CHAPTER 25
he week had not turned out at all like Casey had hoped.
All he had wanted to do, was to finish his report on Edgar Allan Poe for Miss Livermore.
Instead, he had been chased by monsters, defended himself with a stone plucked from a supernatural mosaic, been trapped in a burning shoe factory, and landed in the hospital where he’d been questioned by the police.
He had hurled himself into an alternate reality to rescue his kidnapped sister and discovered that he might be the archer prophesied in an ancient legend. And now the fuming demigod who had attempted to turn Pearl into a living shadow had apparently managed to circle around and trap him in this dark and dusty nightmare world.
It had been a rough week any way you looked at it.
Casey tensed as a dark furred creature took a step closer. It blinked and snorted a couple of times, lowered its head, and let out a primal bellow that echoed through the honeycombed tunnels.
It wasn’t Malakaan. Standing nearly eight feet tall on its massive furred legs was a bear.
Casey jumped back, relieved to feel Penny’s bulk plastered against his side. Holding tight to Pearl, Bloodwyn flattened himself against the wall. The Moquidin who had been howling like banshees fell silent and drifted backwards.
“Don’t worry, Red,” said a familiar voice. Pike stepped from behind the bear, patting its enormous flank. “He’s with me.”
“Pike!” Casey shouted. “Oh man, it’s good to see you. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
“You’d have figured it out, Red, but I thought you might appreciate a little help.”
From behind the bear came his father’s familiar baritone. “Pike, hold up!”
The small beam of a flashlight danced down through the tunnel, and Oliver, Margo, and Kestrel joined them. Margo grabbed Casey in her arms, hugging him fiercely. “We’ve got you back! How could you scare me like that?”
“We haven’t much time!” Bloodwyn cried out to them. “Our host is on his way.
Oliver saw Pearl draped over Enoch Bloodwyn’s shoulder, and reached for her.
“Listen, pal, I don’t know what game you’ve been playing, but it just ended,” said Oliver, leaning in inches from Bloodwyn’s face. “Either you let go of my daughter, or I’ll rip your arm out of its socket and feed it to that bear.”
Oliver spotted the brand on Bloodwyn’s arm, and snorted a quick, derisive laugh. Bloodwyn grimaced and flopped the unconscious Pearl into Oliver’s arms. He turned his arm away to hide the burn.
“Let’s go,” shouted Oliver. He shot a warning glance at Bloodwyn and headed quickly up the passageway.
“Dad, I don’t think Pearl can leave. Malakaan started to turn her into one of those ghost things. She’s like part of this place now. I don’t think we can get her out.”
“We’ll see about that, Casey,” said Oliver. “You said that monster started to transform her. Well, it didn’t get the chance to finish the job, and it’s not going to. No one is tearing this family apart. Not that preening Bloodwyn, and not some evil thing like Malakaan.”
Casey wasn’t convinced, but it was a relief to know he wasn’t fighting alone. The Wilde family trudged up the rough incline. The valiant Saint Bernard at Oliver’s side continued to keep a close watch on Pearl. Doctor Enoch Bloodwyn’s normally polished veneer had worn very thin. Bloodwyn looked like he’d been beaten with a stick and had a lemon shoved in his mouth. Pike followed with the bear sauntering along beside him.
“Dad, how did you get in here? You couldn’t have lowered that bear down on a rope.”
“We didn’t. After you dropped out of sight, the portal slid shut and the stones morphed into a different pattern. We were afraid that we had lost you forever, but Pike managed to open the thing up again. The altered portal opened into this tunnel. The bear charged in and we followed.” Oliver shifted Pearl in his arms, and held her tightly as the little girl gave another convulsive shudder. “Quiet now, Pearl. We’ll get you home. Just hang on.”
Oliver gave Casey an exhausted smile.
“I am so proud of you. My brave and brilliant boy. Somehow all those birds and beasts were united against that monster. So they gave us a way to help you fight it.”
“I don’t know how much good I’ve managed to do so far,” said Casey despondently.
“You’ve done plenty. We’ve got Pearl back, and now we’re getting out of here.”
The ramp connected to another vaulted chamber. Although smaller than the amphitheater, it was nearly as big as a football field. A lofty ceiling, honeycombed with hiding places, was supported by winding columns of braided rock, heavily bearded with phosphorescent white moss. Something moved above, and Casey caught a glimpse of one of the skeletal figures skittering back into the shadows.
“There are creatures up in the ceiling. Doctor Bloodwyn thinks they’re prisoners who take care of the treasure. Malakaan gives them orders through telepathy.”
“That seems to be exactly what has happened. Look ahead at the tunnel. That’s how we got in this place,” moaned Oliver. “As far as I know, it’s the only way out.”
A mountain of relics, treasure enough to fill several museums was wedged into the mouth of the tunnel leaving only a sliver of space impossible to squeeze through. Casey stopped in his tracks.
“Well, I guess that thing wants a fight,” said Oliver. “And we are going to give it one that it won’t forget.”
“But how?” asked Casey. “Bullets didn’t have much of an effect.. The only weapon that might work is this bow. I think Malakaan is afraid of it. The bow was a dried out relic when we unpacked it, but it’s been restoring itself. It’s practically humming with energy.”
“It’s a Kokinoke artifact. The carvings and the unique curve suggest it’s a ceremonial piece. It’s unusually small, as though it had been made for a child.”
“I think it was made for me,” said Casey. “But what good is a bow with no arrows?”
Pike stepped in close. “You’ve got arrows now, Red. These two were in plain sight on that pile of junk. I don’t get it. Why would those things up in the ceiling barricade the way out and then supply you with a weapon?”
“Because they are on our side. Or they want to be. Malakaan can make them to do things, but they’ve held on to some free will. They were forced to trap us, but apparently it didn’t occur to Malakaan to tell them not to leave us the arrows. Are there more?”
“I don’t know. Hang on to those. I’ll keep looking.”
The smell of sulfur became nearly overwhelming. From a deep pit in the center of the room, long fingers of flame shot forth, glowing steadily brighter until the entire room was suffused with cold green light. The high lilting wail of the Moquidin echoed against the stone walls. Dozens of shimmering shadows slid out of the tunnel.
The bear stood up on its hind legs, watching warily. A swipe with a massive paw sent one of them howling back. It flattened against the wall, and the others followed its lead. One by one, they compressed themselves against the stone.
“That bear obviously did some damage,” said Pike. He scanned the room for signs of an attack, but the Moquidin just swayed back and forth crying out their terrible song. “Uh oh. Here comes Papa.”
Massive and bloodthirsty, the monster Malakaan straightened up as it stepped out of the low tunnel in a cloud of mist. Certain of the power it wielded, Malakaan slowly turned its massive head toward Casey, green sparks crackling around the dead slug eyes beneath the sloping brow. Although it couldn’t actually see Casey, the monster seemed to know exactly where he was.
Casey’s knees shook. He had never felt as vulnerable as he did now, clutching a pathetic little bow with trembling hands, and facing off against a behemoth. He positioned an arrow against the string. Could an ancient arrow with frayed feathers possibly penetrate that armored flesh if it even found its mark?
Casey knew that his family, Pike, and Enoch Bloodwyn were all inconsequential to the evil thing standing before him. With every fiber of its being, and every cell of its ancient brain, the monster was focusing its malevolent attention.
Focusing it entirely on him.