Seize the Day

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know why, but my feet moved of their own accord through the dark corridor of the castle. I stumbled and scraped against walls, but I still moved forward. I would face this darkness and save Nezira from her unjust fate.

But as I lumbered through the darkness, tripping and planting my face into walls, I began to wonder if the small black door I took even led out of the castle.

With my luck, this would lead to a death trap, and I had sufficiently succeeded in boxing myself into a dark, deadly cavern. What a lovely thought.

I silenced the pessimism in my mind. I needed to focus on getting out of here, not coming up with all of the things that could—or would—go wrong.

I heard the sound of trickling water up ahead and forced my legs to move quicker. The hall opened up into a water passageway, probably one of the old underground waterways that had provided transport for the citizens of Aria before the Rift Wars. Light shined down from a gaping hole in the tunnel ceiling, revealing the sickly green color of the water channel. The water moved at a slow, agonizing pace, but it was clear that it came from somewhere. Part of me wondered if it came from the naiad lake. The other part told me not to think about what the opposite part was wondering.

The room smelled like a mix of mildew and something metallic, although I couldn’t place what. I looked up at the hole in the ceiling. There were long, thick ropes hanging from the hole. This must have been where construction ended for the channels—the dead, forgotten transportation buried somewhere beneath the castle.

I heard commotion aboveground and desperately looked for a way out.

Hole.

Ropes.

Climb.

I already knew what I had to do.

Geez.

A sinking apprehension seized my stomach as I stared at the sluggish, green water moving down the tunnel. I had to get across if I wanted to get to the hole and climb to the top. The channel was at least five feet across.

But I had to get to the opposite side no matter what.

I braced my legs against the slick stone floor, stepped back several paces, and launched myself over the water channel. Miraculously, I made it to the other side.

In fact, I made it to the other side so good that I slid across the slippery stone floor and into the wall. “Argh!” Pain raced through my shoulder like liquid fire. I took shallow breaths as I stood, clutching my shoulder. But I didn’t have time to pay attention to the pain. Nezira was going to die if I didn’t get there soon.

I stumbled over to the hole and grabbed one of the hanging ropes. I yanked it hard. It held, and I started climbing. I prayed that it would hold out until I reached the top. I walked along the wall, pulling the rope in my hands as I ascended. Finally, after strenuous minutes that felt like hours, I arrived at the top. But what I found on the surface made dread, horror, apprehension—all of it—create a mighty fist and squeeze the remaining ounce of courage from my heart.

A placid body of water stood before me. The rays of the fading sun glinted off the water as wind made circular ripples upon the surface.

I lied.

Wind doesn’t make circular ripples.

Naiads do.

The hole I climbed out of opened to the bank that bordered the lake in front of the castle. Behind me was the castle and in front was the lake filled with man-eating naiads. To my right, I could see the main bridge that led to one of the only exits out of the castle walls. But the bridge was several feet above me.