The Compass Key (Book 5) (25 page)

Luke walks over to Kira and hugs her from behind. “I know you’re better than you think you are. I don’t want to put you in danger, but I need you and Fizzle to do something very important.”

“What did you have in mind?” she asks, enjoying the embrace and turning to give her fiancée a quick kiss. “Since it involves Fizzle, I doubt you’re asking to marry me.”

“I already said I would do that,”
he whispers. He leans down to give her a kiss, but stops a breath away from her lips. “I really need to concentrate here, but its been so long since we’ve been together. What was I saying?”

“You wanted to put one of the women
you love in danger.”

“Right,” Luke says, ignoring the incredulous look on Kira’s face. “Do you know anything about spears and lightning?”

*****

Nyx continues devouring everything in front of her while Timoran and Delvin watch from their chairs. It has been two hours since
the caster finished her spell and she immediately demanded food over the sound of her roaring stomach. Her manners are that of a person who feels like she has not eaten in weeks. The only reason she is not a mess is because she constantly uses her magic to clean her face and hands.

“So, Trinity nearly killed me while I was c
asting the spell,” Nyx says with a mouthful of carrots. She swallows the food and washes it down with a goblet of water before wiping her mouth with a piece of fluffy bread. “Thanks for saving my life. Where is she now?”

“Master Cyril has her locked up in a cell in the basement,” Timoran replies
, flexing his fingers as he feels their strength return. “I believe he called it the special nursery.”

The caster
stops with a celery stick in her mouth, her eyes wide and her porcelain skin a shade paler. “I really hope they got rid of the crib and those embarrassing childhood pictures of me. Trinity would use that against me until the day we kill each other.”

“What kind of
baby were you?” Delvin asks in wonder.

“I was a perfect child . . . who would throw fireballs when angry,” Nyx bashfully answered, her cheeks blushing slightly. “So, are we waiting for Luke before we head into the sewers?”

“I lost track of Luke when I jumped onto Rainbow Tower,” Delvin admits, his voice full of tension. He eats a forkful of potatoes and leans back in his chair. “We were being chased by some mechanical weapon. Luke should have destroyed it and come back here. He could have gone to talk to the other griffins and prepare for their attack on the ships.”

“He would have returned to check on us,” Timoran points out. “It is bad enough that the enemy has Fizzle, but now we are missing Luke too.”

“I could try to sense him,” Nyx half-heartedly suggests. She sighs as she takes another bite of her dinner. “During our first adventure, Luke gave some of his blood to me, so that I wouldn’t die. Later on, I used part of my aura to purge his body of magical poison. Then, we were bonded when his aura was knocked out of his body. So, we’re always going to possess a scrap of each other’s aura, so I could feasibly figure out if Luke is alive or dead. You know, I probably should have told him about this when I figured it out back in Haven. I’m still surprised he never figured out how I tracked down him and Sari in the middle of a forest.”

“You are oddly casual about him being dead, Nyx,” Timoran says with a raised eyebrow.

“Luke can’t die because I won’t let him. Now, please give me a little bit of quiet.”

Nyx leans back in her chair and closes her eyes, focusing on finding the distant piece of aura within Luke. Within minutes, she sifts through the ambient auras and follows the invisible path to Luke. Immediately, she feels hot as if she is standing in front of a bonfire. Her breath is
labored for some reason and she hungrily licks her lips. A sudden image of Kira Grasdon flickers through her thoughts, causing her to shift in her chair. Nyx’s eyes open wide and the connection breaks as soon as she realizes what she accidentally interrupted.

“I need so
me water. Iced water,” the half-elf gasps. She dives for a nearby pitcher and dumps the freezing contents on her head. “I’m never doing that again.”

“That machine had a fire cannon,” Delvin
says, misinterpreting her need to cool off. “Is he still fighting it?”

Nyx stares at him with her mouth slightly open. “Luke is alive and he’s hiding on Kira Grasdon’s ship. I assume hiding because I doubt our enemies would capture him and lock him up with his fiancée.”

“What are they doing?” the brown-haired warrior inquires, handing Nyx a napkin, which she rudely snatches out of his hand. “Luke must have recruited her to set things up for the griffins’ thunderstorm attack. Could you sense any part of their plan?”

“You could say that,” Nyx says, nervously chuckling. She notices Timoran grins at her, so she rapidly nods her head. “Luke isn’t going to be any help to us. Please pass that bottle of wine. I need the full one that hasn’t been opened.
Not sure if it was really happening or in his head, but I need a drink.”

Delvin passes her the bottle and starts to say, “Maybe you-”

“Luke is indisposed, so drop it!” the caster snaps before she uses her teeth to pull the cork out of the bottle and chugs all of the wine. “I feel much better now. Let’s concentrate on our own plans.”

Delvin shrugs and pulls out the
Map of Depth while Timoran clears a place for it on the center of the table. With an annoyed mumble, Nyx gets out of her chair and takes a seat next to Timoran. The Map of Depth shimmers as Delvin unrolls it on the table, the black ink drawing of Gaia appearing with magical clarity. Nyx leans forward and is surprised to see faint people moving on the street. Quietly examining the map, she sees vendors and beggars that would go unnoticed by most people. The passing of faint grey blotches catches her attention and she practically crawls onto the table to get a better look.

“Those are the shadows of griffins,” Delvin says when Nyx follows a blotch with her finger. “This map worked better than expected when combined with bard’s memory. The lower levels
don’t show living things like the streets, but they are very detailed. There are about twenty layers to this thing.”

“Can you find the
Compass Key?” Timoran asks the half-elf.

“It shouldn’t be too hard
. I assume the Compass Key will appear as a glowing symbol. I only have to look through it page by page.”

Nyx
flips through the map and stops at the sixteenth page, which is nothing more than a large building with a glowing dot in the center. There are no tunnels or paths on the page, so she checks the previous and later map for signs of an entrance. Her frustration growing, she continues flipping through the maps in search of a hidden tunnel. Nyx curses under her breath and tosses the map onto the table, knocking over an empty bottle of wine.

“The
Compass Key is on the sixteenth level, which is nothing more than a solitary building. It was probably buried during the Great Cataclysm and the other levels were built over it,” the caster explains, rubbing her eyes and slumping in her chair. She glares at the Map of Depth as if its existence offends her. “I need at least one night to figure it out, but this thunderstorm plan is in the morning. We should be underground and hunting for the Compass Key while Luke has the chaos elves occupied.”

“May I look at the map?” Timoran politely requests.
She flings the map to the barbarian, who catches it and gets to his feet. “If you are right and the Great Cataclysm buried this building then there will not be a tunnel. Everything below this building must be the ancient sewers and dungeons of whatever stood here before Gaia. It is amazing that the city goes this far down and does not fall into the ocean.”

Delvin scratches his head and raps his fingers on the table for attention.
“I don’t think we’re ready for this. We could wait and have Fizzle get us in. We could also use Sari to handle traps and Luke to take point.”

“We’re the only ones
who can do this,” Nyx argues.

“Maybe we can take some guards.”

“They’re busy with the chaos elves.”

“There has to be someone who can guide us.”

Nyx rolls her eyes and gently kicks the table, catching the apple that nearly rolls off the table. “If there was anyone like that then Trinity would have already kidnapped them. Just accept that it’s only going to be the three of us because Fizzle is a prisoner and Luke is busy with his fiancée.”

“That’s what he’s doing,” Delvin drones in disbelief. “We have important work to do and he’s having sex.”

“I don’t think it’s that far. Honestly, I only picked up on brief images and emotions, so I might have caught what he wanted to do instead of what he was actually doing,” Nyx contends. She grabs a handful of small tomatoes and pops them into her mouth one by one. “Look, Delvin, they haven’t seen each other for a while and they have some things to discuss. Cut the kid a little slack since who knows when they’ll see each other again. Even if it’s just a lot of kissing, he deserves some happiness before going back into battle.”

“It’s still
not the time for whatever he’s doing.”

“So
if we were madly in love and we spent months apart, you wouldn’t try to spend that kind of time with me?” She blushes and stares at her feet when the warrior stares at her, his mouth open. “You know what I mean.”

“Not really.”

Timoran clears his throat to get their attention and shows them the map. “I believe I found the way into the sixteenth level. It appears that the building is surrounded by a pocket in the earth, so we need to dig through the upper layer. The fifteenth map does not show any weak points, but I am sure there is a place that is thinner than the rest. Still in the case of no weakened earth, I am sure Nyx can use her magic to drill through. If you will allow me to study the map tonight, I can memorize a route to the area above the building.”

“Sounds like we have a plan. Maybe
we can take a small breakfast along,” Delvin announces while clapping his hands and getting to his feet. He yawns and scratches his head, the idea of a few hours of sleep sounding very appealing to him. “We’ll have the Compass Key by lunch and Sari by dinner. See everyone in the morning.”

Nyx and Timoran watch him leave and shrug. They can feel their own exhaustion leech their strength
, driving them to yawn and rub their eyes. The barbarian grabs a bottle of wine and a platter of food before nodding to Nyx and departing for his room. The half-elven caster stands alone in the large dining room, her breathing the only sound.

“Uh, guys, Trinity blew up my bedroom with a spell. I have nowhere to sleep,” Nyx quietly says. She looks around the room, her eyes falling on a small couch. “I really hate that woman.”

*****

Sari wakes up with a start, hitting her head on the shell of ice that surrounds her. She feels sleepy and comfortable in her protective shell, but she knows that it is only a matter of time before her mind attacks her again. Still waking up, Sari becomes aware of a distant voice mumbling and whispering outside the shell. It is impossible to make out the words, but she has an idea of who she is about to face. The growing warmth that is steadily melting the ice is all the evidence she needs to know that her mind is about to pit her against a bizarre, murderous version of Nyx.

“Not this time,” Sari says, drawing two daggers and moving into a crouch.

The ice shell explodes and
the gypsy leaps out of the wreckage, her eyes scanning the area for the phantom. She sees the stunned caster standing fifty yards away and rushes toward her. Her feet grip the ice as if she is on dry ground while Nyx slips when she tries to get away. When the half-elf puts up a billowing wall of fire, Sari sends a rain of ice water to douse the spell. The ice pops up beneath the gypsy’s feet, launching her into the air toward Nyx.

“We apologize!”
the caster shouts when the gypsy is close enough to hear her.

“What?” Sari asks as she lands and
presses the daggers to the half-elf’s throat. “Speak clearly and politely.”

“I’m not one of your dark emotions. I’m simply the image of someone you trust that has been sent to guide you,” Nyx explains
, holding her hands out and exposes her throat in a gesture of peace. “The one behind your tests has realized that she misunderstood you. It’s better for you to meet her and discuss everything. She apologizes for misinterpreting your emotions and putting you through all of this.”

“It’s a little late for apologies!”

Nyx twists her head to stare at Sari, the daggers still against her throat. “Is it really too late?”

“Don’t do that creepy head thing,” the gypsy snaps. She nearly loses her composure and backs down, but the memory of killing Luke drives her to hold her ground. “You made me face so many horrors and then you had me kill Luke. It might not have been the real Luke, but I can still remember shattering him.”

“For that we apologize and seek to take a different approach while we still have time to talk,” the caster says. She steps away from Sari and smiles as the gypsy lowers her daggers. “I’m to escort you to your core where you await yourself. It makes more sense if you don’t think too hard about it.”