The Mage's Grave: Mages of Martir Book #1 (23 page)

I sincerely doubt we'll find the bones of deceased gods down there,
Durima thought.
Or anything else, for that matter. This island seems abandoned to me. No life here at all.

Of course, she and Gujak
would
have came to Bleak Rock much earlier than they did, but the Ghostly God had given them specific instructions to wait one week before going. He had told them that he wanted to time their arrival on Bleak Rock with his own journey to North Academy. He had said that timing the two events so they would happen simultaneously was very important because it was the only way to keep Skimif from putting a stop to his plans before they came to fruition, as Skimif could not be in two places at once.

That made some sense to Durima, she thought as she watched Gujak pick up a rock and toss it into the gap in the rock to test for any traps they were unaware of. She remembered well how Master had told her about how Skimif had came to Zamis last week and threatened to punish the Ghostly God for what his servants had done, forcing Master to 'apologize' for what he did and to vow never to do that again.

It always amazed Durima how naïve Skimif was. He always seemed ready and willing to believe in the inherent goodness of other people, no matter how awful they acted. She had never spoken with the God of Martir himself, but she had seen and heard enough about him to understand that much.

Then again, godlings tend to be a lot more naïve than normal gods,
Durima thought.
Perhaps he needs a few more centuries to grow up.

“Okay,” said Gujak. “L-Looks like the gap is safe to go through.”

Durima looked at the gap more closely. It was a thin slit in the rock, wide enough for someone like Gujak to slip through without trouble, but she did not think that her bulk would fit. She would have to widen the gap.

“Stand back,” Durima said to Gujak. “I'm going to use my geomancy to widen the entrance so I can enter. Shouldn't take more than a minute.”

Gujak retreated as much as he could on the narrow cliff that was the exterior of Bleak Rock. Once he was safely out of the way, Durima walked up to the gap and grabbed it with both claws. The rock felt old and crumbly under her hands, but it clearly wasn't going anywhere without some effort on her part.

Concentrating hard, Durima channeled her geomancy through her hands and into the island itself. It shouldn't be a very difficult move. As she had said to Gujak, it should only take a minute. Durima had widened cracks in the ground before with her magic. It was one of the simplest tasks a geomancer could do, a task that even a bad geomancer could do without messing it up too badly.

Which was why she was shocked when she felt her geomancy rebound back into her body. It sent her staggering backwards from the gap as breathless as if she had been punched in the gut by a professional fighter. She put her hands on her knees, gasping in pain, as Gujak approached her with a worried look on his face.

“What happened?” said Gujak. “Why do you look so tired?”

“Not … sure,” said Durima. Her knees were wobbly and unstable, which was why she didn't dare take even one step forward. “My magic … rebounded into my body.”

“See?” said Gujak. He gestured at the island all around them. “The rumors were true. Bleak Rock really is a place where magic doesn't work the way it's supposed to. I knew it.”

Durima rolled her eyes. “Right. Well, whatever the reason for that, we still need to widen the gap. Otherwise, how will I get inside?”

“But how do we widen the gap without magic?” said Gujak, glancing at the entrance to the island's interior. “If it rejected your magic, it will probably do the same to mine if I try anything.”

Feeling her strength slowly returning to her limbs, Durima said, “We'll have to do it the old fashioned way: With our hands.”

-

It took Durima much longer to widen the gap with her bare hands and brute physical strength than it would have if her magic worked. Not to mention it required more effort, but there was no way around it, so she moved as fast as she could, her claws tearing through the crumbly rock like a badly formed pot of clay.

Ten minutes later, the gap was now wide enough for Durima and Gujak to pass through comfortably. Her fur covered in dust and her claws aching, Durima stepped back, panting as she looked at her handiwork.

“Wow, Durima,” said Gujak, looking at the widened entrance with some respect. “Y-You did it after all.”

“Of course,” said Durima, kicking aside some of the rubble lying at her feet. “Now let's not waste time standing around here admiring my work. We have a mission to accomplish and we can't accomplish it by standing here doing nothing.”

“I'll go first,” said Gujak, holding up one hand to volunteer. “I can use my light to see what's in there. If it's safe to follow, I will let you know immediately.”

Durima was in no mood, after her hard work of widening the entrance, to argue with that. She stepped aside as Gujak walked past her toward the entrance. He stopped in front of it and then held up his right hand, which began glowing like a torch.

He stuck his hand into the darkness of Bleak Rock's interior and leaned forward to get a better look. “Can't see much. It's really dark in there. But I do see what appears to be a natural stone slide that leads down.”

“Down where?” Durima asked.

“Not sure,” said Gujak. “Maybe it leads down to the bottom or maybe it will lead us into a pit full of poisonous snakes.”

“You're still going in,” said Durima. “You volunteered. If you try to go back on your word now—”

“I didn't say I wasn't going in,” said Gujak in a somewhat annoyed voice. “I was just saying that I have no idea what is in there.”

“Then why don't you stop your yammering and just go in there and find out?” said Durima. “And if you get bitten by a hundred poisonous snakes and die, well, I'll at least try to get your body so we can give you a proper burial.”

Gujak grimaced at that, but he didn't reply. He just grabbed the top of the entrance and then shoved himself forward. He rapidly vanished into the darkness, even with his hand still glowing. Soon he was gone completely, with not even one hint to suggest that he had been standing there moments ago.

Not more than a minute later, however, and Gujak's voice called up from the island's interior, “It's okay! The slide ends at a wall. No poisonous snakes or anything. But it is really, really cold down here, much colder than it was up there.”

Another shockingly cold gust of wind cut through Durima just then, causing her to shout back, “I'm coming down, so you'd better get out of the way so I don't slide into you!”

Durima walked up to the entrance and launched herself into it the same way Gujak had. She soon found herself sliding down rapidly through the darkness, completely unable to see even one inch in front of her. The stone slide was smooth but slimy and damp, which made the ride far less comfortable than it could have been.

Thankfully, the slide was not very long. Soon she saw Gujak's light, the only beacon in the thick darkness, and thanks to his small light saw a tall, solid-looking rock wall waiting for her at the bottom of the slide. Unsure how to slow down, Durima put her arms in front of her face just as she slammed into the rock wall full force.

The blow was dizzying, but not the worst blow she had ever received in her life when she considered how an enemy soldier had once beaten her brutally during the Katabans War.

Durima stood up, her head spinning, as Gujak said, “You all right?”

Durima shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “Yeah. Just slightly dizzy is all. I'll be fine in a few seconds.”

“That's good,” said Gujak. “Anyway, I've found only one way to head down deeper into the island's interior.”

“Only one way?” said Durima, looking at Gujak in confusion. “Are you sure there aren't anymore?”

“Absolutely,” said Gujak. “I did a thorough check and found only one hallway. Whoever carved out the interior of this island didn't care about giving room for anyone to breathe.”

Durima nodded. Now that her senses were returning, she, too, felt claustrophobic down here. Whether it was because of the heavy darkness that even Gujak's light only barely managed to penetrate or whether it was due to being inside an island, Durima felt like she was trapped in a cage. And she wanted out.

It's just a feeling,
Durima thought.
You've felt this way before. Remember the pit in the War? You didn't come all this way just to run away. Especially when running away would guarantee your punishment by Master.

“Then what are we waiting for?” said Durima. “Let's keep going. Master told us not to dilly-dally, and we won't.”

Gujak nodded and walked to the left. Durima followed and in a minute they were inside a narrow hallway that made Durima feel even more claustrophobic. The ceiling was low, the walls on either side felt like the compactor of the Mechanical Goddess. It didn't help that it was indeed very cold, just as Gujak had said, even colder than the outside.

But their progress was sadly cut short when they came upon a large pile of debris—perhaps fallen from the ceiling—blocking their path. The pile of rock chunks blocked the passage completely, leaving not even one inch for them to crawl through. The pile looked like it had been here a very long time, perhaps for a decade or more, although Gujak's small light did not show enough detail for Durima to know for certain.

“Uh oh,” said Gujak. “What happened here? Earthquake?”

“Probably,” said Durima. “Either that, or Mica came through here and decided to block off the rest of this island from intruders.”

“But this island isn't under Mica's domain,” said Gujak, looking over his shoulder at Durima. “The Mysterious One is probably responsible for it.”

Durima punched Gujak's shoulder. “Didn't you hear what Master said earlier? The Mysterious One is a myth. None of the gods rule this island. Myths can't block off underground tunnels.”

“I know, I know,” said Gujak, rubbing his shoulder where Durima had hit it. “But … well, sometimes Master isn't always right. I mean, no one has ever disproved the Mysterious One exists, right?”

“No one has ever proved he exists, either,” said Durima, “but that doesn't mean it's rational or intelligent to believe in him.”

“But don't you remember what Messenger-and-Punisher said to us once?” said Gujak. “Back when the Powers were going to destroy the world? He said that a god named the Mysterious One had ordered him to help rescue a bunch of mortals stuck on the sea floor.”

“Messenger-and-Punisher isn't exactly the most reliable source of information on the gods,” said Durima, shaking her head. “Remember when he said that Master wasn't looking for any servants when we asked him if he knew of any gods who needed servants?”

“Yeah, but—”

Gujak's sentence was cut off by a sudden shaking of the island around them. Without thinking, Durima pulled herself close to the floor, a habit she had developed during her stay on the Volcanic Isles during the Katabans War, where quakes like this one—and worse—were very common. Gujak just ended up stumbling against the right wall, clinging to it like it was his mother.

“W-What's going on here?” said Gujak, his teeth chattering as the island continued to shake. “Is the island sinking into the sea or—”

Once more, Gujak was interrupted, this time by the sound of a rock wall collapsing nearby. Durima looked to the left and saw, by the dim light of Gujak's shining hand, that the wall to her left had completely collapsed, revealing a gaping hole large enough for both of them to go through.

As soon as the last of the wall had fallen, the island ceased shaking. Neither Durima nor Gujak moved right away, however, as both were waiting to see if this was only a pause and if Bleak Rock would continue shaking.

The seconds ticked by until it finally became clear that Bleak Rock was not going to be shaking again anytime soon. That was good. Because Durima had worried for a moment that she and Gujak would be trapped underneath tons and tons of rock or maybe even drown, if the island had sunk into the ocean like Gujak feared.

“I-I don't understand,” said Gujak, his voice trembling. “Why did the island shake?”

“This area must be home to natural earthquakes,” said Durima. She gestured at the debris blocking off the hallway. “That's probably what caused that, not some silly myth.”

“Where does that way lead?” said Gujak, pointing at the area behind the collapsed wall. “To the gauntlet?”

“I don't know,” Durima admitted. “But since I doubt we could move this debris in a timely manner, why not go down there and see for ourselves? Maybe it's a short cut.”

Gujak shuddered. “Or maybe it's a trap.”

“Aside from that tremor, we haven't faced any actual problems down here yet,” said Durima. “Honestly, Gujak, I know what a dangerous place feels like and, while Bleak Rock is certainly, well, bleak, it's hardly what I'd call dangerous. We just need to be careful where we walk, that's all.”

“If you say so,” said Gujak. “I just keep expecting something really bad to happen at some point. I mean, this all seems way too easy. Surely we should have run into some kind of real problem at some point, right?”

“For once, I agree with you,” said Durima. “Normally, I'd be as paranoid as you, maybe even more so. But right now, I say we should take advantage of every opportunity we get. Remember what Master said about timing this with his mission.”

“All right,” said Gujak, although the way he glanced back the way they came told Durima all she needed to know about how he actually felt. “I'll lead the way, I guess, since I'm the one with the light and all.”

Gujak pushed away from the still-intact wall and entered the darkness beyond the collapsed one. Durima followed, keeping her eyes and ears wide open in case there was indeed something dangerous awaiting them below.

-

As it turned out, behind the collapsed wall was a spiral stone staircase that went down deep into Bleak Rock's interior. It was impossible to tell who had carved this staircase, and when, but based on how old it looked, Durima guessed that it had been here for years.

Despite its age, the staircase held their weight. The steps, however, were slightly slippery due to moisture in the air settling on them, forcing Durima and Gujak to walk down much more slowly than they otherwise would. This made Durima impatient because she remembered Master's emphasis on completing the mission quickly.