31. Zephyr

31

ZEPHYR

"Quickly" is an understatement. As soon as Ignatius speaks, the shadow creatures above us dive, their forms stretching and distorting as they plummet towards us.

"Move!" I shout, grabbing Addy's hand and pulling her along as we sprint towards the exit.

The underground chamber shakes violently, pieces of the ceiling crashing down around us. I reach for my shadows, intending to create a protective canopy above our heads, but nothing happens. My magick isn't working.

"Fuck!" I curse, dodging a falling chunk of stone. "My shadows aren't responding!"

"Neither are my flames!" Ignatius yells, his hands sparking uselessly.

We exchange panicked glances. Without our magick, we're vulnerable, and the shadow creatures are gaining on us.

"The exit's blocked!" Corvus yells again.

"There has to be another way out," Addy says, her eyes darting around frantically. "This place is ancient. There's got to be secret passages or something."

Zaiah's white eyes glow faintly as he scans the chamber. "There's something there!" He points to a barely visible seam on the near wall that I can't see for looking.

"How the fuck?" I grumble as we turn towards it.

"There's something glowing on the other side. Can't you see it?"

I shake my head, but we don't have time to mess about.

"Got it!" Corvus shouts, slamming his hand against a protruding stone. The wall grinds open slowly, revealing a dark passageway.

We pile through just as the first of the shadow creatures reaches us. Corvus slams the door shut behind us, plunging us into darkness.

"Well, this is bloody brilliant," Ignatius mutters. "Anyone got a torch?"

"Thought you said there was something glowing on the other side," I accuse Zaiah.

"There is. I can see it. Must be connected to my djinn power," Zaiah says. His eyes are glowing brighter now, providing a faint, eerie light.

"Or your bridge power,' Addy mutters.

"Either way, good enough," I say. "Lead the way. I don't think that door will hold them for long."

We start down the corridor, Zaiah in the lead, following this supposed glowing light. Corvus brings up the rear. The passageway twists and turns, leading us deeper into the unknown.

"Wait," Zaiah says suddenly, stopping short. "Look at the floor."

I glance down but can't see fuck all. Not even my feet. "Sorry, man. I got nothing."

"The stone flags ahead of us are different colours, arranged in a complex pattern. It's a puzzle. Step on the wrong stone and..."

"Kaboom?"

He turns to blink at me. "Pretty much, yeah."

"So how do we get across?" Ignatius asks, lit up by Zaiah's glow as he eyes the floor warily, though I doubt he can see anything either.

"The symbols in the walls. They're instructions," Zaiah says, peering at them. "It's a sequence. Step on the stones in the right order, and we should be safe."

"Should be," Ignatius mutters. "That's reassuring."

"You got a better idea?" I snap, the stress of the situation getting to me.

"Okay. I think I've got it. Follow me exactly, step where I step," Zaiah says.

He takes a deep breath and steps onto the first stone. Nothing happens. We all let out a collective sigh of relief.

Slowly, carefully, Zaiah makes his way across the room, each step deliberate and precise. We follow in single file, barely breathing in case we set off some trap.

We're about halfway across when we hear it - the sound of stone grinding against stone. The door we came through is opening.

"They're coming," Corvus hisses from the back of our line.

"Zaiah, we need to move faster," I urge.

He nods, picking up the pace.

But in her haste, Addy's foot slips, barely grazing the edge of the wrong stone.

There's a terrible grinding noise, and suddenly the floor begins to tilt.

"Run!" I yell, abandoning caution.

We sprint across the remaining stones, leaping for the safety of the far side just as the floor drops away completely, revealing a pit of churning, murky darkness below.

We land in a heap on the other side, panting and shaking.

"That was too close," Ignatius gasps, his face pale.

"It's not over yet," Corvus warns, pointing ahead.

I can see now. I'm guessing we all can. It's gloomy, but it's better than pitch black.

The passageway continues, but now it's lined with statues. Ancient warriors, their stone faces grim and watchful.

"I don't like the look of those," I mutter.

As if in response to my words, the nearest statue's eyes begin to glow. With a scraping of stone, it steps off its pedestal, raising a wickedly sharp sword.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me," Ignatius groans.

More statues come to life, moving to block our path. Without our magick, we're severely outmatched.

"Any ideas?" I ask, backing away slowly.

Zaiah's eyes are darting around the chamber. "We need to be quicker."

"Great," Corvus says.

I snort. "Says the vampire. Take Addy's hand, and don't let her go. We'll cover you, you run."

It's a mad idea, but it's the only one we've got. As the first statue lumbers towards us, we split up, each of us picking a target as Corvus prepares to make a beeline down the middle.

I dodge the swing of a stone sword, ducking under the statue's arm and delivering a solid kick to its knee joint. The stone cracks but doesn't break. These things are tough.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Corvus sprinting down the centre of the passageway, Addy's hand clasped tightly in his. The statues turn to pursue them, but we do our best to keep them occupied.

Ignatius has picked up a fallen sword and is using it to parry the blows from two statues at once. Zaiah is darting between the statues, using his djinn-like agility to evade their attacks while leading them on a merry chase.

I spin away from another sword strike, my back hitting the wall. A stone hand clamps down on my shoulder, pinning me in place as another statue raises its weapon towards my head.

Suddenly, a familiar sensation washes over me. My shadows are back.

With a feral grin, I let the darkness flow from my fingertips, wrapping around the statues and pulling them apart. Stone crumbles and shatters as I tear through them.

"Our powers are back!" I shout to the others.

Ignatius whoops with joy as flames erupt from his hands, melting stone warriors into puddles of molten rock. Zaiah's eyes glow bright white as he gestures, causing statues to crumble into dust.

We fight our way down the passageway, our powers fully restored and tearing through the stone warriors. I use my shadows to crush and shatter them, while Ignatius melts them with his flames and Zaiah crumbles them to dust.

Up ahead, I see Corvus and Addy have reached the end of the corridor. There's a large circular door blocking their path.

"We need to hurry!" Corvus shouts back to us.

Destroying the remaining statues in a frenzy of shadow, flame, and magick, as the last one crumbles, we sprint to join Corvus and Addy at the door.

"Any ideas how to open this thing?" I ask, eyeing the massive stone circle warily.

The door rumbles and begins to slide open.

"Okay, then…"

As soon as there's enough space, we squeeze through. The new passageway is narrower, forcing us to go single file again. The air is thick and musty, and I can feel the weight of centuries pressing down on us.

Corvus suddenly holds up a hand, stopping us. "Listen," he says, his vampire hearing picking up something we can't.

We all fall silent, straining our ears. And then I hear it - a faint rushing sound, getting louder by the second.

"Water," Zaiah says, his eyes wide.

Before we can react, a wall of water comes rushing around the corner, filling the passageway completely.

"Hold your breath!" I yell just before the torrent hits us.

We're swept off our feet, tumbling helplessly in the powerful current.

The water carries us through twists and turns, the passageway becoming more like a stone waterslide. Suddenly, we're ejected into the open air.

We fall for a heart-stopping moment before plunging into a large underground lake. I surface, dripping wet and mad as a snake.

"Everyone accounted for?" Corvus calls out, his usually perfect hair plastered to his head.

We all respond, swimming towards the edge of the pool. As we pull ourselves out, I take in our new surroundings. We're in a vast cavern, the ceiling so high it disappears into darkness. The pool we landed in seems to be fed by an underground river, the water glowing faintly with bioluminescent organisms.

"Well," Ignatius says, wringing water out of his shirt, "that was refreshing."

"Look," Addy says, pointing across the cavern. "I think I see daylight."

Sure enough, there's a faint glimmer of natural light coming from a narrow fissure in the far wall.

"That has to be our way out," I say, hope rising in my chest.

We make our way towards it, our sodden clothes leaving trails of water behind us. As we get closer, we can feel a breeze coming through the crack. It smells of fresh air and freedom.

A familiar shriek echoing through the cavern.

"They've found us," Zaiah grits out.

"Go!" I shout.

We collapse on the grass outside, the sunlight almost painfully bright after so long underground. We're on the outskirts of the MistHallow campus, the familiar buildings visible in the distance.

As we catch our breath, I look back at the tunnel we emerged from. It begins to close, sealing itself as if it had never existed.

"Fucking hell," Ignatius says after a moment of stunned silence, "that was fun. Let's never do it again."

We all burst into laughter, the relief of escape overwhelming us. We're alive, we're together, and we made it out with the knowledge we sought.

"My book," Addy cries suddenly, pulling it out of the back of her leggings.

"How did you manage to even keep hold of that?" I ask in disbelief.

"It's soaked!"

"And mine," Zaiah says, holding up his. "That has fucked us right up. I needed this for the runes."

Groaning, I flop back to the grass, staring up at the trees. "This is fan-fucking-tastic. About sums up this shitshow of a day."

"Fuck!" Addy roars. "Fucking fuck!"