“If she’s inside the chamber, what then?” Heidel asked. “Do we fight her?”
“If we must, but I’m hopeful we’ll be able to sneak inside and steal the egg before she notices.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Heidel asked.
Kull nodded toward Maveryck. “I thought we’d let the professional thief handle it.”
I glanced back at Maveryck, who didn’t seem to be paying attention to our conversation. His pensive eyes were locked straight ahead.
“What do you say, Maveryck?” Heidel asked. “Can you handle stealing the egg?”
Finally, he seemed to focus. “The egg?”
“Yes, can you steal it quietly?”
He nodded. “Stealing the egg won’t be a problem.”
“You see?” Kull said. “We shall be in and out and home in time for our evening meal.”
“I don’t share your confidence,” Heidel said. “These quests never go as we plan.”
“I have to agree,” I said.
“Why not? Just because we’ve had rotten luck on every single mission in the past doesn’t mean it will happen this time. I, for one, intend to have a positive attitude. We shall walk inside, reclaim the egg, and be on our way.”
“Keep dreaming,” I muttered.
Behind us, Maveryck mumbled something, and when I turned to look at him, I found him running his fingers along the walls. His fingertips lightly brushed the stones, and his other hand was clenched in a fist. I felt magic in his fisted hand, and his fingers glowed with a faint bluish light, casting shadows beneath his eyes and highlighting his elven cheekbones.
“Are you all right, Maveryck?” I asked.
He looked up, seeming to come out of a trance. “I’m not sure. I believe the castle’s magic may be affecting me.”
“That makes two of us,” I said.
“It’s hard to withstand the power. I feel like the magic is trying to speak to me, but I don’t know how to answer. I apologize if I am not myself.”
I squeezed Kull’s hand. He was the only thing standing between me and this place’s power.
The path ahead widened into a large chamber supported by pillars. Overhead, it looked as if there had once been a large glass dome, but now, only a metal frame remained. Glass littered the floor, but beneath it, a mosaic of tiles reflected the moonlight. A large marble statue of an elven goddess stood watch at the center of the room, though cracks fractured its surface in several places.
“This must have been a beautiful place,” I said. Although I spoke quietly, my voice echoed.
“Yes,” Maveryck said, scuffing at the glass with his boot. “It must have been amazing.”
“Keep to the corners of the room,” Kull said, “and stay alert.”
We followed Kull as we paced the edge of the room. As we did, I began to see a pattern in the tiles. The mosaic made a picture of waves and a castle, but I couldn’t make out much more.
“Do you recognize that goddess?” I asked Maveryck.
“It may be Philigrene, the ancient goddess of the sea, but that’s only a guess.”
I kept my eyes on the statue as we crossed the room. Elves hadn’t worshipped the old gods in several centuries, preferring science to religious studies, but part of me lamented their abandonment of the old ways. Somehow, the ancient elves had managed to balance religion and science, a trait not found in the modern society.
After crossing through the domed chamber, we entered an area with a spiraling staircase. It reached below ground level and down into a dark chamber.
“We’ll need light,” Kull said.
“I’ll handle that,” I replied. “At least, I think so.”
I wasn’t sure if my magic would cooperate in this place. It hadn’t worked in the jungle, but I hoped I would be able to manage such a simple spell.
Balling my hand into a fist, I whispered a word of magic, and a sphere of bluish-white light formed around my hand. I felt the magic leave my body in a painful jolt and had to focus to keep it under control. If that was how all my spells would react, I wasn’t sure how well I could depend on my magic. But the others hadn’t noticed my discomfort, so we started down the staircase without another word.
The world transformed as we descended into the bowels of the castle. The smell of mold and damp earth filled the air, and images of skulls replaced the gods and goddesses. It seemed that the castle’s creators had had two faces—the one they displayed above, and the one that lurked beneath.
As we climbed down the stairs, the air grew chillier. The blue light glowing from my hand made everything look silvery and eerie, and I wondered how long it had been since light had touched this part of the castle. If this place was as old as some thought, it might have been thousands of years since any light had touched the carved-stone walls or the broad, glassy staircase.
I felt as though we had entered another world. Our footsteps rang out against the glass-like stone. A chill crept up through the stone steps, and as we descended from one level to the next, the intensity of the magic increased as well.
Glancing at the tall staircase spiraling overhead, I noticed the light from the world above had disappeared completely. We were alone in the darkness, the cold as our only companion, on a mission that could easily end in our own deaths, yet we kept going.
After what felt like an eternity of climbing, we stepped off the staircase and entered a broad foyer with smooth stone walls. Directly in front of us was a set of large doors made of the same onyx-type stones paving the pathway leading to the castle. A large, orb shape was carved in the middle, continuing through both doors, with lines fanning outward, away from the circle pattern. A sunburst—the symbol of elven royalty.
“The room I saw in the vision must be inside these doors,” I said, feeling
