The Crescent Hour ✓

Chapter 22. Stairway to Hell

Tamer was standing on the platform, watching Clara walk into the tunnel. Red curls bounced around her back. He had wanted to taste her lips, to feel the passion burning beneath her skin. He'd almost done that when a flare of pain had gripped his chest. The voice had awakened, angry and restless.

Fool, it had said.

He had fought it. Forced it to quieten. Sealed it behind the walls. Before she had left, he’d heard her deep breaths. Had it been fear? Desire? Definitely fear. She had ran away when he had stepped back. She might have liked him but she was also terrified of him.

Yes, he was a fool. He had forgotten what he used to be and what he could still become.

“You’re not a monster, Tamer,” her voice whispered through his mind, gentle and sweet.

But he was. He was a prince cast out by his father. She was a free spirit loved by her family. He was a man who had seen death and sorrow. She was a young woman full of innocence and sweetness. He was a vagrant with no future. She was a saviour chosen by fate. Their lives were worlds apart.

Without a backward glance at Enki, Tamer chose his path. The opening closed behind him. Felicinite shards adorned the black rocks, shiny pieces that looked like stars in the night sky. He didn’t move. He took his time studying the scene.

There were rectangular frames around the tunnel, placed at certain intervals. They looked like doorframes. His eyes wandered to the floor. Thin furrows were carved on the ground five feet ahead of him and another two feet after. Beyond that, small holes stippled the walls in a vertical line. He could tell they weren’t gunshot holes but something far sinister.

Traps, he thought.

He had seen traps before in the palace, in Amarant and in a castle he had once breached. It had been a mission, one where he nearly got decapitated by retracting blades. He had been sent to retrieve a dagger that had the ability to kill without leaving the slightest of clues. It destroyed the soul, not the vessel. A victim pierced by it would die without any stab marks, blood or damage to the body. The cause of death would remain unknown.

He had wanted that dagger for himself. Lady Alora had been pesky about it. She had taken it away, hidden it in her office, called it dangerous. The thought of his guild sent a flood of fury through his chest. Once the Lakht Curse was broken, he would force Enki to speak. There had been fear in the man’s eyes. He would use it to his advantage.

Mecha squeaked from the confines of his pocket. He patted the little bundle. In a voice so calm, he said, “Stay there, Mecha.”

The little bug could at times, sense his strongest emotions. Biomechabots were mechanical yet alive, naïve yet perceptive. Neither science nor magic could explain half of the things they did.

Tamer pitched forward by a step. The traps came to life. Stone doors emerged from the frames. They snapped shut, squashing anything caught between them. Blocks of rock rose up from the thin furrows he had seen on the floor, reaching the ceiling and tumbling down fast. Five poles arose from the holes, their tips sharpened.

He timed the first set of doors, dashing through the moment they parted. He halted. For a second time, he repeated the motions, waiting until the path was clear before moving on. As he reached the rising block, he stopped. If he moved when it sunk to the floor, he would be caught in it because it would rise quickly. It would push him to the ceiling and crush him. He would have to pass when it started descending.

Bearing that in mind, Tamer dived when the block fell. He rolled on the ground then stood up. He did the same for the second block, reaching the other side without a scratch. The sharp poles shot out, stalling his progress. The one at the bottom retracted, followed by the pole above it until all of them retreated to the holes. They shot out again. It had taken four seconds for all the poles to retract, starting from the bottom to the top.