Waiting For Sunrise - The Books Of Beginning AU

47. Resilience

Emma was crouched alongside Gabriel, tucked behind a fallen tree at the forest's edge, about forty feet from the dam and its stairwell. Three morum cadi with lit torches were standing guard over the structure, which, Emma thought to herself, didn't bode well. If the dam was being guarded, there had to be a reason for it - a reason like the Countess having sabotaged the structure, just like Kate had predicted. (That terrified her. If she and Gabriel didn't stop it, if the dam broke... Emma could see the boat bobbing on the water in the distance, and she knew the children were trapped there. She knew her brother and sister were working to free them. She knew that it was up to her, her and the warrior at her side, to ensure they were not swept away.)

Gabriel evidently agreed that there was much to worry about, for he moved quickly. Once again, he relied on his bow, notching the first arrow silently and with all the precision of an expert hunter. Which, Emma supposed, he probably was. He had two more arrows stuck in the ground and the string drawn back, prepared for the right moment. That moment came once a cloud moved across the sky and blotted out the moon. 

Quicker than Emma thought was possible, Gabriel shot the three Screechers dead. "Quietly now," he whispered once the last body had toppled. "There may be others nearby."

They ran from the forest to the dam, weaving around the smoking corpses of the Screechers, pausing only for a moment for Gabriel to snatch up a torch. The top of the dam loomed eight or nine feet above them, hanging over the edge of the gorge perilously. The structure was massive and Emma felt incredibly tiny standing beside it. 

Gabriel lead her to a door tucked in the side, opening it to reveal a narrow set of stairs going downwards. He went first, waving Emma after him when the path proved clear, and she followed him into the dark, stale space, guided only by the flickering light of Gabriel's torch. He lead her down two different flights, before they emerged onto a kind of balcony. 

"Whoa," Emma breathed in surprise as she took in what lay below, her hands grabbing at the railing to steady herself.

Faintly glowing lamps cast the innards of the dam in orange light, revealing a network of wooden beams stretching from wall to wall, forming a giant artificial ribcage. A dozen more flights of stairs lead into the belly of the beast, and the whole space felt enormous, yet, at the same time claustrophobic. For as deep as the dam went, its width was only about twenty feet from side to side. 

 "I didn't realize it would be all hollow," Emma muttered. Gabriel didn't respond. For a long moment, the only sound was an eerie creak that had a chill running all the way up Emma's spine.

"What's that noise."

"The pressure of the water causes the wood to rub against itself," Gabriel replied softly. Emma frowned at that, picturing the water pressing against the curved walls of the dam. It was unnerving that such a simple thing could create such a haunting sound.

"There." Gabriel's sudden urgency pulled her back to herself, and she quickly turned to follow his outstretched hand, pointing through the orange haze and the shadowy darkness. He was focusing on a handful of glowing green pinpricks littering the front of the dam.

"Enchanted gas mines. Similar to Greek fire. Forged in a potioneers lab," Gabriel said seriously. "We have little time. When the light goes red, they will explode."

Emma nodded, equally serious. Kate had been right, the Countess was sabotaging the dam. And now it was up to her and Gabriel to stop it. But how? How long did they have? How did they shut this destruction down? Just how much damage could these magical explosives do, anyways? Before she could ask any of those questions, however, Gabriel shoved her to the ground and something flew past them with a blood-curdling shriek.