CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
“Odin,” Brin grunted. “Are we going to make that?”
“We have no choice not to,” Muni rasped, watching as the speed-o-meter rose higher and higher. The vampires kept pace beside them, the passenger yelling something out of his window. Muni could have heard him if she’d focused, but she didn’t dare. The ramp was the launchpad over the canyon. If they missed, if they didn’t gain enough speed, they wouldn’t land on the other side and the race would be over before it had begun.
Muni held her breath as they closed in, as the ramp grew higher and higher before them, distance allowing them to see precisely how large the canyon was. The ramp was massive, large enough for a few cars to line up beside each other and jump it.
“What the fuck is this?” Eirik asked, panic in his voice. “A Hot Wheels track?”
“Would now be the time to mention I don’t do well with heights?” Vidar rasped, his hands clenched tightly to his seat.
But Muni was a raven and so she was used to the feeling that came with flight. Her wings itched to unfurl though it was impossible to do so within the confines of the car. The speed-o-meter read one hundred and eighty as she lined the nose of the McLaren up with the ramp and began to climb. It was as much as they were going to be able to reach. She held her breath as they climbed higher and higher. The car roared with power as it drew closer to the top.
Beside them, the vampires remained, keeping pace with them for whatever reason. They were nothing.
“Here we go,” Muni murmured and then she stopped breathing altogether, holding it all inside as if it would help in some way.
Vidar stiffened with fear beside her, his eyes wide as the car found the edge of the ramp and lifted. They were weightless, a feeling Muni was familiar with normally, but inside the car, it was far more terrifying than it was when she spread her wings. Brin and Eirik sucked in air, their panic palpable, but none of the men dared scream. They faced their fears as they sailed through the sky and waited.
It felt like eons as the cliff on the other side grew closer.
“We’re gonna make it,” Eirik breathed. “We’re gonna make it.”
Time seemed to slow and then with a violent force, the McLaren landed heavily on the other side. Time moved again as Muni corrected the force and straightened the car, controlling the slide it had wanted to go into. The vampires on the other side of them swerved wildly, taking far longer to gain control again. The second they did, the passenger vampire was leaning outside of his window, prepared to throw something at them.
“Incoming!” Eirik growled, prepared to do. . .something, but no one got the chance to do anything. Before the vampire could throw whatever he had in his hand, lightning streaked across the sky and struck the ground before them. A piece of the road came away and shattered, leaving a pothole behind that would ruin their suspension if they hit it. Before any of them could react passed Muni turning the wheel just slightly to avoid it, a great bird, its wingspan far larger than anything natural, flew overhead, casting a long shadow. Thunder rumbled in its wake.
“What in the world is that?” Eirik breathed, his eyes on the creature as it soared across the sky above them.
“Thunderbird,” Muni answered, awe in her own voice. “I’ve never seen on in person.”
And it was beautiful, far more ethereal than anything Muni had witnessed before. With feathers brilliant colors only found in the heat of lightning, the bird was devastating in its wake. With its gentle curve across the sky, thunder clouds followed.
“Is it a threat?” Brin asked.
She shook her head. “it’s not the bird that is the threat.” She looked over at Vidar. “It’s what comes after.”
Vidar’s eyes widened. “What the Hel does that mean?’
But she didn’t have to answer. The sky broke open above them and rain began to pour. There were no gentle sprinkles to start. It went from no rain to flood rains, no doubt pouring so many inches an hour, they’d have to worry about flash floods.
“This is the desert,” Eirik commented from the back seat, realizing what she had. “We need to get out of this section. Now.”
“Five more miles,” Brin grunted. “Then we’re in the Jolly Caverns.”
“Do I even want to know why they’re called Jolly?” Vidar asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Brin answered. “But perhaps, we should hurry.”
Something slammed against the driver side window, light flaring as whatever hit them met the protective medallion Cricket had gifted them with. Muni jerked at the impact, surprised. The rain was coming down so hard, she could barely see the vampire car now. They were flying blind on the track, trusting the map and the brief instances of clarity the windshield wipers gave them to continue. Whatever the vampire threw, it didn’t stick because of the medallion but the rain would have likely kept it from sticking regardless. Though their weapons wouldn’t work, clearly the vampires had some sort of throwing weapon in their car. The explosion behind them answered the question.
“Was that a grenade?” Eirik asked, turning to look out of the back. “I think they threw a grenade of some sort.”
She glanced over at them, saw through the running water on her window as the vampire drew his hand back in preparation of throwing another one.
“You’d think they would understand the threat,” Muni growled.
“Where exactly does all the water go when it rains like this in the desert?” Brin questioned.
“It fills,” Eirik replied.
Blinking, Brin looked back down at his tablet. “Three miles until we’re out of Arizona. I suggest we close the distance as fast as possible.”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Muni grunted. She could only go so fast with the rain. As it was, they were speeding dangerously over water, the tires barely grabbing pavement anymore as the water began to stand on the road. With visibility so low and the road so treacherous, going even eighty miles an hour was a risk, but Muni pushed just over ninety. If they stayed too long here, things were going to get much worse.
Lightning streaked across the sky in front of them, lighting up the thunderbird as it spread its wings wide and screeched above them. It was both beautiful and terrifying, a picture that would forever stay in Muni’s mind.
A different car came out of nowhere then, splitting between them and sitting there. It was brown in color, rough, and Muni cursed when she recognized it.
“Goblins.”
The vamps began to slow to put distance between them and the goblins, but rather than focus on Muni, the goblins began to slow with the vamps. Both cars began to draw back as a goblin hung out the window and threw what looked like a round gym weight at the Bugatti. Another weight was thrown their way, but it bounced harmlessly off the fender thanks to Cricket’s medallion. It flared again, the glow of the gold faded just a little at being used. The vampires fell behind quickly, the goblins after them, and Muni focused gratefully on the road ahead of them.
“Two miles,” Brin said.
Thunder rumbled over them, loud enough to shake the ground. Lightning continued to strike the dirt around them, lighting up the desert with each one. The last strike lit up exactly what was coming.
“Munin,” Vidar rasped.
“I see it.”
Water. Rushing water was closing in from the desert. The flash flood Muni had been worried about.
“Go,” Eirik ordered. “If we’re caught in that, we’re done.”
He was right. The McLaren was too low to the ground. They’d be swept away easily. The car didn’t even have snorkel gear. They hadn’t thought it was necessary.
Muni stepped on the gas, flying far too fast over the wet road. All it would take was one wrong flick of the wrist, or another car touching them, and they’d lose all control, but they had no choice. It was either risk losing control or be swept away by the flooding of the desert.
“One mile!” Brin shouted over the thunder, his eyes wide on the water closing in. “Faster!”
The windshield wipers weren’t helping. There would be a split second of clarity and then nothing. Though they were on the fastest setting, it was barely cleaning the window. Muni had to trust her instincts and the compass on her dash to continue in a straight line.
The water was right behind them, and when it began to dance at the rear tires, lifting just slightly, Muni was sure they were about to be swept away. The lightning lit up the sky again, the thunderbird outlined in silhouette there, just before the darkness of the storm disappeared and they entered a more absolute darkness. The thundering rain stopped immediately, and the next time the windshield wipers swiped across, it cleared their view completely.
“Welcome to the Jolly Caverns,” Google said, making them all jump in the silence and adrenaline.
Muni slammed on her breaks as the walls came into view, stone walls.
“They don’t look too jolly,” Vidar grunted, wiping his hair from his face. He’d broken out in a cold sweat at some point, wiping it away now that the adrenaline eased just a little.
“What? You were expecting Santa Claus?” Eirik asked. When Vidar looked at him in confusion, Eirik shook his head. “Never mind. Weapons system is online.”
A horn sounded around them, echoing in the cavern, and the three men ducked out of instinct. But Muni just shook her head sadly.
“A team had died.”
“The vampire team has been eliminated,” Google said, answering the question. Apparently, it had been tied into the race systems.
And so it began, Muni thought. Nine teams were left. And they still had to catch up to the necromancers. But for now, she focused on the walls around her, the headlights only reaching so far.
There would be traps and threats within these caverns and she knew not to expect Santa.
No, there would be things far worse than a jolly man in a red suit here.