“You mean because you’re no longer dressed in the fancy robes and acting like a blessed-holier-than-thou?”
“Yes.” He smiled slightly. “I suppose that’s one way to put it.”
“Well, you’ve no need to apologize. I prefer you this way.”
“You do?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He leaned forward, then pressed a kiss to my lips. I forgot to breathe. Now that he was back, I would never let him go again.
When he pulled away, I placed my hand on his chest. “You don’t have to stop.”
“Yes, I do, or we’ll never retrieve that stone in time.” He moved a strand of hair away from my face, gently letting the pads of his fingers caress my skin.
After taking my hand, he led me along the walkway. Our footsteps echoed on the metal. If anyone was listening, they would’ve found us for sure.
We maneuvered through the maze of obnoxious metal, its smells of corrosion and oil getting to me. I wasn’t used to places like this. I preferred Faythander—wide open spaces, fresh air, forests. This was hardly a place I would call romantic, and not how I pictured my reunion with Maveryck. Maybe there would be time for that later.
There had better be time for that later.
We made it up to the next level. The purple glow shone brighter here, and the engine noises grew louder.
“My guess is the stone is at the center of the engine,” Maveryck said. “We’ll have to keep following the path and hope it takes us there. Otherwise, we’ll be crawling through this thing, which is something I’d like to avoid.”
“Same here.”
As we continued to walk, the path grew crowded with tubes and pipes. We had to duck to get through them. I hardly understood the contraption. Why did the people of this city need such a monstrosity?
The walkway ended abruptly, and we were left staring at a wall of pipes.
“This is what I was afraid of,” Maveryck said.
“So, we climb?”
“Yes.” Maveryck pushed up his sleeves. “We climb.”
I stuck my knife in its sheath, then followed Maveryck as we grabbed the metal tubes and began scaling them.
“We should find the stone over this wall of pipes somewhere,” Maveryck said, climbing beside me. “That glow is too bright not to be coming from someplace close.
“What if we get stuck in here?”
“We won’t. I hope.”
We ascended the wall of pipes and climbed atop the machine. A pit sank below us. It was barren with a sand-coated floor, except in the center, where a purple jewel sat atop a pedestal.
“We’ve found the stone,” I said.
“Yes.” Maveryck frowned. “Now we’ve just got to remove it. There’s magic here, most likely to keep us from touching it. We’ll have to be careful.”
“Can you break the spells?”
“Let’s hope so.”
We scrambled to the other side of the pipe-wall, then scaled down. I managed to snag onto the copper clasps holding the pipes together. My fingers burned as I gripped the metal. Sweat beaded on my brow and the back of my neck. My foot slipped, and I barely managed to hang on.
“Are you okay?” Maveryck asked.
“Fine,” I said while straining to hang on. Maveryck should’ve used his magic to levitate us down. Then again, we didn’t need him using up his powers.
I made it down one pipe, then another, until I finally slid to the ground. My feet landed solidly on the sand. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I watched as Maveryck leapt down beside me.
Together, we turned to face the stone. I took a step toward it when he grabbed my arm.
“Careful, the magic here is very strong.”
I nodded. We approached the stone. Its light shone so brightly it almost blinded me, but as we approached, it dimmed.
“That’s not good,” Maveryck said. “There isn’t much power left in it, perhaps less than we realize.”
We took another step when the sand moved, wave-like, as if something swam beneath us. We stopped, gazing at one another, not speaking.
As we took another step, something long and snake-like burst from the ground.
“Watch out!” Maveryck leapt back as the creature overshadowed us. Its head resembled a snake’s, though its body was covered in needle-sharp spikes sheathing the ridge along its spine. Tentacles rose from the sand, whipping out at us.
I readied my knife as one of the sweeping appendages lashed at me. I stabbed at it, though my blade bounced off, as if the scales were made of metal.
Maveryck blasted his magic, a blue wave that engulfed the beast. It roared as it dove under the sand, the tentacles disappearing with it.
“Where’d it go?” Maveryck asked.
“Maybe you killed it.”
“Not likely,” he said.
“Let’s get the stone while we can.”
The ground remained still. Would it return? I took a careful step forward, then another. Maveryck stayed beside me. The creature hadn’t come back, but I wasn’t so sure it was gone completely. When we reached the stone, its purple light shimmered over the sand and lit up our clothing.
“Do we just pick it up?” I asked.
“No. Don’t touch it. There are powerful spells in it. I can feel them. If we touch it, it will most likely kill us. I’ll have to strip away the enchantment first.” He took a deep breath. “It may take more magic than we expected.”
“You mean, you might use up all your magic, and we might be swimming out of here?”
He gave me a tight-lipped smile. “More than likely.”
“Fine.” I crossed my arms. “Do what you have to do.”
Breathing deeply, Maveryck reached toward the stone, fingers outstretched. With his eyes closed, blue magic gathered around him. He chanted quietly under his breath as he placed his hands around it.
His brow scrunched with pain. The chanting grew louder. The glow became so bright I had to step away and shield my eyes.
Maveryck screamed and fell back. I knelt beside him. He looked at his hands, the flesh red
