Page 84 of Darkness and Deceit
Augustus’ voice echoes above, but only for a heartbeat, then he’s falling too. I scramble upright just in time to see a streak of gold flash through the darkness, followed by a thud and a very loudow.
“Are you?—?”
“I am fine,” he grits out, pushing himself up with a groan. “Mostly.”
His glow is dimmer now. His robes are dusted in gray and his usually neat hair is tousled, smudged with dirt. Even the light pulsing from his palm falters as he lifts it, casting our surroundings in flickering half-light.
I breathe shallowly, trying to make sense of where we are.
The cavern around us is wide, with walls made of layered stone that curve inward like ribs. Roots hang down like veins, and the air is wet, cold, and old. Stale. Like there hasn’t been a breeze down here for a very long time.
“Was that a trap?” I ask, brushing debris off my sleeves.
“Sure felt like one.” Augustus tilts his head, squinting upward. There’s no sign of the opening we fell through—only darkness. “I guess there is no climbing out.”
“Of course not.” I sigh. “That would be too easy.”
We both stand there for a moment, breathing in the damp air, the sound of water dripping from some unseen place echoing faintly around us.
Augustus lifts his hand again, his glow brighter now—barely—and sweeps it across the walls. The light pushes back the dark just far enough to show the tunnel splits ahead. Two paths. One curves to the right, narrow and low. The other tilts downward to the left, wider, but darker—like it swallows light instead of reflecting it.
“Well, that’s ominous,” I mutter.
“Agreed,” Augustus says, brow furrowed.
He takes a few slow steps toward the fork. I follow, stepping lightly in case the floor decides to give again.
“Can you sense anything?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Everything’s clouded down here. Like the magic is… muffled.”
I close my eyes, stretching my awareness outward. My own magic is sluggish, like it’s moving through molasses. Still, there’s a tug to the left. Faint, but insistent.
“Left,” I say softly. “It feels worse. Which probably means it’s right.”
He glances at me, mouth quirking up slightly. “That is a concerning philosophy.”
I snort. “Welcome to my life.”
Just as we start forward, something echoes through the tunnel. Not a groan. Not a growl. More like… heavy breathing.
We both freeze.
“Let’s keep moving,” I murmur. “Before the tunnel decides to finish what it started and swallows us whole.”
I take the path to the left, following my gut, despite the alarm bells screaming in my head. As we move deeper, the temperature drops fast. The stone under our boots turns slick, and the walls begin to change. Faces rise from the rock like fossils—twisted expressions, mouths open in silent screams.
I swallow. “Please tell me those aren’t real and I’m imagining shit.”
“They should not be…” Augustus says tightly.
“Not what I asked.”
We walk in tense silence, focused on every footstep. My magic stirs beneath my skin reacting to my nervousness. It’s unsettled and it’s weaker than it should be. Like the air down here is trying to smother it into submission.
Augustus’ glow flickers out completely, plunging us into darkness for a second that I swear feels like a minute before it returns.
“Yours too?” I ask, flexing my fingers.
