Chapter 13

Roland’s laugh echoed in the cave. “Well,” he sneered, swaggering toward Jesse. Even Cotter backed away from him a little. “We send the boy down a dead-end tunnel to keep him busy, and he actually finds one of the brats.”

He’ll kill me right here, Jesse realized. He tensed himself for his next action. Anise won’t be able to stop him.

That gave him the courage to reach out and grab Cotter’s sword from its sheath.

It was not difficult to do. Cotter, who foolishly held his torch in his right hand, could not reach down in time to stop him. By the time Cotter realized what was happening, Jesse held the sword high.

“Don’t move,” Jesse commanded, seeing Roland edge forward. He grabbed Cotter’s arm and yanked him closer. Cotter's face was frozen with fear. “Or I run the boy through.”

Anise gasped. Roland stopped moving forward, but his cocky sneer never wavered.

“You two will back into the cave and let me pass,” Jesse said, hoping his bold words sounded convincing. “I will take the boy with me until we reach the surface, to ensure we get there safely. If you harm me or any of my friends, or if you try to do anything to stop us, he dies.”

“We will go,” Anise said immediately, stepping back. She glanced at Roland, who had not moved.

“I don’t believe you,” Roland said, looking at Jesse.

Jesse wouldn’t let a trace of the growing fear he felt show on his face. “Step away,” Jesse repeated. He held the sword up to Cotter’s throat, the way Sonya had to him when they had first entered the headquarters.

Anise began to sob, pulling at Roland’s arm. “Back away, I tell you,” she cried, and the desperation in her voice made Jesse sick. “That is my son!”

Roland shook her off with a rough jerk of his arm, and Anise fell to the ground. He stared at Jesse from two bruised, swollen eyes. Even his nose seemed to be bent to one side. From falling into the pit, no doubt. Of course, a warrior like Roland wouldn’t stay back to have his wounds tended while the four children who tricked him needed to be found.

“You won’t take a life to save your own,” Roland said. “Your friend said as much to the Nine.” He stepped closer, and Jesse edged back, yanking a trembling Cotter with him. He’s trying to drive me over the edge of the ravine.

Maybe I don’t have to kill him, he thought. I just have to make him bleed a little. Anise will see and pull her own sword on Roland to make him move.

And what would Parvel’s God think of that? Jesse wasn’t sure where the thought came from, but he froze, knowing the answer instantly.

“You cannot fight evil with evil,” Roland taunted.

And, though Parvel’s words were being distorted by the hulking, brutal man, Jesse could not deny their truth.

He let go of Cotter and pushed him away from the edge of the ravine, keeping the sword. I might yet need it. “You’re right,” he said heavily.

Cotter ran to his mother’s side, looking back at Jesse in confusion.

“Well, then,” Roland said, a cruel smile twisting his face. “I think the Nine would approve of your death now that you’ve attempted to escape and threatened the life of one of our own. And I consider it a pleasure to carry out the sentence myself.”

In one swift move, he drew his sword and struck forward at Jesse. Jesse blocked with his own sword, then darted to the side, trying to get around Roland. I have to get away from the edge. If I fall, I die.

But Roland, roaring like a mad bull, got there first. For a man so large, he can move quickly. It was easy to see why Roland had become powerful among the Rebellion at such a young age.

His eyes flashing with rage, Roland swung for Jesse’s head, and Jesse ducked just in time. With his lame leg, he could not move quickly or take advantage of his smaller size to avoid the blows.

He raised his sword to block another thrust, but this time, Roland twisted his blade around Jesse’s. No! With a sickening clank of steel, Jesse’s sword fell to the ground, and he watched in horror as Roland’s boot stomped down and kicked it away.

Laughing loudly, Roland took a step forward, sword raised high, and Jesse stepped back. He glanced quickly over his shoulder. Only a pace or two before the ravine. I can’t go any farther.

Roland seemed to know this too, because instead of striking Jesse with his sword, he took another small step forward.

This time, Jesse did not move. All he had now was his staff, and he held it out in front of him, hands spread apart, like a shield.

“Oh,” Roland sneered. “At least the cripple still has his stick.”

Another step. Still, Jesse did not move. Death by sword, though painful, is better than a slow death, broken and in agony, at the bottom of a cliff. He wondered at the clearness of his thoughts even right before death.

“You think you’re brave, don’t you?”

Jesse almost laughed. Hardly. But his dry mouth wouldn’t let him speak.

“Well,” Roland said, shrugging casually, but with evil in his eyes, “if you won’t jump, we’ll do this my way.”

Before Roland could raise his arm back to strike, Jesse swung his staff upright and brought it down on Roland’s arm with all his strength. The cracking blow mingled with Roland’s gasp of pain, and the sword fell, clanking against the stone. Jesse shot his foot out and kicked it off the edge and into the ravine.

Roland clutched his bruised arm and glared at Jesse. “Why, you….” He roared a wordless shout of anger. “I will finish you myself, with my bare hands.”

In that momentary pause, before Roland charged, Jesse heard what he would later describe as a voice inside his mind. Not one that you could actually hear. Almost like a thought.

Stop fighting. Trust me.

But….

It came again. Stop fighting. Trust me.

So Jesse stood there, watching as Roland backed up, his fists curled into angry balls. Then, just as Roland, his face twisted with rage, was about to rush forward, he collapsed.

Jesse stared at his fallen form. What madness is this?

Then he looked up to see Anise, face stained with tears, holding a large rock high. She dropped it to the ground with a thud, looking stunned. There was a smear of blood on it.

Jesse looked at Roland’s fallen form and saw a gash on the back of his head. “Why…why did…?” he stammered.

“Mother!” Cotter exclaimed, staring at Roland with wide eyes.

She stepped back, putting her arm around her son. “Your friend was right,” she said to Jesse, quietly. “Perhaps what we do in the Rebellion is wrong. I do not know. But I know this would have been wrong.”

Jesse did not know quite what to say. His tired, racing mind was still trying to understand what had happened. He walked away from the ledge and stooped down to pick up Cotter’s sword.

“Go,” Anise said, pointing to the darkness of the other tunnels. “You don’t belong here.”

Jesse ran a few limping steps, then stopped. “But I don’t know the way.”

Anise looked uncertain for a moment. “Of course not.” She took a deep breath, then set her face in determination. “Come with me.”

“Wait. What will happen to you,” Jesse asked, hesitating, “for helping me?”

“I may lose my place in the Nine,” Anise said, “but then, I may not. Your friend’s words had a profound effect on many in the Council.” She shook her head. “But come, we must hurry.”

“What if he wakes up?” Jesse asked, pointing to Roland. It was easy to see the man was still breathing.

“That,” Anise said, “is why we must hurry.” She turned to Cotter. “Give me your torch. You must stay behind.”

“But….” Cotter protested.

“No,” Anise said, interrupting him. “Only the Nine are permitted to know the location of the East Escape.”

Cotter nodded and handed his mother his torch. She began to hurry down the path, and Jesse limped behind her, leaving Cotter and Roland in the tunnel. I hope Cotter leaves too, before Roland wakes. Jesse didn’t want to think about how mean Roland would be after getting hit in the head twice in one day.

It only took Jesse a few minutes of following Anise through the passageways to become completely lost. After a while, he stopped trying to memorize the twists and turns. He just tried to keep up and watch where he stepped—the passageways seemed to be filled with ravines and pits.

Anise, however, seemed to know exactly where she was going. “There is only one way to the surface, other than the riddle tunnels,” she explained, as they squeezed through a small cleft in the rock. “That is how we enter and exit the cave, always. This last exit is intended only for emergencies, in case we have to flee from some kind of attack. Only the Nine know its location.”

That was not good news to Jesse. What about Rae, Silas, and Parvel? Jesse pictured them tied up, in the custody of the rebels. Or dead, if Sonya was the one who found them.

“The first archway,” Anise pointed to a gap at the end of the tunnel. She tapped a stone near the top as she passed.

There was a moon carved into the stone.

Could we be all the way back at the front of the headquarters again? Then Jesse shook his head. No. That moon stone was near the ground.

That left only one other option. The way out is a reversed copy of the way in.

Here, the path seemed to be smaller, the rock formations more frequent. Like hardly anyone uses this place. Once, walking around the edge of a hole in the path, he thought he saw something move.

“Anise,” he said quietly.

She stopped, instantly alert. “What?”

But when Jesse looked around, he saw nothing. It must be my imagination. It has to be.

Then a blur of blue and brown as someone popped out from the boulder in front of him. “Welcome!”

Jesse jumped back in alarm, until he realized it was only Parvel, grinning like a fool. “Are you trying to terrify me?” Jesse snapped.

Another grin. “Not necessarily. Just glad to see you.” Parvel nodded at Anise. “I take it you had a change of heart.”

“Perhaps.”

“And what if she hadn’t?” Jesse continued. “You would have just given yourself away.”

“You were walking behind her with a sword,” Parvel pointed out. “There was a good chance she meant you no harm.”

“Oh.”

All of a sudden, Parvel’s grin faded. “Where’s Silas?”

“I don’t know,” Jesse answered honestly. “He ran farther into the tunnels.” He would tell Parvel the full story later. Then Jesse thought of something else. “Where’s Rae?”

Parvel nodded to the hole in the rock by his feet.

Alarm rushed through Jesse. “She fell?”

“Of course not,” Parvel said, laughing. “She blew out the torch and climbed down. An excellent hiding place, to be sure. I just did not have the courage to follow.”

Sure enough, when Jesse peered into the pit, he saw Rae’s pale arm grab onto a tiny handhold in the rock. She pulled her head up. “Nice of you to finally join us,” she grunted, taking another step up. Parvel reached down to help her to her feet.

At first, she looked startled to see Anise, but, glancing at Jesse and Parvel for reassurance, she asked no questions.

“Why did you stay here?” Jesse demanded. “I thought the plan was to meet you at the surface.”

Parvel shrugged his huge shoulders. “We ran into some difficulties following the map.”

“What he means is, we got lost,” Rae added. “Found ourselves at a dead end. We had no other choice but to hide while we came up with a plan.”

“And, thankfully, you found us before the Rebellion,” Parvel said. He turned to Anise, who stood there quietly, examining them in the torchlight. “Anise, isn’t it?” he asked. She nodded. “Pleased to meet you. I wish it could be under different circumstances.” He paused, listening for anyone approaching.

Anise was doing the same. “We must go,” she urged them.

“What about Silas?” Jesse asked.

Anise didn’t answer. Instead, she led the way deeper into the tunnels, and Jesse followed, although he still felt guilty leaving Silas. “He memorized the map,” Rae reassured him. “He’ll find his way out.”

That made Jesse feel a little better, but not much. After all, if Parvel could get lost, so could Silas.

“Where are we going?” Rae asked.

“The East Escape,” Anise replied. She didn’t turn around. “We must be careful. A sentry may already be posted at the Escape. I am not the only one who knows it is the only way out.”

They walked through another archway marked with a well, Jesse noticed, and into a smaller tunnel, one they had to stoop to get through. Still, Anise pressed on, moving faster now. Jesse found it hard to keep her pace.

Suddenly, Anise stopped. Jesse almost bumped into her. She stared into the dark, tense and rigid. “They’re coming this way,” she said without emotion.

Jesse could only hear the same distant shouts they had always heard. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Anise said firmly. She turned around, then jerked her head back to them, handing Parvel her torch. “I’ll lead them away. Keep going deeper to the East Escape.”

“How will we know how to get there?” Rae pointed out.

“One more archway,” Jesse guessed. “Marked with a heart, one on a stone near the bottom.”

The voices were louder now. Anise nodded and kept backing away. “It leads to the surface. Don’t trust the bridge.”

With that, Anise ran into the darkness.

Parvel and Rae began to hurry even more. “She wasn’t much help,” Rae muttered. “What did she mean, anyway, about a bridge? She didn’t even stay to explain.”

“She had to go,” Jesse said. “If the other Rebellion members found her helping us, who knows what could happen to her?”

The tunnel narrowed even farther at the end, with several archways on either side of the tunnel. “The heart,” Parvel said, pointing to a stone near the bottom of one of them.

When they stepped through, they found themselves in a cave with a slightly higher ceiling than the tunnels. Like the caverns in the headquarters entrance, two archways were set into the stone walls. This time, though, they were not next to each other. They were on opposite sides of the long cavern, perhaps twenty paces apart.

Parvel moved cautiously forward, holding his torch out toward the stone between the two archways. There, in the same bold lettering as the riddles at the front entrance were these words:

Face to face, upon me gaze,

Echo of what you see.

And only then escape this maze,

Reversed reality.

There was no sound in the cave for a moment as each read and re-read the rhyme. “It doesn’t make sense,” Rae said at last.

“Of course it doesn’t appear to,” Parvel said. “That’s why it’s called a riddle.” He studied the words, fingering the rough stubble on his chin. “Let’s take each part in turn, shall we? ‘Face to face, upon me gaze.’ All right, something we can see, I suppose.”

“And ‘escape this maze’ is fairly clear,” Rae added, “unless it has some hidden meaning.”

“‘Echo of what you see,’” Jesse muttered. “If an echo is repeated sound….”

He was beginning to get an idea, but Parvel beat him to it. “A mirror!” he pronounced, excitedly. “A reflection in a mirror is reality, only backward!” Jesse and Rae nodded. “So, how does that help us?”

“We look for the symbol of a mirror on one of the glowing stones that surround the archway,” Jesse said, limping to the one on the left to examine it.

He froze halfway there, staring at the stones. Then he came closer. Finally, he leaned up to the rocks, so near that he could see the glowing white flecks that gave them their light, but his first instinct had been correct. “They’re blank,” he said, stunned. “There is nothing carved on any of them!”

“It’s the same here,” Rae called, from the right archway.

They walked slowly back to the riddle at the center. “There must be more,” Jesse said, staring at the wall. But there was nothing but blank rock, flickering in the torchlight.

“Looks like the Nine got the better of us this time,” Parvel said at last. “Should we just choose one?”

“And risk another trap?” Rae protested. “I’d rather go back to the other exits that Anise mentioned and face the rebels.”

In the distance, Jesse thought he could hear the rebels shouting. Parvel glanced back, frowning, and said what Jesse already knew but didn’t want to admit. “We’re running out of time.”