I dragged my mind away from that miserable thought and looked around the cavernous space. Shivers wracked me, but as with everything that scared me, I tried to ignore it.
“If you’re not going to take advantage of my kind offer of body heat, let me at least dry you off the boring way,” Aidan said.
My gaze darted to his. “The boring way?”
He held out a hand, and a flame burst to life in his palm.
“A Fire Mage,” I said. They were strong. Suspicion hit me. “All four?”
“Yes.”
Whew. Figured he could control earth, wind, fire, and water. That was super rare. Someone who could control all four was called an Elemental Mage. There were probably only a few in the world.
Was there anything average about this guy?
“But not all are equally strong,” he added. “Fire and water are my strengths.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re a freaking weakling. Thank god I’m not in a cursed temple with you as backup.” I edged closer to the flame he held in his hand. It was warmer than a normal flame, and I could feel it drying my clothes.
“You know, you could just use your powers and duplicate this.” He nodded at the flame.
“Why, when I can let you do all the work?”
“True. But I can feel your powers. You’re not as weak as you say you are.”
“But I’m lazy,” I said, my heart starting to race. He could feel my power, at least the strength of it. But he hadn’t mentioned feeling that I was a FireSoul. I latched onto that hope.
Was I going to have to use some of my powers around him just to convince him that I wasn’t hiding something? But if I did, I’d blow something up for sure.
I shrugged off my jacket, which was probably ruined, and turned so that the flame could dry my back. It was a quick process, and the heat of the flame soon moved lower.
“Are you drying my butt?”
“It looked cold,” Aidan said.
It was, so I decided to ignore how close his hand was to my rear and focus on getting dry. I also tried to ignore the tingling low in my belly, but I wasn’t as good at that.
When I was mostly dry—save for my feet—I turned back around and searched the dark, holding up the hand that wore the lightstone. I could make out most of the cavernous space—three sides, with the fourth still in darkness. We stood on a ledge that extended to the right, into the dark. The rest of the cavern was flooded. The water was dark and murky. Sea monster water.
“I am so not looking forward to getting back into that,” I said. I glanced at Aidan. “But next time, could you turn into a dolphin? I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins.”
“I’m not a petting zoo.”
“I didn’t say I’d pet you.” Damn. That sounded dirty.
“Now that you put it that way, I could turn into a dolphin.”
I scowled to cover my laugh then turned and set off down the rock ledge. My dragon sense was pulling me that way, and I was grateful for it. Aidan joined me.
Soon, my light illuminated three long shapes on the water. I squinted through the dark and approached slowly.
“Boats,” Aidan said.
“Viking boats.” I took in their sleek symmetry. There were three, their sides shallow and low to the water, the bows and sterns curved gracefully up in S-shapes. They were beautiful. I might have stolen ancient magic for a living, but I couldn’t help but respect the amazing things that were created hundreds of years before I was born. Whenever I wasn’t raiding or shopping online, I liked to read up on the history of the places I visited. “This design is at least a thousand years old. Viking.”
“The monks did mention the Viking raids. But I didn’t realize they meant the scroll.”
“Neither did I.
“After a thousand years, the boats are still floating,” Aidan said.
“Magic.” We approached. There were no oars. “Definitely magic. This is how we get to the next part of the tomb.”
“All right. Which one do you like?” he asked.
“The big one.” We stepped on board. The deck was flat, but the boat was broad enough that it didn’t rock much. I walked around, looking for anything that could ignite a spell that would propel the boat. A carving, a lever, anything.
There was nothing.
“Can you make the water move?” I asked. “Push us along?”
“You can’t do anything?”
“I could, but I want to save my strength.”
He looked at me suspiciously. “I thought there was something odd about how you don’t use your power, but now I know there is.”
“You’re imagining things. Now let’s get going.”
“I’m not,” he said. “And I’ll get you to tell me what your deal is.”
Not in this lifetime.
I glanced pointedly at the water. It swelled slightly behind the stern, pushing us along.
“Thanks,” I said.
The boat drifted along the ledge as I walked to the bow. I held out my lightstone. It illuminated a dark tunnel entrance ahead of us. We glided beneath it. The air smelled staler, the fresh water and stone scent of the cavern fading.
I shined the light on the tunnel walls. Intricate carvings of swirls and knots decorated the space. Carvings of dragons swirled amongst them. Viking, definitely.