Blood of Egypt (Witch Fairy Book 8) (20 page)

Since none of his limbs are lopped off, we assume that it’s safe to follow Josh around the corner.  Unfortunately, we’re still in a passageway.  But this time, we have two choices: left or right.  One of them is probably heavily booby trapped to keep thieves away.  The other is probably heavily booby trapped to make thieves think they chose the right way even when they didn’t.

“The magic is stronger this way,” Kallen says like the expert magic detector he is.

“I wish we had thought to bring a ball or something that we could roll along the floor to see if anything is triggered that way,” Eliana says.

Instantly, Kallen creates a ball for her.  Not just a ball, a gigantic ball almost as wide as the passageway.  Now, were going Indiana Jones style.  Eliana laughs and pushes the ball to the left.  It makes it about halfway through before it bursts into flames.  Kallen pulls back his magic as if he’s been singed.  Looking closely at him, I think he has.  “Are you okay?” I ask.

“This protection magic is powerful.  That was similar to when your magic meets mine, but not nearly as painful,” he adds wryly.

Okay, if it’s more like my magic than his, maybe I can cancel it out.  Pulling magic, I fling it forward down the passageway.  About halfway through, where the ball had stopped, I feel it.  Kallen’s right, this is powerful magic.  Not as powerful as mine, though.  I press against the magic and the line where the magic meets begins to spark.

“Whoa, what’s happening?” Josh asks as the sparks become more like fireworks.

“Xandra is attempting to force the magic to retract,” Kallen explains.  “It does not want to cooperate.  I believe it is similar to a circle that was created by Isis to keep her essence safe, which is another reason why this place has not been discovered by Cowans.  Xandra is the only mortal being who can pass through another’s circle.”

Kallen also told me before that I am one of only a couple of people who feels like magic is a living entity.  To me, it’s more than just something I can control and manipulate like clay, it’s something that I communicate with, convince to do something for me.  Only sometimes, it doesn’t want to cooperate.  This is one of those times.  Whoever’s magic this is it’s resisting like an obstinate child in the middle of the night who doesn’t want to go back to bed.  The more I push it, the bigger the firework show becomes.  I may ultimately be stronger, but it’s not going down without a damn good fight.

“Is this safe?” Josh asks Kallen.

“Let us hope so,” Kallen replies solemnly.

Finally, I feel it give.  The magic is done resisting.  It’s like it only had enough juice to last a certain amount of time and it’s all used up now.  I pull my magic back and it slams into me like a sledgehammer; I fall to my knees with the impact.  I didn’t realize quite how much magic I was using.  Even the walls of the passageway creek a little as the pressure that was being exerted between them suddenly goes away.

“Are you okay?” Kallen asks, helping me to my feet.

We ask each other that question an awful lot.  “Yes,” I say.  “I’m a little out of breath, but I’m fine.”

“I’ll go first this time,” Eliana says, taking the lead.

The passageway is probably fifty feet long and at the end is a door.  Eliana pushes against it, but it doesn’t budge.  “Something must trigger it,” she says, feeling along the dirty wall, searching for a hidden lever, button or something to open the door.  The rest of us join in the search.

“I think I found it,” I say as my hand slides over a loose brick.  Using just the tiniest amount of magic, I pull it slowly out of the wall.  If it triggers something other than the door, something like the ceiling, we’re in trouble.

When the brick is far enough out, Kallen grabs it with his hands.  Behind it is a stone switch.  I close my eyes and hold my breath as I push it up with my finger.  To our great relief, the door opens without anything else happening.  Whew.  I can breathe again.

Peeking her head inside this new room we’ve found, Eliana freezes.  “What is it?” I ask, already pulling magic to disarm whatever trap is in this room.

“It’s in here,” she says softly.  “I can feel it calling to me.”

Wow.  I didn’t think it would be that easy to find it.  Then again, the magic that I fought in the passageway was strong.  There have probably only been a handful of beings since this temple was built who could have gotten past it.  I guess that’s why I had to come with Eliana, and why Re said we needed to work together.  I suspect after this other essence becomes a part of her, her power will be exponentially higher and she will be able to battle magic that strong, as well.

Eliana pushes the door wide open and walks into the room.  The rest of us wait at the entrance, not sure if we should intrude as she seeks out the essence.  Poor Josh looks like he’s going to have a panic attack watching her do something he knows may hurt her.  Kallen puts a hand on his shoulder in a show of support.

In the middle of the room is a small sarcophagus.  When I say small, I mean doll small, not tiny woman small.  From the looks of it, it’s made of pure gold.  The paint on it is completely intact, since it hasn’t been disturbed in thousands of years.  The face upon it has darkly lined eyes, red lips the color of strawberries and pink blush on the cheeks.  It’s beautiful in its grace and fragility. 

Carefully, Eliana opens the lid.  I thought she would have to pry it off, but it moves easily with her touch.  Inside, she finds a small stone vial covered in hieroglyphics.

“Do you know what it says?” I ask.

Eliana nods her head as she turns the vial reverently in her hands. “It’s an inscription.  It says:  A day will come when this land is threatened by forces it cannot withstand.  Upon this day, I shall rise again and stand with my allies side by side.”

Short and simple, I like it.  I can also see why Isis is called the protector.  She takes her role seriously.  But, I’m starting to get even more worried.  What exactly do these Egyptian gods believe Belial will do to this realm in his efforts to draw me out and kill me?  If we need this much firepower, it must be something awfully nasty.  Great.

My attention is brought back to Eliana when I hear a tiny pop.  She has removed the stopper from the vial.  A whirl of mist flows out of it, hanging in the air until it briefly takes the shape of a beautiful Egyptian woman and then it folds in on itself and Eliana closes her eyes as she accepts the essence into her. 

Josh tries to get to her before she passes out, but he doesn’t quite make it and she collapses to the floor.  She already looks feverish and pale.  What have we done? 

The sound of rushing water catches our attention.  When Eliana passed out, the magic keeping the mud and water at bay disappeared.  We’re about to get hit with millions of gallons of water.  Kallen and I rush into the chamber and grab hold of Eliana and Josh.  Thinking of the foyer, I will us there.

Except, nothing happens.

Chapter 33

Nothing.  We didn’t move an inch.  Crap.  This is not good.

“What’s wrong,” Kallen asks.  “Why are we still here?”

I have to shout for him to hear me as the water closes in on us.  “I don’t know!  I’m trying, but there’s something about this room that’s not allowing me to teleport.” 

“It is probably a spell meant to keep out those who can move like you,” he shouts.

Great.  One last booby trap.  Where the others failed, this one may very well kill us all.  Kallen and I throw our magic towards the rushing water that has reached the door.  It’s not penetrating our magical dam, but I don’t know how long we can hold it.  This would be a really good time for Eliana to wake up.

Unfortunately, she’s not getting the message.  We’ll have to figure this out without her handy ability to control the elements.  Wow, I wonder how many thousands of tons of pressure are being thrown against our magic.  I’m guessing there’s a lot of zeroes in that number.

“We need to get her out of here,” Josh says.  He has scooped Eliana into his arms and the pain on his face as she convulses against him is enough to nullify his stating the obvious.

I think that ultimately, Mother Nature has the strongest magic.  Nothing can stop her when she’s on a roll.  Water is starting to seep into the room as it wears away at our dam.  I guess if water has enough power to create the Grand Canyon, it’s reasonable that we’re having trouble with it.  Knowing that doesn’t make me feel any better, though.  I hadn’t planned on drowning today.

“We need to get out of this room!” I yell.  “What about up?  If we can’t go out the way we came in, can we go up?”

At first, both guys look at me like I’m crazy.  I get that a lot more than the average person I think.  But Kallen’s eyes suddenly light up.  Maybe he likes the idea after all.

“Can you hold the water?” Kallen shouts.  I nod because it’s getting too hard to hear each other.  “I am letting go now!”

I brace myself for the barrage of water against only my magic.  Whatever he’s planning to do, he had better hurry.  When his magic disappears, the dam slips slightly.  Water rushes into the chamber again and covers our feet and rises halfway up to our knees before I can get it under control again.

Meanwhile, Kallen is moving towards the door, not doing anything with the ceiling.  I guess he has his own idea.  When he gets there, he uses his magic to push sideways against the water.  That screws with my hold on it for a second until I realize what he’s doing.  He thinks that if we can just get out of this room, I’ll be able to teleport.  Makes sense, I have already broken through the magic out there.  But can we really do this without getting squashed?

“Follow Kallen!” I shout to Josh.  I point as well, just in case he can’t hear me.  Getting the idea, he carries Eliana across the room through the now knee deep water.  I follow behind them.  Kallen has managed to make a tiny space in the water just outside the door but it’s not quite big enough for all of us.  With all my efforts being used to keep the water from moving forward, I don’t think I can help move it sideways as well. 

Reading my mind, Kallen yells and even above the water I can hear the strain in his voice as he pushes against it, “Xandra, you have to let go of the water and focus on this spot.  Then, you will have to teleport us out before we are washed back into the chamber.”  Where we’d die when we’re smashed against the stone walls.  Great, glad there’s no pressure here.

“Can you do that?” Josh asks.  There is serious doubt on his face.  I can’t blame him.  There’s probably serious doubt on my face as well.

“I’m going to try,” I yell.  “Get as close to me as you can!”

I focus on the small space that Kallen has made.  Right now, there’s basically only room for him and half of me.  No matter what I do, this is going to be dangerous. 

I push Josh and Eliana between Kallen and me and then I press against them, making sure I have physical contact with everyone.  “On the count of three, push with everything you have!”  I feel Kallen’s grip tighten on my arm as he second guesses his idea.  Too late now, this is the best chance we have.  “One!  Two!”  In the span of a split second, I change the way my magic is pressing against the water, wrapping it around the four of us like a brick wall.  Water floods past us into the chamber.  “Three!”  I use all of my physical strength to shove them against magic and water far enough into the passageway so I can teleport.  I know I’m cutting it close, but I try teleporting us back to the house anyway.  This time, we make it.