Because the longer they were gone from Monterre, the more Ava worried that Andras and his stolen army would be destroying her home; her brother; her friends. She leaned closer to Casimir and stared into the swirling orange in front of her.
44
The group sat for half an hour, resting and warming up until they were no longer at risk of succumbing to the cold exposure. They couldn’t have been in this cave system for more than a couple hours at this point and yet, they had already faced explosions, almost been impaled, crushed and frozen to death.
Please tell me we’re almost there,Ava pleaded to herself.
They were now walking through another tunnel—luckily flat and ice free—eyes scanning every inch of space around them, waiting with bated breath for the next hazard. Dark stone surrounded them, its roughhewn edges revealing a faint shimmer throughout the rock as if silvery threads had been woven within.
Ava paused, running her fingers along one of the veins. “Hey Jareth,” she called. “Come look at this.”
He appeared at her side. “What?”
“Do you think this is the crystal?”
Squinting, he leaned in and scrutinized the glimmering threads. “It must be.”
“That must mean we’re getting closer,” Raine said. “Thank the Mother.”
“Can’t we break the rock and take what’s in there?” a soldier asked.
“I doubt it,” Ava said. “This is tiny, and it’s incorporated into the stone. We need something larger that I can hold and imbue with magic.”
“Let’s keep going,” said Casimir.
Ava resumed her pace, Zara and another soldier leading.
Minutes later, Zara raised her arm. “Wait.”
The group stopped.
Casimir stepped forward, peering in between them, Ava on her tip toes trying to see. The floor ahead was different. No longer made of rock, but planks of wood. Rows and rows of boards sat snugly against each other, running horizontally from wall to wall. There was nowhere else to step, aside from the wood.
“What should we do?” Zara asked, adjusting her sword.
Casimir stroked his beard, scanning the path before them. “Test it out with your magic before we step foot on them.”
She conjured a root in her hand and sent it forward. But the moment it hit the edge of where the wood began, it dissolved. She tried again, but the results were the same.
“No magic allowed apparently.”
Tentatively, she tapped the board with her foot, running it along the length of the plank. With a deep breath she stepped onto it and stopped.
Nothing happened.
Emboldened by her success, her partner joined. They tested each board until they were about twenty feet onto the new path. Still nothing.
“Well?” Ava whispered. “Do we follow?”
“I think we must,” Casimir said, then raised his voice for thewhole crew to hear. “Tread carefully. There could be hidden triggers along this path.”
Ava steeled herself, inhaling a deep breath, as they followed the soldiers in front of them. The planks were sturdy, no indication of a button or anything hazardous before them. But it couldn’t be this easy. On edge, Ava waited for something to happen, eyes darting around every detail in front of her as she clenched her fists at her side.
There. Something shimmered in front of Zara. “Stop!”
She froze. “What is it?”
“That looks like a trip wire or something.” Ava pointed to the path ahead.
