“How is your climbing?” I asked.
Fen shrugged. “Rather shit.”
“Well, then I’m going up alone. Cover me.”
He straightened. “Elsedora.”
“Don’tElsedorame—we have work to do.” I scanned the ceiling, catching glimpses of bronze in the corners, but all looked still.
“There are likely more traps. This seems too easy.”
Obviously.
I rubbed my palms against the worn suede of my breeches and fixated on the reflective artifact. Power sang in my veins, and my Wind urged me forward.
“I’m counting on it,” I said as I searched for the best path up. Finding a groove in the cave walls, I began my ascent.
Fen paced with fire lit in both palms now, awaiting whatever threat we both knew would come.
I hoisted myself up further. All remained quiet, save for the sound of droplets hitting puddles below, my groans of effort, and the scuff of my boots against stone.
I scaled the wall quickly, nearing my coveted item. A handheld mirror, rimmed in blackened brass, seemed charmed to hang midair and reflect the sunlight downward.
Reaching out, my fingers brushed against its frame, but it was just out of reach.
“Create wind,” Fenris instructed.
I grunted in response, one hand clutching the wall and the other compelling the stale air to move the mirror toward me.
As soon as it swung, casting the sunlight off course from the coffin, a glimmer of bronze moved in the corner of my eye.
“Watch out!” Fenris yelled as flames hit whatever approached from my right. A burning metallic spider, large as a wolf, hit the ground with a horrifying crunch.
The arachnid writhed, but returned upright with its legs still aflame. More creeping opponents descended from their glistening gilded webs in droves.
Great.Spiders.
The mirror swung toward me, and I grabbed it just before a pair of fangs snapped through the air, narrowly missing my hand.
I flung myself against the wall with a squeal and a thud, cradling the mirror before pushing it into my belt loop. Fragments of stone crumbled away beneath my fingertips, loosening my grip.
Flames skated past my head as Fenris took down the spider above me, and it fell with another horrid crunch upon impact. More nightmarish chattering surrounded me; my greatest foes had me cornered. It took both hands to clutch the decaying wall, and I didn’t have a way to reach for my daggers.
They crawled out from every crevice of the cave—filling the space with snapping and screeching. Fen wouldn’t be able to burn them all.
I needed to jump.
Cassidee had taught me how to use my Wind Source power to my advantage; we had yet to cover how to use it to break a fall. I could only hope the thrill of the chase aided me. I wouldnotbe spider food.
“Coming down!” I warned Fen as my gruesome opponents grew too close for comfort.
“Elsie!” he yelled, clearly unhappy with my decision.
Too late.
I’d already pushed off from the wall with all my strength, and gravity had taken hold. I plummeted with outstretched arms, toward the hard ground with the chattering of fangs behind me.
Willing the Wind into my palms, I braced for broken bones.
