I should have kept my mouth shut.
Chapter 016
An earthquake tore through the prison. Potion vials rattled, dust shook free from the walls, one of the runes providing light failed.
Eva snapped the treatise on necromancy shut with a barely restrained sigh. That’s the fifth time in the last hour. She glanced over at Juliana, Shalise, and Devon, all of whom were glued to the window.
“Any sign of them stopping for the night?” Eva asked. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep like this.”
“I think they’re trying to kill each other.” Juliana just shook her head. Apparently, this was business as usual. “‘Accidentally,'” she added in air quotes.
“You don’t sound too concerned about it, girl.”
“Please,” Juliana said with a laugh. “My mom was kicking Arachne’s ass with Eva’s distractions.”
Eva shook her head. “Arachne was gaining ground. She’s got the stamina and strength to continue even under a barrage of rock.”
“Even if she got close, mom could have just blinked away. Arachne can’t win.”
“That would only last until Arachne figured out a tell. Then she’d chuck a rock in the path and your mom would be down and out.”
Devon hummed while scratching his beard. “She steps backwards. Without looking. It might be difficult to tell for sure.”
“The difference between blinking and stepping?”
He shrugged. “Damned if I know. I didn’t have a fancy school teaching me the proper ways of things. But the endurance issue is more pressing for the mom than any sudden attacks. Arachne could wear her down until she can’t keep up. Endurance isn’t even a concept to it.”
Juliana turned to Devon with a sad shake of her head. “My mother’s been a fighter for a long time. She keeps herself in shape. I mean, look at her–”
“Trust me, girl. I am.”
An elbow found its way into Devon’s side. Or tried to anyway. He slipped off to one side. Juliana’s elbow passed harmlessly through his empty sleeve.
“Hey, you’re the one who told me to watch her.”
“That’s my mother and she is happily married.”
“Now you’re jumping to conclusions.”
“What I was trying to say,” Juliana said with a huff, “is that she’s strong. They’ve been fighting nonstop for five hours and they’re still going. More than that, she knows her limits. She’ll disengage and blink away if she thinks she’s getting tired.”
Devon opened his mouth to argue further, but Shalise cut him off.
“Well, I think they’re having fun.”
Everyone looked at her. Slowly, Eva glanced at Devon and Juliana. They returned the look.
A moment later and the women’s ward was full of laughter.
“W-what are you laughing at? Look, they’re smiling!”
Eva set her book on the table and stepped straight to the freshly repaired window. Genoa had the decency to repair the women’s ward with her earth magic. Someone of her caliber could apparently manipulate glass.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was much better than a giant hole in the building. She said she would spend some time reinforcing the entire structure over the course of her stay.
Being able to step again was like a breath of cool, fresh air. It was such a pleasant feeling. Eva couldn’t believe she made do without stepping for so long. Of course, she was a bit rusty. She had tried to step as soon as their little meeting with Genoa ended.
While her step had succeeded in that it moved her from where she was to where she wanted to be, it failed in other ways. Namely, she had left behind all of her clothes. Right in front of Juliana’s parents. Eva didn’t care half as much about being naked in front of them as she did about failing her stepping in front of them.
Eva shook her head and focused. Blink failures were in the past. Besides, she had figured out what went wrong quick enough. It was like riding a bicycle.
The battle raged on outside. Two titans fought, tearing the land to shreds.
If Genoa hadn’t promised to not only fix the ground but also reinforce the walls and buildings, Eva would have activated the wards again.
Arachne had adopted a new strategy for dealing with Genoa. Rather than brute forcing all the debris, she opted for the avoidance method. Her extra limbs wrapped around her chest as she danced and weaved over sand traps, holes, and flying rocks. A leg would dart out to catch her if Genoa managed to knock her unsteady or catch her over a hole.
Occasionally, a fireball would come in her direction, but Arachne headbutted those away like they were balloons.
Genoa adapted to deal with Arachne’s increased mobility by doing exactly as Juliana said. She blinked here, there, and everywhere. The rate at which she managed attacks was enviable on its own. Blinking every few seconds between the attacks just gave Eva a sick feeling in her stomach.
If Eva tried the same, she’d wind up vomiting everything within seconds.
The two combatants had one thing in common. That was their near identical smiles.
Under no circumstances would Eva ever describe their smiles as ‘friendly’ or ‘fun.’
Eva shook her head and patted Shalise on the back. “It’s okay. We’re all a little crazy.”
Shalise stuck out her tongue.
“What are we going to do about Ylva’s place?”
Eva turned to give Juliana a shrug. “I asked Ylva to seal off some of the more problematic rooms. The torture chamber and that eye stalk room, for instance. The sealing didn’t leave a door, just a flat wall. Everything else will be explained away as space expansion, I guess.”
“My mother will never buy that.”
“Well, we could just stay here. Or one of the other buildings, though none of them are very habitable.”
“We already told her that we’re not staying here. She’d think it was suspicious. I’m actually surprised that she hasn’t insisted on a full inspection of the place.”
“Arachne is good for something I guess.”
“But what are we going to tell her when she does go inside? There’s a pit that doesn’t have a bottom and clouds. How are we supposed to explain away clouds?”
“Vertical space expansion,” Eva answered with a shrug. “There isn’t much we can do about it at this point.”
“Not going to help.”
“Might as well get it over with now. We need to stop the earthquakes to get some sleep soon anyway. I’ve got to be up early to meet with Martina Turner. We all have to be up early because Arachne is giving us a ride.”
“That’s kind of weird,” Shalise said. “Once or twice I could see, but every day?” She looked up to Devon. “Can’t we get a ride in the truck?”
He sneered at Shalise. “Steal your own ride, kid.”
“You stole it?”
“Do I look like I’m made out of money?”
“Anyway, I need sleep. You all need sleep. They’ve been ‘sparring’ for long enough.” Eva turned back to the window. Another tremor shook the women’s ward. “Now, how do we stop them without getting killed.”
“Don’t ask me,” Devon said. “I’d have left hours ago if I thought it was safe.”
Juliana and Shalise looked at each other with a shrug.
Eva let out a short sigh. “I’ll be right back.”
“You’re not doing that pain thing again, are you?”
“No. Just getting something.”
Eva left the three and headed towards the potion room. Luck had kept most of the vials from breaking during the earlier assault and the constant earthquakes. Most being the key word. It probably wasn’t safe to stay inside.
The jug that Eva needed was right next to the door. She hefted it up without stepping foot into the room.
“What is that?”
“Blood.”
“Really? It’s black.”
“It’s mine.”
“Yours? How much is in that thing.”
“Two, maybe three gallons? Somewhere around there.” Eva dropped the jug in front of the door. She pulled open the door just a crack.