Supernatural Games (19 page)

“I think we will need to wait for Corbin to get us closer if it’s even possible.”

“Lauren, do you smell anything familiar down here or any magic? And yes, we will need Corbin’s help to pinpoint the area unless my hunch is correct.”

I looked at Traygen and nodded, then walked slowly around the floor. It took me a while, but I finally came to a place off one of the larger storage spaces that smelled vaguely familiar. Closing my eyes, I steadied my breathing, and sent my senses out to scan the immediate area. Magic, just a hint, still it was there, and I recognized it. To make sure I wasn’t jumping to conclusions, I moved around and repeated the process. It was unmistakable, and I knew who it belonged to. Relieved, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“Traygen, do you recognize the scent?”

“Yes, I smelled it around the first challenge the night the guards were killed, and around the familiars in the third challenge.”

“Exactly, it’s Grayson. He planted those familiars in the first two universes. I’m afraid I don’t know Trax.”

“Me neither, but it doesn’t matter in this case. This is a fairly benign spell, and I found only traces of one person. The question is, why has he acted now? I’m sure he used a simple illusion to snatch the fae. The best news is, I found no trace of black magic here, or the scent of the two killers from the oasis.”

“My guess is the Council is closing in on him. He can’t elude them for long. This will only make him more desperate,” Traygen added.

“I will let Tokem know who was behind this. He can check with the Council and make sure they are aware.”

I called Tokem and filled him in. He put security on alert. Traygen and I had settled down to wait for Corbin when he flew into the room. We filled him in on what we’d found, and he let us know that he thought it was cool enough to fly down and try to find the missing fae. I reminded him to stay in touch as he flew off. We decided to wait in this area in case we were closer than we knew to the missing fae. Besides, it would take too much time to walk back. We settled in to wait, and fortunately didn’t need to cool our heels long.

A pop and a blur of chiropteran wings announced Corbin’s return. I couldn’t be certain exactly where he had come from. He changed back into his human form and started to fill us in.

“Lauren, Traygen, I have our missing fae. He’s grumpy but unharmed. I found him trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. I’ve convinced him it was part of the plan and assessed him a five-point penalty. Now if you’ll follow me, I’ll show the spot where I found him.”

“Lead the way, Bat Boy. We are right behind you.”

“Lauren, there is no need to cop an attitude. I found the fae at the bottom of the tunnel. He was there in plain sight. I’m sure you were the intended target, and Grayson didn’t care how or if we found the competitor. I sent the fae to get checked out before they resume the games. It will give us a chance to track Grayson.”

“Corbin, good job. Any thoughts on where our missing warlock might have gone?”

“Traygen, I found tracks leading away, but I could follow them only to one of the side tunnels. The rock in that area is too hard to leave any prints.”

“Corbin, can you show us where you lost his tracks? Traygen and I may be able to follow his magical signature.”

“Traygen, can you identify his scent? I think I’ve caught a whiff of it over here.”

Traygen walked around the area before he responded and Corbin remained quiet. I don’t think he wanted to influence our decision. After a few minutes, Traygen stopped and pointed to a tunnel on our left. I walked around a little more and then nodded.

“Lauren, Traygen, that is the direction I have our warlock going. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you where I lost his trail.”

We followed Corbin down the tunnel where Traygen and I had scented the warlock. We walked maybe a quarter mile when Corbin stopped.

“This is where I lost his tracks. Hopefully, you two can follow his scent.”

I’m not sure what Traygen was thinking, but I felt like a bloodhound let out to run my prey to ground. I paced around the area searching for any scent of the warlock, stopping occasionally to breathe deeply and try to find any hint of Grayson. I moved to my left, sampled the air and satisfied I wasn’t going in the correct direction, I moved methodically in a clockwise direction around the area. Then I finally picked up the scent of our missing warlock. I didn’t howl and run off after Grayson, and Traygen didn’t lift his leg to mark the area. We were much more civilized than our canine detectives. No, I sang a small version of We are the Champions. Corbin rolled his eyes, and Traygen just shook his head.

“Lauren, I think you should keep your day job. There is no money in singing or comedy for you,” Corbin quipped.

“You are just jealous and besides I like my day job. Traygen, is this where you were headed?”

“It is, My Love. We are right behind you.”

I turned to follow my nose, and it led me to a small, dimly lit tunnel. The further we went, the tighter the space got until I was on all fours cursing my little claustrophobic soul. I was ready to send Corbin to fly down and see where this trail led when the shaft got wider and taller. I could stand now, and it seemed to be getting lighter. A few feet farther along and the tunnel opened into a large cavern. Thank God, I was about over this whole Tomb Raider episode.

Wherever we were, the scent of our missing warlock was much stronger here. It didn’t take long to find a smaller room off the main cavern where Grayson had been staying. That is when we picked up the scent of a second man we assumed was Trax. There didn’t appear to be anyone around, but they’d been here recently. Their scents were too strong for them to have been very old. I was about to suggest that we leave someone here to wait for them when I heard voices.

Traygen motioned for us to step into one of the smaller rooms and wait. It didn’t take long for Grayson and Trax to show up. They were engrossed in a heated discussion. We settled in to listen.

“I’m telling you I heard the explosion, and there is no way the bitch could have survived it.” Grayson spat.

“So you say, but there has been no chatter on their security radios. No one has mentioned an explosion, nor to announce that Lauren is dead. She has more lives than a damned cat. I’m telling you I don’t like this.”

“Trax, you worry too much. There is no way she could have known the last two symbols. They are banned. Second rate wizard that she is, when it all exploded, so did she.”

“She better be dead or Mab will kill us both.”

“Mab’s reward is as good as ours. I’m telling you she is dead.”

I had heard enough. It was time to rain on these clowns’ parade, and I did mean
rain
, as in enough magic to have them stepping and fetching until the turn of the century.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, boys, but you will not be collecting any reward except the one I’m about to tattoo on your asses for stupidity. Second rate wizard indeed.”

They blanched, and I hit them both with enough energy to keep them asleep and immobilized well into the next millennia. I did them a favor because Mab doesn’t suffer fools. She would have been very creative in punishing them. They should thank me for their deep sleep.

“As much as I’d like to stay and play with these two, we had better get the game restarted. We still have three more challenges and ancient gods to catch.”

I
t took about half an hour to resume the final trial. The fae checked out and returned to the spot where he’d vanished. He was off in a flash, and within minutes found the second challenge. It was within twenty feet where he was snatched. Apparently, Grayson and Trax assumed I’d be near the final stage of the second challenge. Normally, I would have been, but thanks to the two ancient gods trying to kill me, I was working a monitor instead.

I sighed and thought to myself two challenges down and two to go before the games will be completed. Jason and his crew would wait until one of the competitors approached the final challenge before transporting their team through the portal. They would try to capture or banish Moros and Ker to the underworld. The siren sounded to restart the games. I heard a number of competitors moving in my direction. I cloaked myself and settled in to wait.

It wasn’t long before the fae burst into the room I was waiting. This was another open room like so many of the others. It appeared to be a central gathering area. There were benches and a stone fireplace against one wall. Numerous tunnels moved off the central room into what looked like storage areas and sleeping quarters. The fae took his time reading his notes and checking the immediate vicinity. He had a sizable lead before he was snatched, a lead he should have maintained, since the action was halted when he disappeared.

He stuffed his notes back into his shirt and moved over toward the fireplace. It was a simple stone structure carved into the rock wall. The fae walked up to it and examined it. Apparently satisfied, he kneeled down in front of it and appeared to be running his hand under the opening for the flue. My guess is, he wanted to see if it was really a fireplace. He wisely didn’t stick his hand up inside the chimney and I didn’t blame him. Finally, he stood and walked around in front of the fireplace. The only other objects were a ring of grapefruit sized rocks that circled the fireplace opening. They were set in the sand, directly in front of the fireplace. He returned to position himself in front of the fireplace. After a few minutes, he reached out and picked up the rock in the center of the semi-circle.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then the entire fireplace rotated a quarter turn and the fae was gone. The fireplace smoothly slid back into place as if it had never moved. I hit my mic and put in a call to Tokem to see if this was part of the plan. He told me he’d get back to me, so I waited. Footsteps approached from another direction. Before long, I watched as the vampire came into the room.

Tokem let me know the fireplace was part of the plan and the fae would return. He had apparently made the wrong choice. I settled in to see what decisions the vampire would make. Like the fae before him, the vampire was meticulous and I believed a little paranoid. I couldn’t blame them, with the design team from Freddie Kruger’s worst nightmare in charge of their fate. Finally, the vampire made his move. He too had zoomed in on the fireplace but unlike the fae, he picked up the rock to the far right. His fate was immediately decided when the sand and floor beneath him gave way and he disappeared from sight. A small click let me know the trap in the floor he’d fallen through was now back in place and covered with sand.

Before I considered his fate further, the lycan bounded into view in wolf form. He stopped to sniff the area. I’m sure he scented the fae and vampire. Remaining in his wolf form, he trotted around the room one more time before he walked up and pushed down on the stone to the left of center. Sitting back on his haunches, he watched as the entire fireplace slid up to reveal a tunnel leading off behind it. He stood up and trotted down the tunnel. I fell in step behind him as the fireplace slid back into place. The tunnel was narrow and slanted downward at a gentle angle. The air was close and smelled stale. It was enough to set my little claustrophobic heart racing. I tried a few deep breaths, which helped a little, but not nearly as much as the fresh air coming up the tunnel in the direction toward me.

I picked up my pace and could just make out the wolf’s form as it stopped under a ventilation shaft and seemed to gulp great mouthfuls of air. He sat there so long I was ready to give him a nudge when he stood up and padded down the opposite tunnel. I nearly sprinted to the shaft and stuck my head up it as far as possible, inhaling big mouthfuls of fresh air. Yes! I stayed there as long as possible before reluctantly turning to follow the wolf. I walked on until the tunnel slanted slightly upward before heading into a small open area. I glanced around until I spotted the wolf. He was studying the space that had only two wooden doors leading from it. They were closed. I had no idea why they were there or where they led once opened.

Before I could reflect on the issue further, a faint trace of magic tickled my senses. Looking around, I saw the wolf shimmer as he turned back into a man. He took out his notes and studied them before he shoved them back into his pocket and moved toward the left door. Hesitating a moment, slightly, he reached for the doorknob, turned it gingerly, then froze like a statue in place. Then he resolutely pulled the door open and stepped inside. He paused just inside the entrance for a split second before there was a click and he dropped from sight. If I had to guess, my money would be on door number two. Isn’t that the beauty of hindsight?

I leaned back against the wall to wait for the next competitor. It didn’t take long for the fae to race back into the area. I was guessing the vampire was having a harder time digging out. The fae stood quietly inside the room. Pausing, listening, and if he was smart praying. His eyes roamed over every square inch in the area. He was taking it all in. Then he carefully approached the doors, stopping well short of them. He hesitated, pulled out his notes and skimmed them. Apparently satisfied, he put them away and approached the left door. I already knew that wasn’t the correct choice. Wisely, he didn’t touch anything, just stood there. Finally, he ran his hands over the surface of the door and around its perimeter, pausing when he reached the bottom of door next to the doorjamb. Then he got down on his stomach and put his face up against the bottom of the door. My guess is, he was probably feeling for a draft.

The fae was either very brave or very stupid. After what I witnessed to this point, I wouldn’t put any body part near any opening I had not scrutinized. He apparently got lucky because nothing blew up before he stood up and moved to the other door. Stopping only long enough to turn the knob, he pulled open the door and ambled into the next room. I couldn’t see much until he advanced farther into the room. It looked like an insignificant shrine to a lesser deity. There was a small statue of Zeus on a raised dais on the opposite side of the room. Byzantine frescoes adorned the ceiling. The inhabitants of Cappadocia had been Christians. There appeared to be three wooden steps leading up to the elevated platform.

I trailed the fae into the room and leaned against the wall near the door. Hedging my bets, I knew if the fae did anything stupid I could dive for cover. I might be invisible, but I wasn’t immortal. The fae approached the stairs and studied the statue, examining it from every conceivable angle. He consulted his notes one more time before thrusting them back into his pocket. Then he walked warily up to the statue. I hoped he knew what he was doing, because so far in these games, touching the wrong part of a statue had proven to be disastrous. The statue was a small marble replica of an angel standing, wings spread wide, holding a sword in its left hand. Hesitating for the briefest of moments, the fae reached out and pulled the sword toward him. With no more than and/if or by your leave, a trapdoor under his feet opened, and he plummeted from sight.

I slid down the wall to sit and wait for the next competitor to arrive. My thoughts drifted to what Jason and his team might face when they confronted the two avenging gods. It was almost time to deploy Jason and his team through the portal by the oasis. I didn’t like to sit by and let someone else take the risk for me. I had pissed off Erebus. I’m the one they’re trying to kill. I didn’t want anyone else hurt or killed because of my actions. Before I could work up any more self-righteous angst, the sound of running footfalls pulled me from my self-castigation. I stood up and slipped further into the room, so whoever came through the door wouldn’t accidentally stumble into me.

As I waited, I heard the competitor moving around outside the doors. Finally, the doorknob turned, and in creeped the elf. I wondered when he might show up. The elves were tied with the fae for first place. He stood in the doorway, studying the room and scouring his notes. Apparently satisfied, he stepped carefully into the room. The elf paced around the room, gazed at the frescoes and looked over the dais. I gave him points for being thorough and watched as he walked up the steps toward the statue. He approached the figurine and moved around it without touching it. Wisely, he hadn’t touched it. Perhaps he remembered his run in with the two giant statues. Then he turned and inched warily back down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, he turned around until he again faced the stairs. 

I wondered what he was up to when he sidled over to the bottom step and tapped around it. That’s when a slot opened in the stair riser and a white powder whooshed out engulfing the elf. He gasped, sputtered, and stumbled blindly toward the door, collapsing as he staggered through the doorway. He was still breathing. His lack of movement would send a team to retrieve him. Another one bites the dust, or more aptly, eats the dust. It didn’t take long for the team to recover the elf and the all-clear siren to sound. At this rate, I wouldn’t get to see Jason’s team take down the two avenging gods.

The sound of running feet pulled my thoughts back to the present, just as the vampire burst on the scene. He approached the area in front of the two doors and examined them methodically. Kneeling in front of both, he warily tested for any hint of a breeze or trap. Finally, he settled on the door the elf had just stumbled from. He entered the room and meticulously examined the area and its contents. Maybe his trip down into the quicksand had made him more careful or a tad paranoid. He changed into a bat and flew up and around the statue. I’d say he had every reason to be suspicious, and he was wise to take every precaution. Next, he flew up over the stairs and hovered above each step, before landing and changing back. Seemingly satisfied, he moved toward the steps, running his hands lightly over each step without tapping anything.

Then he sat back on his haunches and studied his notes. The vampire sat there so long I thought he had nodded off. Finally, he stood, stretched and walked over to the second step and pulled up on it. It gave way, and he reached inside and came out with a small object, which sounded the horn to indicate he’d won the third challenge. Three down and one more to go. I was ready for this to be over.

The final stage of the closing challenge I knew was the hardest one yet, which should cause any sane person to drop out. It was a maze, and from what I recalled from the design team’s plans, it was potentially deadly. No shock there, the whole freaking place was lethal. The last challenge I knew was a labyrinth buried deep under the Cappadocian complex. Karma was a bitch, it had to be. I hated small tight underground chambers, and here I was again under ten or twelve stories of rock and sand. The sadistic project team created this maze with dead ends, trapdoors, hidden chambers, sliding doors, and false passageways.

I decided to prepare for the arrival of the next wave of competitors. I trudged down several levels until I came to a descending staircase in the south corner of the cavern. I nearly missed the stairs concealed inside an alcove screened off from the rest of the room by a large stone plinth. I followed the stairs down until I was standing in a small room with a low ceiling. I could reach and almost touch the ceiling, which didn’t make my little claustrophobic heart happy. The chamber appeared to be empty, and I settled in to wait for the first competitor. Cloaked so that unless the competitors literally tripped over me, they wouldn’t know I was there. I hoped they hurried. The air was stale, still, and stagnant, making the space hot. The small cracker box made me fight to keep from hyperventilating.

Thankfully, I didn’t have long to wait. I heard the sound of footfalls as someone moved down the steps. It was the vampire making use of his bonus minutes for winning the third challenge. He sauntered down the stairs and inspected the small chamber thoroughly then walked around the room looking closely at every corner, every nock and cranny before returning to stand by the stairs. Scratching his head, he reluctantly paced over to the nearest wall and ran his hands slowly to examine every inch of that divider, before moving over to repeat the process on the next wall. The vampire systematically worked his way around the room. Suddenly, he paused to tap the wall, leaning in close to inspect something. Then he vanished as the entire wall rotated. A few seconds later, the wall rotated back into place without the vampire.

I had no way to know if he’d made a mistake or if he had found the next phase of the maze. At least I hadn’t heard any screaming or swearing. I would take that as a partial victory. No autopsy, no foul, worked for me. Before I could give it any more thought, another contestant started down the stairs. It was the fae. Like the vampire, he hesitated on the steps to study the area before he strode off the stairs and into the room. He treaded carefully, advancing around the room, examining the walls without touching them. It seemed to me like a prudent approach. When he finished the walls, he started around the area inspecting the floor. Finally, he returned to examine the stairs. He looked at each step and riser before moving back down into the room. Tilting his head, he checked out the ceiling. It looked bare to me except for a place where the large stones intersected. There was a small channel between each slab of stone. I couldn’t tell how large the slabs were. He looked over each of the four blocks before he ran his hands along the channels between the slabs. Whatever he was looking for, he seemed satisfied. Next, he reached up and tapped on each section of the stone ceiling. He was working his way back and forth across the ceiling in a grid pattern. Lastly, the only one left unexamined was the section directly above the stairs, and he again began to rhythmically tap on it. Nothing happened at first, and he turned to advance farther up the stairs when the section slid back with a click. The fae wasted no time leaping up and grabbing the edge of the opening and pulling himself up and in. He disappeared, and the stone slid back into place.