Page 31 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
D rip.
Drip.
Drip .
My eyelids snap open as a stray droplet of water nails me in the spot right between my brows.
I groan and go to wipe it off with the sleeve of my uniform when a soft hiss of pain escapes my lips. There's a dull ache in my head and dryness in my throat, reminiscent of mornings after revels. Rubbing my eyes, I struggle to get them to focus on the dark room around me.
The memories of dinner start crashing into my still-adjusting brain.
It feels like I'm taking bare knuckle punches to the head while the fragments of recollection each fall back into place. The last of which is the flash of shock in Captain Agni’s gaze before everything is swallowed up into a world of darkness .
My pulse spikes in embarrassment regarding that last memory, and I shoot up into a sitting position. Arms come to hug my knees in comfort while taking in my unfamiliar surroundings.
It’s rocks and shadows as far as the eye can see.
I chance a look upwards to where the rhythmic water droplets are stemming from and discover dangerously sharp stalactites distending downward. The floor appears riddled with protruding spikes of limestone, and the two come together to form an image of gnashing teeth.
My head is starting to throb from trying to bridge the gap between where I am now and the moment I realized the wine was drugged, when something shifts in the darkness.
I’m on the balls of my feet in an instant.
I send a prayer out to any watery deity who gives a damn that my array of knives is still securely strapped to my middle, and a moment later I sigh in relief.
The shifting form lets out a groaning sort of sound. I creep closer, one hand on a gods-blessed knife handle, and squint in the darkness. I’m able to dimly make out what looks like bronze hair.
“Vash?” I hiss, my voice low.
“ Whaaauh ?” Is the response I’m given.
Releasing my grip on the knife, I hurry over to Vash’s body, now curled onto its side. His eyelids are blinking rapidly, and his breaths come in and out in swift succession while focusing on me.
“Merena?” Vash mumbles, his voice raspy, as he moves into a sitting position. “What—where are we?” His question echoes softly in the chamber as he scans the gnashing ceiling and ground.
I shake my head, still aching from the tampered wine's aftereffects.
The wine.
Understanding hits me like a sharp slap to the face.
My mouth parts a bit while reassessing our foreign surroundings before answering him in a shaky voice, “I think we’re in the second Pillar Trial. ”
Vash’s eyes go wide, and he stands on wobbly legs in order to pat himself down for his own weapons. There's a flutter of relief that crosses his face, telling me he has what he's looking for.
His throat bobs with a dry swallow before asking, “Boreas, do you feel weird ?”
I’ve begun creeping towards the tunnel opening at the other end of the chamber. There's a soft, whooshing sound of passing air that tells me it leads somewhere. Looking backwards at Vash, I feel the ache in my neck keenly as it streams unpleasantly down my backside.
“Weird how?”
“Weird like… I don't know.” Vash chews his lip, looking around the rocks and shadows before finally returning his attention to me with an idea in his eyes. “How do you feel about Captain Tetsuo? Do you find him handsome?”
“ What ?” I splutter, my expression one of alarmed disbelief.
“Just answer me. How do you find him after flirting all night?” He lets slip an irritatingly knowing sort of grin. “Do you think he’s beautiful?”
“This is not the time—not to mention that it’s none of your fucking business.” My tone is a rising hiss of irritation. “I spoke to him for an hour at most, and it was not flirting. I don’t find Captain Tetsuo any particular sort of way.”
Vash’s irritating grin fades into a frown, and he shakes his head. “Damn. I couldn’t feel that you were lying, even though I knew you were. Our affinities are cut off.”
If it wasn’t for the fresh panic settling into my bones as I try and fail to use my power again and again to no avail, I would have struck Vash Larceon for his moronic insinuation.
I let out a groan of frustration. “ Fuck . They must have laced the wine with kratosbane as well.”
Kratosbane is the name of an otherworldly sea flower that blooms only in the dead of night, and its copper seeds can take a full week to wear off without the proper remedy. The kernels are both tasteless and odorless. I imagine they were ground up and mixed into the wine or sprinkled on the food .
Just when I thought we had a leg up, I'm blindsided once more.
Luckily, I happen to have a talent for faking nonchalance in the face of impending danger, so I hone in on that skill and will myself into a state of logic-based concentration.
“Those fuckers,” Vash mutters to himself before looking back at me with a frown.
Vash also, fortunately, has a knack for indifference towards likely doomed situations and strolls easily to where I stand at the cavern's opening.
He whistles into the dark tunnel before us, and it rings back in an ominous echo.
“You think we just go for it?” My co-captain muses, squinting into the void.
It does him no good; the tunnel is as dark as it can be.
I suck on a tooth in thought. “Might as well. I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Vash makes a grand, sweeping gesture towards the opening. “Ladies first.”
Rolling my eyes, I stride into the mountainous mouth with Vash right behind me. After a few paces, I turn back around to study the chamber in order to note anything that might help me remember its location, but I find that where once was an arched opening is now solid stone.
“ Shit ,” I breathe.
“No going back now,” Vash announces grimly.
My hands find the rock-laden walls, and I’m about to suggest following the side of the tunnel with our hands when stars begin illuminating a pathway from above. No— not stars. Tiny pinpricks of green and blue light—thousands of them—dot the rocky ceiling and walls.
They’re similar to those that fill the ocean tides on the Sál Moon. The tiny pinpricks appear to curve around the tunnel bend. They don’t remove the chafing inside, but at least it’s a start.
“Let's go,” I urge, beginning to follow the twinkling trail.
Vash quietly joins me. His usual irksome joking manner is effectively suppressed under the unknown.
We stroll in silence down the long stretch of cavern tunnel, my ears straining for any noise.
I'm not sure if our paths will even cross with the other cardinals, but if they do, I have a blade perfect for Agni. He won’t hesitate to use the cover the trials provide to his own advantage, and neither will I.
It’s maybe ten minutes later when we come upon the first fork in the tunnel.
There are two identical archways in front of us, and as the brightening stars illuminate them, I can discern the carvings above. With a nudge of my elbow, I order Vash, "Look."
The one on the left has a crescent moon carved above it, while the one on the right has a first-quarter moon. A small knot in my gut untwists. Brisa was actually telling me the truth, both regarding the partners and the lunar signs.
"Okay, so crescent moons are signs of life and death and sometimes fertility. At least according to the tomes from the Selene Citadel,” I state, recalling our previous studies.
Vash lets out a shaky laugh, still coming to terms with the fact that Captain Bedivere was actually telling me the truth. "Well, I don’t love the sound of that,” he admits before pausing in recollection. “Quarter moons are supposed to be related to strength and decision-making.”
I give him a shrug. “That seems like the better choice, right?”
“I suppose we’ll find out,” he replies darkly, leading the way through the quarter-moon archway.
Following him, I pause to give another backward glance, and I feel a small jolt of horror as the opening is again sealed with solid stone. No way out.
“I really wish that would stop happening,” I mutter, my insides are uncomfortably raw without connection to my power, and my shoulders slump beneath the pressing weight of the cavern.
The stars that are not stars take us further down until we hit a massive, impassable chasm .
“Well shit,” I grumble, assessing the dead end. There's nothing leading across the never-ending gulf, and there's no possible way around it. I begin scowling at the tiny green and blue dots with distrust.
“We should go back and see if we took a wrong turn somewhere,” I advise before pivoting backwards and Vash catches my arm.
"No, Merena—look," he says, pointing toward the chasm.
I’m straining to see what he could possibly be referring to when I realize that the blue and green dots have appeared beneath my boots. Taking another look into the chasm, I find our path has twisted, and the bioluminescent pinpricks now lead down the side of the large open expanse.
My head whips to Vash, who’s already grimacing. “You don’t think...” I begin warily.
He nods without a hint of his typical trickster self. “Unfortunately, I do.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, I start pacing while Vash examines the pit further to make sure there isn’t another route.
“Normally, I would just craft some ice anchors to climb with, but without my affinity, that’s out of the question,” I begin stating my thoughts aloud.
"That first little ledge is too far down and way too thin to chance jumping onto. There’s obviously no way across. ”
"Well, we’ve got to get down there somehow.” Vash groans, running a hand through his hair, getting more frustrated by the lack of possibilities.
I stop my pacing, lean over the side, and squint down into the void before turning back to face my co-captain. “I think I have an idea.” I bite down on my lip in worry over the plan forming.
Vash looks clearly disturbed by my tone. “Why do I get the feeling this idea of yours might just end up getting us killed?”