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A distant roar floated to my ears, almost drowned out by the surrounding traffic noise. Whatever it was, they were fighting. I could just make out the smaller winged figure, a tail whipping in the air as it faced Zav. It wasn’t a wyvern. It was a manticore. It dipped as Zav arrowed toward it, then flew upward, using its talons to slash at the dragon’sunderbelly.
I sucked in a concerned breath before I caught myself—there was no way I was concerned about that big arrogant jerk. If I was, it was only because of whatever spell he’d cast onme.
He didn’t need my concern anyway. A blast of raw power slammed into the manticore before the talons raked Zav’s belly. It hurled the smaller foe all the way down to slam into the rooftop of a tall building. The dragon streaked down after him, probably smashing deck chairs when he landed. The walls around the rooftop were high, so I couldn’t see what happened after that. I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for the manticore or glad that Zav was stealing away some magical criminal for judgment in another realm. Either way, he wasn’t here to stalk me, after all. And he would be too busy to help if I got intotrouble.
Not that I’d expected or wanted hishelp.
I slowed the kayak, bobbing gently in the waves as I peered over the side. A faint yellow glow was visible, and I was close enough now to sense a hint of magic. Whatever bait was luring the fish—and the kraken—it wasn’tnatural.
“So now what?” Imurmured.
The bait and the kraken were interesting, but neither was what I wanted. I closed my eyes, trying to sense other magical beings in the area. The dragon and the manticore were far enough away to have faded from my limited range. But there was somethingelse…
I held my breath. A magical person similar to the dark elves that had shown up in Woodinville had come onto my radar. He or she wasn’t straight down but over toward the bank, maybe fifteen feet below a row of houseboats. I was positive the dark elf hadn’t been there long. He or she had popped up on my senses as if from behind an insulateddoor.
I paddled slowly in that direction. The dark elf hadn’t moved yet. Lights were on in several of the houseboats, and a couple was out on their deck in a hot tub. Possibly naked. Wonderful. The dark elf was almost right under them. Still not moving. Waiting for… what? The kraken to get full before trying to collect itsblood?
If I swam down there, could I surprise the dark elf? Maybe knock him or her out and get into thetunnels?
The people in the hot tub were looking at me. They probably thought I was a creeper peering into windows at night. Like it was my fault that they were naked in their hot tub above a dark-elflair.
I waved a paddle and continued past, pretending I lived in one of the houseboats nearby. I turned down an aisle between two rows of them, trying not to get too far from the darkelf.
Even as I tried to find a spot to slip out of the kayak, the dark elf moved. I couldn’t see anything with my eyes, but I could sense the magical aura moving away from the side of the lake. Swimming? Something about a dark elf in SCUBA gear made my brain hurt, but he or she was moving quickly out toward thekraken.
I almost followed in the kayak, but I wanted to get into the tunnels, not necessarily waylay whichever dark elf had come out. Unless it was the alchemist. But would it be? Or would she have sent aminion?
A light went on in a nearby house, and I made my decision. I pulled my goggles over my face and eased over the side of the kayak, almost gasping as the cold water engulfed my body. I sucked in a huge breath, sank down, and swam toward the area where the dark elf had seemed to emerge from the side of thelake.
Not surprisingly, it was as dark as it was cold under there. I activated my night-vision charm in time to avoid cracking my head on the log float under a houseboat and swam under several more houseboats to get to the spot. I tried not to think about them above me—and how I’d have to navigate a maze to get back up to take abreath.
The lumpy sides of the lake came into view, along with debris buried in silt. But I also saw a square hole in the slope, barely visible amid tendrils of seaweed waving in the currents. My lungs were already starting to crave air, but I swam toward it. My senses told me the dark elf was close to the kraken now. If I could slip in without anyonenoticing…
Just as I reached the square hole—it was larger than I’d realized, big enough to drive a car through—a door that looked like the seaweed-covered side of the lake itself started to grind shut. Before I could reconsider it, I yanked Chopper out and lunged in, jamming the blade into the door’s path. It slid shut on the blade, sending a jarring reverberation up my arm and making me wince. This wasnotthe proper use for a sword. But Chopper successfully kept the door fromshutting.
Using the hilt to pull myself down, I tried to use the blade for leverage. I pushed at the door, hoping to force it open, but I worried about breaking my sword. Even though Chopper was magical, I was sure it wasn’tindestructible.
Precious air bubbles escaped my lips as I shoved. The door opened an inch. A few more inches, and I could slipthrough.
But I needed air. I glanced up, thinking of releasing Chopper and going up for a quick breath, but the bottom of a huge houseboat blocked me from thesurface.
Frustrated, I shoved harder. The door inched open further. I squeezed into the gap and almost thrust myself all the way through before I thought wiser of it. What if I got trapped somewhere without anyair?
Though I worried 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 theirdeck.
I sensed the dark elf on the move again, heading back toward thedoor.
Out of time, I inhaled one more deep breath and swam back down to my sword. Poor Chopper, being used as adoorstop.
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 twolevers.
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 readit.
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 doorclosed.
The dark elf had to have a remote way of opening it—I hadn’t seen a lever on theoutside.
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 itresumed.
