The Shadows That Dwell Within (The Warrior Queens book #1) (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 33 - Rosaline

The warehouse was a decrepitated building on the outskirts of Ironfield. The windows broken and parts of the roof had fallen in. It looked completely ordinary other than the 20 feet iron fence surrounding the entire warehouse.

"Right. How are we going to get in?" Rosaline said.

The Falcons stood outside the gate, including Kiyan, who had made a quick recovery and was now brandishing a bow and arrow. Rosaline suspected he exaggerated his injuries for Adelaide's sympathy.

"I'm sure Adelaide will conjure up something to break down the wards" Victoria said.

The group turned to Adelaide and she grinned.

"No pressure or anything" she said.

Adelaide brought her chakram up to an angle and let it soar. The weapon collided with the gate with a tremor. Sparks flew as the chakram wedged itself in between two iron poles. Rosaline gaped at the gate – and she wasn't the only one. Before leaving the airship, Adelaide enchanted all the weapons with different magic. Some with fire, some with ice – Rosaline herself could feel the ice radiating from her blades. Adelaide enchanted her weapon with seraphic magic – the strongest magic there was. And it didn't work.

"It's times like this I wish I still had my Enchanter staff" Adelaide huffed.

"Why didn't that work?" Rosaline asked.

"It must be strong magic we're dealing with here" Victoria said. "But even the strongest magic has weak spots".

"So would do you suggest we do? Randomly hit the fence until we hit a weak spot?" Maxwell said.

"Of course not" Victoria snapped.

"It will be some place obvious. Dominic wants us to find him" Kiyan said.

"That's ridiculous. If Dominic wanted us to find him he would've stopped hiding and the gate would be wide open" Victoria said.

"He didn't want just anyone to find him. He wanted it to be Adelaide" Kiyan reasoned.

Adelaide cringed and Victoria raised an eyebrow. Kiyan aimed his arrow at the top of the gate and shoot right throw it. The gate crumbled and the ground rumbled. The wall surrounding the warehouse seemed to fade into nothing. The scene before them revealed itself. A large brick maze stood before them.

"It was an illusion" Rosaline exclaimed.

Rosaline had tricked by an illusion twice before. Once she'd been running down a long corridor ready to pluck A Wineburry Tale off the wall. A Wineburry Tale was the most famous painting in Concordia, secured in the Royal Concordian Gallery of Art and History. Rosaline was a fingertip's reach away from it when the scene changed into a street alley. The second time it happened, it ended in Rosaline's arrest. She thought she was walking into an abandoned building, she was really walking into a trap.

"You knew that would scrape away the illusion" Victoria spat.

"I didn't" Kiyan protested, looking worried. "The gap just didn't look shimmery like the rest of the ward did".

"How could you see the ward? The ward isn't visible to the naked eye" Rosaline said.

It was true. No one could see wards, not even Enchanters. People could only feel the ward. It seemed to give out a certain vibe – stay away.

"We all know that adrenaline heightens your senses. So for once can all stop arguing and focus on what's important?" Adelaide said.

Adelaide then marched into the maze, the darkness seemed to fold around her as she disappeared. Rosaline gulped and followed her.

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