I held my breath. A magical person similar to the dark elves that had shown up in Woodinville had come onto my radar. He or she wasn’t straight down but over toward the bank, maybe fifteen feet below a row of houseboats. I was positive the dark elf hadn’t been there long. He or she had popped up on my senses as if from behind an insulated door.
I paddled slowly in that direction. The dark elf hadn’t moved yet. Lights were on in several of the houseboats, and a couple was out on their deck in a hot tub. Possibly naked. Wonderful. The dark elf was almost right under them. Still not moving. Waiting for… what? The kraken to get full before trying to collect its blood?
If I swam down there, could I surprise the dark elf? Maybe knock him or her out and get into the tunnels?
The people in the hot tub were looking at me. They probably thought I was a creeper peering into windows at night. Like it was my fault that they were naked in their hot tub above a dark-elf lair.
I waved a paddle and continued past, pretending I lived in one of the houseboats nearby. I turned down an aisle between two rows of them, trying not to get too far from the dark elf.
Even as I tried to find a spot to slip out of the kayak, the dark elf moved. I couldn’t see anything with my eyes, but I could sense the magical aura moving away from the side of the lake. Swimming? Something about a dark elf in SCUBA gear made my brain hurt, but he or she was moving quickly out toward the kraken.
I almost followed in the kayak, but I wanted to get into the tunnels, not necessarily waylay whichever dark elf had come out. Unless it was the alchemist. But would it be? Or would she have sent a minion?
A light went on in a nearby house, and I made my decision. I pulled my goggles over my face and eased over the side of the kayak, almost gasping as the cold water engulfed my body. I sucked in a huge breath, sank down, and swam toward the area where the dark elf had seemed to emerge from the side of the lake.
Not surprisingly, it was as dark as it was cold under there. I activated my night-vision charm in time to avoid cracking my head on the log float under a houseboat and swam under several more houseboats to get to the spot. I tried not to think about them above me—and how I’d have to navigate a maze to get back up to take a breath.
The lumpy sides of the lake came into view, along with debris buried in silt. But I also saw a square hole in the slope, barely visible amid tendrils of seaweed waving in the currents. My lungs were already starting to crave air, but I swam toward it. My senses told me the dark elf was close to the kraken now. If I could slip in without anyone noticing…
Just as I reached the square hole—it was larger than I’d realized, big enough to drive a car through—a door that looked like the seaweed-covered side of the lake itself started to grind shut. Before I could reconsider it, I yanked Chopper out and lunged in, jamming the blade into the door’s path. It slid shut on the blade, sending a jarring reverberation up my arm and making me wince. This was not the proper use for a sword. But Chopper successfully kept the door from shutting.
Using the hilt to pull myself down, I tried to use the blade for leverage. I pushed at the door, hoping to force it open, but I worried about breaking my sword. Even though Chopper was magical, I was sure it wasn’t indestructible.
Precious air bubbles escaped my lips as I shoved. The door opened an inch. A few more inches, and I could slip through.
But I needed air. I glanced up, thinking of releasing Chopper and going up for a quick breath, but the bottom of a huge houseboat blocked me from the surface.
Frustrated, I shoved harder. The door inched open further. I squeezed into the gap and almost thrust myself all the way through before I thought wiser of it. What if I got trapped somewhere without any air?
Though I worried I’d run out of time and the dark elf would come back, I wedged Chopper in the long way and swam out from under the houseboat and up to the surface. I sucked in air, confused for a moment by the nearby rumble of a motor and bubbling water. Then I remembered the hot tub. Hopefully, the nude bathers couldn’t see me or hear me sucking in deep breaths of air right beside their deck.
I sensed the dark elf on the move again, heading back toward the door.
Out of time, I inhaled one more deep breath and swam back down to my sword. Poor Chopper, being used as a doorstop.
I swam through the opening, careful not to dislodge the sword, and found my earlier guess to be correct. This appeared to be some kind of airlock. On the far side, about eight feet away, was another door, this one made from simple metal. Next to it, a grimy wall slick with algae held two levers.
I paddled through the water and pulled one at random. Even if there had been a sign with directions, I wouldn’t have been able to read it.
Gurgling not dissimilar to the hot tub started up. Water draining? Yes, there was an air pocket overhead now. I swam back to grab Chopper and cursed silently. The dark elf had almost made it back. I rubbed my cloaking charm, hoping I wasn’t too late in activating it, and tugged my sword free. The door closed.
The dark elf had to have a remote way of opening it—I hadn’t seen a lever on the outside.
As the water drained out of the chamber, I swam to the inner door. There wasn’t a handle or a knob. I tried pulling the other lever, but that only made the water stop draining. I pushed it back up, and it resumed.
Fingers wrapping around my lock-picking charm, I rested a hand on the cold wet door and willed it to open. A thunk emanated from within the metal. The door rumbled open too slowly for my tastes.
A faint scratch came from the outer door. I sensed the dark elf on the other side. I hoped he or she couldn’t sense me through my charm. If the dragon couldn’t, an elf shouldn’t be able to… I hoped.
As soon as the inner door was open wide enough, I stepped inside, Fezzik out now and leading the way. I tugged my goggles down to my throat. The long tunnel that stretched before me, reminding me of some railroad passage through a mountain, was empty.
Good, but what about the dark elf that had to be on the way in right behind me? I shoved the door behind me shut.
Seconds later, water surged into the airlock chamber, the sound penetrating the door. Should I run and hope to disappear into the complex? Or try to capture the dark elf and ask for directions to the alchemist?
If this person was the alchemist’s assistant or even the alchemist herself… it would be foolish not to interrogate her. Maybe she even had a fresh vial of kraken blood, and I could get it, and a sample of her blood, without going into the complex at all.
Water drained out of the chamber. The dark elf would come out soon. My heart filled with anticipation at the thought that my mission might be so close to being over.
But where could I hide for an ambush? The tunnel was stark without alcoves or side passages.
A thump-scrape came from the other side of the door. I only had seconds.
There was a tiny ledge, maybe three inches wide, formed by the top of the door frame. The ceiling was several feet above that.
“It’ll have to do,” I muttered.
As much through desperation as athletic ability, I gripped the narrow ledge and pulled myself up while walking my feet up the wall of the tunnel. Half leaning against the wall and half balancing on the tiny perch, I stood above the door. Water dripped from my clothes, and I groaned. My cloaking charm wouldn’t matter. The dark elf wouldn’t miss that.
Before I could change my mind and jump down, the door rumbled open.
20
I held my breath as the hooded dark elf walked through the doorway beneath me. She—and I could tell from my elevated perch that a woman’s curves lay beneath her surprisingly dry, dark, flowing garb—glanced back the way she had come. Checking to make sure the kraken hadn’t followed her back?
I wished it had, so she would be distracted, but I doubted the giant squid would fit into that airlock chamber.
As I balanced precariously above the door, all I could do was hope she didn’t notice the puddle on the floor and the drips falling from my boots. If she didn’t, maybe she would lead me straight to the alchemy lab, where I could get a sample of the alchemist’s blood. I couldn’t tell if she had samples from the kraken in a pocket.
The dark elf turned, reaching for a lever to close the door, but she glanced down and paused. My puddle. Another drop of water fell off my boot. She was going to figure it out. There was no hope of avoiding notice now.
As I dropped down, trying to flatten her, I yanked a dagger free. I wanted to hold it to her throat and convince her to talk, but she reacted too quickly. With all the preternatural elven agility that the legends spoke of, she danced away from me, and I barely bumped her arm. She spun to face me and attacked with a kick. Clearly, she was close enough to see through the magical camouflage my charm gave me.
I knocked the kick aside with my knee and slashed at her leg as she retracted it. My blade sliced through her pants but didn’t draw blood. Again, she was too fast at springing away. I should have drawn Chopper.
The dark elf reached for something at her belt. I threw the knife at her to buy a second, and she had to spring to the side. By the time she recovered, I had Fezzik out, the barrel aimed at her chest.
“Stop right there.”
She froze. Did she understand English? Or only that a weapon was pointed at her? I didn’t want to fire and alert everyone in the underground lair that I was there, but I would to defend myself.
She curled her lip and scowled. I’d expected dark skin from a dark elf, the first one I’d seen up close, but she was more of an albino with matching white hair, her features elegant but frostier than a glacier.
“Are you Synaru-van?” I asked. “The alchemist?”
She looked too young to be a well-known professional in her field, but who knew with elves. I looked young for my age, too, and I only had half-elven blood.
A stream of lilting, musical words came out of her mouth. They sounded beautiful; I was positive they were a curse, probably accompanied by disparaging remarks about my ancestry.
Without letting my gun waver, I risked lifting a hand to tap my translation charm.
“…and Synaru-van will flay you for presuming to attack one of The Chosen. Then she will take you to be sacrificed at midnight with the other, you blasphemous mongrel bastard.”