In the flickering glow of the campfire, the circular gateway shimmered and sparkled. They waited at the portal, each trying not to show their fear.
“It should be safe to go now,” Caldo said. “Carrick or Dolan would have returned already if there was a problem.”
Salli tried to smile but didn’t succeed. “We’ll see you soon,” she said.
“We’ll be waiting here for you,” Caldo said.
Two loud cracks rang out as Ben and Avi stepped into the gateway. With a final nod of thanks to the Guards, Salli followed the twins into the apes’ homeland.
Shuffling forward, she inched her way further through the tunnel of crackling light until she felt soft shifting sand beneath her feet. Two hands clasped her arms in support.
“This way, Salli. Stay low till we’re sure it’s safe,” Avi told her.
She felt the twins pulling her down onto the sand. Looking around, she saw two bears at the top of the dune.
“Looks clear,” said the enormous bear to her right.
“Carrick?” she said, unable to keep the surprise from her face.
He crawled towards them, grinning. “You’d best shift now,” he said to Avi and Ben.
“We don’t know how,” said Avi.
“You’ve never shifted?” Dolan asked, sliding down the sand slope.
They shook their heads.
“How old are you?” Carrick asked.
“We just started our eighteenth year,” Avi said.
Salli saw the look of concern flash between the bears. “Can you show them how to?” she asked.
“You guys are too old to go through your first change. Once you’re past eighteen, it would be too much stress on your heart. It would probably kill you.”
“So, we’ll just have to make this a really quick trip,” Salli said.
“Really quick.” Dolan agreed. “We’ll lead. Just tell us if we’re leading too quick.” The bears headed east into the sands.
When the sun passed overhead, they rested on the side of a large dune, sharing a flagon of water. Dolan dropped to the sand beside Salli. He pointed into the distance.
“Look, there,” he said, “The domed roof is just visible through the haze.”
“From what you’ve read in the Book of Histories, can you tell us about the layout of the town?” Salli asked.
“The main building is on the east side. That’s where the Book and the crystal were kept when Ran found them. He described it almost like a Treasury, with statues, frescoes, and mosaics on the floor.
“The building most likely to be the ‘Doorway,’ is on the south-side. It has a domed roof. It’s probably that one we can see now. The river, if it’s still flowing, is in front of us, on the west side, before we reach the town,” Dolan said.
“We’ll go south, look for a point to cross the river, then turn back towards the town,” Carrick said. “We’ll lead. Salli, you stay in the middle of us. Ben, Avi, you cover our backs.”
They trekked on through the heat of the day until Carrick called a halt. They struggled through the sliding sand to the crest of a dune and lay peering over the top.
“The river’s just ahead of us,” Carrick whispered. “It’s still flowing, but it looks shallow.”
“I can’t see any apes,” Dolan said.
“Wait for my signal,” Carrick told them, then ran across the sandbank and waded across the river. On the far side, he climbed the sands to check out the town. Finally, he waved them on.
Salli hitched up her skirt before stepping into the gently flowing water. It was a welcome relief for her burning feet to feel the cool water flowing over her legs. When they were all across, they ran to join Carrick on the dune.
“I can’t see anything moving,” Dolan said, “and that worries me. If we can’t see them, we may walk straight into them.”
“I’ll go first, one dune at a time,” Carrick said. “I’ll signal when I see it’s clear. And keep checking behind you!”
Carrick rolled over the top of the sand dune, and ran up the opposite face while the others kept watch. Reaching the next crest, he waved them forward.
“The place looks deserted,” Dolan said.
“Maybe they’re all in the Lost Lands?” Avi said.
“Let’s hope so.”
Carrick waved them forwards to the last dune. Clambering up, they dived flat onto their bellies beside him. Looking down on the gates to the town, they searched for the slightest movement below them but saw nothing.
“It looks too quiet,” said Dolan.
“Our luck is changing,” Carrick said. “We’re gonna be in and out without ever being seen or heard, okay? Just stay alert.”
He ran across the last open stretch of sand, flattening himself against the town wall. Edging closer to the gates, he peered through the entranceway. The only thing that moved was a spiraling dust devil dancing in the hot air.
Carrick waved them forward. “I’ll check the place out. If you see me come running, make for the river,” he whispered.
They nodded and watched Carrick rush through the gate towards the nearest building. Salli peeked around the wall and saw that the desert was slowly taking back the town. The collapsed roofs left the buildings open to the elements, letting wind-blown sand fill inner rooms.
“It looks like they haven’t been here for years,” she said
“Don’t let your guard down,” Dolan said. “Come on. There’s Carrick signal.”
They made their way down what was once a grand avenue, the trees long since dead in the hot desert air. The wind made an eerie whistling sound through the empty ornate windows of the stone buildings along either side.
Catching up with Carrick, he silently pointed towards the domed structure. Only one of the two wooden doors still stood, now mostly buried beneath a sand drift that blocked the entrance.
They climbed the sandbank, then used their hands to dig their way beneath the top of the archway, making a gap big enough to slide through. They scrambled down the far side of the sand into the hallway.
With hearts racing, they stood looking in awe at the painted domed ceiling showing star patterns of the night sky. Salli recognized some of the constellations from their homeland in the faded and flaking paint.
Sculptured marble pillars stood like an oasis of palm trees, the tops carved into branches of palm fronds that supported the domed roof. Half-buried mosaics decorating the floor were illuminated by slanting beams of sunlight shining diagonally through the high, empty windows, catching the swirling dust drifting on the disturbed air.
They threaded their way between the pillars into the circular floor space beneath the dome. At their feet, black and white tiles were laid in a spiraling pattern that led to a perfectly round, gaping hole in the floor. They edged closer to peer down into the void.
“I can understand Ran thinking this was a well, but the building seems too ornate just to be a water source, especially with the river flowing so near,” said Dolan
“Salli!” Avi whispered. She could hear the excitement in his voice. “There’s a way down!” He pointed to steps cut into the sidewall of the shaft.
Carrick shrugged off his backpack. Rummaging inside, he brought out torch sticks along with flints and dried grass. He struck the flints, and the grasses quickly caught alight. Dolan unwrapped the oilskin cloth from around the torches and brought the black tar-coated sticks to where Carrick was blowing gently on a ball of dried grass. With a puff, the grass ignited in his hands, which he placed on the end of the torch. It immediately burst into flames. Dolan handed one to Ben and Avi and another to Carrick.
“I’ll check it out and call when I know it’s safe,” Avi said, testing his weight on the first step. He descended the stone stairs, following the side of the shaft in a spiral down into the darkness.
Salli peered over the edge of the shaft, watching Avi’s torch cast eerie shadows around the wall of the hole as he descended through the pitch black.
“Fifty steps,” he called out, holding his torch out over the void. “No sign of the bottom, but the walls are getting wet. Maybe it is a well.”
The torch became a dim flickering point of light in the unending downward spiral.
“One hundred steps,” he shouted, his voice echoed in a deep bass, up through the vertical shaft. “I can see something shining,” Avi called back.
The flames of his torch flickered again as he descended further.
“Water!” he called up. Salli heard the disappointment in his voice.
Taking his staff, Avi tapped the next step down. He sank up to his ankles in water. He tapped his staff again to where he knew the step should be and hit solid rock. Stepping down, he sank up to his knees in water. Holding his torch aloft, he checked the walls around the shaft.
“How did I miss that?” he said. He looked into a tunnel opening in the wall opposite him.