Page 17

Chapter Twelve

C inaed:

“ I mpossible!” Blackstone’s face contorted with rage as he pointed his mage stone at Bart. “How did you get here?”

I’d been skeptical when Bart said he could sneak everyone in with him. Blackstone was an asshole, but he was a very good mage. The others agreed, but they also believed he’d be overconfident.

They’d been right. Behind the glow from Bart’s purple tourmaline, Cael, Otto, Leo, Percy, and Anso had their stones out, ready to fight.

“We followed Cinaed,” Bart said calmly. After fighting a demon prince, it didn’t surprise me that a few mages didn’t rattle him.

I flew higher into the cavern’s shadows. Blackstone’s attention might’ve shifted away from me, but there were other mages in the area.

Blackstone’s eyes narrowed to slits. “This day has been a long time coming, Bartholomew. I should’ve killed you when you were a child, but defeating you now will be so much more satisfying.”

A torrent of midnight energy surged from his mage stone, but Bart deflected it with a shield of purple light. The collision of magic sent tremors through the cavern floor.

Bart didn’t engage in a war of words—he simply went on the offensive. I couldn’t tell what spell he used, but its power pushed Blackstone back several feet even as he deflected the attack.

A group of mages charged into the room from the same opening Blackstone had used. If they’d held my grandfather in these caves, he’d be in that direction. I stayed in the shadows, waiting for a chance to fly past our enemies.

Blackstone lost some of his swagger after Bart’s first blow.

He moved warily and launched a series of swift strikes.

The fight moved too fast for me to follow as Bart blocked the deadly magic and fired back a complex sequence of spells.

Purple light clashed with black, charging the air with magical energy.

From my vantage point near the roof of the cave, I watched the fight unfold.

Blackstone’s mages outnumbered our side, but they were still overmatched.

Otto’s red zircon blazed against the dark, meeting his opponent with controlled bursts, while Leo’s yellow heliodor created bubbles to trap his foes.

Together, they put a group of six mages back on their heels.

Anso and Percy pressed their advantage against another four mages, who spent their time defending rather than attacking. The green and yellow light from their stones wove a deadly dance that Blackstone’s associates had trouble following.

The only real contest was the fight between Cael and a woman dressed in black. Her stone blazed as they attacked each other. After the initial exchange, however, Cael pressed his advantage, and the outcome wasn’t in doubt.

Taking advantage of the distraction my companions created, I swooped down and raced toward the opening.

“Stop him!” Blackstone shouted.

I braced for an attack, but a burst of purple light followed by a grunt from Blackstone allowed me to reach the tunnel entrance.

Without looking back, I opened my senses, searching for any sign of my grandfather.

Flying as fast as I could, I wove my way through the warren of passages carved into the mountain.

The tunnels beyond the main cavern formed a labyrinth that seemed designed to disorient. As a phoenix, however, I left a trail of fire in my wake that would help me find my way back.

If Grandfather had been in these caves, his magic would have left traces. Even in human form, a phoenix would exude traces of distinctive energy that would linger for days or more. Any of our flock could detect his presence, but as his grandson, my affinity for him was greater.

As I flew deeper into the maze of tunnels, however, the absence of any such signature became increasingly apparent.

I landed in a small chamber branching off from the main path, but didn’t shift back to human form.

The room was unnaturally cold, even for a place the sun had never touched.

There was also a residue of dark magic somewhere close to me.

Centuries of dark magic had tainted this cave and everything around it, but what I felt was different.

Otto and Thal had banished the corruption when they destroyed the Demon Sword.

This, however, was more than an echo of that magic.

Whatever was here was new and made me shiver from its malevolence.

A flicker of energy in an adjacent chamber caught my attention.

Phoenix energy, except not. Similar to the image of Grandfather in the main room, this was fake.

Cautiously, I flew toward the connected room, but didn’t enter.

Someone had carved symbols into the walls and across the floor.

I didn’t recognize most of the runes, but I knew what the one resembling a twisted flame meant.

It was a glyph meant to capture a phoenix.

Why was this here? If I’d made it this far, I’d have already known the energy signatures weren’t real.

Searching around me, I saw faint outlines of spells hidden beneath the dust. Having found one, the rest were easier to find.

They covered every inch of the floor and walls.

If I’d touched any part of the cave, I’d have triggered the spell.

Coming here, we knew we were walking into an ambush. We wouldn’t find my grandfather, but maybe we’d find some useful information. Seeing the surrounding magic, I realized we’d underestimated Blackstone. The entire cave was a snare.

A distant rumble shook dust from the ceiling. The battle in the main cavern was intensifying. Being extra careful, I flew back the way I’d come.

Frustration burned within me as I raced toward the sounds of battle. Blackstone had anticipated our response. Only his underestimating Bart kept us from being captured. It wouldn’t, however, save us if we didn’t escape sooner rather than later.

When I burst back into the main chamber, I emerged into a war zone.

Three more mages had joined Blackstone, but six were lying on the ground in various states of unconsciousness.

The remaining mages surrounded the woman fighting Cael and devoted all their energy to defending themselves.

Spent energy made the air crackle, and deflected spells had scorched the walls.

The group backpedaled toward the tunnels, collecting two of their fallen comrades. Amid this chaos, Bart and Blackstone remained locked in their personal duel. Neither showed signs of panic or fear, but to my perception, Bart was winning. Or perhaps that was what Blackstone wanted us to think.

“We need to get out of here,” I said, giving the fight a wide berth as I made it to my friends. “ This entire cave complex is marked with glyphs.”

I hovered behind Cael, and for the second time in this fight, Blackstone looked surprised and frustrated. His expression confirmed my suspicion. He’d planned for the possibility I might escape the first attempt to capture me.

Blackstone’s eyes darted toward us, and his expression changed.

He slowly moved backward toward his associates, checking the ground as he walked.

After several steps, he stopped and motioned behind his back to the others.

Pointing his gem toward the ceiling, a sheet of black energy dropped, separating us from his group.

Bart seized on Blackstone’s momentary distraction, casting a spell that penetrated his shield and struck him directly in the chest. Blackstone staggered backward, genuine surprise flashing across his face.

“We need to go!” I repeated.

Whatever he’d done, the cave seemed to shudder. An ominous groan came from the ceiling just before dust and tiny rocks rained down.

“He’s bringing down the cave!” Leo shouted.

Not just the cave, the entire mountain. Blackstone proved once again he was a meticulous planner. “Cael, I need your help,” I said.

“My help?” Cael looked at his mate. “Are you sure?”

Bart might be the only archmage, but no one tool fit all problems. “You’re the strongest earth magic user. I need you to amplify my healing energy to repair whatever damage Blackstone caused.”

“Are you sure that will work?” Bart asked.

I wasn’t sure of anything other than we wouldn’t make it out if we didn’t reverse what Blackstone had done. “If we don’t repair the damage, the mountain will crush us before we reach the exit.”

“The idea is sound,” Percy said. “Earth magic will heal the damage, not just give us time to flee.”

“Everyone else out,” Otto shouted. “We’ll keep the tunnel open so you can get out.”

I wrapped Cael in my phoenix flames and watched him call Earth magic through the ground. The instability Blackstone created was wide and deep, and wouldn’t be easy to heal. Merging the power he’d summoned with my fire, he pushed it up and out.

Slowly, our combined energy filled in gaps and healed fissures. The damage, however, was extensive and concentrated in the direction we needed to use to escape.

“Focus on the way out,” I said. “I’ll bet my flames Blackstone has his tunnels protected.”

I sensed Cael’s hesitation. Healing the ends wouldn’t work if the center continued to crumble. Allowing the tunnels to collapse, however, would be worse.

We located the seam meant to destroy the tunnels. We started from the outside to shore it up. Linked as we were, I saw Cael’s intention. If we quickly saved the tunnel, we could work on the center before it swallowed us up.

The mountain rumbled around us, and it didn’t feel like we’d make it.

If the center imploded, it would overwhelm our effort to save the tunnel.

My consciousness raced along the magic Cael was using, and he’d cured enough of the damage that the rest was stable.

“Shift back to this cavern,” I said, showing him my idea.

Cael left his supports in place and returned to the epicenter of the problem. For a second, I didn’t think we’d make it, but a sudden swell of Earth Magic pushed my healing energy up through the mountain like lava through a volcano.

“We did it!” Cael shouted, wiping the sweat from his face. “I’m not sure where you got that burst of power from, but it did the trick.”

I thought he’d supplied the extra magic, so I didn’t answer. Instead, I turned and led the way out.

The others had regrouped a safe distance from the cave entrance. Otto, Percy, and Anso were in a discussion, so we stopped by Bart and Leo.

“Otto wants to seal the cave,” Leo said. “Percy disagrees, and Anso is playing referee.”

Shifting, I avoided getting drawn into that conversation—although I agreed with Otto. The place was so corrupted with dark magic that nothing good would want to enter.

“My money’s on Percy,” Cael said. “This is his home. He knows best what to do with the place.”

Watching them discuss the issue summed up how I felt about the mission. Ambivalence. It had been a wasted effort. “Does it really matter? We learned nothing about Grandfather’s location.”

“Not yet, at least,” Bart said, exchanging a smile with Leo.

I didn’t understand how they could smile after everything—or nothing—that happened. “What do you mean?” If I sounded a bit annoyed, sue me. I was frustrated.

“During the fight, we placed microscopic magical tracers on Blackstone’s mages,” Bart said. “If the spell we used works?—”

“And it will,” Leo said quickly.

“— we should be able to track them to wherever James is holed up.”

Leo nodded, satisfaction written on his face. “With any luck, they’ll lead us straight to your grandfather.”

I didn’t share his optimism. Blackstone expected a lot of what happened. “I hope you’re right, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t find the tracers. He had contingencies for almost everything. Although he didn’t expect you to sneak up on him. If he had, things wouldn’t have gone so well.”

“You said you found glyphs in the tunnels,” Anso asked. They’d finished their debate and had joined us. “What did you find?”

It took a few minutes to explain everything, and when I finished, I was more convinced than before that Blackstone expected what happened.

“I’m not sure that’s correct,” Leo said.

“My guess is Blackstone prepared for two contingencies: you came alone or we came with you. Which I know is totally obvious. If you came alone, then the cage in the main chamber would’ve held you.

If you came with us, he expected you’d feel the fake phoenix energy and investigate while we fought his mages.

Once he had you ensnared, he’d collapse the mountain, hoping your capture would make us hesitate long enough to be crushed. ”

I’d forgotten Leo was a trained inquisitor. “He seemed genuinely shocked when you six popped up.”

“In that, he was overconfident,” Otto said. “He’s spent so many years claiming Bart was overhyped that he bought into his own narrative. Bart bet he could get us in undetected, and he did.”

“Only because Cinaed did such a good job keeping James busy,” Bart said. “He might have caught us if he wasn’t so busy trying to lock Cinaed in his cage.”

I didn’t care why it worked, only that we might have a lead on where to find my grandfather. “How long until we know if the trackers work?”

“They’re already working,” Percy said. “It might take a day or two before we can determine if they lead us to King Ailpein.”

Two days sounded like a lot, but Grandfather could hold on that long. Blackstone would never have risked so much to capture me if he was close to breaking my grandfather. Having failed to capture me, however, he might try harder with Grandfather. “Let’s try to find him quicker.”