Fate Undone (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 5) (11 page)

When they spilled out of a corridor into a great cavern, Sylvi gasped. A raging river tore through the cavern, separating them from the other side.

“How the hell is this possible? We’re in a desert!” Fiona said.

It could only be magic, same as the fire.

“There’s nowhere to cross,” Vivienne said. “We’ll have to aetherwalk.”

They divided into groups—Logan with Sylvi, Fiona and Ian with Vivienne. Sylvi wrapped her arms around Logan and focused on the other bank. They disappeared, but instead of appearing on solid ground on the far bank, pain blasted through her as if she’d slammed into a wall. A second later, she plunged into the river.

Freezing water rushed up over her and tore her from Logan’s grasp. Rocks and currents buffeted her, pulling her deeper beneath the river’s icy waters. She struggled to rise, kicking with all her strength, until finally she broke the surface and gasped.

She spun wildly in the turbulent river, looking for Logan and her friends.
Let them be all right!
Were those two bobbing heads? She couldn’t be certain. Getting to shore was her only hope. She choked on water as she glanced from side to side.

Which was the right bank?
 

Something large bumped into her back and she felt it swim around to her front. It wasn’t a person. She thrashed, trying to beat away whatever sea creature threatened her.

A huge river otter’s head popped up in the water in front of her, sleek fur slicked back from intelligent black eyes.

Holy shit, it was Logan. He’d shapeshifted. She didn’t know how she recognized him, but she did. He turned from her to present his back and she grabbed on gratefully. His powerful body cut through the current until he climbed ashore. None of their friends were there. They must have been stopped by the barrier in the aether as well.

She dragged herself onto solid ground as he turned and went back into the water for the others. Sylvi coughed up some river water, then struggled to her feet and turned back to the water. She searched frantically for any of the others, catching sight of Logan in his otter form hauling Vivienne to shore.
 

To the left of them, swimming side by side, were Ian and Fiona, making no progress against the raging current. Sylvi thrust out her staff, forcing magic into it until it lengthened to an enormous pole. When the wood finally reached Ian and Fiona, they grabbed for it. Sylvi used her magic to shorten the pole, pulling them onto shore.

When they collapsed on the sand, she returned her staff to its normal length and ran to them.

“Are you all right?” She braced her hands on her knees so that she could finally catch her breath.

“Aye,” Ian said as he helped Fiona sit.

Vivienne and Logan—now in his human form—stumbled up the bank and to their side.

“Whoever built this place did a damned fine job of booby trapping it,” Logan said.
 

That was the truth. Somehow, the designer had managed to put a barrier in the aether that stopped them from aetherwalking across the river.

“Let’s go,” Sylvi said.
 

Logan consulted the map, then led them through the cavern to the corridor at the far end. The passageway was narrow and dark, as so many of them were, but it led to another great room. This one was empty save for an enormous statue of the woman they’d seen carved into so many walls. Buildings once again surrounded her feet, as did the ubiquitous slaves she favored.
Evil bitch.

Logan stepped between Sylvi and the statue, not knowing why it bothered him so much, but certain that he didn’t want it near her.

Though he worried for Sylvi, he reminded himself that she could take care of herself. Her staff glowed golden and bright next to her, an embodiment of the power she’d cultivated over the centuries.

“I think we’re near the end,” Logan said. “We’ve almost reached the edge of the map. There’s a collection of rooms up ahead. This is the first.” A great archway behind the statue led into the next room.

They went through the archway into a room that shone bright with light streaming in from dozens of large windows. Beautiful carpets stretched across the floor and ornate furniture perched against the walls.

“Is the light real?” Ian asked.

“An illusion.” Sylvi doused the light in her staff. “We’re deep within the mountain.”

They passed silently into a sitting room beyond, this one also lit. The same rich furnishings decorated the place and the air smelled far fresher than it should.
 

“It’s so quiet. Is there anyone here?” Sylvi asked.

“I sense no living beings,” Logan said.

It wasn’t until they’d explored over a dozen rooms that they reached the last one shown on the map. It was an enormous library.

Thousands, if not millions, of huge, rolled-up scrolls were stacked on hundreds of shelves. The ceiling of the library soared fifty feet above. In the center of the great room sat a life-sized statue of the woman. Her long hair flowed about her shoulders and her robes draped elegantly about her legs. Though the carving was done in the same stone as the mountain, it had been made with such great detail that it was eerie.

Logan walked to a shelf and pulled out a scroll. He opened it to find a plan of a building. Sylvi joined him and glanced over his shoulder.

“Holy shit. We’re supposed to find the architect’s plans for the labyrinth here, aren’t we?” she said. “That’s who the woman is. She’s the architect.”

She was right. They’d been walking through a labyrinth all this time. Of course she was the architect of the labyrinth.

“You’ll be able to find weak spots to destroy it,” Ian said. “If you know how it’s built, you’ll know the magic that fuels it and how to disable it.”

“Wouldn’t the architect have destroyed something so telling?” Fiona asked.

“Have you seen all the carvings of her and her creations?” Sylvi asked. “This place is a shrine to her own genius. She’s in love with what she builds. She’d never destroy the plans. She’s too full of herself. And she believes these corridors protect her. They would, if not for Aleia’s map.”

“I see you.” A cunning, sinister voice slithered through the library.

Logan spun to face the middle of the room. Sylvi did the same, the illusion of her blue cloak fluttering into place around her.

There was no one there.

“You made it through my maze. I do not like that.” Her voice was almost sibilant, evil enough to send a shudder down Logan’s spine.

He felt as if he were in the lair of a great serpent. He spun, searching for the owner of the voice. Drawn to the statue of the woman in the middle of the room, he turned back to it.

The stone shifted, transforming into a flesh and blood woman. The architect stood before them, her gaze cunning and dark. “The stone of this mountain is my own flesh. You think I did not sense you coming? But you have seen things you should not see!”

She directed an arm at them, sending great chunks of the stone ceiling crashing down in front of them.

Logan leapt to the side and raised his hands to send a jet of flame toward the architect, but the boulders falling from the ceiling obstructed his shot. One hurtled toward Sylvi. He leapt and pushed her out of the way, rolling quickly to the side as the stone shattered on the ground inches from his face. He ignored the slice of pain across his cheek and arm and searched Sylvi for wounds as she rose to her feet.

A shriek sounded from the other side of the room. His head whipped toward it. Fiona was trapped beneath a boulder that had crushed her legs. Vivienne was only feet away and Ian raced toward her.

“Go!” Logan yelled. If the others could get out of here, he’d deal with the architect. “Aetherwalk and don’t return!”

Vivienne’s wide eyes met his and she nodded. She reached for Fiona.

“You’ll not escape!” the architect screamed. “My secrets are my own and you shall not take them with you!”

When she waved her arms, the walls of the room bowed in, as if she were collapsing the mountain upon them. The scrolls stayed neatly upon their shelves, protected by her will as the rest of the mountain broke apart.

Her eyes blazed with an unnatural light as she focused the worst of her attack on Vivienne, Fiona, and Ian.

Another falling boulder forced Logan to lunge to the left. He sprinted to Sylvi and grabbed her hand, dragging her behind an alcove. Vivienne would be gone with Fiona and Ian in seconds.
 

“We’ll never find the plans!” Sylvi yelled. Her blue cloak swirled around her in her angst. “She’s made of the stone. She can destroy this room and never harm herself.”

The truth hit him then. “We’re not meant to find the plan. If the map were meant to lead us to a particular plan, it would have done so. It didn’t. It just led us to this room. It’s not leading us to a plan. It’s leading us to a person.”

“She’ll never tell us how to destroy it, though,” Sylvi said.

 
“We’ll have to capture her. Force her to tell us about the labyrinth.” The idea made him sick. He didn’t torture women. Kill them—yes. If they were evil and genuinely trying to kill him as this one was, then no problem. The idea of torture made him ill. But if the alternative were a fate worse than death for him and all the other gods…

“It’ll never work! She’s made of stone. You can’t torture a stone.”

“Then what?” They were out of time.

Sylvi’s eyes darted, searching for an answer. “I’ll steal her knowledge and trap it in my staff. You distract her. Give me time.”

An enormous crash sounded from the main part of the library and an enraged shriek rent the air. The others were gone. Sylvi sprinted past him and crouched behind a huge boulder.
 

That was that, then. He trusted her. He hurtled past her into the main part of the library, scrambling over boulders and dodging falling rocks. The floor was so littered that it was like climbing small mountains, but the scrolls were untouched. The architect was cunning and precise in her attack and more dangerous for it.

“You!”

Logan spun to see the architect pointing at him, her eyes blazing with anger. “You have seen secrets you should not see!”

Sylvi rose from behind the architect and pointed her staff toward her. Her cloak fluttered behind her and her lips moved, no doubt praying to Freya to give her magic strength.
 

The architect slashed her arm through the air, sending a boulder hurtling from the ground toward Logan. He leapt out of the way and lobbed a blast of fire near the architect’s head. Not close enough to kill, but the smell of burning hair filled the air. He threw another jet of fire toward her swirling robes.

He glanced at Sylvi to see a pink tendril of light connecting her and the architect. It was working. The architect hurled more boulders at him. He dodged them, barely, and threw a bolt of fire that ignited the hem of her dress.

“Almost!” Sylvi screamed. Sweat beaded her brow and her staff trembled.

He charged back toward Sylvi, shooting more flame at the architect. He had to hit her before she turned herself to stone. She shrieked her rage.
 

“Done!” Sylvi’s cloak whipped around her on a false wind.
 

The architect turned to Sylvi to direct her boulders toward her. Fear shot through Logan. He couldn’t let anything hurt her. Corralling his power, he forced a great jet of flame toward the architect. Her smoldering skirts burst into full flame.

“You shall not defeat me! The Triumverate will finish my work! The greatest labyrinth ever built shall prevail!”

He ignored her and crossed the last dozen yards to Sylvi at a sprint. The architect was nearly engulfed.

“Time to go!” He grabbed her around the waist.
 

The last thing he saw before she aetherwalked them away was the sight of the architect consumed by flames.
 

CHAPTER EIGHT

Sylvi stepped back from Logan and sucked air into her lungs. Her muscles trembled and her bones felt liquid. Barely, she managed to stumble to the couch in her living room. The serenity of her house and the safety of the university were stark in comparison to the nightmare they’d just left behind. Thank gods they’d been able to aetherwalk out. They’d had no idea where they were going in the mountain so they hadn’t been able to aetherwalk in, but getting home had been a cinch.