Vek barely managed to make it to his room and put a safeguard on the door before the full force of the pain hit. He didn’t even try to reach the bed. He stumbled a couple of steps forward and dropped to his knees. As his muscles began to seize, he crumpled to his side.
He’d long ago trained himself to remain silent. Contained. Not even the slightest tendril of his pain would escape to alert any who might take advantage of his vulnerable state. In a royal court, it paid to be fanatical about safety. His pride trapped the agony until it magnified a hundredfold, reverberating through his mind and body.
Vek shoved his trembling hands against his head, though no amount of pressure would ease this. Nothing but time. Channels of power fought in his mind, but only he would be the loser.
As always, he prayed for an oblivion that would never come.
The tunnel Fedah had been checking was near the middle of the cavern, a small offshoot at the end of the hallway where the warriors slept. Dria had made note of it during her first exploration, even placing an extra shield across the waist-high gap. Now as she crawled through the narrow tunnel, she reconsidered the decision to leave it until later.
Unease teased at her belly, twisting her stomach and making her muscles ache. Behind her eyes, a dull throbbing pounded an anxious beat. Was this merely her concern over the footprints that had been found? Dria wasn’t the prescient type, unlike her seer brother, so she doubted she detected some future doom.
But the sensation wouldn’t leave.
By the time she pulled herself upright at the other end of the tube, nausea had crept up her throat, and her hands shook. Dria rubbed her palms against her robes and forced herself to focus on the small cavern. The chamber was just large enough for a broad pool of water, Fedah, Miria, a pair of mage lights, and a jungle of stalagmites, stalactites, and columns. Beneath her feet, the uneven stone was smeared with muck—as was she at this point.
This section clearly hadn’t been altered by the dragon. It was too wild and natural. Carefully, Dria picked her way across the floor without touching any of the cave formations. The stalagmites she passed would be living here, and the oil from her hands would ruin them forever if she grabbed hold of them. It would take an earth mage of some skill to alter this area for their use without marring its wild perfection.
“Finally,” Fedah said. “I was about to give up hope you’d get here.”
Dria didn’t bother to remind the other mage of the length of the tunnel. Doing so would acknowledge the barb, and there was nothing to be gained in doing that. “Where’s the footprint Miria discovered?”
Miria gestured at the ground between herself and Fedah. “It’s only half of one, but I believe it to be recent. Have any of the warriors ventured here?”
Studying the floor, Dria eased her way closer. She found no marks until she reached the place Miria had indicated. As the mage had stated, it wasn’t a complete footprint, only one side of the foot. Smooth and easy to miss, save the indentions where the shoe had been stitched together. This wasn’t the heavier, thicker leather of a soldier. Only a scout or a mage would wear this style.
“I doubt it,” Dria finally said. “Kera might have sent a scout through here, but I’m sure she would have told me.”
“Maybe,” Fedah said.
Dria cut her with a glance. “I have nothing but faith in Kera to follow the chain of command.”
Fedah gasped. “I did contact you about this discovery.”
“At your leisure, I imagine.” Dria scanned the ground once more, evaluating the probable direction of their intruder’s movements. “What else did you find?”
“Nothing of concern,” Fedah said.
But there was a sharpness to her tone that implied a definite to you.
With a quick thought, Dria activated her only tracking spell. Unlike Gessen, she was barely proficient with water or air-based spells, but she didn’t want to take the time to call her friend down here. She directed the faint yellow glow to wrap around the footprint, and as soon as it had latched on, she sent it drifting across the cavern floor, seeking anything with a similar shape or energy signature. Once the magic had swept across everything in sight, it faded.
Except for a few minute traces of yellow leading between a pair of columns near the upper back corner.
“Have you investigated that far?” Dria asked.
Fedah shrugged. “Some things are better left for the leader.”
Yes, Dria was going to have to deal with the captain soon. But not now. Rolling her shoulders, she shoved past Fedah and ascended the rocky floor toward the corner. Here and there, her magic illuminated hints of footprints in the muck. Suspicion built inside her as tautly as the ache between her shoulder blades.
Scouts wore soft leather shoes, the soles hardened but supple, but no scout would leave such visible marks. Any warrior worth their station would erase all signs, physically or with magic, before moving on. That meant this was either a trap or the person who had passed through here was inexperienced.
Dria swallowed the sharp taste of bile and increased the power in her shields before scanning the cavern with her magic. Nothing. No hint of power. No spells designed to entrap.
Nothing.
Perhaps a human had explored this cave system in the recent past? Dria had no clue what kind of footwear they used. She paused a few steps from the dark gap visible between the columns. The light from the mage globes in the main chamber didn’t reach into the shadows, so she cast a small ball above her head and directed it forward.
A wall. There was nothing there but a cave wall. How could that be possible?
“Did you fare better than I?” Fedah called, her taunt echoing through the chamber.
Dria wanted to tell the woman exactly how she was going to fare if she didn’t cease, but now wasn’t the time. And in any case, Fedah had a right to her frustration. She never should have been placed as subordinate to someone who’d been her underling a few days before. Dria couldn’t allow it to continue, but she did understand it.
Instead of answering, Dria approached the columns. A hint of yellow glowed softly at the base of the left one. She probed the area with her magic, analyzing the floor and the wall behind it. Only…there. A blank space, a gap easy to miss in the dim light. Before her magic reached the end of its range, she detected a widening in the fissure as though it opened into a larger space. It had to be where the intruder had slipped through.
She glanced back at Fedah and Miria. “I found something. Remain on guard, and if I do not return soon, sound the alarm.”
Fedah’s eyes widened. “There was nothing but a wall.”
“I take it you don’t have a great deal of experience with caves,” Dria said.
“I was born and raised on the plains,” the other mage snapped.
“Well, I wasn’t.” Dria smiled. “In case you’ve forgotten, the palace sits atop a mountain. And do you know what mountains have?”
“But as a royal—”
Dria laughed. “As a royal, I shouldn’t have been in a cave. I did my share of exploring regardless. You can never count on a wall being just a wall.”
She didn’t wait for a rebuttal. The sad truth was she’d gone into the caves to avoid the more malicious gossips at court, and she’d been fascinated enough to return until her bodyguards told her father. If she hadn’t been forbidden from endangering herself, she might have gained more experience. Caves had their own unique beauty that was difficult to resist.
Carefully, Dria eased around the column and into the fissure. Darkness closed around her, the tunnel ahead nearly black as her body blocked the light from her mage globe. She’d need to rely on her other senses to guide her. If there was someone in the room on the other side, she would rather they not see her coming.
With each slow slide into the narrow space, her breath came more shallowly. Even so, Dria sent her magic ahead of her, feeling out the dimensions and possible inhabitants of the space beyond. Another small room, this one large enough for one person to stand—maybe two if the people in question were close friends.
Was that another narrow fissure beyond the room? She probed as best she could, but this type of magic wasn’t her specialty. She could tell that there was no one living inside. No energy signature, no shielding, no huddled form. Perhaps she could send her mage globe ahead after all. Then she could examine the chamber visually before determining her next move.
Crack.
Dria froze at the ominous sound. Her heart slammed in her chest, but she brought up her best shield—the kind used to repel physical attacks in battle. Silence. She let out a relieved sigh and eased herself back the way she’d come. If this cave was unstable, it would be better to explore with an earth mage and a scout.
When the ceiling above the fissure gave, there was no other warning.
Instinctively, Dria crouched as stones tumbled around her. Stalactites pinged against her shield, and she threw more energy into it to repel them. But this shield was designed for large blows, not small ones. Cursing, she grabbed more energy from the environment as dust and tiny stones peppered through, scratching her hands and face.
Dria modified the solidity of the shield, but her energy began to drain beneath the force of stone on top of her. Finally, she gave up on stopping the small incursions and focused on something far more important—survival.
If she lost control now, she’d be crushed.
Not exactly how she wanted to spend the rest of her day.
She needed help. But who… Vek. He could manipulate earth.
Before she could second guess herself, Dria reached for Vek’s mind. He might be angry at her for some reason, but he wouldn’t let her die. Probably. It took a moment’s effort to find him, despite their bond.
Doing so proved to be a mistake.
Dria connected. Pain flooded her mind and senses, the source of her earlier discomfort becoming clear before rational thought was crushed beneath the maelstrom. Her shield wavered as she tried to pull away from him, and one section gave.
Help.
But her own pain saved her as a stone crashed through, pinning her ankle with a force that shoved a scream from her lips. Her mind jerked free of Vek’s, and she used every ounce of her will to push the tumbling rocks away from her upper body as her shield failed.
Silence descended.
But so did darkness.
Help.
The desperate cry echoed through Vek’s mind, shattering his control. His cry rang through the room. A new pain, one not his own, slammed through his consciousness a heartbeat before Dria’s mind disconnected from his, but he was already moving. Every muscle in his body shrieked in protest as he pushed himself to his knees.
Dria needed him. Now.
Vek wobbled to his feet and almost vomited from the effort. No. He couldn’t be sick. He had to get to her. If she’d reached for him, there was a dire reason. The pain wouldn’t kill him, but her loss would.
For a moment, he opened his mind to Fen and pushed in one word. “Follow.”
Hopefully, Fen hadn’t been too stunned by the pain that must have accompanied the thought. No time for shielding. No time for much of anything.
The cave swirled around Vek as he stumbled from his room and started down the stairs. His magic uncoiled in restless tendrils, providing information—but not always anything useful. He tripped on the next landing and almost tumbled as his energy snagged on a handful of bats nesting in a small hollow several levels above.
Where was Fen?
Vek tried—and almost failed—to focus his senses on Dria. Finally, he caught her energy. This level. He changed course, shuffling down the hallway until his left calf muscle seized and he dropped to his knees.
Dria’s energy wavered, and fear propelled Vek to his feet. As he weaved down the corridor, a frenzied cry rushed to meet him. A woman’s voice. But not his woman. He squinted, trying to get his eyes to cooperate well enough to identify her.
“Warriors, to the ready!”
What warriors? Ah, it didn’t matter. He would kill anyone who kept him from reaching Dria, and Divine help the person who had hurt her. He would suffer a month’s worth of agony to drain them dry and rip out their throat for good measure.
By the time he reached the end of the hallway, a woman was squirming free of a hole at the end. He almost grabbed her and sank his fangs in deep, but her panicked energy gave him pause. Friend or foe? Vek pressed his hands against his aching skull, trying to concentrate well enough to communicate.
“Dria,” he managed.
“She’s trapped,” the woman answered. One of the mages by the cut of her robes. “Fedah is trying to move the rocks, but she has no talent for earth. My mental range is low, so I’m searching…”
Her words trailed off as Vek flexed his magic toward the stone wall. Pain cleaved his body like an axe, but the hole widened until he could slip through to the next chamber. He’d never make it if he had to crawl.
“Miaran,” the woman breathed.
“Find. My. Nephew.” The muscles in Vek’s back spasmed, but he kept himself upright by force of will. “Fen. Now.”
He could spare no more energy for words. The mage would obey or she wouldn’t. Vek shoved his feet into motion, propelling himself through the tunnel as quickly as he could. Almost there. He would not lose her.
Dust floated on the air of the chamber, the worst of it in the back corner. Light flashed around another mage, though Vek couldn’t tell if he was seeing the glow with his eyes or his senses. Everything was jumbled. But he staggered forward anyway.
The woman turned fearful eyes his way as he approached. “I don’t know what happened.”
Was this the former leader who had vexed Dria? “You.”
She paled. “No, I swear it. I was angry, but I like Dria. I don’t know what… She slipped through a crack behind the column that…that was here. There was a loud rumble, and then rocks began to fall. I can’t get through.”
Vek examined the tumbled stone as pain surged through him. Couldn’t just move it. More might crash. Hell. He needed Fen. But the wavering flicker of Dria’s energy drove Vek forward anyway. If he was careful, he could tunnel through and reach her.
More voices echoed behind him. One male, but not Fen.
“Stay back, Gessen,” the woman beside him called.
Vek ignored them all as he sank to his knees. He was too busy fighting through the agonizing tempest of his mind as he sought control over his earth magic once more. His muscles spasmed, but he sent his uncertain power outward.
Forever. That was how long it took to shift one rock and crawl to the next. Reshape. Slither forward. Shift. Wriggle. A few stones crashed behind him, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going back. Not without Dria.
Finally, he spotted the tip of her shoe between two rocks. Panic gave new life to his energy as he eased the stones from her lower body. Blood pooled beneath her, the scent twisting like a taunt within him, but he ignored his own discomfort. Only when he’d cleared the rocks that buried her to mid-thigh did he dare to glance up her body.
Alive.
Vek almost collapsed with relief to see her steady breathing. A pair of stones had wedged together above her head, blocking her from getting crushed, but a quick probe of magic revealed their unsteadiness. He had to get her out of here.
A small chamber lay not far beyond them. Could he pull her there? Should he? A trickle of dust and stone rained down on him, answering that question. Her spine hadn’t been crushed, but even if it had, she’d have to be moved.
Vek crawled beyond her, shifting stones as he went. The tunnel was more intact on this end, so it didn’t take long before he could turn and stretch out on his stomach. He reached forward and gripped Dria beneath her arms, tugging her with him as he wiggled backwards. Despite the cool air, sweat beaded on his brows and dampened his shirt, but still he drew her with him.
Slowly but surely.
By the time he settled them in the tiny chamber, his mind had gone fuzzy with exhaustion and pain. But he’d gotten her out. Now to determine the damage. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so he cast the dimmest of mage globes, the light so faint it would barely be perceptible to many outside his race. Enough for him to see detail, though.
Abrasions lined Dria’s face and arms, but the blood there was superficial. Not so for the blood coating her ankle. Her right leg had taken the worst of it, and Vek had a feeling more than one bone was broken. He had no talent to help that. But he could seal the gashes letting her life drip onto the rough stone floor.
If he could get his magic to operate properly.
His head pounded, and her sweet scent prodded him to drink. To replenish himself. But he would not do it. He would have her by choice or not at all. Vek lifted his hand toward her leg and grimaced when he noticed the dirt coating it. With a painful flex of earth magic, he forced the mud from his skin.
Then he gathered his power and got to work on her wounds.
It took forever, since the spell was intended for the small cuts he made during feeding. By the time he finished closing the worst of her gashes, his shoulders and arms were as hard as the stones he’d shifted. With a groan, he dropped to his side facing Dria. Spots danced in front of his eyes as he studied her pale face. He’d done his best.
Fen had better get his ass moving.