The entrance to the passageway behind me was sealed off by a stone door that slammed shut with a deafening bang. It echoed through the room but was drowned out by the nearing rush of water.
I turned and banged on the stone with my fist, hoping it'd do something. "Shit!" It wouldn't budge. From the openings in the walls, water began spewing out at an alarming rate.
"Fuck!" Sorin shouted. When I faced him, I saw he was at the other end of the passageway. It was sealed too.
And we were trapped.
"What do we do?" Sorin shouted over the rushing water that now touched my boots.
"Well, right now I'm wishing I'd just knocked you out!"
"What?!"
I shook my head and bit out, "Nevermind."
Sorin took a step from the tunnel and looked around. His face was drawn up in a sort of panicked grimace. "I fucking hate Targaryen."
My eyes scanned the entire room, but it was too dark to see a damn thing. The lantern's light illuminated only a fraction of the darkness.
Sorin pounded his fist against the stone again, his breathing heavy. "This is not how I die! I'm supposed to have songs written about my death, and I will not be remembered as the idiot who drowned!"
"Well maybe you shouldn't have stepped on the stupid plate!" I yelled back.
"Well at least I'm trying to do something instead of just standing there!"
"Doing something? Your fist isn't going to break through stone, you fucking moron!"
"It broke through the wood!"
"The wood was rotting!"
Sorin took a deep breath and said calmly, "We shouldn't be fighting with each other. If these are our last moments in this world, we should at least fuck one more time."
I groaned and threw my hands over my hand. "I could strangle you right now," I muttered as I turned back to the door and tried to find an inscription or shapes or something. "I need light."
Behind me, water splashed. "'I need light,' she says," Sorin mumbled under his breath. "Not, 'hey, do you mind coming over with the lantern?' or 'I'm sorry, let's have sex one more time'."
"You got us into this mess, and you're complaining about me?!"
"I'm just saying you could be nicer."
"I'm going to cut off your dick if you don't hurry up," I snapped. Before Sorin had time to roll his eyes, his foot was hovering over another plate. My eyes widened, but I didn't have the time to say anything before he stepped on the tile.
His body froze when he realized his mistake, that for the second time he'd stepped on a plate. Yet as we both waited in silence for the worst to happen, the opposite occurred. To my right, lights flickered as torches on the wall lit, and I was astonished to see wheels, gears, cogwheels, and other objects on the wall.
"I'm done with this fucking country," Sorin grumbled, stepping from the plate and hastily followed me as trudged through the knee-deep water to the wall. "Whoever invents this shit needs to be medicated." We reached the wall and he scoffed. "What even is it?"
With my brows drawn together, I mused, "An ancient Targaryen puzzle."
"Oh, bummer. I forgot my puzzle-solving pants back in Ravaryn," he said sarcastically. I ignored him and began pointing to the gears and to the symbols carved into the metal.
Reaching up, I grabbed hold of the giant gear. "You have to," I groaned as I pulled down, "turn the gear so the inscription on the end lines up with the inscription on the other gear." The wheel spun, but as it did, the other cogwheel turned; the correct inscriptions passed each other. I let out an irritated groan. "But they're said to be impossible, because once you figure out one, you mess it up when you turn another one."
"But you've done one before? Please tell me you've done one before. You can lie to me–just tell me you've done one."
My lips pursed. "A few, but they take time." And that's the one thing you don't have. The water's already up to your thighs. Sorin opened his mouth, then closed it.
He tried again. "Well if there's ever a time to be really smart and snobby, now's a fantastic time."
I exhaled and shivered, teeth chattering. If we wouldn't die from drowning, the cold wouldn't disappoint.
You got this, Vera. Just remember to not get frustrated. Work quickly but smartly. Remember your training.
My arm extended again, and I went to work.
The gears were rusty and difficult to turn, leaving me to wonder how many people had been caught in this trap, and after a few long minutes, my hands began to shake from the frigid tempature. Sorin was attempting to suppress his shivers behind me.
I recognized the inscription as Old Norhib, but the language was so old, few knew it; and the ones that did, didn't share. The only way I knew which letters lined up with which was the curve and shape of them. It really was all a guessing game in the end.
For painful minutes, I turned the gears, trying to fit them in the right places. At this time, the water had reached just over my breasts.
"Vera, not to rush you or anything, because you're doing amazing and you look hot. But any chance you're almost finished?" I didn't even turn toward him.
"Almost..." I snapped one in place, took a step back, and looked at the writing. My brows furrowed. "It should only be one more..." My fingers touched the last gear, and I groaned as I pulled and shifted it into the right place.
Hesitantly, I pushed it in. The thud it created echoed. And everything went quiet as the water ceased.
I exhaled deeply, shoulders sagging.
You see, was that so hard?
Sorin sighed. "Oh, thank G-" The room rumbled. "Oh, fucking hell. What now?" My eyes frantically scanned the room, trying to keep my balance in the water. Suddenly, large slabs from the ceiling began falling into the water. One blow to the head could kill us. A hit to any other part would pin us down to the floor and ultimately drown us.
Behind me, a whirring noise came from the puzzle. Turning toward the gears, I saw a circular stone piece eject from the wall in the middle of the puzzle. There was a silver key placed in it, sticking out just enough for me to grab it.
Right as the key was pulled from its slot, the rumbling intensified and another row of rectangle passages appeared below the first one. The sound of rushing water returned, and it gushed out quicker than before. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck fuck, fu-"
"Sorin, shut up!" The water was nearly over my head. I gasped and began treading water. It only took two second for the water to rise nearly a foot. "Stop panicking. We just need to find what this stupid key goes to!"
"'Stop panicking'?! We are about to drown, we need to find a tiny little hole in this big room, and it wouldn't surprise me if this lantern, our only source of light, goes out any second. How am I not supposed to panic?!"
"The metal that the lantern is made of should be able to resist the water, and the keyhole is going to be in an obvious place." I recalled everything we'd seen since the moment we'd walked in here, retracing our steps. Come on, Vera. You know it. You know where it is. It didn't take long for my eyes to widen. "The tiles at the bottom of the floor! It's obvious; it would be perilous to reach the higher the water is. It's perfect!"
Sorin shook his head. "You read way too many books."
I swam to him and grabbed the lantern from his hand. "Yeah, and it might save your damn life. Come on." Taking a deep breath, I readied myself and dove into the murky water. I didn't wait for Sorin, but I knew he was behind me.
I swerved, narrowly missing a dropping slab but didn't wait another heartbeat before continuing my dive. My lungs already began aching for air, but I forced myself on.
When I reached the tiles, I flattened myself against the middle one. Even with the lantern, it was nearly pitch black. I ran a hand over the tile, over the design carved into the stone. My fingers hit a dent–wait, not a dent. A hole. A keyhole. My heart skipped. I fumbled with the key, trying to slide it in, but my vision was beginning to blur; my head felt like two rocks were pushing on either side of it. I needed air.
There was a click, and I knew I'd found it. My entire body felt like it was on fire.
With the key in the keyhole, I twisted it and prayed that whatever I'd done worked.
Holes in the floor opened, the stone doors unlocked and disappeared, the room stopped shaking, the ceiling stopped falling, and the water overhead ceased flowing. The water drained until I was on damp tile, sitting on my hands and knees with my hand around my throat as I coughed up water. My eyes stung, but a harsh laugh ripped from me.
"We did it!" I laughed. "We actually did it, Sorin!" But when I turned, expecting to find the lieutenant, I found instead a body lying limp on the floor, a large slab of stone covering most of its back. For a moment I just stared at it in shock, not fully comprehending what I saw—that Sorin was the body on the ground, lying as if he was sleeping; that he was not breathing.
My legs felt jelly-like, but I used the strength I had left to crawl over to Sorin, dragging the lantern with me. "No, no, no, Sorin," I said, touching his face softly to brush the soaked hair that fell in front of his eyes back. He didn't move. "Come on, Sorin, wake up. Wake up." My heart was lead, my gut so heavy it sank down to my feet. Lips trembling, I moved to his side and grunted as I pushed the stone from his body. His jacket was torn, and the scraped flesh bled steadily.
Weakly, I turned him onto his back. His cheek was scraped and bleeding along with parts of his forearms. My fingers found his neck, the soft spot right under his jaw. I was looking for a pulse, for anything, but I found nothing. There was nothing--no beat, no breath, no life. The pit of darkness in me began to grow. My body began going numb. My breathing was more like frantic gasps for breath.
He has no pulse, Vera. He's not breathing. You have to le-
"No." I sniffed. "No. He's not going to die like this." Vera. It's not plausible. He's d- "Shut up!" I yelled, my voice echoing in the room. "I'm not letting him die. I can save him."
Behind a wall of tears, I quickly grabbed a knife from my hip and cut open his shirt so his chest was exposed. Locking my hands together, I started compressions, muttering the counts under my breath. Then I tilted his head back, and my mouth met with his as I breathed two breaths. Hovering above him, I waited. And waited.
But Sorin laid still, unmoving.
A broken noise cracked from me.
I began again. "Come on, you stubborn fool," I mumbled through tears that now streamed down my face. "Wake up." For minutes, too many minutes, I continued compressions, not wanting to give up, not being able to let go. My mind screamed at me that it was too late, but I wouldn't stop. "Please wake up. Please. Please." I placed my lips over his mouth and breathed once, twi-
Sorin's body convulsed as he coughed up an ocean of water.
A gasp of relief tore through me. Shaking and still sobbing, I slumped back, my hands supporting me. Sorin stayed on his back, weakly opening and closing his eyes, but his breathing stayed steady.
Eventually, his head turned toward me as he heard my sobs. His brows furrowed. "Vera?" His voice was hoarse and raw. Sorin shifted as if attempting to sit up. He ended up managing to get to his elbows. "Vera." His hand twitched to reach for me.
And that's when I broke.
I didn't wait a second before flinging myself on him, arms wrapping around the back of his neck and pulling me closer to him.
"Don't ever fucking do that again. Okay?" My voice broke off. "Fucking promise me, Sorin." I sobbed into his shoulder.
A warm hand set on my back, and Sorin's weak voice mumbled, "I promise."
I tightened my grip on him, afraid of what would happen if I let him go. Beneath me, his chest rose and fell steadily. I felt his heart beating, but all I saw when my eyes closed was him, dead, his body cold, his eyes lifeless. I saw death. I saw my best friend lying still on the limestone of the dungeon, surrounded in a circle of blood, a bullet lodged in his forehead. I felt the same helplessness I had when I stared down at him and realized I was too late. My head began pounding the words too late at me in an endless cycle.
"It's okay," Sorin whispered a moment later. It really was pathetic that he was comforting me after having been dead a minute earlier, but I had no energy to think much about that. My body felt drained of everything. This was a kind of tired I hadn't ever felt. "I'm here. It's okay. I'm here." And we stayed there, on the damp floor, in each other's embrace until the lamp's light flickered out.
____________
When we reached the entrance to the cave, I slumped Sorin against the side, not meeting his eye. Sniffing, I wiped my nose with my sleeve and said,
"Don't move. I'll be right back." Sorin weakly nodded back.
I walked out and collected some wood and other materials for a fire, biting back violent shivers as the cold bit at my wet skin. When I got enough, I ventured back to the cave and stacked the wood. Our matches were wet, so I spent the very tedious time rubbing the sticks together until the smoke led to a small flame. I went to Sorin who still hadn't said a word and pulled his jacket off of him, followed by unsheathing all of his blades and tossing them down.
Softly, Sorin asked, "Trying to get me naked, little assassin?" He gave a small grin.
A frown stayed emblazoned on my face. "Your clothes are wet. You need to at least take the heavy stuff off so they'll dry."
He cleared his throat. "What about you?"
"I'm fine," I mumbled.
"No, you-"
"I'm fine, Sorin. I'm going back down anyway."
Sorin's eyes narrowed. "I must still have water logged in my ear. You're doing what?!"
"I'm going back down," I repeated. "There's something on the other side of that passageway." Sorin shifted as if trying to get up.
"I'm coming wi-"
"No you're not. You could barely climb up here. How do y-"
"You're not going down there alone, Vera. I won't let you."
"I think you have an excuse to not spy on me for Orson."
"You think this is about King Orson? About my mission?"
"When is it not about him?" I began to stand, but Sorin grabbed my arm. His grip wasn't nearly enough to hold me back--he barely had the strength to hold onto me--but still, I froze.
"Look at me." I stared just past his head. "This is not about him, okay? This is about the possibility of you dying or hurting yourself."
Looking at the dirt, I said dismissively, "I'll be fine." I pried my arm from Sorin's gentle grip and stood, crossing the cave to the torch on the wall and prying it from the stone. "Do not move. Sleep. I'll be back within two hours, and if you're strong enough, we'll make the trek back to the village."
Sorin was quiet as I lit the torch on fire. I knew his eyes were pleading me to stay, to not go down, but I didn't give them a glance. "Please be safe," he murmured quietly. Pausing at the top of the ledge, I inhaled deeply to steady myself, and without responding to him, I left Sorin and began the tedious trek down.