“I’ll go with her,” Aziza says. “I can protect her if anything happens.”
“Sailor?” Rye says.
My mind is working overtime again. Aziza is the Horseman. She has to be. She wants to be alone with me at the moment I get the weapon so she can take me out. Well that’s just not going to happen. But it might be easier to get this over with instantly. To grab the weapon and then have her attack me, expecting me to be taken by surprise when really, I’ll be expecting it. And then I can save her and we can go home. There’s a thought that I like. Having this whole thing over with and going home.
“You know the risks, right?” I say to Aziza.
“Death by sand. Yeah, I get it,” Aziza says. “Now get on with it before those demons get close enough to follow us in there and get us all buried alive.”
I nod my head in agreement, adrenaline surging through my body. I get back down onto my knees.
“Everyone else stand back. The cavern is about twenty square feet and I don’t know how much of the ceiling falls away to let us in,” I say.
The rest of the team moves away from me and Aziza, who nods encouragingly at me. I hear shouting behind me and I glance over my shoulder to see the team running to meet the Slip Demons. Only Rye remains watching me. I turn back and get the medallion out and slip it into the shape. I turn it and wait for the click, tensing up and ready to drop through the air into the cavern. The click comes, and sure enough, I’m falling through the air again.
I’m ready for the fall this time and I land on my feet. I drop to the ground and roll, absorbing the impact of the fall. I get to my feet with Aziza beside me.
“A, B, C…” I start.
The ground shakes beneath me instantly.
“D, E, F…”
“What the hell are you doing, Sailor?” Aziza asks.
I nod in the direction of the slightly raised column.
“The weapon is on there. The column responds to the voice of the Paradox. Last time, I recited the alphabet a few times because I didn’t know what else to say,” I tell her. “Shield your eyes because when it finally locks into place, it gives off a bright red flash.”
She shrugs and nods.
“Whatever works I guess,” she says.
I continue reciting the alphabet, and finally, the column stops moving and flashes red. I wait for my vision to return to normal and I look at the column. The box is there again. Aziza looks at me and then looks at the box, her eyes open wide.
“Well shit. You really have done this before,” she says.
“You thought I was lying?” I say.
She smiles and shakes her head.
“No, of course not. But you have to admit it sounded fanciful at best. While I believed you, there was still a little part of me that couldn’t quite believe it. You get that, don’t you?”
“Oh yes.” I laugh. “I was the one who did it, and honestly, I couldn’t quite believe it myself. I still can’t to be honest.”
“So what happens now?” Aziza asks.
“Last time, I walked towards it and the team covered me from behind. But nothing happened. Except the cave-in of course. I think that’s the only threat. We don’t want to risk putting any more weight than we have to on the ground. You wait here and I’ll go and grab the weapon.”
“Rye will never forgive me if I hang back,” Aziza says.
“So we won’t tell him then.” I shrug. “Seriously, Az, you can throw fire from your hands. If anything does happen, you can attack just as efficiently from there as you can from right next to me.”
“But what if something else happens? What if say the ground opens and you fall through it?”
She’s awfully determined to stick by my side and I’m more convinced than ever that she’s going to attempt to take me out as soon as I grab the spear.
“Well, that’s a chance we’ll have to take.” I shrug.
She sighs. “Fine. But it’s your funeral.”
“It’s not going to be anyone’s funeral if I can help it,” I say.
I start to walk towards the column before she can say anything else. We’re just wasting time here and I just want to grab that thing and get the hell out of here. I walk forward with sure, confident steps this time, no longer bothering to test each step. The floor isn’t the threat. The ceiling is.
I reach the spot where the ceiling began to cave in on us and I swallow hard as I step past it. A few grains of sand float down from the ceiling and coat my hair and face, but it’s not the landslide it was last time and I start to breathe a little easier. I reach the column and I finally let out a long sigh of relief.
As much as I’d like to just grab the box and go, I know I have to be ready for an attack from Aziza. I reach out and open the box. Inside is a wooden spear, just as Nexus described. Its tip is a beautiful pink-colored crystal, and even before I touch it, I can feel the power coming off it in waves.
“What are you doing? Just grab the thing and let’s go,” Aziza says from behind me.
Whether it’s her talking or the Horseman, I know she’s right. I have to grab this spear and end this thing one way or the other. I reach out and grasp the shaft of the spear firmly. My mouth is dry and my heart is racing. This is it. This is the moment I have to take on the Horseman and successfully split his soul from Aziza’s. In my head, the idea sounded simple enough, but
