Ridge set his jaw. Retreating was better than dying, but if they ran out, they might not get another opportunity to slip in. He was surprised nobody had come down to check on them as it was. Or maybe the Cofah knew they had guests but trusted their statues to handle it.
Ridge caught the lamp he was aiming for, though it took a delicate touch to guide it down to them. The thin paper lanterns were lightweight. He handed it to Tolemek. “Add some more oil and see if you can get it hot enough to float up the shaft. I’ll try to get another one.”
“Your aim is surprisingly good. Did you rope cattle before becoming a pilot?”
Ridge squinted at him, not sure if that was a compliment or the setup for a joke where he was the butt. “There’s a pub in town where you can rope mechanical rabbits that run back and forth on a clockwork track. If you get five in a row, you get a free beer. Naturally, I’m well-practiced.”
He tossed his lasso again and brought down another light. The floor was shivering more than ever now as the statues closed the distance. Another twenty steps and they would be upon the group. Sardelle, Duck, and Ahn would have to back up soon. If Ridge thought simply climbing through the hole Tolemek had made would save them, he would order it, but what happened if someone above chose that moment to send the lift down? And what happened if the statues could simply smash through the door with those colossal legs?
Ridge handed the second lantern to Tolemek, then stuck his head through. The first was already inside, lighting the shaft as it rose. The smooth walls didn’t offer any hooks, nor were there more doors for more than fifty feet—of course, with the high ceiling of this chamber there wouldn’t be. Climbing up there would be impossible, and his rope wouldn’t reach anything useful. He did see the bottom of what appeared to be a lift cage, though.
“Sardelle, want to see if you can bring this down?” Ridge asked, leaning out and grabbing his rifle again. The statues were so close that they towered over the group now, their heads nearly brushing the ceiling, rice paper lamps bouncing off their chests. “Ahn and I will try to distract the statues.”
“We will?” Ahn asked.
“Just like dodging cannonballs in your flier.”
Ridge took a step toward her, but a quake ran through the floor. At first, he assumed it was just another reverberation caused by the colossal statues’ steps, but the seam in the tiles under his feet parted, then dropped open.
Ridge twisted and tried to grab at the lift doors, but he was too far away. The space that opened up in the tiles was too large. It was a door of some kind, a trap door. And he had been standing in the wrong spot. He fell into darkness and could do nothing except cry out Sardelle’s name as he plummeted. He wasn’t sure if it was a call for help or a protest that they were being parted, but it was the last thing he got out before the darkness consumed him.
Chapter 13
“Ridge!” Sardelle cried, her concentration lapsing. She hadn’t been looking toward the lift when the trapdoor opened, and she hadn’t seen the men fall, but Ridge, Apex, and Tolemek were gone, swallowed by a black pit.
“Sardelle,” Ahn snapped. “Watch the—”
Sardelle was yanked to the side. One of the huge throwing stars screamed past her ear, slamming into the floor and chipping marble.
“Sorry, yes, thanks,” she blurted, yanking back her focus, forcing herself to wait until they were out of danger to worry about Ridge. Even if she wanted to scream and jump into that hole after him. Which might not be a bad idea if it meant escaping from these behemoths. Figure out how to melt whatever’s making them move and shoot yet, Jaxi?
Working on it. Machines aren’t my forte, you know. Jaxi sounded tense and defensive, a rarity for her. That did nothing to soothe Sardelle’s nerves as she reestablished the barrier that would protect the team from the projectiles. Not “the team.” Just her, Ahn, and Duck.
Clang!
The trapdoor had reset itself. The hole was gone. Ridge was gone.
Sardelle struggled to keep the bleakness from overwhelming her, stealing her already flagging energy. “Duck, over here. You’re not within my sphere of protection.”
“We should retreat to the front door,” Duck said, running over to join Sardelle and Ahn. “Think about how to destroy them from out there.”
“Assuming they don’t follow,” Ahn said. “Those doors are big. Can the statues bend over? We might be better ducking into the elevator shaft. Sardelle, you floated that Cofah observer out of the tree. Can you float us up to another floor?”
After defending them from the statues, Sardelle didn’t feel up to floating a pencil onto a table. “Maybe. But not while I’m protecting us from them. Give me a second. Jaxi is trying to figure out what operates them so we can melt it. She already tried to destroy the dragon blood inside, but it’s not easy to burn, vaporize, or otherwise demolish. The metal hull is so thick that we weren’t able to melt it, either.”
I could eventually, Jaxi put in. With a sustained burn. But they’re not giving us much time.
Indeed—as Jaxi was speaking, Sardelle had to jump to the side to avoid a giant stomping foot. The metal monstrosities had long since reached the lift and were doing their best to crush her and the others. Her defensive barrier might be able to stop bullets, but she wasn’t ready to try standing beneath a ten-ton foot to see if the statue would bounce off. Her people hadn’t been able to keep a mountain from crushing them, after all; there was a limit to what sorcery could accomplish. She had already tried without success to knock the statues over.
“Is it my imagination,” Duck asked, “or is it trying to herd us toward the lift—toward that trapdoor in the floor?”
“It’s herding us,” Sardelle said.
“Any chance that wouldn’t be a death sentence? Can you tell if the colonel is still alive?” Duck had a desperate look in his eyes. He probably had no idea what a sorceress could do and was simply hoping she had answers.
“I…” Sardelle stretched out with her senses, trying to locate Ridge. “No,” she said, a feeling of bewilderment coming over her. Had he fallen so far and so fast that he was already out of her range? Jaxi? Do you know what happened to Ridge?
No, and I’m busy with your other assignment, right now.
But can you at least check? Do you sense him out there at all?
Jaxi was silent. Sardelle and the others danced away from more stomping feet. Ahn stepped out from behind the barrier and fired a couple more rounds at the statues. Her aim was accurate, but none of the bullets caused the machine to falter or slow in any way.
“You can’t vaporize the blood, right?” Ahn asked. “But couldn’t you vaporize the glass?”
“What?” Sardelle asked, barely hearing her, distressed by her inability to feel Ridge out there. Jaxi? Are you busy, or…?
I don’t sense him, Sardelle. Or the others. I’m sorry.
Because they’ve fallen out of range? She couldn’t see how that could happen. Jaxi could sense twenty or thirty miles, at least.
I don’t think so.
The only other explanation was that they were dead. No, Sardelle couldn’t accept that.
“If the blood is on some controller board, the way it was in those unmanned fliers, couldn’t you just burn the board? Or the glass bubble holding it on there?” Ahn asked.
Oh. Maybe… yes, let me try.
Sardelle, still numb with the implication of Jaxi’s previous words, didn’t respond. She barely managed to keep her shield up when another throwing star spun down at them. How much ammunition could these stupid machines have, anyway? A surge of rage filled her, and she longed to run over and chop at one of those lumbering legs, as if it were some tree she could hew down.
She paused at the thought. Maybe it was something Jaxi could cut through. Sardelle had been too distracted by protecting the group to try—and maybe intimidated by the size too—but a soulblade could cut through things a mundane sword couldn’t.
Gripping the weapon in both hands, she was abou
t to lunge forward when the leg she was glowering at stopped moving. Sardelle tilted her head back as far as she could, trying to see the glowing eyes, but the statue towered so near that she couldn’t see past its blocky torso. It had definitely stopped moving, though. Not just the leg, but the rest of the body as well. The arms drooped, and nothing new was fired from them.
The second statue, a dozen meters to the side, had stopped as well.
Someone should have suggested that earlier, Jaxi thought, her voice small, barely a presence in Sardelle’s mind. Like when they first started moving. It could have saved… much.
Sorry. I should have thought of that myself. “Good thinking, Ahn,” she made herself say, though it felt like there was a weight sitting on her chest. Talking hurt. So did everything.
I should have too. I don’t… Sardelle, this isn’t my world anymore. These mechanical things, I don’t… I don’t understand them. I don’t know what to do when they’re a threat.
It was the most uncertainty and remorse Sardelle could remember sensing in Jaxi’s words in a long time. Maybe ever.
I know. I don’t blame you. Sardelle wasn’t sure she could say the same thing for herself. Ridge couldn’t truly be gone, could he? That quickly? That meaninglessly?
“Are they down there somewhere?” Ahn waved at the trapdoor. “Should we go after them? Sardelle, can you tell? Are they… all right?”
“I can’t sense them at all. It’s possible the fall—that they… didn’t make it.”
Ahn’s mouth formed a silent, “Oh.”
Duck lowered his rifle, apparently realizing the statues were no longer a threat. He stared at the trapdoor for a long moment, then focused on Ahn. “Raptor, you’ve got two months’ seniority on me, on account of your prior service before entering officer training school.”
Sardelle looked back and forth between Duck and Ahn for a moment before she realized what was happening. He was ceding command of the mission to her. Something about that made Ridge’s death seem real, far more real than Sardelle was yet ready to accept.
Ahn was as practical as anyone Sardelle knew, and she almost expected the young lieutenant to snap right into leadership mode, but she stared at the floor in front of the lift instead, blinking rapidly, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. She had lost Tolemek and her commander, the man who had been a big brother to her for a lot longer than Sardelle had known him. Sardelle didn’t know if it would be appreciated, but she walked over and gave Ahn a hug. Maybe she just wanted one herself.
Ahn didn’t push away, but she didn’t return the hug, either. It was understandable. After a moment, Sardelle stepped back. She probably would have dropped into a weepy pile at any greater sharing of solace anyway. Mourning would have to wait.
“What are your orders?” Duck prompted after a moment of silence. “Go out or try to find a way up?” He pointed at the lift, the hole in the side of the door staring into dark emptiness.
“Up,” Ahn whispered, then lifted her chin, her eyes hard. “Up,” she repeated more loudly. “We’re not crawling out of here with nothing. Not after…” She shook her head and repeated, “Up. Sardelle, can you get us over the trapdoor and up the lift?”
Sardelle tried to keep a calm facade in the face of the young expectant gazes that turned in her direction. It might be a relief that she didn’t have to hide her secrets now, but at some point, she would have to explain the limitations of magic, or rather the limitations of the user. The mental strain it put on a person might be minimal after a good night’s rest and with no other stresses on one’s life, but now… She couldn’t keep herself from glancing at that trap door.
I see how it’s triggered. I can keep it from falling when you walk on it. Can you help me figure out the workings of the lift? That would be easier than trying to levitate three people up a shaft. And you’ve got the problem of potentially running into the bottom of the lift. Or having someone order it down while you’re in the shaft.
That thought filled Sardelle’s mind with a horrifying image.
“Give me a moment, please,” Sardelle said. “It’s more feasible to bring the lift down.” She hoped.
All right, let’s try this, Jaxi. It should be relatively simple, simpler than the statue machinery.
So you say. You haven’t seen the big steam machine in the room at the top of the shaft.
Sardelle closed her eyes and let her mind’s eye travel up the dark vertical passage waiting behind the hole Tolemek had made. There were four levels above this one. The lift cubicle itself was all the way at the top of the shaft, but she got a sense for the cable system that could raise and lower it. It didn’t appear to be automated—on levels other than this one, there were levers to pull that presumably called the lift down. There were also levers inside the cubicle itself. The machine room Jaxi had mentioned lay above the shaft, but the cables were fed through holes in the floor. It looked complicated, but they should just need to pull the right lever, right? Whichever one that was. This floor must not be used often. Maybe there was another way to access the mountain, and only intruders with lock picks or corrosive goo were invited through the main doors.
There’s a room full of hot air balloons at the very top. I think the peak of the mountain must open up.
That could explain why the outside gravel strip had been so narrow. It had never been meant for landing.
While Sardelle was thoughtfully studying the levers with her mind and trying to trace the various cables up to the machine room, Jaxi started pushing and pulling things randomly.
What are you doing?
The cable system engaged, and the lift started descending.
That. Jaxi sounded smug. Then the lift stopped on a floor well above theirs. Huh. Jaxi pulled another lever.
A few clanks drifted out of the shaft from above. The lieutenants watched the doors, waiting expectantly. Sardelle was glad they couldn’t see the lift going up and down the way she could. There might have been numbers or instructions beside the various levers, but Sardelle couldn’t sense things in that great of detail. Jaxi might have been able to—she could allegedly read books in a library while buried under a mountain hundreds of meters below—but she wasn’t having much luck with the system.
There aren’t any labels; I would have noticed that. You probably get a tour when you’re hired. Here, I think it’s coming down now.
Sardelle might have laughed at the randomness of their infiltration strategy—and her lack of qualifications for leading a group of people through this technological miasma—but her soul lacked the capacity for humor at the moment. She felt bleakness rather than triumph when the lift finally stopped on their level.
“Is it safe to cross now?” Ahn pointed at the trapdoor, the outline disguised by the cracks between the tiles.
I think I’ve jammed the mechanism that made the floor drop away, but double-check, please.
Had I realized machines could make you polite, I would have locked you in an engineer’s lab centuries ago. Sardelle found the gears and pulley system built into the floor beside the trap door. If she hadn’t been busy defending against giant statues, she might have noticed all that down there earlier. Or perhaps not. She wouldn’t have known to look for such things. She vowed to check around every doorway, stair landing, and cupboard for the rest of the time they were in the mountain.
“It’s safe.” Sardelle led the way across the treacherous patch of floor and ducked through the hole Tolemek had made. A lantern burned inside the lift cubicle, which was open on both sides. Nothing but a rock wall was behind them, but she was getting a sense of the installation layout now and knew that some passages opened up in that direction higher up. She supposed they wouldn’t find a map lying around anywhere.
There are some people gathering up on the floor we want to go to, Jaxi said as soon as everyone was inside.
Maybe we should go to a different floor then.
The highest concentration of dragon blood is up there. In a small storage room, I thin
k.
Sardelle imagined a dragon slumbering in a broom closet with a lot of syringe holes punctured in its hide.
I’d know if there were a dragon here. It would be sentient and have a soul I could sense. Also it wouldn’t fit in a closet.
I know. I was just… never mind. How many people are up there?
About six right now. They’re gathering for something, preparing themselves.
For us?
Maybe. Let me see if I can direct the lift to the right floor.
“There are going to be people waiting for us when we step out,” Sardelle said.
“Good.” Ahn had already reloaded her rifle, but she checked it again.
Duck nodded once, his face grim.
With a clank and a shiver, the lift started rising.
“How many people?” Ahn asked.
“At least six.”
“I’ll step out and go left. Duck, you go right. Sardelle, can you and your sword glow and attract their attention?”
“Yes.” Keep us alive, Jaxi. We’re the bait.
Getting shot at doesn’t bother me.
Maybe I’ll just throw you into the room and let you glow then.
We’re almost there.
Are they expecting us?
They’re facing the door, wondering who it is. They were about to come down to make sure the statues had finished us off.
“Be ready,” Sardelle murmured as the lift came to a stop.
The doors didn’t open. Sardelle sighed. Would they have to wait for the guards to let them in?
Ahn pushed a button on the side of the door. The doors slid open.
People in this century are so smart.
Sardelle was too busy creating a shield to answer. She would have to be careful to cover Ahn and Duck as they stepped out but not block them from firing. If one of their bullets bounced back and struck her in the chest… Jaxi wasn’t the healer she was, so that could be a death sentence.
They stepped out, not into an open room or corridor, but into a haze of brown smoke that stung her eyes and throat and limited visibility to a couple of feet. She kept the shield up, and it was a good thing: guns fired and bullets flew out of the smoke.