Page 92 of Of Blood and Fire
Given the man was a master of forward planning, it really wouldn’t surprise me. I glanced back to Rishi. “Sorry, please continue.”
He smiled. “There is a long, narrow tunnel entrance that leads from the lake cavern, and the third man waits near its entrance, which lies about a third of a mile off the main exodus tunnel into East Arleeon. It is extremely narrow, little more than a quake fracture in the wall.”
Meaning no doubt that third man would attack the minute I’d squeezed through. Or try to, because unless he was well-protected against flames, his ass was ash. I accepted the light tube Garran handed me, gripping it tightly as I stepped into the tunnel and looked both ways. Darkness dominated in either direction.
“Head left from here,” Rishi said. “Follow the right tunnel at all intersections until you reach an intersection of three. Take the middle—it will lead you to the main exodus tunnel. Head left from there until you reach the stalactites, then move into the military zone influx tunnel that lies to the right there. The lake entrance will be on your left.”
I nodded, glanced one more time at Garran, then moved on. The tube’s light played across the tunnel’s black walls, making it appear that thousands of tiny stars danced ahead of me. The ground underfoot was smooth and even, but that wasn’t surprising if this tunnel had been created for past monarchs. Couldn’t have royal toes being stubbed, after all.
Once I’d moved past the tunnel that Makki had used to get into my room, the floor and walls got rougher but remained wide enough for me to keep a good pace. I quickly came across my first cross tunnel and went right, as directed, then dug thereceiver out of my pocket and flicked it on. The arrow wavered for a few seconds and then settled on a northwest point. I was going in the right direction.
The air temperature increased the deeper into the mountain I went, and sweat started trickling down my spine and forehead. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t take my jacket off, simply because it was protecting my arms and shoulders from the occasional section where a rockfall—no doubt caused by the tremors that continued to plague this area—had severely narrowed the tunnel. I soon lost all track of time in this world of darkness and dancing stars, but did, after what seemed like ages, finally reach the three-pronged intersection. I jumped over the small stream, slid briefly on a dark patch of moss I hadn’t seen, then caught my balance and headed into the middle tunnel. It, like the previous one, was unexpectedly wide, making me suspect that at some point in our history, before the presence of these tunnels had been forgotten, an earth mage had been sent in here to work on them.
I eventually reached the evacuation tunnel that ran from Esan into the East Arleeon foothills. It was semicircular in shape and wide enough to comfortably accommodate the bovine-drawn carts that would be used for the evacuees who couldn’t walk. I stopped in the middle of it and swept the tube’s light to the right, seeing nothing, hearing nothing. Nor could I sense anything hiding in the shadows beyond the light’s reach, and yet instinct stirred uneasily. Rishi had only sensed three weights, but it would be pretty easy for someone to hide their presence if they remained closer to the evac caverns.
Aric knew what I was, what I was capable of. He wouldn’t take the chance of me being willing to kill Damon in an effort to take him out. He’d have backup, even if it was only a couple of extra men.
I swept the light across the darkness one more time, the sense that I wasn’t alone growing stronger.
Use my sight, Kaia commented.I see for you. Done before.
That we had, but generally when I was flying with her.You’re not physically here. It won’t work.
Try.
I took a deeper breath, smelling the sweat, fear, and frustration that rode me, then deepened the link between us. The cavern spun briefly around me but quickly righted as her presence in my mind became more dominant. My gaze narrowed, the two of us as one as we stared into the darkness.
No see, she said after a moment.Need my eyes, not yours.
The queen isnotalways right, it would appear, I said, amused.
She harrumphed.Should flame.
I’m running low on fire, Kaia?—
Know. Use my fire.
You may need it?—
I fed, now rest. Use my fire.
It was an order, not a suggestion. I rolled my eyes, deepened our link, then mentally reached into the flaming heart of her, where the tempest of her flames burned, and drew them forth. Fire surged through our link, thick and fierce and angry, and I quickly raised a hand to unleash it. Flesh wasnotmeant to contain such a force for very long. A mass of fiery energy leapt from my fingers, forming an orb as it tumbled down the tunnel, growing ever wider, ever angrier, until it spanned from wall to wall.
Footsteps fleeing, then screams that quickly fell into silence. The fiery wall faded, leaving me in darkness aside from the starry light coming from the tube.
I stay linked, Kaia said.May need more flames.
I didn’t argue. I may have drawn on her strength rather than mine, but the fires had still channeled through a body that was reaching its limits of strength and endurance.
I turned left and strode on, quickly coming across what amounted to a forest of stalactites hanging from the ceiling, though the tunnel floor remained smooth and clear. I stopped again, sweeping the light across the wall to my right and spotting the smaller tunnel. My footsteps echoed as I moved in, no doubt alerting the man who waited at the entrance long before the light did. The inner tension climbed with every step I took.
I found the fracture and stopped; when Rishi had said it was narrow, he hadn’t been kidding. How they’d squeezed Damon through, I had no idea, because the rough rock was definitely going to shred my coat as I squashed through.
Of course, given there was likely an earth mage waiting in the dead spot, it was also possible this entrance had been deliberately narrowed to inconvenience me and make the task of ambushing me that much easier.
I tossed the light tube into the tunnel; it bounced on the hard black stone and rolled several feet farther on, casting crazy shadows across the walls and floor. There was no response from whoever waited on the other side. He was as silent as a ghost; I couldn’t even hear him breathing.
But he was there. Of that, I had no doubt.
