Light master light chase.., p.29
Light Master (Light Chaser Book 3), page 29
“You’re outnumbered,” Duna said. “Put down the staff.”
Connell faltered, but Duna was out of patience. She pulled out her wand and directed it toward Connell’s head.
“Now.”
“You’re making a mistake,” he said.
Finally, he put up his hands and dropped the staff to the floor. Duna advanced and picked it up, then held it high above his head. “It would take nothing for me to snap this in two,” she said.
For a moment, I thought she would, but in the end, she simply threw it to the other side of the room, the wood clattering on the ground as it came to rest against the wall. She turned to Cuinn.
“Why did you do that?” she asked him matter-of-factly. “It really hurt.” Her words were simple and without too much emotion; she clearly didn't want to scare him.
I turned back and looked at him and Cara, his face scrunching up again. He might’ve had something to say, but he couldn’t get the words out. How could a five-year-old even comprehend what had just happened?
Duna approached him, and for a moment, he looked up at her as she stared down from so high above his head. He shrunk back behind me, but then Duna bent over and picked him up, hugging him tightly to her.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m fine.”
Connell opened his mouth to protest, but then Duna glared down at him again, and he kept his mouth shut.
The truth was, Cuinn could have easily killed us all. We had all been lucky to survive. Especially Duna.
I got my feet and found my staff where it had rolled during the confusion. I picked it up and turned to Connell.
“You calmed down yet?” I asked.
He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’ll take that as a no,” I said.
“He’s calm enough,” Cara said. She walked across the room and retrieved his staff, then handed it to me. “It’s up to you.” Her eyes flashed at him, but then her fangs receded, the danger gone.
I looked around the room, but nothing had changed; there was still no doorway out.
“How can this be?” I said to Cara. “You know this mountain better than any of us. There must be a way out.”
Cara walked over to the wall and ran her hands along a winding strip of granite. Every few inches, she pause, searching. But she came up empty.
“I don’t know,” she said. “All we can do is guess. Either that or go back the way we came.”
“It’s there,” came Cuinn’s little voice.
He was pointing at where Bramwell had fallen. Connell glanced at him but then walked over to Bramwell and put his hands on the stone wall behind him.
He looked back at me. “Nothing.”
I looked at Cuinn, but his head was on Duna’s shoulder again, his eyes closed.
“Watch out,” Duna said.
She withdrew her wand and pointed it at the wall. We all scattered, and she blasted it. Several large stones broke free, but that was all. No opening. She did the same thing again and again, but nothing happened.
I stepped up beside Connell and handed him his staff.
“All three of us, then,” I said. “One, two, three!”
Each of us let out a fiery bolt from our instruments, but while much of the wall was demolished, we were still trapped.
I was just starting to lose hope when Connell put up a hand. “Can you smell that?” he asked.
I sniffed the air, but all I smelled was dust and sweat.
“One more time,” he said.
We followed his lead and let our power burst through once more. This time, as the boulders settled, the smell became obvious, a combination of honeysuckle and wisteria blossoms.
“I smell it!” I said, excited.
“Ah! As do I!” Cara said. “It is the blooms that we use to make wine! But how? All of the flowers above have been turned to dust.”
“Maybe this place was forgotten by Nekanas,” I said. “Again!” I shouted.
We bashed through the wall several more times until an opening large enough for Duna to fit through had been created. I approached the hole and took a look through it.
But what I’d been hoping for was simply not there. We had successfully broken the wall between us and the rest of the mountain. But there was no way out for us, for we found ourselves on a great precipice, staring far down into the depths of the mountain below.
For a moment, I felt vertigo, and I nearly fell from the opening. Connell grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me back inside before I went tumbling out.
“I think we should stay low,” he said.
He leaned his staff up against the wall and crawled out onto his belly to see through to the other side without the danger of falling. Cara walked up behind him and stared down, seemingly oblivious to the height.
“We must climb,” she said simply. Then, she sighed. “I can take one of you, but not all four.”
“I don’t understand,” Connell said. “You want us to climb out of here? There’s nothing to hold onto.”
I thought it kind that she avoided glaring at him.
“My people are great climbers,” she said. “It is hard for you to see now, but down below, there is a bridge.”
“There has to be another way,” he argued. “Otherwise, how did Morven get out?”
I looked around the room, and I saw his point. Where had Morven gone? And how?
“I can take one of you, too,” I said.
Connell raised his eyebrows. “You think you can climb down a vertical wall while carrying another person?”
“Do you forget the Shadow Mountains?” I asked. “There was a reason I didn’t fall from that cliff after we battled the Howlers.”
Comprehension dawned upon his face, and he didn’t argue again.
“How much weight can you carry?” I asked Cara.
She looked around the room, but then her eyes fell upon Duna.
“I am strong, as strong as any Lucent. But even I cannot carry the weight of a giant.”
“I can carry Duna,” I said.
I was pushing it, I knew, but somebody had to carry her. It was that or go back into the cave with the Rovens.
“I can take Cuinn,” Cara said. “But I’m not as sure about Connell.”
I sighed. It was clear I was the only one who could handle them both. I would have to do one at a time, climbing down into the darkness in hopes of finding a path or even a sturdy ledge.
“What will we find down below?” I asked.
“This part of the mountain is called The Gravin,” Cara said. “It is the world beneath. It has been mined for generations for Maeryn Crystals and honey blossoms, which grow best in the dark. And there are bridges. At least, there were bridges.” She looked down fretfully. “No one knows how deep it goes.”
“You and I should go first,” I said to her. “We should scout it out before putting anyone else in danger.”
She nodded in agreement, then took my hand and led me to the edge once more.
I tried not to look down, but I was facing a dimly lit cavern, and I couldn’t see the bottom. It was hard not to imagine falling into oblivion.
Cara squeezed my hand, and I found her looking up at me with a smile. “We will make it. Do not worry.”
She dropped my hand and twisted her body around through the opening so that she had her fingers and toes on the sheer rock cliff. Slowly, she began to inch away from us.
I turned and handed Duna my staff. “We’ll be back,” I said. Then, to Connell, “Can I trust you?”
He nodded curtly, and I frowned. But now was not the time for arguing about attitudes. I slowly backed up and out of the hole, gripping onto the sides of the rock with my sticky hands and boots. It was an interesting sort of power I’d discovered while journeying through the Shadow Mountains. That place was full of cliffs and danger, but I’d found myself able to traverse the mountains in this way, and once I had my hands and feet upon the stone, I immediately relaxed. I could do this.
Below me, Cara’s glow lit up the rock face, and finding footholds and handholds was easy. Together, we quickly made our way away from the opening, like two spiders crawling down a wall in a hut.
I quickly caught up with her and found her smiling as she looked back at me.
“Where did you learn to climb?” she asked. “I’ve never known a climber who wasn’t a Lucent.”
I crawled closer to her. “It’s a thing I sort of picked up when I was in the Shadow Mountains. It was a matter of life and death there, hanging on. After that, I found that I was able to conjure up the power to allow me to stick to vertical surfaces.”
“Well,” Cara said, “you are quite good at it.”
“Can all Lucents climb like you do?” I asked.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I suppose it comes with having been born inside the mountain. It is one of our special talents.”
“I’m glad you’re on our side,” I said. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
“It will be no trouble. If I had thought of it before, I would have allowed you all to be carried by the other Lucents. But Duna, well, she is too big for a Lucent to manage.”
I nodded. “Yes, I understand. She’s too big for lots of things.” I smiled, and she returned it.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s get moving. Do you see the ledge below us now?” She pointed with one finger to a tiny ledge a hundred feet away.
“But how do we get out of there once we’re there?” I asked.
“Oh, there are many ways out, the most important one being a doorway on the other side of the bridge. If we can make it there. But now, let’s be quiet. There are many evil things that hide in the deep. In centuries past, we had made our peace with such creatures, but it is my fear now that they have turned to support Nekanas.”
“What sorts of creatures?” I whispered.
“We call them Razorhounds. And they are quite vicious when provoked. I suspect Nekanas has been training them all along. Like the Rovens.”
I thought about the battle ahead, and I tried to imagine the other creatures Nekanas might call upon to join the fight. Did this place contain Creepers? Howlers, even?
“What other monsters are here?” I asked.
But she shook her head silently and held her finger to her lips, a sign to be quiet.
So my question went unanswered, and we quietly made our way down the cliff. Soon, I was able to see the bridge from the dim light Cara’s glow was giving off. When we got to the edge of the precipice, we jumped down onto the ledge. There was no other way out. No door waited behind us, though there must’ve been one there. But all we saw was a solid stone wall on one side and a rickety bridge made of rope and boards on the other.
I bent down low and whispered in her ear.
“What is this bridge for?” I asked. “It goes from ledge to ledge with no way out in either direction.”
“There are secrets in our world which the mountain holds. Just as we do not know how Morven escaped that room, we do not know where these doorways may lead. They were built many centuries ago, and they are only useable for some.”
“For someone like you?” I asked hopefully.
“I can only guess.” She walked up toward the bridge on our side, turned around, and placed her hands upon the rock wall.
Nothing happened.
She sighed heavily, then tried searching again.
Nothing.
She shook her head. “This is not a good sign. I must cross and try the other side.”
She made to step onto the bridge, but I grabbed her arm just before she did.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” I asked. “It looks very old.”
“Yes, it is very old,” she agreed. “But I am very light. I have the best chance of making it across. You must believe, Bree. I will be back soon.”
I opened my mouth to argue once more, but a moment later, she was already placing her feet on the closest boards.
Be careful, I wished silently.
Slowly, and with great care, she put one tiny foot in front of the other, and the bridge held her weight. Once she was halfway across, it began to swing slightly, and even from a hundred feet away, I could see her hands gripping tightly to the ropes. After a few long moments, the bridge gradually stopped swinging, and she moved, more quickly now, to the other side.
My hands had been clenching against my chest as I’d watched, something I only discovered right then. I bent over and put my hands on my knees, breathing hard, relieved.
I couldn’t see Cara’s face from a distance, but once on the other side, her glow seemed to increase. She pushed up against the rock wall behind her, and instantly a doorway opened.
Our way out.
She jumped up and down with excitement. Then, she took off over the bridge again, this time not taking the precautions she had the first time.
Suddenly, one of the boards broke in half, and as she shrieked in surprise, her leg became stuck in the hole the broken board had left behind.
My heart stopped as I watched her struggle, but it was only a few moments before she was able to pry herself loose.
This time when she crossed the last half, she took as much care as she had the first time.
I secretly wondered if the bridge would hold me. And what about Duna? She was nearly three times my size. How would she get across?
Cara carefully crossed the last few boards of the bridge and then sunk down to the precipice, breathing hard. I knelt down beside her, putting one hand on her back.
“You’re okay,” I said in a whisper. “You made it across.”
I wasn’t sure what to expect from her when she looked up at me, but when she did, I found she was smiling.
“We have found a way,” she said, clearly relieved. “Now, we just need the others.”
I looked doubtfully at the bridge.
“Are you sure it will be able to hold us?” I asked. “I mean, it’s one thing for a Lucent, but something else entirely for a giant.”
She frowned. “I fear there is no other way,” she said, looking around. “It is possible that there are other bridges, but I do not know them. In fact, I did not know about this one until we broke through the wall.”
Suddenly, a booming sound came from the cave where the others waited. I looked up and saw flashes of red and white light, surely coming from Duna and Connell.
Or was there someone else, too?
Whomever it was, there was no more use in whispering. The entire mountain would know about us now.
“We need to get back up there,” I said, gripping onto the wall and beginning to climb.
I looked back and saw Cara right behind me, so I moved faster, scurrying up the side.
But when I reached the opening, I didn’t see what I’d expected to see. I’d thought there must certainly be a sorcerer on the other end of that battle. But when I stuck my head up over the edge, I found not a sorcerer but what I could only describe as a troll. Both Duna and Connell were taking aim at his head, Cuinn hiding behind Duna. Cuinn had magic, but he also had little control over it, and so he couldn’t help. And I didn’t know what he might’ve done even if he could.
Blast after blast, my friends took aim at the troll’s head. It seemed, though, that he was magical, as none of the attacks were getting through. He continued to advance on them despite their best efforts to hold him back.
“Duna!” I yelled. “My staff!”
I scrambled up and back into the room as Duna tossed me my staff. I jumped to my feet and began firing at the great beast, even taller than Duna and twice her width. But none of our attacks were making a dent. At best, we were able to keep him out of arms reach, but that wouldn’t be enough for long.
I saw something flash to my left out of the corner of my eye, but I was so focused on the troll, I didn’t recognize what it was. Whom it was. But a moment later, I saw Cara jump upon the troll’s back and sink her razor-sharp teeth into his neck. Thick, black blood oozed from the wound, and he spun around, looking for his attacker. She bit him again and again, and finally, he realized it was her.
The troll tried to grab her with his enormous arms, but she was too quick for him. She peppered him with bites, enraging him.
“We need to go now!” she yelled from his back. “I’ll take Cuinn!”
“But what about the others?” I shouted. “I can’t take both Duna and Connell at the same time.”
Through the uproar, I heard Cuinn screaming. It would be impossible to keep him from Duna, even if he were safer with Cara.
“I’ll take Duna and Cuinn!” I said as she began biting the troll again. “I’m pretty sure I can carry them both. Can you manage Connell?”
“I do not know! I think so!”
“We need to go now!” I yelled. “Duna, get over here and climb onto my back!”
“Are you mad?” She said as she took a couple of steps in my direction. “There’s no way you can handle my weight. You take Cuinn, and I’ll hold this beast back.”
“No, no!” Cuinn cried, clutching at her leg.
“I can take both of you! Climb on!”
She swore, but then she picked up Cuinn and leaped in my direction.
“Hold onto my shoulders,” I said, backing away from the troll. “Have Cuinn hold onto yours, too.”
She didn’t have a choice, so she did as I said. We quickly made our way over to the hole in the wall, and I stuffed my staff in my pack as I took the first step out of the room. I was relieved when my foot stuck to the rock, just as it had done so many times before. But despite my magic, I couldn’t make Duna and Cuinn light upon my back. Duna held onto me desperately, grunting as she tried to make it easier for me to move them. Cuinn was crying, but Duna was focusing all her energy on holding on.
I looked up and saw Cara with Connell precariously perched upon her shoulders. She was stronger than she’d let on; perhaps she hadn’t known how strong until that moment.
I began to move faster, ignoring Duna’s painful grip on my shoulders.
Just keep going.
From up above, the troll roared in anger, but he didn’t jump. Somewhere in there, he either had a brain, or someone else controlling him. I was guessing the latter.
