“She is a lightbringer,” he says proudly. “A very rare elementalist, one who can bend light and heat at her will.”
I continue to gaze at her. I hear her father’s words from when I looked in on her past: I seen the fire inside her. The light seems to surround her and come from within at the same time. It is truly remarkable. She smiles. “Neat, innit?”
“Emily and Gabriel discovered their abilities early on,” Balthazar explains. “In time, you, too, will learn to control your gift.”
I pull my gaze away from Emily as we head farther into the cave. Balthazar leads the way, with Emily behind him. I come next, with Gabriel taking up the rear.
We are in a winding tunnel, its walls made of a yellow chalky substance. The dirt beneath our feet crunches as if we are walking on small stones and pebbles. It’s stuffy and clammy and reminds me of being in the wardrobe at home, which already seems so long ago. Every now and then I hear the plink, plink, plink of water dripping from an unseen roof. If not for Emily, we would be surrounded by darkness.
“The ancients mined these caves for lime and rare minerals,” Balthazar quietly points out. “It was a different world then, and much harsher.”
I wonder about that and think on what it must have been like to live a thousand years ago, without the modern conveniences we have today.
At first, the path is wide enough for the four of us to walk side by side, but it soon narrows to form a crevice.
“We’re stuck,” Emily says. “We can’t get through.”
My heart catches, but then Balthazar exhales deeply, turns sideways, and slides in.
“Skinny, that one.” Emily snickers.
We hear Balthazar’s voice through the crack. “Come in,” he calls, his voice echoing. “One at a time. You first, Emily. I need light.”
Emily nods and squeezes through. I look at the narrow passage, then let out a breath and shimmy in, the same way Balthazar did. The walls of the crevice close against my ribs, pressing in so strongly, I feel I will be crushed. Gabriel follows me with a quiet grunt.
When we come out on the other side, we are met by walls covered in a black crusty material, as if hot lava has rushed over them. Water trickles through fissures and crevices. I peer up at a forest of ivory-colored spears. At my feet are objects of the same color, but round and blunt, bringing to mind a graveyard of broken teeth. My clothes are filthy. I can feel the cold seeping into my boots.
Gabriel looks up. “Stalactites,” he says. “The ones below are stalagmites.”
I look up at the long, gleaming daggers and shudder. I pray that one does not fall.
Balthazar leads the way down the passage. There is no sound at all beyond the echo of our footsteps and the drip of water falling from above. There are places on the rock wall that look like ice, slick and shiny. The path veers to the left, and we walk a few more minutes in silence. Just as the quiet is beginning to unsettle me, Balthazar speaks. “Necromancers embrace the dark, for in the night they find their power. They know what humans fear, and use it against them.”
I shudder. Now he tells us this?
A howl echoes through the cave.
It is not a human voice. It sounds almost like an animal in distress. But before I can ask what it is, the answer is revealed.
Ahead of us, a figure in shredded black garments seems to appear out of thin air. The face is elongated, and the mouth, a black hole of nothing, hangs open in a silent scream.
“A ghoul,” Gabriel hisses.
“Your tools,” Balthazar whispers. “Open the satchel, Jessamine.”
Every instinct I have is telling me to run. There is a monster in front of us. But then I hear Mother’s voice in my head: Within you lies strength yet to be discovered. Like your father . . . and your mother. Never forget that, Jess.
I reach across my chest to open the satchel, and right at that moment, the creature comes screaming toward us.
I set my stance as Balthazar taught me to, but I trip on one of the stalagmites and fall back. I immediately rise, and the beast is on us in seconds. Balthazar reaches into his waistcoat and whips out two gleaming daggers. A cold blue light ripples along the edge of each blade. He slashes furiously, but the thing moves with lightning speed, bouncing from wall to wall, as if made of something besides human flesh.
A sound like shattering glass rings throughout the cave. My ears feel as if they will burst. What is it? I turn my head quickly to see Gabriel, his mouth open wide. It is coming from him. Is he singing?
“The lash!” Balthazar cries. With trembling hands, I quickly open the flap to my satchel and withdraw the whip from its case. The monster reaches for Balthazar’s throat, but he steps aside and slashes at its face. The stench is unbearable. Two rows of sharp teeth jut from its lower lip.
“Strike!” Balthazar commands me. “Strike now, Jessamine!”