Following Amira’s move, Elyssa’s left hand itched to remove the knife hidden in her sleeve. Her bow hit her back with each step, reassuring her. Scanning the area in the dark, she looked for any signs of guards, but there was no one. When Elyssa looked over her shoulder, she found Eyden doing the same.
Once they reached the stone wall of the temple, Elyssa said, “I don’t see any door.”
Farren pinched his brows together and reached into his pocket, removing a clear quartz. “I’ll try to pull energy from this to show us what’s hidden here—if anythingishidden here.”
Amira took a step forward. “Can I try too?”
A week ago, Elyssa wouldn’t have been able to picture Amira embracing any kind of witchcraft. She was finally starting to see herself as Elyssa saw her: unique, powerful, andbrave.
Amira and Farren joined hands, the crystal between them.
“What do I do?” Amira asked.
“Visualise a door appearing in front of you. Let the crystal fuel you, lead you,” Farren explained, closing his eyes. Amira took an audible breath and let her eyes fall shut.
At first nothing happened, and Elyssa could feel Eyden growing restless beside her, his eyes darting between the temple and the woods they’d come from. The palace was barely visible in the distance as it was the middle of the night. She couldn’t help but think of Lora, trapped there yet again. Elyssa knew Eyden was thinking the same.
A shot of electricity snapped through the air; white light streamed from Farren and Amira’s hands, and then a door appeared in the stone wall. Farren opened his eyes, grinning as he dropped Amira’s hand. The princess looked at the old wooden door in astonishment. When Elyssa gave her a proud smile, she could swear Amira’s cheeks flushed slightly, though it was too dark to tell for certain.
“Let’s go,” Eyden said, moving forward, a knife in his hand.
Farren pulled the door handle down, slowly opening the door. Though the corridor was pitch black, Elyssa could see stairs leading down into the dark.
Stepping into the space, Eyden removed a torch from the wall. He took out matches from his pocket—he must have gotten them from the black market—and quickly lit the torch to illuminate the steep, narrow staircase. Covered in spider webs and dust, it looked as if no one had walked here in the seventy-five years since the border spell was created, which could very well be the case.
Eyden removed a second torch from the opposite wall, lit it, and handed it to Farren.
“I’ll go first.” Eyden didn’t wait for a response. Elyssa followed him quickly, Amira keeping close to her, while Farren went in last, providing light from behind.
The stairs went on for a while until they took a corner into a damp, dark corridor. Walking forward, Elyssa was focused on her surroundings, though there wasn’t much to see. She knew Eyden was focused on his hearing, something she couldn’t help with.
Finally, they reached a bigger corridor. To their left was a narrow wooden door. Elyssa almost went to it, but her gaze was drawn to the far end of the corridor, which was partly illuminated by two gas lamps that had probably been spelled to keep going forever. Bars sealed off the end of the hall, separating it into a small room. In the middle of the area, carved out of stone, a podium stood tall, a delicate silver box glinting in its centre.
Bingo.This had to be their treasure.
The only problem was there was no door. The silver box was locked behind the bars. As Elyssa’s eyes travelled to the dark stone floor, she noticed skeletons in the corner of the cell-like room. One bony hand was loosely wrapped around one of the bars.
“Looks like we aren’t the first ones to break in here,” Elyssa said, pointing at the bones. Amira took a step back at the sight. A musty, disgusting smell lingered in the air.
“Can you drift El in?” Farren asked Eyden, making the obvious suggestion.
“There is something off about this,” Eyden replied.
“Maybe we should get closer first,” Farren suggested. He took a step forward, and though Elyssa couldn’t hear the stone moving, she was fixated on Eyden’s pointed gaze and noticed the crossbow bolt appearing from a hole in the ceiling at the same time as her brother.
Elyssa grabbed Farren’s arm a split second after Eyden. They pulled Farren back just as an arrow, longer and sharper than normal, sunk into the ground where he had stood a mere second ago.
“Fucking hell, this place is spell booby-trapped,” Elyssa said, her eyes taking in the small hole in the ceiling that was now shut again as if nothing had happened.
“I take back my suggestion to get closer,” Farren said, out of breath, eyes locked on the arrow that was meant to impale him.
“I have a good view of the room. I could drift us in quickly, avoid the arrows,” Eyden said, meeting Elyssa’s gaze. “Unless it’s spelled against my power, it should work.”
Elyssa held out her hand. “Let’s do it.” It was worth the risk. Worst case, the bars would shut them out and leave them exposed to the traps. But Eyden was fast. Elyssa trusted he could drift them back here before they got speared.
“Are you sure about this?” Amira asked, her voice echoing off the stone walls.
“No way to know unless we try,” Elyssa replied.
