Obsidian Ridge - Jess Lebow [72]
Talish nodded. "Just don't let her hear you say that."
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Princess Mariko stumbled along as best as she could. Her body felt heavy, her arms weak, and her head still hurt. The antidote she had been drinking regularly had helped, but the spider's venom was still taking its toll on her.
"Hurry." One of Jallal's guards shoved Mariko, and she stumbled, catching herself against the wall.
She muttered something under her breath and glared at the woman who had pushed her.
"You have something to say to me?" growled the woman.
Mariko closed her mouth and shook her head.
"That's what I thought. Now move it."
Mariko did as she was told, marching on down the dark corridor.
As the contingent disappeared around another bend, a symbol appeared on the wall where the princess's hand had been. It was dim at first, but then it grew in intensity. The symbol pulsed slowly on and off, lighting the hallway then letting it go dark.
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"Is there a reason why we can't travel through the regular hallways?" The Claw slipped sideways between two narrow walls.
"Yes," said Evelyne.
The Claw waited, but Evelyne didn't elaborate. "That reason is…?"
"Because everything else travels through them," she said, a little perturbed. "And this is a shortcut anyway."
"A shortcut to where?"
"To where I think your friend will be."
"What makes you think the princess will be in this place?"
Evelyne stopped. "Do you want my help or don't you?" "I do."
"Then trust me on this."
"I trust you. I just want to know where we're going."
Evelyne pressed on, stepping through an opening in the wall, crossing a small room, and squeezing herself into another crack. The Claw followed.
"Let me ask you something," continued Evelyne. "If you'd just been thrown into this place and you figured you were going to be here a while, what would you do? Where would you go first?"
The Claw thought about it. "I guess I'd look for shelter first, a safe place to sleep. Then I'd probably look for fresh water."
"So that is where I am taking you," she said. "To the only source of fresh water in the Cellar."
They walked on in silence for some time, eventually coming out of the narrow passage they had been traversing into a cavern. To the Claw, it looked like a natural cave. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, liquid dripping from their tips into pools or forming stalagmites below. A glowing, blue-green moss that partially illuminated the cave covered the walls, and the whole place smelled like rotten eggs.
"Don't tell me this is your source of fresh water."
"Shh!" Evelyne put her finger up to quiet him and her other hand up to her ear.
The Claw listened for the sounds in the cave. He could hear the water dripping into the puddles and the echoes from the drips rippling down the stone walls. But there was little else.
"What do you hear?" he asked.
"There's someone here." She listened for a moment longer. "Just one. Could be your princess."
The Claw pushed past her, but Evelyne grabbed his arm.
"Could be something else too," she said.
The Claw nodded then slipped into the shadows behind a stalagmite, his body disappearing. Slinking through the darkness, the Claw worked his way down the length of the cave. Deeper in, the dripping water dried up, and the sounds of the echoes grew quieter. Until finally, he was able to make out what Evelyne had heard…»
It sounded like footsteps, but something about them wasn't right. Definitely only one person, walking on two legs, but the pattern was off, as if… he couldn't quite place it. A little farther in, and the Claw saw why.
In the middle of the cave, headed away from the dripping water, was a lone man-his muscular legs ending in hooves. He wore stark white robes with chain mail underneath, and he carried a wicked-looking blade in his right hand. From this distance, it was hard to tell for certain, but to the Claw, it looked as if it were some exotic blade from the Far East.
Slipping from one side of the cave to the other, the Claw took advantage of the dim shadows