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“Not yet,” he replied. “Oh, wait! Here we go.” At that moment, three panels slid open on the opposite wall, and through them pushed three large spigots, each with a different shaped valve handle: a circle, triangle, and square. A mural of those same shapes was superimposed on the two adjacent walls, like a deck of cards evenly spaced out and extending from floor to ceiling. Many of the shapes went dark and then lit up again at different intervals. Onnika stood and turned in a circle, her eyes darting between the two walls and the spigots. A second later, a quick spreading puddle of water spanned out along the floor, sloshing past where Caryn lay with her eyes closed. She didn’t stir even as her clothes grew damp.
“Oh, gods.” Asher placed both palms flat on the glass. “Is she breathing?”
A pall fell over them, and no one replied.
Onnika splashed the icy cold water over Caryn’s cheeks, lightly patting them. “Caryn, sweetie, wake up. It’s time to work. What do I do?” Water sloshed in faster, already four inches deep. If Caryn remained unconscious, she’d drown in no time.
Trying to stave off her panic, Onnika took turns shaking her and studying the symbols on the walls. Periodically, the shapes flashed dark then bright again in a seemingly random pattern, but she knew there had to be some kind of order to it. It was a puzzle. The only problem was she had no idea how the pieces fit. She also surmised that she would need to turn those valves to get the water to stop, but probably in a specific order.
And…was the water coming in faster now? It inched past her ankles and was climbing.
Dragging Caryn to the corner of the room, she propped her up against the window. The men immediately started banging on the barrier near where her head lolled, their mouths opening wide as though screaming for her to wake up, but only muffled sound filtered in.
Spinning around, she concentrated on the flashing symbols and realized they weren’t just flashing on and off, but they were rearranging as they did, constantly shifting. She could make no sense of it. She regarded the valves, debating turning them at random and hoping for the best, but if she didn’t get the order right, it might flush more water into the room, which was now approaching knee height and was so cold she could barely keep her teeth from chattering.
What do I do?If Caryn were awake, she might be able to guess at the proper algorithm for spinning those valves and find success. Without her magic, neither she nor Onnika were equipped for puzzle solving, especially when one of their lives was on the line and adrenaline was making it hard to think. No wonder Zeek had been so keen on the idea of running The Gauntlet. Giant puzzle that it was, it was his wet dream.
Zeek!
She spun around, seeking him through the clear barrier. He was concentrating hard on one of the two walls, eyes narrowed, lips moving slightly as though muttering to himself. Sloshing over to him, she slammed her hands on the barrier to grab his attention and mouthed, “What do we do?”
Expression strained, he simply returned his attention to the shifting symbols, which, to her, meant he was still trying to figure it out.
Caryn’s chin was underwater now. Onnika trudged to her side and lifted her body higher, holding it up against the wall. This time when she splashed more water on her face, her eyes cracked open. “What’s going on?” she slurred.
“We’re in The Gauntlet still. I need you to use your magic now. Which valve do I turn? All three? Only one?”
Caryn’s head did a kind of circular dance over her shoulders. “You should never have followed me in. I was wrong. I can’t do this. You should have just let me die…long ago.”
“You die, I die,” Onnika declared, throwing the force of her conviction into her voice. “We’re a team, and a damn good one. I know you’re tired. I know you’re in pain. We just have a little farther to go and we’re home free.”
Caryn’s eyes closed again, exhaustion etched in her features, but she didn’t pass out. “I love you, Oni.”
“Don’t you fucking dare say goodbye! We aren’t finished yet. You remember home? You remember our family? Aidan met Uncle Ethanule. Did I tell you that? It’s fate that we came to be with them onDragoon. That was because of you.Youdid that, Caryn. You brought us to them. Aidan’s going to take us home. Thebothof us.”
Water gushed around them as if fed by a frigid river, rising past their shoulders, forcing them to tread the surface, and completely consuming the valves.
“He met our uncle?” muttered Caryn. Her tone was dreaming and strained from shivering, her lips turning blue. “How s-strange.”
Onnika shivered, too. The freezing water stabbed through her flesh, straight into her bones. How long before hypothermia set in?
“Can you keep yourself above water?” she asked.
Caryn nodded and placed her palms on the glass for support.
Leaving her side, Onnika swam to the barrier and peered down at Aidan’s miserable gaze. The water was now well over his head. Flattening her palm on the surface she said, “I’m sorry.” She knew he couldn’t hear her, but she trusted that he would read her lips.
His features shifted into a snarl, and he shook his head. “No. You don’t get to say that now. Not yet.” At least that’s what she thought he said.
He tugged Zeek by the arm and yelled something she couldn’t make out. Distraught and seeming on the verge of tears, Zeek rocked his head back and forth.
The water rose and rose until both Onnika and Caryn were face to face with the ceiling, gasping for air, iced through. She had to do something at least. Turn the valves in any kind of order and hope for the best.
Sucking in a deep breath, she dove under. The water turned glacial as she moved through it, sending a million needles of pain through her skin. She made it to the square valve first and was preparing to turn it when she heard a distant thump, thump, thumping behind her. All four men were pounding on the window with all their might. With his finger, Zeek began drawing shapes. First a circle, then a square, then tringle, then a—
Her lungs demanded air. She could wait no longer. Shoving off the floor she shot to the surface. Her forehead banged into the ceiling. There was an inch left of air. “Caryn, she gargled. Hold on. I think we got it.” But there was no answer.
Gulping in air, Onnika dove once more and spared her unconscious sister a glance as she slowly sank to the bottom and then turned her attention to Zeek. Following his frantic direction, she turned the circular valve, followed by the square and triangle, then square again, circle again…how long would this infernal sequence be?
