Ancient Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress #1)(27)

So they were going for blood.

I climbed to my feet.

“My magic woke them,” Aidan said.

“Yeah.”

A huge head broke the water, razor sharp teeth flashing and blind eyes seeking. The monster plowed into the bow. Wood splintered and cracked.

I pulled my knives from their sheaths.

The grotesque head surged along with the boat, teeing up for another head-butt. I flung Righty at the sea monster’s blind eyes. The obsidian drove deep into one milky orb. The creature thrashed and hissed, falling back into the water and sending up a wave that rocked the boat and splashed me with icy water.

Quickly, I nicked the back of my hand with Lefty. A second later, Righty flew out of the water, and I snagged it out of the air. I glanced at the tall, curving bow to see if we were taking on water. The wood was splintered several feet above the waterline, but we didn’t seem to be taking on much water, if any.

Another bump crashed into the stern, nearly sending me to my ass again.

I turned to see another sea monster falling back into the water.

“Make us go faster. I’ll hold them off,” I said.

A deep green sea monster lunged out of the water, its gaping jaws aimed for my face. I flung Righty again. It pierced the skull of the beast, and it crashed beneath the surface.

I swiped my blade over the blood on the back of my hand and caught Righty when it flew back to me.

Aidan turned to the stern and directed his hands toward the water. Blue light flowed from his palms, and his magic prickled over me, at once disturbing and pleasurable. The waves that pushed us grew, and the boat shot forward.

A sleek, scaled back raced alongside us, aiming for the bow. I threw my blade at it. The shining obsidian landed in the monster’s neck, but the thing kept surging forward. They were so big I had to land a headshot. I called Righty back as I flung Lefty, this time nailing the beast between the eyes. The sea monster thrashed and sank beneath the surface. I called my blade back.

Thank magic my blades were so sharp. Since I refused to use my own power, I’d be up a creek without my enchanted tools.

My heart pounded in my throat as I waited for more. It was eerily silent, just the sound of the waves lapping at the tunnel walls. The bow cut smoothly through the water, carrying us farther into the dark.

“I don’t sense them anymore,” Aidan said.

I nodded. “There may have only been three.”

It was a good number for magic, though I wasn’t sure why. Enchantments and protections sometimes came in groups of three because of it.

A shiver shook me. “It’s getting colder.”

“And the magic is thicker,” Aidan said.

He was right, and it was the kind I didn’t like. It prickled over my skin like gnat bites. The scent of rotting fish didn’t fade. I’d been wrong—it wasn’t the scent of the sea monsters. It was dark magic. The kind that was meant to harm, not just protect the treasures within this place.

I sure hoped whoever had created this place was dead.

I moved to the bow, holding out my light. There was nothing ahead of us but more tunnel. At least it was silent. The journey was tense, but the tunnel eventually widened into another cavern. This one was smaller, but there was another stone ledge to climb out at.

And another boat.

As Aidan steered our vessel alongside the dock, I jumped onto the stone ledge and ran to the other boat. It was empty, but the deck was wet.

“I don’t think we’re the only ones here,” I said. My heart beat against my ribs. This was bad. Were they after the same thing we were? I couldn’t let anyone else get ahold of it.

Aidan tied our boat to a stone pillar and came to my side. “I agree. I thought I smelled blood in the water before the first sea monster attacked our boat.”

“You can smell that well?” I asked.

“It was a lot of blood.”

Great. “Let’s go then.”

Only one tunnel led away from the water, so we followed it. I hurried ahead, holding my lightstone aloft and moving as quickly as the uneven ground would let me. My belly churned at the idea that someone else might have the scroll.

Fortunately, the tunnel was narrow and short, opening up to an enormous cavern.

“Whoa.” I tilted my head back to take it in. “It’s like the Super Dome.”

“With obstacles,” Aidan said. He’d walked ahead of me and created a ball of flame that he’d sent high into the air to illuminate what my light could not.

I joined him.

The ground dropped away in front of us. “Oh, crap.”

An enormous pit stretched out ahead, piles of stone dotting it all the way to the other side, where it rose up to a cliff that was the same level as ours. The eerie orange light of Aidan’s flame set the rocks aglow.

“I’ve seen this before,” I said. “In Myanmar. The piles of rock down there used to be towers. You jump across them, but if you don’t know the pattern, they collapse.” I squinted down into the pit. “I don’t see any bodies. Maybe they were demons. Or they made it across.” I hoped they hadn’t.

Aidan rubbed a hand over his chin. “I’ll take us across.”

“You? As in, griffon you? I thought shifters didn’t like carrying people.”

“Normally, we don’t.” His gaze met mine. “But you’re an exception.”