Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) (21 page)

While the average
eighteen-year-old might have the luxury of hiding, she didn’t, so she knocked
on the door and forced herself to stand straighter.

Cyrus answered,
rubbing his eyes, but he tensed when he saw her face.

“I need you for a
mission. I wouldn’t have come if there was anyone else who could help,” she
said.

“I know,
Val,” Cyrus said, his tone weary. “Where are we going?”

By the time Valerie
and Cyrus made it to the glade a few miles outside of Silva, Steven and Willa had
already set up the dynamite and were ready to blow a hole into Plymouth.

“Ready?” Valerie
asked Steven. Steven nodded. “Then light the fuse.”

Steven snapped his
fingers and a flame appeared. But before she could ponder exactly what Steven’s
power was, the little flame raced along the cable to the dynamite, which
exploded and sent a mist of dirt and rocks everywhere.

Willa jogged over to
the hole in the ground.

“It’s here, right where
the map said!” she exclaimed, tugging at a rusty wheel on the outside of an
ancient door beneath the ground.

“It must have been
buried when the residents of Plymouth, the Groundlings, decided to cut off ties
with the world above. Reminds me a little of Messina,” Steven said. “We tried
to cut off contact by being on an island.”

“Do the Groundlings
refuse to use magic, as well?” Cyrus asked.

“The opposite,”
Willa said. “They are a people who revere magic as a religion.”

“Then hopefully,
they won’t want it to be polluted by the Fractus,” Valerie said.

She used her
strength to twist the wheel, and the door creaked open. She pulled it wide
enough that she and Cyrus could fit through.

“Let’s go,” she
said, and she and Cyrus stepped into the darkness.

“We’ll make sure no
one follows you in,” Willa’s voice floated behind them.

Inside, it was
completely dark until Valerie felt magic hum from Cyrus. Light spilled from his
hands, illuminating a cavern that was studded with gemstones of many different
colors.

“Beautiful,” Valerie
whispered.

Cyrus touched a red
gem, and the light from his hands made it glow. Then the light spread, jumping
from stone to stone. Now the cavern was filled with multi-colored lights of
blue, green, red, and purple. The muted light reminded Valerie of sunlight
pouring through stained glass.

“Not a bad trick,”
Cyrus said with his old, cocky grin. “Not one that every lightweaver would be
able to manage, I might add.”

“No one but you
would dream up such a unique use of your power, even if they could manage the
magic,” Valerie said, and Cyrus’s grin widened. “Now let’s get moving before
your head grows too big to fit inside here.”

Cyrus gave her a
playful shove, and Valerie flashed him a surprised smile. It was like old
times, until Cyrus’s grin vanished.

“It can never be
like it was,” he said, as if he could read her mind, and then he began jogging
down the hall.

For a long time,
they walked, not speaking, and Valerie began to worry that they’d taken a wrong
turn, or that the maps that Willa had given them were outdated.

But finally, they
heard the distant murmur of voices, echoes of people talking or shouting.

“Over here,” Cyrus
said, waving her over.

Valerie went to his
side and saw that he’d found an opening in the wall the size of a window. She
peeked through it and saw a city spread below them. There were homes carved out
of the bedrock, magnificent stone structures that were elaborately detailed
with columns, pillars, winding staircases, and soaring arches.

Despite being
underground, the city wasn’t dark. Orbs of light were suspended throughout the
city in nooks and crannies. They hummed with power, and Valerie suspected they
were powered by magic. Blankets of green moss gave the impression of
well-trimmed lawns, and instead of real flowers, elaborate blooms cut from
gemstones decorated windowsills and gave life to the little parks that dotted
the city.

The people were
short and pale, but not out-of-the-ordinary. Certainly, in a diverse city like
Arden, they wouldn’t be out of place, but even on Earth, they could pass for
human, as long as they hid their hair, which shone in jewel tones that could
never be achieved with human hair dye.

“The Fractus must be
close by,” Cyrus said. “Everyone’s scared.”

Valerie had been
dazzled by the beauty of the underground city, but now that she examined the
people, she saw how quickly they moved through the streets, glancing around as
if they were expecting to be jumped.

Her eyes scanned the
city, and she saw that there was a river running through the middle. She
remembered from her earlier visits to the city that there were beautiful
streams in Plymouth that children had splashed in.

But now, the
turquoise waters were muddied, and farther upstream, the water was black.

“There,” Valerie
said, pointing to a group of about a hundred tents. They were set up next to
where the stream disappeared into a cave in the bedrock. The water that poured
out of the opening was like ink.

“We have to get
closer,” Cyrus said. “I won’t be able to tell anything about the water down here,
where it’s completely diluted.”

Valerie nodded and
scanned her map.

“There should be
stairs cut into the wall around here where we can descend, but once we’re on
the ground, we’ll have to try to blend in,” she said.

“Maybe the Groundlings
will assume we’re Fractus, and vice versa,” Cyrus said hopefully.

Valerie found a
rough ladder carved into the wall, and she began descending, testing each
groove before putting her weight on it. She reached the ground and looked
around to see if anyone has spotted their descent, but they were in shadow.
There were no orbs of light to give away their entry into the city.

“I think we should
move fast,” Valerie said. “Let’s not give anyone time to ask questions.”

With unspoken
agreement, they followed the stream. Cyrus occasionally dipped a finger in. The
farther they went, the more Valerie noticed a deep humming that rattled her
core.

“That hum is coming
from the river, isn’t it?” she asked Cyrus.

“Yep. It reminds me
of the magic in Reaper’s black weapons, but slipperier, somehow,” he said.

Before Valerie could
ask him what he meant, they passed a house and almost ran into a boy and girl
playing with different colored gemstones, tossing them on the ground in some
kind of game. They both froze when they saw Cyrus and Valerie.

“Sorry,” the little
girl said, her pale face turning even paler. “Please let us go. We won’t leave
our house again.”

“It’s okay. We won’t
hurt you. We’re not with them,” Valerie said, gesturing downstream to the
tents.

“We’re the good
guys,” Cyrus added, and both kids grinned when he raised his eyebrows
dramatically.

“Then can you help
everyone they’ve taken?” the little boy asked.

“They’ve got our dad
and our aunt,” the girl explained.

“Got them where?” Valerie
asked, searching the tents for any signs of captives.

“They took them into
the cave where the river flows from, and we haven’t seen them since,” the girl
said.

“We’ll help,”
Valerie promised, not missing the sharp look Cyrus gave her.

They continued to
follow the river.

“I thought we were
here strictly to gather information on what the Fractus are up to,” Cyrus said.
“Judging by how many tents there are, there are too many Fractus to fight, even
for you.”

Valerie was
distracted, squinting as she tried to make out what the activity was at the
mouth of the river.

“Of course, intel
only. I remember,” she said, and then put her finger to her lips.

They’d reached the
tent city, and it was mostly abandoned.

“Everyone must be in
there,” Cyrus said, peering in the cave. “I can check the river water out here,
and we’ll head out before they’re back, if we’re lucky.”

They hurried to the
river, where the water ran the darkest. While Cyrus tested how light reacted to
the black Carne staining the water, Valerie moved closer to the cave.

She could make out
the sounds of people shouting instructions, and the occasional grunt. Being so
far beneath the ground gave her goose bumps if she thought about it too long,
and she couldn’t imagine how much worse it must be for the people in the cave.

“Val! I’m done!”
Cyrus called.

Valerie was peeking
in the cave, unable to help herself. That was when she heard a scream of pain.
Her reaction then was pure instinct.

She launched herself
into the darkness, barely registering Cyrus cursing as he followed her in. He
illuminated the darkness, and Valerie saw Fractus everywhere, clearly
identifiable by the black weapons they carried. They were standing over a crowd
of Groundlings, who were on their hands and knees, scraping a substance off the
walls that was dark and sticky, reminding Valerie of blood.

Everyone froze,
staring toward the light Cyrus had created, and Valerie took advantage of the
pause to start attacking.

The first four Fractus
she took down didn’t know what had hit them, but after that, weapons were
drawn. She unsheathed Pathos in a blaze of light.

“Cyrus, take the
Groundlings out of here!” she shouted.

Then she turned back
to the Fractus.

“I’m Valerie Diaz.
You know who I am. Who wants to drag me back to Reaper as your prisoner?” she
taunted.

Her words had the
desired effect. The Fractus turned their attention to her, their eyes gleaming
in Pathos’s light. The Groundlings were quick to take advantage of Valerie’s
distraction, and they scurried to the exit of the cave, where Cyrus ushered
them out.

Valerie gave in to
her magic then, and it was a kind of bliss, fighting with pure instinct, moving
as fast as she could to deflect attacks. The black weapons of her enemies were
a blur of metal, and she couldn’t distinguish faces in the dim light.

After a time, part
of her brain registered that most, if not all, of the Groundlings had made it
out of the cave. She made eye contact with Cyrus.

“Run. I’m right
behind you,” she lied.

Cyrus left the cave,
but instead of following him, Valerie stabbed Pathos into the ground. The
entire cave rumbled as Pathos pumped its own magic, intertwined with hers, into
the earth.

The shuddering
increased, and the exit to the cave became blocked as several boulders broke
loose.

Pathos was dimmer
after having expended its magic, and Valerie fought her attackers in near
darkness. Still, a combination of magic and adrenaline coursed through her full
force, and she was a whirlwind of energy. The darkness had the advantage of
disorienting her enemies. Valerie wasn’t relying on her sense of sight, so her
fighting ability wasn’t impeded.

The Fractus were
tripping over the unconscious bodies of their comrades, but still they kept
coming. How many were there? Eventually, even her energy would run out. Before
it did, she had to act.

In one swift move,
Valerie sheathed Pathos, and the cave became pitch black. She curled into a
ball and rolled, and she could hear the Fractus grunting as they bumped into
each other, searching for her.

A flash of light in
the corner caught her attention. She squinted, and realized that the light
formed a message.

This way.

The handwriting was
Cyrus’s, and Valerie followed the glimmer of light, no more than a speck on the
ground. It led her into a side tunnel of the cave. She could tell that she was
headed up, away from the Fractus fumbling in the river below.

Finally, she emerged
in a cavern that was glowing from light pouring from Cyrus’s hands. She
expected to see rage on his face, but found only determination and relief.

He was surrounded by
the Groundlings they had saved. They were dirty and tired, their jewel-toned
hair stained with the Carne they had been scraping from the walls, but alive.

“Listen to me,”
Valerie said. “The Fractus who have invaded your land do not represent all of
the Conjurors in the world above. I lead the Fist, and we will send help to
drive the Fractus out of your land.”

The Groundlings
murmured, absorbing her words.

“Tell your people to
look for Conjurors with weapons that have been embedded with light. They will
help you. Those wielding the black weapons are the Fractus,” Cyrus said.

“Even below, we have
heard of you, vivicus,” a low voice said. “And you do not disappoint.”

The Groundlings had
Cyrus and Valerie back in the cavern that led out of Plymouth faster than
either of them had anticipated. When they were finally alone, Valerie stole a
glance at Cyrus.

“Don’t you want to
yell at me for not listening to you and getting out of there before we had to
fight?”

“No,” he said.

“Okay, then don’t
you want to tell me that we saved a couple dozen Groundlings today, but what
was the point, since the Fractus surely have hundreds more working as their
slaves, mining Carne somewhere in Plymouth?” Valerie asked.