Fated

Griff and Luna looked at each other, then Griff turned to the wall, his hand glowing with a pale brown light. There was a faint rumble as the stone reshaped itself, the rubble on the other side shifting and fusing into a dense blockade. Luna stood as close as she could to me, while Sonder waited on the other side.

One minute passed like an hour.

The booming sounds from behind us were clearly audible now, and they were causing the room to shake. Almost all of the lights from the cube and statue had intersected; only three had yet to fuse. I spoke quietly to Luna. ‘When the door opens, grab that cube and stick close to me. Take the right exit.’

Luna nodded. ‘Um,’ Sonder said hesitantly from the other side. ‘What should I do?’

‘I’d follow Luna,’ I said. ‘Unless you want to meet Onyx.’

Sonder swallowed. ‘I think I’ll stay with you if that’s okay.’

Another pair of light beams intersected, followed by another. ‘Five seconds,’ I said loudly. The booms from behind were like thunder now, and the floor was shaking with each one.

The last pair of beams matched. A pale light filled the room, and the statue seemed to fade, becoming something else. For one moment it was as though two things were stacked in the same location: the statue, glowing palely, and an arched doorway, leading into a wide chamber. ‘Go!’ I shouted, and ran. For an instant I was running through the statue, and there was a brief dizzying feeling as my eyes tried to process two sets of visual data at once, then I was through into an entrance hall with a domed roof, lit by dim flickering lights. Behind me Luna snatched the cube from the statue’s hand and ran after me, Sonder at her heels.

From behind I heard a thunderous crash and the crack of flying stone, followed an instant later by the boom of Griff’s earth magic. Suddenly the battle was in the statue room, and everything was chaos and darkness and fire. The gate was closing, fading, but too slowly, and I knew we had only seconds before the battle spilled through. I made it into the right-hand tunnel, hit something to my left, and a heavy door slammed behind us, cutting off sound and leaving us in pitch darkness.

12

It was pitch black.

‘Luna?’ I said.

‘Over here.’

‘You okay?’

‘I’m fine; don’t come too close!’

‘Er, hi.’

‘What’s that?’

‘What’s what?’

‘Who’s there?’

‘Luna.’

‘Not you!’

‘Sonder. Er, I mean David. I met you at—’

‘I know who you are, Sonder.’

‘You made it through?’

‘Well, Mr Verus, I mean Alex, said to follow you, and—’

‘Has anyone got a light?’

Silence.

‘Anyone?’

Silence.

‘Luna?’

‘I brought the stuff you asked for.’

‘So that’s a yes?’

‘Yes, but it’s sealed. If I touch it …’

‘Okay, okay. Sonder?’

‘Yes?’

‘You’re a mage, right?’

‘Well, yes.’

‘Great, cast a light spell.’

‘…’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Um, well—’

‘Please don’t tell me you can’t make one either.’