Ancient Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress #1)(26)

“You know, you could just use your powers and duplicate this.” He nodded at the flame.

“Why, when I can let you do all the work?”

“True. But I can feel your powers. You’re not as weak as you say you are.”

“But I’m lazy,” I said, my heart starting to race. He could feel my power, at least the strength of it. But he hadn’t mentioned feeling that I was a FireSoul. I latched onto that hope.

Was I going to have to use some of my powers around him just to convince him that I wasn’t hiding something? But if I did, I’d blow something up for sure.

I shrugged off my jacket, which was probably ruined, and turned so that the flame could dry my back. It was a quick process, and the heat of the flame soon moved lower.

“Are you drying my butt?”

“It looked cold,” Aidan said.

It was, so I decided to ignore how close his hand was to my rear and focus on getting dry. I also tried to ignore the tingling low in my belly, but I wasn’t as good at that.

When I was mostly dry—save for my feet—I turned back around and searched the dark, holding up the hand that wore the lightstone. I could make out most of the cavernous space—three sides, with the fourth still in darkness. We stood on a ledge that extended to the right, into the dark. The rest of the cavern was flooded. The water was dark and murky. Sea monster water.

“I am so not looking forward to getting back into that,” I said. I glanced at Aidan. “But next time, could you turn into a dolphin? I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins.”

“I’m not a petting zoo.”

“I didn’t say I’d pet you.” Damn. That sounded dirty.

“Now that you put it that way, I could turn into a dolphin.”

I scowled to cover my laugh then turned and set off down the rock ledge. My dragon sense was pulling me that way, and I was grateful for it. Aidan joined me.

Soon, my light illuminated three long shapes on the water. I squinted through the dark and approached slowly.

“Boats,” Aidan said.

“Viking boats.” I took in their sleek symmetry. There were three, their sides shallow and low to the water, the bows and sterns curved gracefully up in S-shapes. They were beautiful. I might have stolen ancient magic for a living, but I couldn’t help but respect the amazing things that were created hundreds of years before I was born. Whenever I wasn’t raiding or shopping online, I liked to read up on the history of the places I visited. “This design is at least a thousand years old. Viking.”

“The monks did mention the Viking raids. But I didn’t realize they meant the scroll.”

“Neither did I.

“After a thousand years, the boats are still floating,” Aidan said.

“Magic.” We approached. There were no oars. “Definitely magic. This is how we get to the next part of the tomb.”

“All right. Which one do you like?” he asked.

“The big one.” We stepped on board. The deck was flat, but the boat was broad enough that it didn’t rock much. I walked around, looking for anything that could ignite a spell that would propel the boat. A carving, a lever, anything.

There was nothing.

“Can you make the water move?” I asked. “Push us along?”

“You can’t do anything?”

“I could, but I want to save my strength.”

He looked at me suspiciously. “I thought there was something odd about how you don’t use your power, but now I know there is.”

“You’re imagining things. Now let’s get going.”

“I’m not,” he said. “And I’ll get you to tell me what your deal is.”

Not in this lifetime.

I glanced pointedly at the water. It swelled slightly behind the stern, pushing us along.

“Thanks,” I said.

The boat drifted along the ledge as I walked to the bow. I held out my lightstone. It illuminated a dark tunnel entrance ahead of us. We glided beneath it. The air smelled staler, the fresh water and stone scent of the cavern fading.

I shined the light on the tunnel walls. Intricate carvings of swirls and knots decorated the space. Carvings of dragons swirled amongst them. Viking, definitely.

Something bumped the boat. I stumbled.

Another bump, this one harder. The water on the port side sloshed, and I peered into the murky depths. My heart pounded as I waited.

The boat careened as something huge crashed into it.





CHAPTER SEVEN





Aidan leaned over the side and peered into the water. “Sea monster.”

I looked over in time to see a scaled back pierce the surface of the water, gliding sinuously along with us. Shiny silver scales glinted in the dim light.

“Do you think they’re—”

Two hard bumps threw me to the deck. The bow swerved right. One of Aidan’s waves rose up and pushed us back on course before we crashed into the stone wall.

Icy water splashed me from above, and the scent of rotten fish made me gag. I tilted my head back. A gaping mouth filled with dagger-teeth was crashing down upon me.

I rolled, scrambling along the deck. The sea monster’s upper half hit the deck and slithered back into the water, bringing with it a chunk of the caprail.