Snake Heart (Chains of Honor #2) -Lindsay Buroker Page 0,86
at the far edge of his range, but there were people closer. Three boats were being rowed around the island toward a beach, and he recognized two of the auras in the lead one.
“Pey Lu is coming,” Yanko said. “With her Turgonian second-in-command and three rowboats of pirates.”
“Of course she is,” Lakeo said.
Dak did not speak. Yanko was tempted to ask him when he expected his Turgonian allies to arrive, but he kept his mouth shut. If he had to fail in his mission, it might be better to lose the lodestone to his mother, if she had been speaking the truth and meant to give it—or sell it—back to the Kyattese. When considering this from a distant point of view, wouldn’t the Kyattese be better stewards for a new-old continent than the Turgonians?
Dak pushed on a small triangle sitting within the larger triangles. Rock ground against rock, and the cairn shuddered.
Yanko stepped back. The cairn split in half, tearing up the roots of the bush that must have grown up since the rocks had originally been piled there. A square-shaped hole was revealed, with a tunnel slanting into the ground at a steep angle. The sides of the passage were lined with skulls, the eyeholes turned outward so they could watch whoever passed through. The Mausoleum Bandit had possessed macabre decorating tastes.
Chapter 19
“The passage is paralleling the cliff,” Dak said, crouching to examine the tunnel under the cairn, “at least to start with. You would expect it to turn deeper into the butte.”
“Maybe,” Yanko said. “I can feel the artifact, and it’s over that way.” He waved toward a pair of trees about ten feet from the edge of the cliff and past the place where he and Arayevo had been speaking. “That way and down quite a bit.”
“I’ll go first.” Dak removed his pack and pulled out a lantern.
“I can make a light,” Yanko offered.
“Good.” Dak lit his lantern and dropped into the passage, his broad shoulders bumping against the skulls.
“He’s probably afraid you would turn out the lights when the artifact was close and grab it for yourself,” Arayevo whispered.
Yanko hadn’t considered doing that, but admitted that it would have been an easy way to make sure he was the one to snatch it, especially since he could sense his way with his mind. Well, he could still snuff out Dak’s lantern, if the opportunity arose.
“Will you two stay here, guard the entrance, and warn me if the pirates get close?” Yanko hated to leave Lakeo and Arayevo behind, especially with the mage hunter skulking around somewhere on the island, but this didn’t look like a passage that had a back door, so he and Dak would have to return the same way. He didn’t want to step out and into the arms of thirty pirates. “I’ll reach out to you periodically.” He touched his temple.
“When did you learn how to do that with people?” Arayevo asked. “I felt you in my head when we were on the underwater boat.”
“I’ve always known how to do it with animals. I’m trying to expand my abilities, so I can convince women to unlock hatch doors that are trapping me in closets full of water.” Yanko lamented that he had never recovered the prison mage’s book on mind magic. It had actually been moderately useful, and since Pey Lu had suggested that he learn how to do more along that track, he could have continued to study it.
“I can see where that would be a useful gift,” Arayevo said.
“I’ll wait here.” Lakeo glanced at the skulls. “But I expect you to bring me back something shiny and made from gold. Or diamonds.”
“Whatever pays the tuition at the Polytechnic?”
“Exactly.”
Yanko avoided looking at the remains of the burned bush. Being enrolled in a college that trained practitioners and emphasized control would be good for her.
Aware of the pirates encroaching, he waved, then dropped into the hole behind Dak. Already several paces down the tunnel, Dak’s body blocked the scant lantern light, and Yanko created a bright sphere to illuminate the way. Dak had to walk in a hunch, his knees bent deep, his short hair brushing the ceiling. Even Yanko had to duck his head.
He stretched out with his mind, looking for magical traps such as had awaited them in the other cave. He did not find any. Aside from the artifact itself, which beckoned him with its powerful vibe, the cave and the entire island seemed devoid of magic.