Black Avatare

25 | PRISONER

The kinnaras busied themselves with work all day. It was only in the evening that some of them showed any sign of leaving.

Binara shadowed a group of kinnaras through the courtyard and arrived at a set of double doors set into a wall. To her surprise, they flew up and disappeared through a tiny trapdoor high above her head.

She had seen the trapdoors in other parts of the palace—what she thought to be some kind of ventilation system, when it was actually a network of tunnels specifically for the kinnaras' use. Binara removed the bar lock and pushed the doors, which creaked open.

A passageway stretched out, lit by wall lamps that barely kept the darkness at bay. As Binara delved in, the walls soon turned to hewn rock, and she passed wagons tucked away in nooks. The way twisted and turned until it ended at a metal cage, which hung suspended over a dark hole. Chains extended up, connected to a contraption with gears and pulleys. Neat. An ancient elevator to transport stuff up the rock.

She opened the cage and got in. In the deadened tunnel, even the smallest sound worried her nerves. After a quick examination of the interior, Binara pulled a lever. Sure enough, it set the mechanism in motion. Metal grated against metal, the noise dismally loud. The reverberations scuttled up her feet, and the elevator descended ever so slowly.

It was a long way down—hundreds of feet in absolute blackness. When the elevator came to a stop, Binara found herself in a cave. Storage boxes were stacked up on one side. In the dim lighting, she could make out the mouths of tunnels—small and black. However, what grabbed her attention was a slab of stone that covered the cave's entrance. A complicated mechanism stood in place, obviously used to slide it open. So from the outside, it looks natural.

She walked up to the levers, which required more strength than working the elevator. She angled herself and pushed with all her body weight. It was still awkward, since she could only use one arm.

After huffing and puffing, she managed to slide the stone just enough for her to wriggle through. The kinnaras probably transported fresh produce in the morning, though now, they had to bring in material for repairs.

Binara emerged on a flattened rock, and directly ahead, a wall of deodar cedars towered up. Translucent leaves weighed down the boughs, which moved in a gust of wind that was refreshingly cool. I did it! I actually did it!

She relished the thrill of the moment. If her internal clock was right, she had an hour at most before she was missed. Manora would expect her soon in order to get ready for dinner. Half of her just wanted to take off, but in order to embark on the quest to Mount Meru, she needed a map, supplies and both arms in working order.

As Binara ventured into the wilderness, she spied a dirt road on one side, where wagon tracks cleaved through the undergrowth. She avoided it in case she ran into the kinnaras. The ghostly forest wasn't as dense as Mayakele, which made it easier to trek through it. The moonlight that shone down was brighter than any full moon night in Hevana, but it was still dark. Through the dimness and mystery, bioluminescence twinkled—a constellation of insects, flowers and fungi.

Half an hour later, Binara arrived at a clearing, where a fallen trunk hosted mushrooms unlike any she had seen before. Their caps were so large, she could practically sit on them. Before she could take a closer look, the ferns swished to her side. She spun around.

It was a monitor lizard the size of a man. When it snarled, a frill unfurled—vivid turquoise speckled with white. Two more animals waddled into view, with similar displays of aggression. Binara backed away. Her heart rate spiked with each step. She had a feeling she couldn't outrun them.

Without warning, the first one lunged. She recoiled, a scream exploding from her throat.

The animal never reached her. A dark, repulsive force flung it back a good few meters. Ferns flattened, the crackle rending the quiet. The two other lizards met a similar fate. The next second, they righted themselves and scuttled away.