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AFTER THE CHEERY, ALBEIT cold, ice walls, the sharp reddish black rock was eerie and unwelcoming. The light from their glass orbs glared back at them, reflecting off the stone surfaces. It was distinctly different from any of the barbegazi tunnels, far more ancient, and far more sinister. And though the space was bigger and the tunnels taller, they were far more oppressive than the tight barbegaz burrows and tunnels had been.
Airdella was unable to shake the prickling in her skin or the tingling in the back of her neck, shivering a little despite the warmer air. “Where to now?” In the ominous atmosphere, she barely raised her voice above a whisper, scared to speak any louder.
“Thish way,” Unum answered just as quietly.
Down the side tunnel to their right, they continued weaving their way down into the heart of the mountain. The tunnel was just big enough for the children to stand upright. They shuddered at the thought of having to crawl, for the jagged rocky floor would have torn their clothes and skin to shreds. Though it wound downwards, there were no more slides, just rough slopes. A knocking and a thudding would rumble through the rock occasionally. The deeper they got, the louder and more frequently they heard it.
“What’s that sound?” Walter asked.
“The minesh,” Unum whispered.
They saw light flickering on the walls of the tunnel up ahead. As they went further down, a crack appeared on the right in the wall of the tunnel. The light was coming in through the little gap, and so was the noise. The clinking of metal and stone, along with the thudding, was much louder now, the sounds reverberating off the stone walls. Peering through the gap, they could see an enormous cavern, bigger than the Great Hall of Thornhurst Castle, with an opening to a deep pit on the far side of it. Lanterns were strung all along the walls and across the middle of it so that the entire cavern was well lit.
And in the light of the lanterns, strange creatures passed back and forth, casting eerie shadows across the cavern as they passed in front of the lights. Their bodies were covered in thick scales, and they walked balancing on two legs. Their long tails curled and hovered in the air, a pointed stinger on the end ever at the ready. Clicking their long reptilian tongues, they called to each other with drawn-out croaks and hisses, making guttural screeches from deep inside their throats.
Shrinking beneath the towering forms of the reptilians were dozens of barbegazi. They were the ones tapping with their hammers at the walls about them, while other barbegazi scurried about with carts, collecting the chunks of stone being hauled out of the deep pit in buckets and chipped off the walls. Their pale blue sweaty faces were those of anxious workers, giving ever-terrified glances at their taskmasters, struggling to move fast enough to avoid the attention of the whips the reptilians waved in the air.
Aaron’s hand instinctively moved to the hilt of his sword. He did not need the fire from his dreams to warm him the way his anger did now. But such action would be futile. He could not fit through the crack in front of him, and the reptilians were far too numerous. The best way to kill the snake was to cut off its head. But he would be back. He would not leave these prisoners to their fate in the mines.
Unum turned from the crack with a shudder, leading them on at a faster pace until they had left the view behind them.
“What were those things?” Walter asked. “Were they harab?”
“No, not harab,” Unum shook his head, his whole body trembling. “Sheeksa. Creaturesh of the deshert, shervantsh of the queen.”
“Is that where they’re looking for the blue crystal?”
“Yesh. But it’sh not there, no, it ishn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“These are sheeksa tunnels. Barbegaz would never have put it here.”
Just as Airdella was wondering how much farther they had to go inside these dark endless tunnels, they reached an opening high on the wall of an enormous cavern, bigger than any they had yet run into. Torches were set all along the walls of it, their light flickering off of an enormous, sculpted dome of red and gold sandstone that filled the middle of the cavern. Gold and iron framework was set around the bottom, and an arched gate led to the inside.
“The red cryshtal,” Unum hissed, pointing a shaking finger down at the dome, eyes wide in terror. “It’sh in there.”
“Do we see any guards?” Walter asked.
Aaron poked his head out briefly to get a better look. “None that I can see.”
“Right, you go first. Unum, why don’t you wait here?” Walter was really trying to spare the barbegaz from having to go any further, as he was shaking too much to move forward.
Aaron climbed over the edge of the rock walls of the chamber, moving as quietly as possible. It was a very porous rock, providing plenty of handholds and footholds on the way down. Airdella and Walter followed after him, and the three approached the gate, the boys with swords drawn and Airdella with a hand just at the opening of her pouch.
The gate opened easily as they pulled it. Airdella could not help but think back to the grand gates that stood guard over Elroy’s castle. These may have been impressive, and the sandstone dome beautiful, but they paled in comparison to Elroy’s domain and the House of the Guardians. Momentarily impressed by the architecture, they turned their minds back to more pressing matters.
No one was inside the round room. The walls were set with shelves all the way around. Curious objects occupied the shelves, but their attention was drawn to the center of the room. On a sculpted pedestal of golden sand was a dark red crystal.
A sense of horror and dread filled them as they looked at it, their skin prickling and their breath quickening.
“Is that a...” Airdella started, then swallowed hard.
“A heart,” Aaron finished.
They stared at the crystal that was so reminiscent of a heart in shape, pulsing different shades of red. In the silence, they could feel their own hearts racing and hear them thudding in their ears. Or was it the heart on the pedestal?
Ironic, Aaron thought, that a heart should be the greatest treasure of a queen who clearly did not have one.
Walter stepped closer to it, contemplating what their next move should be.
“So, how are we supposed to destroy it?” Airdella asked.
“We have no idea what’s going to happen,” Aaron said. “We might not want to be here when we do.”
“We’ll figure that out later when we’re in a safe place,” Walter agreed. “Best to take it and get out of here as fast as – oof!”
Walter flew backwards, his sword clanging to the ground as he was pulled across the room by a sharp cord wrapped around his wrist. Storming through the gate came sheeksa with spears all pointed in their direction. One of them was holding the end of a long leather whip and reeling Walter in like a fish. Another sheeksa grabbed his sword while the first one held a spear to Walter’s neck, stingers poised and ready to strike at him.
Unable to react in time, Aaron stood frozen, sword ready and muscles tensed, eyes jerking between Walter and the sheeksa holding him. There was no way to win this fight without killing him. Leaning down, Aaron set his sword on the floor.
Airdella lowered her bow and did the same.
The sheeksa exchanged a series of hisses and clicks. Then the creatures closed in and grabbed them. As they were dragged out of the room, the children did not know if they were more relieved or worried that Unum was not there. They did not dare to look up and give away the hole in the wall in case he was still hiding in the tunnel.
Glancing back over his shoulder as they were marched out of the cavern and down a tunnel, Walter saw sheeksa locking the gate to the crystal chamber and standing guard.
They were forced through the harab tunnel that was lit with torches. It grew taller and wider than any of the tunnels they had yet been in, and after weaving up and down, the sheeksa led them into a round room of black and white marble. Pillars stretched to the ceiling, and at the other end of the room, steps led up to a dais. On the dais was a throne of stone, blackened by fire and gilded with gold. A fire ring was set into the floor just in front of the dais. And on the throne sat the queen.
The woman was tall, regal, towering over the children as she rose from her throne. She radiated heat, and Airdella could have sworn she saw flames running across her pale skin and burning in the witch’s eyes. Her dress was a myriad of colors: reds, oranges, and black, sprinkled with a golden dust. Her long and luxurious auburn hair was also dusted with golden flecks. She was more terrible than any woman they had ever seen, but at the same time more beautiful. She stood looking down at them with a smile. A mischievous, seductive, pleased, admiring, and altogether insane smile that struck terror into their hearts.
“Oh, well, my, my, my,” she said in that lilting terrible voice. “Look who’s come to visit me. You really should have announced yourselves. We could have been sipping on hot sweet wines and exotic delights, and instead... I was beginning to worry about you,” she continued as she walked past them to a small table. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show up. And now here you are.” She turned with a smile from pouring herself a drink. “Would you care for some refreshments?” In her hands, a goblet of glass and gold was filled with a black liquid flickering with fire.
The children shook their heads.
“Oh well, if you insist. I suppose it would be a bit strong for mere mortal humans.”
Sweat trickled down Walter’s back, as much from the heat of the room as from his own fear deep down inside. While his skin was warm, his heart was cold with an old terror, one he had tried to keep buried away. Now he stood face to face with it again. The walls of the large room closed in, trapping him as he had been trapped once before when taken prisoner by Clint Starnor. And this woman had been behind it the entire time.
“What are you, and what do you want?” Aaron asked, his breath coming deep and heavy.
The queen gave a bell laugh. “For someone who serves Elroy, you know very little of our history, don’t you? You have no idea what you’re up against here.”
“You were helping Clint Starnor,” Walter said, voice barely above a whisper. He stared at the face that belonged to the voice from the flames.
“Clint Starnor.” The queen seemed to muse over the name before taking a sip. “He was merely a human tool. He was nothing to what I am, trying to be something he was not. He was no longer interesting, just conceited. He was hoping I would help him burn down your precious little fort there at Northgate, but like I said, he no longer interested me. I was done with him. And I had plans of my own to deal with. So really, you should be thanking me.”
“What are you?” Aaron asked again.
“Oh, come, you must allow me to keep some secrets. I wouldn’t want to spoil everything for you.”
“You’re the one that brought us here, aren’t you?” Airdella asked.
The queen stopped at the table and refilled her glass. “When I finally felt out your campfire, it was easy.”
“But why?”
The queen gave a mocking smile. “Well, you would have made it here anyways. I believe the Finnigin Snitch gave you the push in the right direction. Only fitting.”
“He knew about you?” Airdella stared, her voice rising in her throat as she said it. “He was helping you?”
At that, the queen howled in laughter. “Oh, please. The Guardian hates me. He was using you in an attempt to get revenge on me. Poetic, really. I knew what he was up to. And I figured that I could just wait for you to arrive, but – ” she broke off and leaned across the table as she looked at them with a smile and wriggled her eyebrows, “this is so much more fun.”
“Fun? How is this more fun?” Airdella asked. The sinking feeling in her middle only got worse.
The witch continued without answering. “The children that defeated Starnor. Well, I thought to myself, I just have to meet these children. And the fact that you don’t even understand what it is you are up against or exactly how far you are outside of your own little world – well, that just makes it all the more interesting.
“You’ve come at the opportune time for me. My plans are almost complete, with the last touches just falling into place. I actually have you to thank for that,” the queen added as one of the sheeksa approached her.
The three children exchanged alarmed looks.
“Yes, you brought it straight to me,” the queen continued, taking Aaron’s sword from the sheeksa.
Aaron closed his eyes. What had they done, delivering the sword and their only hope of defeating this witch right into her hands?
“The barbegaz never told you, did he? He never told you what they did? What the blue crystal really is? Of course, the light sword and the stardust are extra favors. You have no idea the power of this sword, do you? I could leave you wondering, let you torture yourselves in your minds... but I think it would be more fun for you to know. Once the barbegazi help me to locate the blue crystal, its power shall be blended with the stones of the other Guardians, and I shall rise, returning to rule the heavens once more. Their greatest queen.”
“The craziest more like,” Airdella muttered under her breath.
The queen turned her eyes on Airdella. “Crazy?” she strode over, leaned down, and looked into Airdella’s eyes. “My dear princess, you have no idea.”
As the woman looked into her eyes, Airdella’s head was filled with a terrible vision. A vision of fire and death, of wars and destruction, all so very real and terrible it was almost enough to drive her insane with fear and terror. And much as she wanted to scream and cover her eyes and shut it out, she could not look away.
Until Aaron’s hand closed over hers. “Della!” he said sharply, giving her a shake.
She jerked her head reactively, turning her eyes away from the witch’s. The vision faded, and Airdella stuffed it as far into the back of her mind as she could, grasping at the reality around her and the gentle firm reassurance in Aaron’s hand.
The queen glanced down at Aaron’s hand, then her eyes flitted back up to his while a smile played on her lips. “Careful, careful. Saving the damsel in distress. Behaving awfully like a knight for someone who doesn’t even want to be one. A life spent always at war. But I can tell you this is one war you won’t win. Didn’t anyone warn you not to go to war with a star?”
As the children stared at her in alarm, realization dawning on them, she turned away and stalked to the opposite end of the room, stepping onto the dais and settling into her throne.
“Take them,” she waved her hand at the sheeksa. “They came here looking for the blue crystal. Why don’t we let them search for it in the mines?”
They were surrounded once more by the sheeksa guards and hustled out of the room, down a different tunnel than the one they had entered through.
As the guards shoved them along the tunnel, the walls seemed to close in around on each side. Everything in Walter balked as he pictured the horrors that awaited them. The sweat-stained faces of the barbegazi. The dust clogging the air. The crack of the sheeksa whips across their backs as the barbegazi screamed in pain. The grueling back-breaking labor. And the constant tap-tapping of the hammers, cold metal against stone, echoing all around them.
It was all he could hear, ringing in his ears as they stumbled along the dark corridor. The air was not only thin; it was misty, clouding his vision. He could not even see the lead sheeksas in front. And then the sheeksas were not there anymore. Tripping over a large rock in the middle of the tunnel, he fell forward onto his knees, his hands landing in a puddle of hot sticky liquid. They stung from the sharp gravel and the shock of the impact as he tried to push himself upright.
Panic rose inside. He expected the blows and jerks from their captors to start at any moment. But instead of whips, a voice very close to his ear said, “Come with ush if you want to live.”
In the dim light of his mushroom orb, he could just barely make out the large blue eyes of a barbegaz in front of him. Looking down at his hands, he realized that he was kneeling in a pool of blood, the blood of the sheeksa he had just tripped over.
“Musht go now,” the barbegaz hissed, holding out a large blue hand.
Almost too numb to grasp what was happening, he took the hand and followed its owner, through the haze and the darkness of the tunnels, crouching and climbing and crawling. By the time the barbegaz stopped, he had hit his head several times. He got the sense that there was more than one barbegazi. Faint whistling sometimes came from around him to be answered by another whistle from a different direction. But he could not see anything in the mists that now surrounded him.
The whistling sounded more urgent and louder, echoing in what sounded more like a small cavern than a tunnel.
“What is happening?” he dared to whisper out loud.
“Now we take the shlide. It leadsh to the outshide.”
The barbegaz holding his hand pulled him downwards to a crouching position. He could see and feel the entrance to a black hole in front of them, another slide like the ones Unum had taken them through.
“Follow me,” the barbegaz said again, sitting and then disappearing into the darkness.
He sat on the edge and pushed himself off, sliding away on the polished slide of black rock. There was no way to stop himself, no way to know what awaited him at the end of the slide, no way to know whether Airdella and Aaron were still behind him. Smacking up against the walls, he rattled around as the tunnel wound downwards. But the tunnel ended after a short distance, spewing him out onto the mountainside.