As the final flickers of the torch died, the edges of the chamber dimmed. Keech watched the sputtering fire shrink till only Duck’s frightened face remained. Then the fire winked out, and complete darkness overtook them. Tossing aside the torch, Keech held out his hand. When Duck took it, he said, “Don’t let go, no matter what. We don’t want to lose track of each other.”
Duck’s fingers gripped his. “How’re we gonna get out of here? I’d wager the story carved on the wall would help, but now we can’t even read it.”
“Maybe we can feel the carvings, figure out what they say.” Stepping through the dark, Keech led Duck to the nearest wall. Blindly, he ran his fingers over the etchings. They spent several moments tracing the engravings, till he dropped his hands in defeat. “I have no idea what I’m touching. Feels like a bunch of bumps and swirls.” He huffed in frustration. “I sure hope Strong Heart and Quinn are doing better than we are.”
“I’m sure they are, but let’s not give up,” Duck said. “We won’t solve this thing without light. Let’s follow your pa’s advice, try to see things from a new angle.”
“But we can’t see anything at all!”
Duck tugged his sleeve. “C’mon. Let’s go over to that big block. I need to sit down.”
Keech followed the sound of her boots. Once they reached the slab, he hopped up beside her.
The now-familiar sound of scraping granite crashed through the chamber. The slab they had just sat on skidded down a few inches. As the block descended, another hunk of stone slid aside in the far corner of the room’s ceiling. Sapphire light poured through the newly opened space, revealing a way out.
Before Keech could grow too excited, a heavy rumble echoed through the room, followed by a splashing noise like a waterfall. The blue light shining through the gap showed him that other holes in the ceiling had opened up. A torrent of water now poured into the room.
“We have to get up through that hole before this room fills up!” Keech shouted.
But the moment he slid off the stone table, the slab rose back up, and the ceiling panel slid shut again, returning the room to pitch darkness. Water continued to cascade into the room.
Screaming over the flood’s roar, Duck said, “Get back on the block!” When they hopped back onto the stone, the slab once again sank under their weight. And once again, the doorway opened. The sapphire light revealed that a foot of water had filled the chamber. Keech also saw that numerous other spouts had opened.
“Keech, we can’t both go,” Duck said almost calmly.
“What do you mean?” But Keech realized the problem. Without enough weight to hold down the block, the doorway would shut.
Even as the answer came, the water splashed across their boots.
Keech knew what must be done. “There’s no time. You have to get out.”
“No!” Duck snapped. “You have to escape, too. I won’t leave you!”
Glacial water had now reached Keech’s knees. “Please, Duck. I promised Nat I’d take care of you. I can’t let you stay here and drown while I go on. You have to escape.”
“And I can’t lose another brother,” Duck said.
Her words pierced Keech’s heart. He took her in his arms and squeezed. “It’s all right. Go fetch that Key, then find Quinn and Strong Heart. Finish this, Duck. I believe in you.”
When he released her, Duck stepped back with tear-soaked cheeks. “I can’t!”
“Yes, you can. Do it for Nat. For my parents and yours. Please hurry!” Desperate, Keech grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around.
Her pleas all spent, Duck jumped into the water and paddled toward the opening. Soon she was bobbing beneath the hole in the ceiling. She yelled something at Keech, her face twisted in grief, but the splashing deluge drowned out her words.
The water climbed to Keech’s chest. Panic reached for his heart, but he forced it down, recognizing that what he was doing existed far beyond fear. Nothing else mattered but this one final action. He stretched upward to press his hands against the stone. His entire body shivered. The water lifted him off the block below the surface. Without his weight holding down the block, the corner door slid shut, cutting off Duck’s way out.
Determined to give her enough time to climb out, Keech pushed himself down against the slab. He felt the block retract again, and the corner door reopened. Work as two, succeed as one, he thought, crying out with joy as Duck pulled herself up through the hole.
“I made it!” she yelled.
“Good! Keep going!”
Keech kept applying pressure on the block till he saw her boots clear into the space above. Once she was safe, he relaxed. The icy water bit into his flesh and made his joints ache, but he was happy to stop pushing against the heavy block. The ceiling door slid shut, and the room once again fell into darkness.
Keech lifted his face toward the ceiling, taking desperate breaths as he floated. Perhaps there was a way to stop the flow—both of his parents had run the Perils and survived, after all. But they had likely solved the puzzle of the murals and not been forced to make a sacrifice.
Nevertheless, Keech prayed for some kind of salvation. Gasping, he gulped for breath as water washed over his face and buried him.