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HENLEY STOPPED IN HER tracks and sat down. “My legs are numb. I literally can’t take another step. If we’re out of danger, can we stop and rest?” Parker flopped down beside her on the lava rocks. Their bodies leaned against a ledge which began to jostle and fall apart. As the wall split, Henley and Parker dropped backward and rolled several feet down a steep but rather shallow ravine.
“Cole!” Parker called out above her as she stood up and brushed off the dirt. “Hey! Where are you guys? We need help. We’re not going to be able to pull ourselves out.”
Edison peered over the side of the rocks, where the ledge had been. He stepped back quickly. His face etched with panic, he turned to Cole, “What is all of this?”
Parker revolved on her heels and surveyed the scene stretching out behind them.
Another layer of Spyridon! An entire middle world—between the Upperworld and the Underworld. Was this even possible, or were her eyes creating some kind of illusion? A massive, desolate metropolis, like a deserted movie set of destroyed, war-torn cities—one after another—extending far into the distance beyond her sightline.
As she stared at Henley, Parker repeated over and over again, “I can’t believe this! All the burned-out buildings. Could have been offices, apartments, shops, warehouses, even manufacturing plants!” Her hands shook and she inhaled sharply, but still she couldn’t calm down. “Henley, doesn’t this look like what was once a major city? A city like New York! It goes on forever!
Parker stopped moving. “How can this be here on Spyridon? In a world with just clouds and seas? An entire city? There’s not an undeveloped parcel of land anywhere. Only buildings and crumbled roadways. Bridges. Highways. Skyscrapers. Everything is abandoned. No sign of life. It’s like what I think of Earth, post a nuclear war.”
“Yeah, like those movies where some big city has been destroyed. Usually, decimated by an alien force. You know what I mean, like some horror sci-fi thing. Could aliens have done this?”
“Maybe it is the way Stefanos described life here, thousands and thousands of years ago. Human life did exist. If this is real, then it could only have been designed and created by humans. Birds and fish don’t live like this.”
Parker yelled up to Cole and Edison, “Hey guys. Where are you?”
Above them, Cole removed a rope from his pack. He tossed it down to Parker and Henley.
“Take hold of this,” Cole yelled. “One of you at a time. Tie it around your waist. I’ll haul you up. No messing around. We must go!”
“But Cole,” Parker pleaded. “Tell us what happened here?”
“No time now. Or we may never get out.”
“Cole’s right, Parker. There’s a rumbling of voices behind us.” Henley warned, her ear cocked to one side. “Not too far away.”
“Move it,” Cole yelled. “You don’t want to see the fury that will unleash if they catch up with us. Say your goodbyes to the Underworld.”