Firebolt

Chapter 28

 A FAINT BURNING SMELL drifted from the glowing lanterns mounted on the walls. In the front of the cave was a drizzling waterfall that sent a misty spray into the air. The cave rumbled as a square stone hoisted from the floor. I wasn't sure at this point what I was supposed to do.

This was a bad idea. Taking a deep breath, I stepped toward the stone and words magically appeared on the wall to my right. "A challenge you have to complete in fifteen beats." I read the first words out loud, hoping it would help me make sense of them.

They do love their rhymes. The first two sentences disappeared.

"Paegeia is enchanted with dragons, shifts, and nymphs hidden behind a wall. The most important one is not one, but them all."

They have nymphs too.

I frowned, already confused, as the words swirled in my head.

C'mon, Elena, you have to think fast. The most important one?  The only thing that I could think of was Blake's words. I would have his respect when I exited those doors.

Not one but them all, Blake! The riddle was about the Rubicon.

I ran to the stone and found a puzzle. It looked ancient, and the blocks I needed to move were huge. This kind of puzzle was my favorite as a little girl, so this should be easy.

Ten square disks stood in front of me, and only one square empty space. I was allowed fifteen moves to get them into the right places. Each square disk had the sign of a different dragon embellished on it. I knew immediately that it was Blake's sign. I closed my eyes, imagining the order, as I'd intended to draw this on T-shirts for extra money but hadn't had enough time. The Fin-Tail was first and then the Copper-Horn; next was the Swallow Annex sign. The Crown-Tail and the Fire-Tail after that. That was the first five Metallic dragon signs. Then came the Chromatic dragons; the Snow dragon followed by the Moon-Bolt, the Sun-Blast and Green-Vapor. Last was the Night Villain. I had the final picture of Blake's sign fresh in my head.

I found the Fin-Tail and reached out for my first move. The square disk was stuck, and I couldn't move it. My heart pounded and sweat formed on my forehead. A picture of Lucian busy laying dynamite popped in my head.

Stop it, Elena, there is no time for negative thoughts. I pushed Lucian out of my mind. Deep breathes, Elena, you've got this.

I started to look around and found an hourglass-shaped object. Something told me that it was the timer, but the amount of sand didn't equal an hour. It was only fifteen minutes. I ran toward the glass and wiped off all the spider webs.

Jeepers! I hate that. A cold shudder ran up my spine as I rubbed the goose bumps from my arms. I took another deep breath and turned it over.

A big clicking sound indicated that I needed to hurry, so I ran back to the puzzle. I didn't have time to think, I just started moving the Fin-Tail into position. I worked out the order of disk movement that would allow all the others to end in their correct location. Every move was critical. The adrenaline must have been making my brain work ten times faster as I shifted the last one in place and closed my eyes.

My heart skipped a few beats.

The only thought that was running through my head was what the consequences would be if I was wrong. I would probably have to stay here forever, until I died.

The cave rumbled again. One of the walls had left an open doorway.

I blew out my breath slowly, not recalling breathing one time while I had waited. I turned around to look at the first door I had entered. Right behind it, Lucian and all my friends waited. I slipped through the wall without saying my goodbyes, and it closed behind me.