Page 173 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
“Not you,” Visha ordered while the paladin just smiled. She bent her elbow, flung herself in an elegant arch, and landed perfectly on the other side of the mosaic.
“It’s still not working.” Pram drew their attention back to the floor.
“One last thing,” Gerda said, pointing at a hole on the opposite side. “Visha has to hit that with an attack infused with her mana.”
Without preamble, Visha threw a dagger across the room, landing it square inside the hole. The entire wall shuddered then dropped into the floor, opening the path.
“Good job!” Sir Tully hefted his war hammer back onto his back and made to walk onto the mosaic. Gerda caught him before he put down his first step.
“Ah, no. Don’t you remember the floor spikes last time?” She shook her head and pointed at the red circular stone. “To jump across, we have to go in order of tiles. The first person needs to step on the red circle, the second on the green square, the third on the yellow swirl, and the last on the blue triangle.”
“But there aren’t four of us,” Pram noted. “There are seven.”
“I’ll take Tully across,” John said, disappearing into the shadows with the paladin even as Tully tried to protest that he should take someone else.
“Gerda?” Julian unequipped his shield and sword, storing them temporarily so they would be out of the way.
Gerda lifted her arms and wrapped them around Julian’s neck, her smooth, muscular body holding on tight. He scooped her legs out from under her and hooked an arm behind her shoulders in a princess carry.
“Good job getting us through.” He pitched his voice low and spoke into his troll’s ear. Julian smiled when she shivered.
“You’re lucky I was here.” She poked his cheek.
“Very lucky,” he agreed.
“Especially whensomeoneblocked the other tunnel.” She poked him on the cheek a second time.
Julian turned at the last second and kissed her finger.
“Very, very lucky then.”
Visha had crossed first, then Pram, then Jeffry. Lastly, Julian crossed without incident.
Feeling playful, Julian didn’t let Gerda down, holding her as they continued down the tunnel. After his earlier battle, his body might have been repaired, but he was starting to feel a deep sense of wariness sinking in.
Holding Gerda made him feel like he could go another twenty-four hours without rest no problem.
CHAPTER 95
Giant Pink-Tinted Void Bubble
Gerda
“I’ve found another.” John held up one hand, blocking the group from progressing.
John discovered most of the traps on his own, while I was called on for the puzzles and riddles: from moving wall parts that slotted together to open hidden doors, to discovering that the only way across a spike pit was to send Jeffry up to the ceiling and pull a disguised lever that raised ice pillars in the pit to walk across.
One time, the answer had been simply yelling, “Albus Rolling Yarn.”
This was the eighth so far, and I was still in Julian’s arms. He’d used the excuse that I was the only one without a fast-travel skill … but we both knew he just liked carrying me around.
I liked it too, so I didn’t fight all that hard.
Currently, we were stopped at a sharp bend in the tunnel where it veered left and out of sight. On the wall ten feet ahead, words were faintly carved into the dirt.
How can the sun rise in the deep?
Where the old and ancient sleep,
