Supernatural Games (13 page)

He returned the paper to his pocket before he stepped onto the nearest illuminated tile. His foot hadn’t settled on the step for more than a second when the tile exploded upward. It had been shattered by a row of spikes that had blasted upward when he stepped on to the tile. The vampire had been speared by one of them, which immediately set off the alarms. He was now out of the competition. He would be lucky to walk again. His foot was impaled by at least two spikes. Shit, this design team was getting spiteful. He would live but would limp. Then I heard the stones grind and felt the room rotate back the way I originally found it. When it stopped, the door opened and a team of medics came in to recover the vampire.

They got him on a gurney and out in five minutes or less. I understood everyone had to stop and stay still until the all clear signal allowed the games to continue. They all had tracking devices on, so if they cheated they would be disqualified. They didn’t have long to wait before the all clear signal sounded to announce the resumption of the games. The evacuation team had barely cleared the area. I slid down along the wall to wait for the next competitor to enter. It was a matter of minutes before the next challenger ran into the room. The wizard stopped just inside the doorway. He didn’t hesitate as he walked up to the statue on the right. All I could think was, here we go again. As if on cue, the arrows again rained down on everything in the room. The wizard wasn’t as fast as the lycan, and took an arrow to the thigh, but he escaped the room. I doubted his wound was serious enough to eliminate him.

The elf was the next competitor to enter and scan the room to study the clues before walking around the exterior. When he again faced the statues, he stood and examined them. Finally, he walked toward the statue on the left. Like the vampire before him, he managed to find the spot on the statue that caused the room to rotate and the tiles to glow. Unlike the vampire, he moved into the room and appeared to be counting the small squares on the wall. He walked around the room until he was in almost the same place the vampire had been when he triggered the spikes. However, unlike the vampire, he stepped over the tiles and reached into the small window directly across from the spear-sprouting tile.

He pulled his hand out and held whatever he recovered up closer to his face to get a better look at it. From my vantage point, I couldn’t be certain what he was holding, but it was small. He carried the object he found back toward the statues. For several minutes, he walked around both statues, thoroughly inspecting them. Finally, he approached the statue on the right, placed the object on the statue, then stepped back. Anticipating what, I didn’t know. Then the spot where he placed the object began to glow. The object got brighter. It appeared to vibrate, shimmering more brightly with each second until it erupted, releasing a beam of light that illuminated the wall on the opposite side of the room. The design team would give the producers of the Indiana Jones films a run for their money.

The elf jogged to the spot aglow with the light from the statue. I watched as he ran his hands over the place where the light hit the wall. Whatever he was looking for, it didn’t seem like he had found it. There was a brief flicker and the area where the light hit the wall slid down into the floor, exposing a small compartment. I needed to get closer to see what was inside. Inching slowly forward, I moved silently along the wall, not wanting to startle the elf. When I was close enough, I saw a dagger and a jewel of some sort inside. I paused to see which one the elf would choose. I had no idea what the clues were, therefore had no inkling what the right choice would be.

However, if it had been me, I would have taken both in case my first choice was wrong. Apparently great minds think alike, because the elf snatched both and stepped back to consult his notes. He slid the dagger into his belt and put the jewel in his pocket. Then he stood there so long I thought he had nodded off. Finally, he moved back to the statues and again he approached the left one, circling around until he stood in front of it. Then he leaped up and grabbed onto its outstretched arm. He swung up and around the arm until he was close enough to reach its face. Then he took the jewel out of his pocket and pushed it into the empty right eye socket on the statue. I was preparing to dodge another barrage of arrows, thinking he made a mistake. With my luck, the next volley of arrows would be directed at me. I thought he made the incorrect choice when the statue began to glow. I backed up, preparing for the worst, certain he made the wrong choice. The elf hopped down and watched as the statue slowly sank into the floor until it disappeared from view. The elf seemed satisfied, smug even; but he hadn’t witnessed the wrath of this room. Again, he considered the remaining statue, moving toward it before walking slowly, alertly around it. He circled the statue several more times, then returned to stand in front of the remaining statue. The Elf reviewed his notes before he once again advanced toward the statue, stopping momentarily to remove the dagger from his belt. He sat back on his haunches in front of the statue and ran his hands along the dais at the base of the platform.

He must have found what he was looking for, because he raised the dagger and stabbed the floor until there was a loud click. The statue silently slid down into the floor just like the one before it had. Not waiting to see what would happen, the elf walked backwards until he reached the center of the room. I couldn’t say I blamed him, I’d seen the ceiling shower the area with arrows and the floor hiccup stakes. As we watched, a small obelisk with a gold coin atop rose from the floor. The elf moved forward and picked up the coin. Sirens blared, indicating he’d won the second challenge.

T
he remaining competitors were rounded up and transported back to the Four Courts. The vampire was too injured to continue, and was replaced by another member of his team. He would recover but not in time to finish the competition. The fae were tallying up points and preparing for the next stage of games. My team and I were debriefing and reviewing the video feeds shot during today’s competition.

“Lauren, I think you’ll want to see this,” Tokem said.

“What is it? No wait, we might as well get everyone, then we won’t have to repeat ourselves. Besides, they may see something we missed.”

Once everyone was assembled, Tokem showed a clip of my fight with big bird. I watched the entire encounter and felt good about how I had handled things. That’s when Tokem directed our attention to the shadowy figure, which was vaguely seen approaching from slightly right of where I’d tangled with the bird.

“Can you zoom in on the image?”

“I can, but as you will see, it won’t help.”

“What the heck?” I muttered, as the hooded figured turned to walk away before disappearing. The figure seemed to flicker like there was a short in a wire, then disappeared. I never saw anything like it.

“Thoughts?” I asked after Tokem replayed the stranger’s disappearance from several angles.

“That’s not all. Watch the clip in the room, when the elf wins the second challenge,” Tokem said as he put another video clip up on the monitor.

We watched from the point where the elf enters the room until he wins. Tokem replayed the clip several times, and on the second one, I saw what Tokem wanted to bring to our attention. Around the time the elf picks up the jewel and the dagger, the air seems to shimmer right behind me, almost like a mirage. I couldn’t see anything that would have caused the air to be disturbed. Still, when I moved over to see what the elf had found, the disturbance followed right behind me. I thought back to my time in the chamber and couldn’t remember anything out of the ordinary. Okay, the entire challenge wasn’t normal, but I don’t remember feeling any magic. There was no way to tell if this was good or bad because, to my knowledge, it hadn’t harmed me.

“Lauren, I don’t like this. I think you should get scanned to make sure you didn’t get spelled or bugged.”

“Jason’s right. I’ll go with you and keep watch until you are cleared,” Traygen added.

I knew they were right, but wasn’t happy about it. Returning to the world council headquarters, I went through the hassle of checking for bugs and spells. I was clean. I’m not sure if I was pleased or more worried. Fortunately, I had a plan, one that would make Traygen happy. Once I got home, I spelled it out for him and he enthusiastically agreed. We both thought it best to keep the details a secret in case our meeting rooms were bugged. Traygen was taking the lead in the third challenge where the landscape was an ice-covered, bone chillingly cold and deadly design.

Traygen explained the third challenge as an arctic environment finished in a Russian renaissance style building. The building sat atop catacombs and a series of burial chambers. Think a cross between Dr. Zhivago’s snowy, ice-encrusted home and the domes and bell towers of The Church of the Transfiguration, part of the Kizhi Pogost. Not an art major? Think Russian Onion domes. Lots of onion-shaped domes covered with wooden shingles. Add a touch of symbolism with the eight-pointed star, and you have a good overview of the challenges facing the competitors in the third universe. I kid you not, this setting required the participants to traverse snowfields filled with bottomless crevasses, harried by the constant threat of avalanches, calving glaciers and blinding snowstorms to find a prize hidden in a booby-trapped wooden Russian church. It just proves Billy Joel had the right idea when he suggested he’d rather “laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.” The faithful of this church were serious about punishing their sinners. I shuddered to think what they would’ve done to me.

Once I got my clean bill of health, Traygen gathered the entire team to go over our assignments for patrolling the third site and protecting its participants. We were halfway through the games, and all the competitors were still eligible. The lycans and vampires were both down a team member. The fae and the elves were tied for first, with the vampires a close second. Things were about to get very interesting, and unfortunately we were no closer to finding our saboteurs.

“You’ve all got the plans for our glacially challenged, snow covered, polar blasted winter scape. Tokem will again take the first stage and Corbin, the second. I’ll take the third, and Lauren will have the final phase. As you all know, we still don’t know who our spies are and this design is lethal. Do not take any unnecessary risks and keep your mic open. You all have the talismans Lauren gave you. Use them if you need to be immediately pulled out. If there are no questions, keep safe and we’ll meet back here at the completion of universe three,” Traygen instructed.

Before we could leave, there was a knock on our door. Tokem answered and flew outside. He was gone several minutes before he returned.

“Hold up a minute, I think security has something you’ll want to see. This tape was recorded at the conclusion of the second challenge and was taken in the same area where we overheard our conspirators. I had the team place cameras as well as an audio feed.”

Tokem played the footage and we watched in rapt silence.

“I’ll be damned, it’s Mab’s warlock. I don’t recognize the other guy.”

“Lauren, I recognize him. This isn’t getting any better. It’s Trax, and he is a member of the world council,” Jason said.

“Why would he want to discredit the council? I get why the warlock would be involved. Mab is warring with the summer court and she still has a price on my head.”

“Trax was passed over for my position and has tried to discredit me ever since. Your pardon only embittered, enraged, and emboldened him. He thought when you stole the spear it would cost us both our jobs. I’ll handle this. I’ll take the evidence to the council, and we will take Trax into custody. I’ll send word to Mab and suggest she pull her warlock out, or we will tell Queen Aerlene. She won’t risk the scandal. Good work Tokem. The rest of you, keep safe.”

W
e shuffled out of the room to don our snowsuits and board our artic snowmobiles. This wasn’t an ideal mode of transportation. We would leave a clear trail for anyone looking to harm, kill, or maim us, but it wasn’t safe to fly in these conditions. The only good news was, the blowing and drifting snow would erase our tracks almost instantly. Oh, happy days. I got dressed and reviewed the final challenge and the surrounding area. I didn’t want any surprises, and besides, it would take them a while to get anywhere near the final stage. Satisfied I knew what I was in for, and deciding I’d stalled as long as I could before going out into the frozen tundra, I revved up my snowmobile and headed out.

What in the hell did I get myself into? I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I was literally driving blind. The snow fell and blew so hard, visibility was near zero. I’d have to rely on my GPS to navigate my way painstakingly and carefully forward to avoid being swallowed by a crevasse or lost under an avalanche. I felt highly confident an avalanche would send my claustrophobia off the charts. The thought alone nearly made me hyperventilate. At times like these, I considered early retirement.

My progress was abysmally slow, as I nimbly maneuvered around obstacles both real and imagined. Honestly, I just prayed I wouldn’t miss anything. As I crested a mountain pass, I paused for a moment, deciding this was a good place to recheck my coordinates. I stopped to make certain I was following the correct bearing. That’s when I heard the crack. For a heart pounding second, I thought I’d imagined it, then picked up the thunderous roar of the advancing snow. I hit the throttle and jetted down the mountainside, afraid to waste precious seconds looking behind me. I dodged trees and rocks to escape the avalanche pursuing me.

I thought I might get lucky and beat the thing down the mountain, when large chunks of ice, rocks, and trees drew even with me and passed me. I wouldn’t be able to outrun this thing, and if I didn’t do something quickly, I risked being hit, killed, and buried. Chanting, I threw up a shield as I angled the snowmobile sharply left away from the mountain’s natural contour. I prayed most of the snow and debris would continue to follow the gravitational pull of the slope and flow downward. I was banking on this, no pun intended, and praying for any debris following in my wake wouldn’t be large enough to smash me to smithereens. I careened off a snowbank as I shot across its path. Not having a plethora of options, I ducked down and held on to the machine for dear life. I was bashed, battered, and flung from the machine. I sailed through the air, landed hard, and blacked out.

When my head cleared, I tried to move. I strained to shift, flex, and wriggle my limbs. Unfortunately, my legs were pinned and my upper body covered with snow, but I could move my arms enough to free myself. Luckily, I still had air left inside my shield. Activating my bracelet, I chanted a spell and sent a surge of heat through the snow that entombed me. It didn’t take long to melt the snow enough for me to dig out. Thankfully, I didn’t appear to be injured, and I found the snowmobile twenty yards further down the mountainside. I prayed it would start. This was not a place anyone wanted to be stranded and left on foot. I’d freeze before I ever got to the snow and ice covered structures. Thankfully, my luck held because the machine started up, and I was on my way to the fortress of the frozen and damned.

I hoped everyone else had an easier time than I had. It took me another hour and a half of picking my way around crevasses, avoiding seemingly bottomless caverns, and dodging a few gigantic polar bears. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought the bears were part of the design team’s plans. They were enormous and as ferociously intimidating as they should be. Fortunately, they were not stalking me while they fired flaming salvos of death and destruction. In other words, they weren’t the saboteur’s familiars, which seemed hell-bent on killing me. Oh, I’m sure they’d make a snack of me if they caught me. Thankfully, I wasn’t their singular focus.

I crested another mountain pass, and spotted the summer and winter churches separated by a bell tower. The buildings sat on an island off the coast, surrounded by a sheet of ice. It should be thick enough this time of year to cross with my snowmobile. I knew from my notes, the island was approximately a mile out into the ocean. The buildings sat on top of a hill in an area surrounded by open fields enclosed with a low wooden fence. The church and buildings were built entirely from wood without using a single nail.

I steered my snowmobile toward the buildings and out onto the ice. It was strangely quiet as I crossed the ice field. The only sound came from the engine and crunching of ice under my skis. The place was extraordinarily beautiful, an image seemingly frozen in time. I saw no animals anywhere. My guess is, the animals had better sense than the rest of us, and were somewhere shielded from the elements. The birds had migrated. The complex was silent as it lay blanketed in a thick layer of ice and snow.

I would love to explore this place, but not today. It had taken me too long to dig out. Duty called, and I knew I should get down to the summer church, called the Church of the Transfiguration. The church had twenty-two wooden domes, and was the largest wooden structure in northern Russia at just over thirty-seven meters. It was time for me to prepare for the competitors’ arrival, but first, I cautiously made my way around the three buildings.

The three wooden structures were rife with symbolism. They had onion-shaped domes that reached for the sky like open flames of a roaring fire. Their heights varied, and they almost seemed to flicker in the waning light. Every joint was scribed or dovetailed, and the interiors were adorned with tiled ceilings. The wall inside were embellished with religious icons. The altar was formed by two overlapping or offset squares forming an eight-pointed star. The smaller church was called the Church of Intercession, had nine domes, and was slightly smaller at 32 meters. The center dome was larger and surrounded by the eight smaller domes. Again, the symbolic use of the eight-pointed star, sometimes referred to as the Star of Regeneration. The symbol teemed with magic, and given the continued presence of our spy, it gave this place a perilous and menacing air.

I tried not to dwell on the negative and found a spot to hide my snowmobile, then walked quickly around the three structures, looking for runes and any sign I wasn’t alone. I didn’t spend much time searching the larger church because there were too many places runes could be hidden from view. The smaller church had fewer domes and presented a less convoluted exterior. I scanned the obvious places and didn’t find anything. When I reached the relatively plain bell tower, I climbed the turret to the belfry and looked around. The top floor was octagonal with eight pillars holding up the roof. The bell was tarnished brass and looked like it hadn’t been rung in years. As I turned to leave, I found the runes.

They had been etched into the base of one of the pillars. We now knew who had put these things here. I took comfort in knowing they would soon be arrested. Still, their handy-work remained. I stood still and searched the area for any obvious signs of danger and depravity. Not seeing anything using my eyes, I carefully sent out my magical energy. It didn’t take long to get an answer. There was something coming from the direction of the smaller church. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it was a familiar, as it didn’t have the essence of menace and evil I’d experienced at the oasis or around the explosion site. I turned to scan the smaller church. I couldn’t see anything, which meant I’d need to go inspect mini me. The architects apparently liked the bigger church so much they’d replicated the design on a smaller scale with the Church of Intercession.

I walked back down the stairs and exited the bell tower, then walked to the smaller church. However, before I reached it, I realized the trace of evil came from beyond the smaller church in an area near the water. This would be a good time to employ my hologram. I chanted the spell to release it, and watched my holographic image approach the shore. I remained standing, concealed in the shadows near the smaller church. I felt rather than saw a disturbance of the energy fields over the frozen shoreline. Since I was compelling the image of myself, it was mimicking my thought patterns. Therefore, since I had stopped to look for the source of the disturbance, my holographic image had too. That’s when an earsplitting crack caused me to jump. The hologram leaped with a start, and spun toward the noise. It had mirrored my response acting like my shadow.

Holy shit, the ice was birthing a giant frost demon. This was no familiar, but a real freaking frosty nightmare breaking free from its icy tomb. As it shook off chunks of ice, it stood to face the shore and roared a defiant challenge. I wasn’t sure if it was trying to blow my image away or not. It didn’t matter; it had my attention. Cold ebbed outward from the demon covering everything in its path with a thick layer of hoarfrost. I staggered under the assault of the malevolent magic. A magic as dark as the driven snow was white, it radiated pure unadulterated wickedness. I’d felt this magic signature at the oasis and the explosion site. This thing was deadly, and the competitors would be arriving any minute. I needed to dispatch this thing or lead it away. Before I could decide on a course of action, it stomped on shore and crushed my image into dust. Okay, now I was motivated. Who did this freak think he was? It had taken me hours to create that image.

I raced back to where I’d left my snowmobile and fired it up, then headed back to find Frosty and lead him back up into the mountains. I got within a hundred yards of him and chucked one of my bearings in his direction before I left. I couldn’t hit him from there, but was sure I’d get his attention. A few seconds later, the ground shook and Frosty roared his defiance. I throttled up and sped off up the mountain, not daring to look back. I was being pursued, because the ground trembled with every step the demon took. I’d have to slow him down a little, so I could get to the pass with enough time to set up my trap. When I reached the notch between the two peaks, I sent a fiery blast into the snow, causing it to shift and heave an avalanche of snow and ice toward the demon.

He again roared in frustration just before he was overrun by the advancing snow. The demon stood at least seven feet tall, dressed like a Viking warrior complete with the horned helmet. Thank God for small favors, because I saw only the tips of the helmet once the snow settled. The snow wouldn’t hold him long, and I roared down the other side of the mountain and up toward the pass which separated the mountain range from the valley. This was my best chance at stopping this thing. The passage was narrow and the sides were steep. It was the only way out. I reached the pass and hid the snowmobile behind some rocks, then climbed up the rocky side of the mountain slope. I didn’t bother cloaking myself since Frosty had enough magic to detect my presence even when I wasn’t visible.

I pulled a shield over myself then continued my climb. Frosty had gotten close enough to hurl ice spears at me. They thudded all around me, threatening to knock me off the rocks or cause the snow to bury me. I had almost reached the top when my shields deflected a large ice spear, which sent me sprawling face first into the icy, slushy, sloppy snow. Momentarily stunned, I tried to rise, but felt lightheaded. I had to wait for my head to clear, and heard my favorite snow demon getting closer. When I was sure I could stand, I pushed myself to my feet and hauled myself up over the top. I looked down to see where the demon was. He was too close for comfort, so I hurled another bearing his way. It exploded nearly on top of him and he staggered. Still, it slowed him only slightly. It proved to be the Ever-freaking-Ready Bunny from Antarctic hell.

It was time to finish the demon. I charged my bracelet, filled it with all the energy I could draw from the universe. Then I looked down to find Frosty had entered the narrow mountain passageway. You know what they say about throwing stones when you live in a glass house. I sent a river of energy into the rocky cliff above Frosty’s head, sending a shower of boulders on top of him. He was temporarily pinned by the large rocks, only his head and chest were visible. I didn’t wait for an invitation; I bounded halfway down the hill and fired everything I had at the armor on his head and chest. I continued until the metal glowed red and Frosty began melting, then I watched what was left of him run down the mountainside. Relieved, I sank to my knees because I could feel the evil subside as the demon dissolved and evaporated.

I couldn’t afford the time to bask in my victory because I needed to get back to the churches and look for the competitors who should be along at any time. Besides, I still didn’t know what manner of mayhem those ruins would activate if someone stumbled near enough to one of them. I weaved through the chunks of snow, dirt, and rocks the bearing had created when I threw it at Frosty. This mess had left a trail a blind person could follow, yet it couldn’t be helped. Frosty wouldn’t have been impressed or deterred by subtlety.

Once I returned to the churches, I parked the snowmobile and cloaked it, then hurried over to the smaller church and made my way toward the altar. I knew the contestants had to find something in the small church before they moved over to the larger one where the major challenges lay. The place was almost empty because it had burned and been rebuilt at least twice since it was erected in 1694. My guess is, they were looking for a tile or an icon. I had the best hiding place to watch from. During one of the renovations, a hidden spiral stairway was built into one of the outer walls. It would be the perfect vantage point to watch the proceedings. I didn’t have time to check out the area before the howl of a hound announced the lycan’s arrival. It made sense for him to travel in wolf form, then transform to search for the clues. I was relatively certain the vampire would be right behind him once he figured out flying would be too dangerous.