Guidry's Arc

Chapter 9 of 14

Croaker unfolded his hand-drawn map across the boat's bench, the paper still damp from being tucked inside his coat. He pointed to a circle marked with charcoal near the eastern edge. "Chamber's here," he said. "Where the gem sits." Guidry studied the charcoal mark, then looked up at the water ahead. A winding trail of crushed vegetation cut through the shallows like a massive rope had been dragged across the marsh. The scales scattered along it were fresh, still glistening with moisture. The pattern led directly to a stone building with its roof torn away and walls half-collapsed. Something had claimed that structure, reshaped it by force. The trail and the chamber occupied the same ground. Guidry's stomach tightened. For forty years he'd navigated by knowing what lay ahead. Now he had to guide toward something that could kill them both, and the treasure they sought sat in the middle of its den. Stryker leaned forward, following Guidry's gaze to the ruined building. "That's where we're going?" Guidry cut the engine and let the boat drift. He could turn back now, keep his reputation intact by claiming the route was too dangerous. Or he could admit what the map showed and figure out how to navigate it anyway. He looked at the serpentine trail again, studying how it curved around deeper water and stuck to the shallows. The creature moved with purpose, not randomly. That meant it had patterns too, just different ones than he'd spent a lifetime learning. "Yeah," Guidry said, restarting the engine. "But we circle wide and approach from the east where the water's too shallow for it to move fast." He wasn't the guide who knew safe routes anymore. He was the guide who read danger and found the gaps inside it.