Pandora's Box

Chapter 12: Part II

Pandora lead the way with one wand raised like a torch and the other by her side. She dispelled the light from the lower wand and with a elemental word of power conjured a spirit of fire into the darkened crystal. Donovan followed the princess less than a pace behind, sword readied against the lurking shadows.

"I don't like not being able to see more than two feet ahead," Donovan said. The young cadet rotated and took his next few steps backward, covering their rear flank, boots crunching on some loose pebbles. A wall of pitch rolled steadily along behind him; a predator biding its time for the right moment.

Pandora held the lit wand to the unseen ceiling and muttered, "illuminara". A flaring orb of blue light shot skyward, casting a flickering sheen that painted the cavern's empty innards. Save for a few errant piles of half-hewn stones and left over dessicated building materials the hollowed out space was empty.

"Better?" Pandora asked, smiling coyly.

"Much. Would've been even better if you'd just done that in the first place."

Pandora shrugged a shoulder. "I figured you Citadel types favor the element of surprise."

Donovan feigned a frown. "Well-played." He nodded ahead to a point at the edge of the light where the cavern walls narrowed. "Maybe this time I should go first."

Pandora raised the flame-charged wand in her right hand. "I can handle myself."

"I know you can." Donovan nudged the wand down with his free hand. "But if something happens to you before we even get to Kasaadi's tomb where would we be? What do you think the odds are of me defeating your father's demon and the reincarnated remains of one of the mightiest dragons that ever lived? I'd be burnt toast before I could blink especially if the Dawn Splitter returned to the world as your father did."

The princess began an argument then thought against uttering it aloud. Instead, she simply nodded and gestured for the narrow pass with her chin. She knew Donovan was right. Even as a cadet his bladework was more than proficient. But it would prove terribly outmatched against a being whose slumber outlasted a mortal lifetime times one hundred.

Bats flapped between the angled spaces of the mausoleum's support structures high overhead. Pandora hadn't realized how far down they'd climbed—the towering height of the cavern's walls juxtaposed against the distance they'd already walked was staggering. Pandora watched as Donovan sheathed his sword, favoring instead the more manageable dagger drawn from his boot. She slid into the tight space behind him and immediately felt like she were being sandwiched between a giant's palms.

They scraped and side stepped through the pass one agonizing sidle at a time. Pandora felt for Donovan's plight more than her own: his stockier build surely provided an extra burden than her own lithe form. Even still, feeling the stone wall press against her chest and back bred a certain breathless terror in the pit of her stomach. A horrifying picture of getting stuck and suffocating alone in the dark played in the more grim section of her imagination. Stop that...

"How much farther?" Pandora asked, trying her best not to sound panicked.

Donovan grunted. "Not much. Maybe a third of the way to go." He took two more more scraping steps and stopped. Donovan stretched as tall as he could and then craned his neck. "I think I see light ahead."

"Good."

"Good? How is that good?" Donovan replied.

Pandora let a sigh slip louder than intended. "You never pay attention in lessons do you?"

"Some of us didn't have the privilege of private tutors at the kingdom's highest school, Pandi," Donovan uttered through gritted teeth.

The princess sucked in a breath and squeezed through a tight section that she had no idea how Donovan had managed. "The light is coming from the obelisks of the Four Winds, the eternal watchers of Kasaadi's final resting place."

Donovan grunted his understanding and then fell into the open space beyond the coffin-like pass. He turned back and offered Pandora his hand, then guided the princess free. A collective gasp was shared.

Kasaadi's tomb was unlike anything Pandora had ever seen. A terraced ziggurat stood proudly ahead. Leafy plants with wide, emerald fronds were arranged in dozens of well-manicured clusters on each of the ziggurat's steppes. A gilded staircase wider than the King's Avenue on the Great Road climbed from the base to the plateau of similar inlaid gold at the top. Shining obelisks of the same sun-streaked precious metal stood watch at each corner of the incredible shrine. Roaring fires crackled at the crown of each. A thin waterfall sparkled like cascading diamonds, bifurcating the magnificent stairs, and feeding several sprawling pools on the lower levels.

"I've never dreamed anything could be so beautiful," said Pandora quietly.

"I have." Donovan regarded the princess a second longer than was appropriate.

Pandora felt warmth tinge her cheeks. "Novi... I just wanted you—"

Mocking laughter, deep and rumbling, echoed in the shrine's cavern. A thundering crack rattled the cavern. Loose stones and a tempest of silt fell from the ceiling. The ground rocked violently and Pandora fought to remain upright.

"No time for that now. We have to go!" Donovan shouted over the din.

They bolted for the ziggurat's stairs. More cracks came overhead and melon-sized stones fell free. Pandora did her best to keep the wand raised while sprinting, tracking any stones that threatened. A crack louder than an earthquake's roar split the air. Pandora sensed the sudden intrusion in the air and skidded to a halt. She felt the monolithic stone loosening. She shouted for Donovan to get clear, but the vibrating cavern swallowed her cries.

If she blasted the stone, the shower of shrapnel would cut Donovan to pieces if he couldn't get to cover. He was too far ahead and moving too fast to throw clear of the danger with a spell.

The cavern lurched to one side like a storm-battered ship. Pandora landed hard on her rump, but quickly scrambled back to her feet. Donovan fared worse. The boy had fallen flat on his face and the rumbling aftershocks kept him prone and struggling. Donovan looked back to the princess. Pandora watched in horror as a massive hunk of the cavern's ceiling finally freed itself.

And fell.