Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

As I edged closer, the roar of cascading water grew louder, seeming to swell with each step I took. The sound pressed against my ears, drowning out the worried voices of my team behind me. Their words of encouragement and caution became distant murmurs, lost in the thunderous symphony of the falls.

A pang of longing shot through me. I desperately wished Justice was by my side, his steady presence a comfort in the face of the unknown. But this was my task alone, and I had to steel myself for what lay ahead.

Lisa held up her ball of light so I could make out what was down there. The light cast an eerie glow off the water and the embankment. I didn’t see any demons, but they could be hiding. Or maybe Maci was tucked in the shadows, waiting to pounce on me when I was away from my team.

The pool stretched before me, a mirror of liquid obsidian. Mist rose in ghostly tendrils, carrying the crisp, clean scent of water and something else, something ancient and magical that I couldn’t quite place. As I approached the water’s edge, I felt the cold emanating from it, a promise of the icy shock that awaited me.

I drew a deep breath, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm. If I wanted to rescue Aurora, to save the phoenix, I had no choice. I had to get into the pool.

If I failed, Maci wouldn’t simply destroy the artifacts. She’d pick off my team one by one. Her penchant for revenge was legendary, and anyone who stood in her way inevitably ended up six feet under. The thought turned my blood to ice.

With trembling fingers, I reached for the zipper of my coat. Its sound seemed unnaturally loud, even against the backdrop of the waterfall. I shrugged off the garment, the weight of it falling away leaving me strangely vulnerable.

Next came my boots. I kicked them off, my bare feet meeting the cold, damp stone beneath. The chill seeped into my bones, a preview of what was to come.

I grabbed the hem of my shirt, hesitating before pulling it over my head. The mist clung to my bare skin, raising goosebumps along my arms and back. I shivered, not only from the cold but from the eerie sensation of being watched. Whether by my team or unseen eyes in the magical darkness, I couldn’t be sure.

Finally, I stripped off my pants, leaving them in a crumpled heap with the rest of my clothes. While standing there in my underwear, I felt exposed and vulnerable. The cold mist swirled around me, its icy fingers trailing across my skin.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to conserve what little warmth I had left. The cut on my palm stung in the damp air, a sharp reminder of the task ahead. I flexed my fingers, watching as a drop of blood welled up and fell, disappearing into the darkness at my feet.

The pool waited, still and silent, its depths hiding secrets and dangers I could only imagine. As I stood on the brink, poised between the safety of the shore and the unknown depths, I couldn’t help but wonder. Was I really ready for this?

There was no time for doubt. Aurora needed me. My team was counting on me. With one last deep breath, I steeled myself for the plunge.

The icy water drove the air from my lungs in a rush of bubbles. Cold pain shot through me, a thousand needle-sharp sensations assaulting every inch of my skin. It felt like frozen fingers were squeezing my lungs, constricting my chest. My heart, hammering frantically, seemed to stutter with each stabbing pulse of frigid agony.

Fighting against the instinct to gasp, I forced myself to take a deep, controlled breath. The air burned in my throat, a stark contrast to the numbing cold surrounding me. With grim determination, I swam toward the thunderous waterfall, each stroke a battle against the water’s paralyzing chill.

I kicked my feet, propelling myself forward with desperate energy. The roar of the falls grew louder with each moment. As I drew closer, droplets of water sprayed into my face like a barrage of icy pellets, stinging my eyes and blurring my vision.

The absence of Lisa’s comforting ball of light compounded my misery. Darkness pressed in around me, broken only by the faint, diffused glow of the moon struggling to pierce the gloom. Shadows danced at the edges of my vision, playing tricks on my mind. Every ripple and eddy seemed to hide potential threats, unseen dangers lurking beyond my perception.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

Suddenly, a flicker of movement caught my eye. On the edge of the embankment, something shifted in the shadows. I stopped swimming, treading water as my eyes strained to make sense of what I was seeing.

Red eyes stared at me from the darkness, gleaming with malevolent intelligence. The hatred in that gaze stirred a whirl of fear in my gut, sending a chill through me, far colder than the frigid water. A gluttony demon.

For a moment, I was frozen not by the cold but by sheer terror. The demon was exactly as I remembered in the Shadow Mine, wearing a finely tailored suit that seemed bizarrely out of place in this primal setting. But there was nothing human about those eyes or the aura of wrongness surrounding it.

I had never seen a gluttony demon’s true form. Even now, I knew I wasn’t seeing its real appearance. This human disguise was a mask, a thin veneer of normalcy hiding something far more horrifying. The suit stretched and shifted in unnatural ways as if struggling to contain something much larger and more monstrous than the human shape it mimicked.

The demon’s mouth curved into a smile that was all teeth and no warmth. It stepped toward the water’s edge, its movements too smooth, too predatory to be human. Every instinct screamed at me to flee, to turn and swim as far and as fast as I could.

But Aurora was still out there, somewhere in this watery darkness. And above me, my team waited, counting on me. I couldn’t fail them now.

With a supreme effort of will, I tore my gaze from those hypnotic red eyes. I took another deep breath, ignoring the burning in my lungs and the trembling in my limbs. Then, with a powerful kick, I plunged back into my swim toward the waterfall.

Behind me, I heard a half-laugh, half-snarl that could never have come from a human throat, but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t afford to. All I could do was swim and hope whatever protection I had would be enough to see me through this nightmare.

I finally reached the thundering waterfall, its roar drowning out everything else, including my ragged breathing. The curtain of water was an opaque wall, hiding whatever secrets or horrors lay beyond. I couldn’t see through the relentless torrent, but I knew I had no choice. With one last gulp of air that tasted like fear and desperation, I dove beneath the pounding cascade.

The force of the falling water hit me like a physical blow, threatening to push me back, to deny me passage. For a heart-stopping moment, I was disoriented, tumbling in the churning water, unsure which way was up. My lungs burned, crying out for air as I fought the current.

Then, suddenly, I was through. I broke the surface on the other side, gasping and sputtering. Relief flooded through me, but only for a moment.

Something cold and slimy brushed against my ankle. Before I could react, it wrapped around my foot, yanking me downward. Panic surged through me, electric and paralyzing. I kicked out wildly, my foot connecting with something solid yet yielding. The grip loosened, and I shot back to the surface, heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst from my chest.

I treaded water frantically, glancing around in the gloom. The sound of the waterfall was muffled now, replaced by the loud splashing of my movements and the blood rushing in my ears. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I looked into the murky depths below.

A dark shape, sleek and sinister, circled beneath me. It moved with a predatory grace that sent shivers down my spine. In the dim light, I couldn’t make out its exact form. Was it serpentine? Shark-like? Or something far worse, something that had no place in the natural world?

Shit-shit-shit-shit.

Desperate for escape, for any kind of salvation, I spun around. My hands found a rough surface, a rock face slick with moss and algae. Remembering the mirror’s words about blood breaking the spell, I pressed my bleeding palm against the stone, praying for something, anything to happen.

Nothing. The rock remained cold and unyielding under my touch, indifferent to my plight.

A ripple in the water caught my attention. The shape was moving again, circling closer. I felt a brush against my thigh, so light it could have been seaweed, but I knew better. I kicked out violently, my legs churning the water into froth. My movements were panicked, uncoordinated, driven by pure animal fear.

The rational part of my mind knew I was only drawing more attention to myself, presenting a more tempting target. Yet rationality had no place here. Not with that thing in the water with me.

It brushed past me again, closer this time. I could almost feel its intent, its hunger. Was this a guardian set to protect the phoenix? Or something older, something that had always lurked in these waters, waiting for unwary prey?

My breath came in short, sharp gasps. The cold was seeping into my bones, my limbs growing heavier with each passing second. I couldn’t keep this up much longer. Soon, exhaustion would claim me, then…

No . I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t let that happen. Aurora needed me. My team was counting on me. I had to find a way out, keep fighting. But as the dark shape circled ever closer, panic tightened its grip on my heart.

Death was coming, and if I didn’t move fast, I wouldn’t escape its clutches.