Page 17 of Only Rogue Actions
I whipped in that direction, snapped up my right hand, and used my telekinesis to send the water away from my body.
Click!
Even though I didn’t step onto another flagstone and trip another trap, another window on the castle fountain flipped down, and a second nozzle appeared, shooting water at me from a different angle.I spun to the side and punched my arms out in opposite directions, using my telekinesis to force both sprays of water away from my body.
The water pressure was dialed up to maximum capacity, and the hard, bruising jets slammed against my telekinesis, inching closer and closer to my body.Even more alarming was the fact that the sprays of liquid that hit the ground sizzled and melted through the crusty snow, as though the water had been mixed with a corrosive acid.
I ground my teeth, braced my feet, and gripped my power even more tightly.I couldn’t afford to let a single drop of water touch my skin.The wetness would only exacerbate the potential for frostbite and hypothermia, while the acid would burn my skin the same way it was eating through the snow.
Cold sweat prickled my forehead from the effort of using so much of my psion power to redirect the water, but I didn’t dare break my concentration to lift an arm and wipe the freezing dampness away.My focus narrowed to those two jets of water, which kept blasting against my telekinesis.
One second after another ticked by, and the water just kept coming and coming.How much liquid was in this bloody fountain?
Suddenly, the two jets of water sputtered once, twice, three times before the streams died down into a series of drips that quickly froze into a trail of icicles hanging down from the nozzles.
I kept my arms raised, just in case it was a trick to get me to lower my guard so the water could restart.But nothing happened, and after about fifteen seconds, I finally dropped my arms, released my grip on my telekinesis, and hissed out a tense breath.
I silently cursed my own foolishness.I’d been so distracted by the snow and ice and so determined to get out of the Frozon biodome as quickly as possible that I hadn’t bothered to scan the path for traps.If I’d been in a Techwave facility, I would have been blasted with cannon fire instead of water, and I would have been dead.Or worse, some bounty hunters could have knocked me unconscious, trussed me up like a solstice ham, and shipped me back to Callus Holloway.I couldn’t afford to make such a stupid, sloppy mistake in the real world.Not if I wanted to keep Vesper safe.
Despite the biting wind whistling across my body and the pellets of ice once again stinging my face, I held my position for several more seconds, until the two nozzles had completely iced over.
When I was certain the water trap had been played out, I shoved my hands back into my armpits, trying to bring as much warmth as possible to my chilled fingers.Next, I glanced down and studied the flagstone beneath my boots.I had to squint through the cascade of ice pellets, but I spotted a small drop of water carved into the top-left corner.
I studied the other flagstones ahead.A few more stones had the telltale water drop carved into their left corners, but most were smooth and blank.I hesitated, wondering if the answer was that simple, but my body was numb, and I couldn’t afford to stay in the Frozon biodome any longer.Even though the water trap hadn’t touched me, the resulting dampness had made the air even more frigid.
I drew in a breath, shifted my weight into my toes, and hopped onto the closest unmarked flagstone.
My boots thumped against the stone.I tensed and kept a wary eye on the fountain, but no more castle windows opened, and no more nozzles appeared.I exhaled and moved on.
I skipped, hopped, and jumped from one safe stone to the next like I was playing a child’s game.On the backside of the fountain, the path straightened, and I quickly strode through the energy shield that cordoned off the Frozon biodome.
After the frigid snowscape, the cool air in the maze was as warm as a sauna.I jumped up and down, shook out my arms and legs, flexed my fingers and toes, wrinkled my nose, and slapped my cheeks several times.The numbness that gripped my body slowly faded away, replaced by a welcome, if painful, tingling.My skin was dry, tight, and chapped, but I hadn’t suffered any major, lasting damage from the extreme cold.
I exhaled with relief, then hurried on.
A few hundred feet later, I came to a large junction where the path split off in five directions.Once again, all the paths looked the same, and I had no idea which way to go.I reached out with the bond, hoping to use it to plot a course forward, but Vesper didn’t seem any closer, despite how deep I was in the maze.
A frustrated growl rose in my throat, but I closed my eyes and reached for the bond again.This time, I focused solely on the velvety ribbon of Vesper in my mind.Her presence still felt faint and far away, so I concentrated on gripping the ribbon and then slowly moving along it, like I was putting one hand in front of the other and climbing along a horizontal rope.The ribbon vibrated with tension, and I turned my head, following the motion ...
The velvety ribbon of Vesper stilled.I opened my eyes and found myself looking down a path that led to the left.I shook my arms and legs out a final time, getting rid of the last of the tingling, then strode in that direction.
Clank.Clank-clank.Clank.
I stopped.What was that?No more noises sounded, but dread pooled in my gut.I knew those odd sounds, even if I couldn’t remember exactly what they were right now.
Wary, I eased forward, once again scanning the walls around me, as well as the path ahead.I didn’t see any traps, and I quickly made it to another junction, where the maze once again split in five directions.I hesitated, unsure of which path to take—
Shock punched into my chest as though someone had just stabbed me with a stormsword.The sharp, unexpected emotion threw me off-balance, and I staggered to the right.
Click.
A flagstone depressed under my boot, and a silver nozzle jutted out of the honeysuckle vines to my left.On instinct, I threw myself forward and down onto the path.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
Blaster bolts shot out of a weapon hidden in the wall.The bright orange streaks sliced through the air at chest height and slammed into the vines on the opposite side of the path.Smoke and sparks boiled up into the air in an acrid cloud.
Several seconds ticked by.No more bolts shot out, so I lifted my head and climbed back up to my feet.Careful not to trigger another trap, I went over and plucked a honeysuckle blossom off one of the damaged vines.The blackened, brittle petals crumbled to ash in my hand.
