“You just punched a hole through a mountain,” I sputter. “I thought you said no magic here.”
He shrugs. “Who said that had anything to do with magic?” His smirk is cocky and self-satisfied. Giving his arm a gentle whack, I poke my head through the dark opening.
“After you.” I toss him a wary look, clearing the path for him. He bravely steps through and holds out a hand to help me over.
We stand inside the Mountain of Hysphestus on a small ledge. A black chasm waits on the other side. As I dare to peer down, I can feel her in a dreamless, restless sleep. I pull back, realizing that one wrong move and I’ll be dragon nip.
The ledge leads onto jagged, rock-hewn stairs that circle down to the bottom of the mountain and into the earth below. We keep quiet and close to the outer wall as we wind the descent. The only light we’re offered pours in from the gaping hole Jace created with the brute strength of his bare hand.
Tripping over a loose stone, I let out a sharp gasp. Jace is fast, spinning on his heel and catching me around the waist before I tumble over the side. Our tight-pressed chests heave together in uneven synchronization.
The rock under our feet begins to rumble as something stirs below. Our gazes shoot to the ledge in time to catch the crack spidering out, disintegrating the ancient stairs. Jace throws us against the wall, but it does nothing as the entire ledge splits, and we fall.
Our shouts echo off the hollowed-out walls as we plummet with alarming speed. Somewhere during the descent, we losecontact, and the sheer terror that lances through me outweighs anything I have ever felt in my life.
I lose sight of him as we are swallowed by darkness, and the sky rains rock and debris.
My eyes close as I brace myself for the splat.
Instead, I plunge into icy water, my screams silenced instantly. Gasping, I push to the surface, my limbs threatening to seize from the cold. I flail and feel for solid ground. My hands find purchase, and I haul my heavy, sopping body onto the stone, choking up water as I go.
“Jace!” My terror bounces off the cavernous rocks, echoing in my ear over and over. I break into a heavy sob. “Jace!”
I wait in silence, the only sound that of water plunking gently from the walls into the waiting stream.
No response.
“Jace!” My wails break the word into three long syllables as I beat my fists against the stone.
He’s gone.
“The goal is to wake the dragon, witch, not the dead.”
I whirl to find him before me, water sliding down his dark hair and onto his perfect face. I scramble to my feet and throw my arms around him.
“Happy to see me?” He catches me, folding me in his arms.
“I thought you were dead,” I mumble into his chest.
“It’ll take a lot more than a fall like that to kill me,” he says softly, smoothing my wet hair. “You okay?”
“No broken bones. I’ll live.” I take a step back from him, taking in our surroundings.
“Well, that was certainly one way to the bottom of the mountain,” he says without humor, glancing upwards.
“We made it to the bottom?” I ask.
“Rock bottom.” He holds his arms out around him. “Literally. This way.”
We drag our shivering, wet bodies through a dark tunnel that stretches as far as the eye can see. I clutch Jace’s arm as we feel our way through the void, not even his preternatural sight offering any aid in black this thick.
I feel something. Something big, looming with every step we take. The tunnel opens up to another massive expanse of rock. Light refracts off of a single torch, near the entrance in which we stand. In the darkness, I can vaguely distinguish the cave to be larger than a football field.
My vision is drawn to a high point in the rock above us, the only source of soft sound. Déjà vu hits me as I watch the dark water droplets slowly pool at the tip of a sharp overhead rock.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
They land on my forehead with a soft plink, and I blink my eyes, wiping them away with the pads of my fingers.
