Page 74 of By the Horns
“The farther in you go, the more likely the tunnels will be a great deal narrower, so keep that in mind,” Master Jay continues. “If the fit gets too tight, you are always welcome to widen the pathway…with the right permits filed, of course.”
“Of course,” Arrod pipes up, and I don’t know if he’s mocking the teacher or just enthusiastic.
“This particular tunnel goes on for twoyentsin this direction and three in the other. It’s rumored to be one of the first tunnels dug out by Sparkanos and his people. For all that it’s historical, I’m sorry to say that this particular tunnel is devoid of all artifacts.”
A sour feeling drifts through me, as if sayingwrong. I don’t know if it’s my thought or a dead person’s, but a moment later, I feel a throb, like a bug bite, off in the distance. More whispers fill my ears in languages I don’t understand. They hiss and chatter, drowning out whatever Master Jay says next, and I blink repeatedly, trying to focus on Hemmen’s collar ahead of me. He’s got a lantern on a staff, like the one I’d carried for the Taurians the other day.
The light doesn’t seem nearly bright enough to push away the darkness around us. Normally I’m not afraid of the dark, but this one has ghosts in it, and they’re whispering in my ear. I stare into the shadows, my skin covered in goose bumps.
I don’t notice that we’re moving forward until the rope gets tight at my waist, jerking me forward.
“Keep up,” Hemmen calls back.
“Sorry.” I walk a little faster.
“You all have your pickaxes and your shovels, I trust?” Master Jay asks, pausing again as the cavern opens. The rock walls sweep away, revealing what looks like the crumbled remains of a temple pushed off to the side. The strange, pervasive lichen that covers everything down here is all over the marble bricks and the shattered columns, and the ceiling arches so high that it disappears in our lantern light.
A heavy hand clasps the back of my neck, shockingly warm and making me jump. Raptor leans over my shoulder, his muzzle near my ear. “You all right?”
I manage a nod and reach up to brush my fingertips over his muzzle. I touch the ring in his nose, and then his lips before trailing away. I don’t know when it was we got so touchy-feely with each other, but right now, I could use more touching.
“Now, let us go over our gear again,” Master Jay says, hands clasped behind his back. He looks completely comfortable—if slightly bored—in the echoing recesses of the tunnel. “Normally this would be the responsibility of the Five’s gearmaster, but we’ll split jobs up in the future as you become more familiar with moving about in the tunnels. Show me your weapons, please.”
I hold up my morning star—which Master Jay fussed over earlier today, but only a little, because Raptor glared at him. Raptor holds up his pickaxe, because he’s stated before that he’s best with his hands. Only, this morning, he looked at me as he said it, and winked, and it took everything I had not to snort with amusement.
Or blush.
“What else is absolutely vital when in the tunnels?” Master Jay asks, his gaze moving down the line of us. “Hemmen?”
Water drips on my head from above—not a surprise, as the stone floors here are wet and there are stalagmites and stalactites along the uneven edges of the walls.
Under the pillar.
It’s not really a voice in my head as much as it is a flash of a memory that’s not mine. I turn my gaze toward the shattered remnants of a marble pillar close by. The tugging at my senses continues, telling me that it’s not that one. That I should look farther up. Up. Up.
Sure enough, there’s a stone cornice—the decorated top of a pillar—on a ledge above, heavy with moss and nearly hidden. There’s a pulsing there, like an open wound, and I want to rub my arms to whisk away the chill that’s set upon me.
“And you, Gwenna?”
I jerk back to attention, pinching my arm. “Mm? Sorry, I was taking a mental count of our foodstuffs,” I lie quickly. “But my canteen is full.”
“I was asking about your rescue signal stone,” Jay says in a sour voice.
“Got that, too.” I smile brightly and do my absolute best not to look up at the column that the ghosts keep whispering to me about.
I bite the side of my tongue, forcing myself to pay attention as we finish checking the gear we stuffed into our packs not an hour ago. Hemmen gazes at our surroundings with a hint of disdain, but Arrod looks thrilled to be in the tunnels. Kipp is stoic, but then again, he’s Kipp. He licks his eyeball once, gaze focused on Master Jay, and I know he’s excited. He always licks his eyeball when he’s excited. It’s the only tell I’ve been able to figure out for him so far.
“Do you feel you’re ready for the next step?” Master Jay asks us.
“So ready,” Arrod exclaims, and Kipp thumps his thick tail on the ground twice.
“Ready,” I agree, hoping my voice doesn’t sound as faint as it feels.
“Ready,” says Hemmen.
“Let’s do this,” Raptor drawls. “Before I die of old age.”
Master Jay shoots him an irked look, but then smooths his expression again. “As I said, I have hidden an artifact in the tunnel here. You are to find it and return it to me, and then we’ll discuss how an artifact is properly cataloged. No need to worry about damaging the relic—this one is powerless. Your goal here is simply to find it and return. Remember that you must work together.”
