CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

After thirty minutes of arguing back and forth on what to do, the decision was made. They’d go to the black witch’s cave to find the soul vase and a shortcut to Crimson Lake.

“Me no like,” Finley whispered to Gabriel as he hopped along beside him toward the secret cavern.

“I know it sucks, Finley,” Gabriel replied, eyeing Jasra in the lead. “As in bad. But hey, sometimes you gotta take big risks to get a big reward. If we can take a shortcut to Crimson Lake and save Jasra and the other souls here, we need to try, right?” He didn’t admit to Finley that he was scared to go into a cave with a crazy witch. And he definitely didn’t tell him that he was beyond terrified of wells. Those weren’t the kinds of things you liked admitting to anyone. He could only hope one of his friends would offer to get the white witch out if they were lucky enough to find the soul vase, then the stupid well.

As they walked, cackling laughter and creaking footsteps carried on the wind and encircled them like an angry enemy. Gabriel trudged forward even though fear gripped him and goose bumps ran across his skin. They kept close to Jasra’s ghost, figuring he would keep the bad ghosts from hurting them.

Jasra led them up to the cliff face, and there, partially concealed in the shadows, loomed an oval-shaped entrance. “There,” he said, pointing to the hole. “Keep going until you reach the bottom of the cavern. That’s where you’ll find a pool of water and the soul vase.” His face grew serious. “The black witch weakens after sunset and until sunrise. During this time she is unable to leave the confines of the cave. It is then that she re-charges herself by drawing on the souls trapped within the vase.” Jasra eyed the stones under his hooves, then looked back at them. “I don’t want you to be alarmed, so prepare yourselves for the cries of despair from us souls at that time.”

Piper blinked. “Do you mean”—she swallowed—“that you’re in pain every evening at sunset?”

A wounded expression crossed Jasra’s face. “It feels like we are dying all over again—being drawn back from ascension—our souls sucked back into her soul vase.”

“What’s ascension?” Brent asked, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck.

“Our souls trying to rise to the ever-after.”

Piper’s eyes glistened with tears and Gabriel’s stomach did a tumble as a shiver rushed through his body. That had to be the creepiest thing he’d ever heard—and the saddest.

“We need to stop her,” Brent said with a scowl as he marched into the cave. He twisted around and faced them. “I don’t like the whole idea of this, but she sounds as mean as Duke Malgor. Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time before sunset and we need to stake the place out before the sun goes down.”

“Finley be tracker,” Finley said, stepping forward, puffing out his chest, and thumping his closed fist against it. “Me lead.” The freaked-out look in Finley’s eyes told Gabriel that leading them into the black witch’s lair was the last thing he wanted to do. Finley stepped around Brent anyway, obviously trying to put his game-face on. “Follow me.” He gave Piper a warning scowl. “No talk.” Gabriel figured it was because she had made noise on the beach earlier and brought out the ghosts.

“What?” Piper raised her hands palm-up. “Geez. I fell, okay?” She grunted, then turned and smiled at Jasra. “I promise we’ll do our best to get you to your mom.”

“Yes, we’ll definitely try,” Gabriel said, joining Brent in the cave.

“Thank you, my friends. “But before you go—a final warning—do not look into Caprice’s eyes. It is through the eyes that she can steal your souls. As much as I enjoyed seeing you, I do not wish you to end up on Dead Beach like me.”

Awesome. Another thing to worry about. What Jasra said brought new meaning to the phrase “the eyes are the windows to your soul.” It felt more like they were the windows to stealing your soul.

Finley moved in slowly, trailing his fingers through the mix of sand and pebbles dusting the ground. The wind had picked up, swirling it around in small funnels. Dust blew up Gabriel’s nose and he muted a cough. Piper’s hair whipped around her face. She yanked an elastic band from her wrist and tied her hair into a ponytail as they headed forward.

The cave walls looked like cooked marshmallows—all bubbly with different shades of brown. The cool, damp air seeped through Gabriel’s jacket, making him shiver. The farther they walked into the cave, the darker it became. A mineral scent lingered in the air like pennies, and the sound of water trickling in the distance echoed around them. Finley moved quietly, his head darting left to right and behind him, his serious gaze reminding them to keep close. The cave gradually descended.

After a half hour or so, they reached the bottom of the cavern. Gabriel knew they were in the right spot. The area opened up into a large space that was kinda like a giant circle filled with irregularly shaped rocks. The sound of water trickling had grown louder. Echoing sounds of plop, plop, plop bounced off the cave walls. Gabriel watched as drops of water fell from several stories above them and landed in the pool of water at the center of the cave floor.

Dust sparkled in beams of light that shone in from cracks in the cave roof—light that was growing dimmer by the minute since it was almost sunset. More light trickled in far on the other side of the cave. It looked like a way out, and Gabriel hoped it was the exit that would lead them to Crimson Lake. He drew his gaze to the center of the cave. Stalactites and stalagmites shot out from the top and bottom of the rock like icicles. Except these weren’t like any stalactites and stalagmites Gabriel had learned about in school. These were covered in mirrors. Gabriel tugged Brent’s arm and lifted his chin toward the mirrored, pointed rocks. He pinched his eyebrows together at Brent, who mimicked his confused expression back at him.

They didn’t talk as they all searched the cave for the soul vase. Except, they couldn’t find it.

Brent fisted his hands and gritted his teeth, looking more annoyed than ever. Gabriel knew Brent hadn’t wanted to divert from their original plan in the first place. Not that it was such a solid plan, but it didn’t include searching for a vase with trapped souls—in a cave an evil witch lived in. Brent was worried about being late for the empress and princess. And who could blame him? Gabriel was worried, too. But they all cared about Jasra, and this was supposed to be a shortcut. As the time ticked by with no sign of the soul vase, Brent’s cheeks turned the color of pizza sauce.

Inwardly sighing, Gabriel pressed against the cave wall beside the others. He remembered Jasra had said the vase was by the pool of water. Gabriel squinted, trying to make out any sign of the thing in the dimly lit cave. No vase. No witch. Nothing but the damp cold and the plop, plop, plop of water dripping that poked at the back of his head like a woodpecker.

Finley jerked his head, motioning for them to keep moving. He shifted to the left while keeping close to the cave wall and away from the beams of light that trickled in. Gabriel slid his hand along the cool, damp surface of the rock as they moved, its rough edges scratching his skin. He scoured every ledge next to the pool of water in the distance that he could find.

Finley stopped after a couple of minutes. He pointed to the cave wall beside him, his brown eyes wide. Gabriel’s pulse jumped, hoping Finley had found the soul vase. They needed to grab it and get out of there. But when he looked, he didn’t see any kind of a vase. Just when he was about to raise his hands in a “what are you pointing at” way, Piper rushed around him and headed straight for Finley. She’d obviously seen something Gabriel hadn’t.

Then Gabriel saw what the commotion was all about. It wasn’t the vase like he’d hoped, but a series of paintings in shades of red lining the cave wall. They looked like ancient symbols—like the Egyptian sort Gabriel had seen in books or on TV. Gabriel edged closer to his friends, studying the wall in silence.

Piper ran her hand along a picture of a cylindrical-shaped painting that looked like a bug with a million legs. Other symbols were drawn beside it like some sort of code. Gabriel followed the images, getting lost in the vivid imagery. The slug-looking things and strange symbols made no sense. A sketch of an oval-shaped archway with a man standing beneath it came next. Above the doorway, three more odd symbols were drawn. Piper ran her fingers along them lifting a curious brow.

Then Gabriel noticed three round orbs circling a bunch of people. He leaned in, squinting. His gaze traced the people’s faces thinking how weird they looked, but also—how familiar. He barely contained a gasp and slapped a hand over his gaping mouth. The people in the painting had long, skinny, snake-like things coiled on their faces—where their noses should be. Gabriel stumbled back from the wall, his stomach clenching like someone had kicked him in the gut. The drawings weren’t of people at all.

They were Solarians.

Brent caught Gabriel by the elbow. Steadying him on his feet, Brent gave Gabriel a “what gives” look. Gabriel was about to tell them what the drawings were, but he didn’t get the chance.

As quick as a bolt of lightning, something black and gold shot from above. It splashed in the water at the center of the cavern. They whipped their heads around.

The black witch.