It wasn’t super concerning. If the vampire died, Eva wouldn’t lose much sleep over it. And if somebody killed the vampire who wasn’t her, then all the better.
Emily was just a regular thaumaturge. Not even an experienced one. She was about the same age as Eva, even if she seemed to have a decent handle on both earth magic and fire magic.
However, she wasn’t from the Nod Complex. For the moment, that was good enough for Eva.
Eva blinked again.
“Wait! Don’t–”
Eva knocked her to the side just as she had with Anise, scooped her up, and started hopping up once again.
Randal made it up to the top before Eva did. Not by much. If she hadn’t hesitated in retrieving Emily, she might have made it back first. Or at least at the same time.
“No ride for me?” Randal asked with a mild chuckle. He started to move towards Rachael.
Eva pinched the hem of his shirt without setting down the somewhat squirmy Emily. She dragged him over to the center where Anise was already waiting. As with Anise, Eva dropped Emily on the ground and ignored her groan.
Fishing her marble out of her pocket—which was thankfully still intact despite the holes in her clothes—Eva dropped it into the indentation.
Which promptly opened up and swallowed the marble.
Eva waited. She was expecting the entire platform to move. Or at least the part between the pillars. There was a faint seam where she though the floor might drop out from the rest.
But it wasn’t moving.
“Rachael?” she said, turning. “How long did it take?”
“Only a second or two, but they both put their marbles in.”
Eva looked around her group. “Well? You heard her, what are you waiting for? I hope none of you lost them.”
Anise and Emily both pulled theirs out without complaint and dropped them into the hole. Randal pulled his out and held it in his hand.
He didn’t bend down and put it in the hole. His eyes narrowed as he watched the other two drop their marbles.
“Why are we taking these two with us?”
“Randal,” Eva said, keeping her voice cool. “Put your marble in the hole. If the elevator ride is long enough, maybe I’ll tell you. Nod Complex students are already down there. We don’t have time to sit around up here fighting.”
He hesitated for another moment before tilting his head. “Alright,” he said with a half-sigh.
The second he placed his marble down, the entire platform jolted. Another second and they were moving downwards.
“Good luck,” Rachael shouted just before their heads dipped below the surface of the temple.
Reaching into her pocket, Eva pulled out one of the wands and tossed it at Rachael. “Just in case,” she called out as two stone doors closed over her head.
Randal had his eyes on Eva as soon as the last vestiges of light were pinched by the doors. They snapped shut with a thunderous crash. Beyond that, Eva couldn’t hear much of anything. The elevator was near silent. Maybe a slight grinding of stone against stone if she really strained her ears, but that could just as easily be her imagination.
Not that she needed to hear anything. Randal’s stare was loud enough on its own to make up for the lack of noise around.
She couldn’t actually see his eyes. No new lights lit up inside the slowly lowering chamber.
Well, none save for two bright white lights flaring up where Anise’s eyes should be. They didn’t provide nearly enough illumination to brighten up the entire elevator however.
So Eva decided to help out. She ignited both of her claws, brightening her flames until she could see not only her companions but the moving walls as well. The platform was fairly spacious. Eva couldn’t stretch out her arms without hitting someone else, but she wasn’t up in their faces either. Even still, she took a step closer to the center.
Being able to see the walls moving up while in the elevator unnerved her for some reason.
Interestingly, she couldn’t see any cameras around. The drones had been circling around outside the temple, but none had followed them into the elevator shaft.
“So spill. Why are we not taking their wands. Or kicking them off the top of the pyramid?”
“First,” Eva pointed towards Anise, “she doesn’t need a wand for her most dangerous magic.”
Anise took a step back as Randal turned to glare at her. Though she still had at least two steps to go before hitting the wall, Eva couldn’t help but wince. What if her curly hair snagged on the rough stone walls as they rushed past?
“Second, we’re going down into this temple with who knows what waiting for us. At the very least, there is a dryad and a vampire.”
“You don’t think we can take them?”
“I think I could take them with my eyes closed. While the vampire isn’t necessarily the most powerful representative of his species and the dryad might be a little underwhelming, I still would rather not find out they’ve been hiding all their tricks right at the last moment.”
“I suppose I can understand that,” Randal said, eying the other two girls. “What’s the third reason?”
“What makes you think there is a third reason?”
He turned back, looking at her as if he were offended she had thought so little of him.
Eva sighed.
“Alright. I really don’t want the Nod Complex to win. Like, at all. We have a better chance at stopping them with four of us.”
Turning her attention to Emily, she smiled a nice, closed mouth smile. “I don’t know what your deal with Faultline was, but all three of their people lost their wands. Thanks to yours truly. They can’t win anymore. I expect equal help in keeping the Nod Complex from winning.”
Before Emily could agree or disagree, Eva turned to Anise. “And you’re part of the Elysium Order. Say what you want about demons, but you hunt undead. Think of what an embarrassment it would be if a vampire were to win.”
A jolt almost threw all of them to the ground as the elevator slammed into the ground. It hadn’t slowed down in the slightest before stopping cold. Eva actually had to extinguish her hands in a hurry lest she accidentally burn Randal by bumping into him. When no further jolts came, she moved a step away and reignited her hands.
One of the four walls wasn’t a wall anymore. A doorway had opened up in place of the wall leading out into a long corridor. A camera was mounted on a track along one of the walls, staring right at them.
Eva almost glowered at it. Instead, she grinned and gave it a little wave. Despite their disadvantage in getting down the elevator second, she might as well be a little confident.
As for how far they had gone down, Eva couldn’t say. Rachael’s circulatory system had gone out of range a short while ago. They had traveled for a time since then. For all Eva knew, they could be halfway up the pyramid, level with the ground around it, or even deep underground.
Just beneath the camera was a small tray. Three violet marbles and one yellow were ready for collection.
Eva picked up one of the violet ones, the one furthest from the elevator which should be hers, as did the other girls. Randal picked up his yellow marble.
Based on how they were keys to get down into the pyramid, they were probably used elsewhere inside as well. Maybe keys for doors. Maybe winning the whole thing. Whatever the case, Eva wasn’t about to throw it away.
“Alright. Time is running out.”
With one final glance towards her companions, Eva took off running.
She did not handicap her speed to keep as a group. So long as there was nothing but a single hallway, there was no need. No one would get lost and the vampire should be up ahead.
Though, she was the group’s light source at the moment. The others might be able to get their own light going, but so long as she had her hands aflame, she might as well help out. Eva trailed a finger along the wall opposite from the camera—which was racing along with her—and left fire sticking to the wall in a long line.