‘You know what it was?’
‘It’s called Thirteen. She works for Levistus. I don’t suppose you can give us any sort of help?’
‘If the portal’s still open-’
Luna spoke up. ‘It’s not.’
Talisid looked at her, then back at me. ‘We might be able to jury-rig the thing with some kind of worldgate. If we can follow the trace-’
‘Can you get that done in four hours or less?’ I said.
Talisid was silent. I sighed. ‘I’ll take that as a no. Anything else?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Talisid said. ‘I wish I had some better news.’
‘I wish you did too.’
‘I’ll call you as soon as we learn anything.’
‘Please don’t. The last thing we need is our phone going off when we’re trying to avoid attention. We’ll call you.’
Talisid nodded. ‘Good luck.’ The communicator winked off.
I didn’t move. ‘What did you mean about the invisible thing?’ Luna asked after a moment.
‘Some sort of modified air elemental Levistus uses. I’m just wondering if that’s all he’s got.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The Council guards shouldn’t have done that badly,’ I said. ‘They were outclassed, but not that outclassed. And the way they were deployed, with no one between the Great Court and the statue … I think someone was trying to make sure the attack got through.’
Luna frowned. ‘You mean Levistus? Why would he want to do that?’
I remembered Levistus’ words from the ball, delivered with just a trace of a smile: ‘I have many agents, Mr Verus. Rest assured, they will be making sure everything goes to plan.’
My heart sank. ‘Oh, crap.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Luna, was there anyone who stayed near the statue all the time you were there? As in, never going away for long?’
Luna looked puzzled. ‘I suppose.’
‘Who?’
‘Sonder and Griff.’
‘No one else?’
‘I don’t think so. Why?’
‘Because the only reason Levistus would want Morden’s attack to go through would be so he could get his own people inside as well.’
Luna looked at me for a few seconds, then her face changed. ‘Sonder?’
I didn’t say anything. Luna looked out into the corridor after Sonder, then turned back with an uneasy look on her face. ‘Wait. No. Griff was the one who was supposed to be in charge of security, right? Isn’t it more likely to be him?’
‘Who says it’s only one of them?’
Luna started to answer then stopped.
‘I don’t like the idea either,’ I said quietly. ‘But I don’t think Levistus would rely on just Thirteen. He’s got agents and he’ll have used them. You’re right; Griff sounds more likely, but he’s not here and Sonder is. Until we get out of here, watch your back.’
We sat quietly for a moment, thinking. The torches cast Luna’s face in shadow, making it hard to know what she was thinking. ‘We don’t have many friends here, do we?’ Luna said at last.
‘What about Starbreeze?’
‘I called her. She came the first time, but when she saw me she ran away again. I called her again when I heard you coming but …’
I’d been searching through the futures and as I did I felt my spirit lift. I smiled. ‘Huh.’
‘She’s here?’
‘She’s here. Looks like we’ve got one friend after all.’
All of a sudden the lights came on. Luna and I stood up, blinking, and from out in the corridor I heard Sonder call excitedly, ‘I did it!’
The room we were standing in was off-white, with a high ceiling. The edges of the walls and floor were rounded slightly so as to show no corners, making the room oddly featureless, and circular patches on the ceiling shed a bright light. I could sense that the lights were magical, which confirmed that this place was very, very old. Like I said, creating permanent magical items is a real hassle. It’s far less effort to use modern technology, which means the only places that use permanent effects like this are ones that were created before modern technology. Luna and I walked to the exit to see a curving corridor. Up ahead, we could just see that it opened into a T-junction. ‘Good job,’ I told Sonder as we approached.
‘I thought that would work,’ Sonder said. He looked pleased with himself. Next to him was the control panel he’d used to activate the lights. I touched my hand to the panel and focused, working out what Sonder had done. Meanwhile, Luna was looking around curiously. ‘What is this place?’
‘It was sealed up just after the end of the Dark Wars,’ Sonder said. ‘But there’s nothing saying why. I’m starting to think the records about this place were deliberately erased. All I could find was something about the “resting place of Abithriax”.’
‘You said this was his tomb,’ Luna said.
Sonder hesitated. ‘Yes, but I’m starting to think I might have been wrong. I’ve been doing some reading, and it turns out the Precursors didn’t actually build tombs. Not like this.’
‘But if this was his resting place …’
‘I know, but it still doesn’t make sense. If you look at the studies that have been done of Precursor religion, the design-’
‘Sorry, Sonder, wait a second. Um, Alex?’
I was busy with the control panel. Like most Precursor designs it was sparse; a few spheres that looked like glass, and some rods set into the wall. They were controlled with fine magical impulses. With my divination magic I could see how to make them do what I wanted, but I had no idea how they worked. Still, that was enough to-
‘Alex!’
‘Hm?’ I said absently.
‘What’s that on your arm?’
I glanced down to see that the bracelet on my right wrist was crackling and spitting feebly. Black energy leaked from it, making my arm tingle. ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Looks like Onyx decided to kill me.’
Luna and Sonder stared. ‘They’re called death bracelets,’ I said. ‘Dark mages use them to keep prisoners in line.’
The bracelet was still crackling. ‘Um.’ Sonder said. ‘Shouldn’t you …?’
‘Oh, it’s fine. I dialled down the power by a factor of a hundred or so. Onyx must have fired it at maximum, otherwise you wouldn’t even see it.’
‘What does maximum do?’
‘Kills an adult human in ten to twenty seconds, depending how strong their heart is. Anyway, we’d better get moving. Don’t touch anything without checking with me first, don’t go anywhere I haven’t gone already, and if I tell you to do something, do it fast. Okay?’
Luna nodded, Sonder a little slower. Both were still staring at the bracelet. As they watched it fizzled and fell silent. We headed to the T-junction and stopped while I stood between the two paths.
‘What’s he doing?’ I heard Sonder whisper after a minute.
‘He’s looking ahead to see what’ll happen if we go down each corridor,’ Luna said quietly.
I smiled to myself and pointed. ‘Left.’
It was an hour later and the three of us were clustered in a small room. In a small alcove, set into the wall, was a single recessed crystal sphere. Before us was a closed door.
Sonder was examining the sphere while I leant against the wall next to him. Luna stood back, well out of range. ‘Sonder, we’re on a clock here,’ I said at last.
‘Sorry.’ Sonder stepped back. ‘Well, it’s definitely a focus for some kind of mind effect-’
‘I know.’
‘-and I think it might be telepathy-based. Anyway, it’s for communication.’
‘You said you could get the door open?’ Luna asked.
‘Probably, but there’s a trap, And after what happened last time I don’t want to take the chance if we can avoid it.’
Sonder flinched slightly at that. The previous room had held an electrical trap that would have turned anyone who came close enough into a lightning rod. ‘So that leaves this thing?’ Luna asked.
‘That leaves this thing.’ I stared at the crystal sphere, frowning. ‘It’ll help us get past. I just don’t know how.’
‘What’ll happen if we touch it?’ Sonder asked.
‘Nothing.’