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