friend, the glow stretched and thinned until it no longer surrounded them but instead weaved itself into a golden strand. Micha instinctively stepped back as the thread arrowed toward the ground. Then, hitting the hard stone, it crawled across the cave toward the distant wall.

The strange magic didn’t glow bright enough to light up the room, but as it curved past the cracks in the floor, it revealed the rivers of lava that continued to spread. Micha abruptly realized that the thread offered a safe path through the cave. Or maybe it’s a trick to lure us to certain death, a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

Hard to guess which one.

“Is Peri aware of what is happening?” he asked.

Skye moved to stand at his side, studying the golden strand. “I don’t sense her presence, but her magic is oddly in tune with this place.” There was a long silence before he felt her give a sharp shake of her head. “Why would she have any connection to the Dragon Treaty?”

The heat in the room intensified and the sound of popping stones echoed through the cave. The cracks were widening, allowing more lava to pump into the cave. Soon they would be cut off from any hope of escape.

“Maybe we should worry about the whys later,” he warned. “I don’t think we have much time.”

“You’re right.” She grasped his hand. “Besides, I trust Peri. She wouldn’t lead us astray.”

Micha didn’t possess the same faith. Not when Peri’s magic had proven to be as unpredictable as it was powerful. But he trusted Skye. If she believed, then so did he.

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