Chapter 8
Churning her arms and legs as fast as she could, Marilyn puffed. If Yereq didn’t slow down soon, she would have to fall back and follow his lantern light instead of his sprinting body. Sure, it was easy enough for Gabriel to keep up. He had wings to give him a boost, while she had nothing but weary legs. Following these two was like trying to compete with Superman and the Flash.
Finally, Gabriel and the giant slowed to a stop. Marilyn caught up and braced her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. The two were looking down into a hole at the intersection between the escape and main tunnels.
“What happened?” she asked.
“It’s the trap,” Gabriel said. “I see the light from the magma river way down below. I hope some of the beasts fell into it.”
Marilyn peered over the edge. “Where do we look for Bonnie and Sapphira?”
Gabriel set a finger on Yereq’s stomach. “You know the mines better than we do. What do you think?”
“I will search this level,” Yereq replied. “It has the most rooms and mazes, and I know them well. I suggest that you and Marilyn go down the elevator shaft and check the next level. You need only search the magnetite channels and the magma river overlook. If you do not find them, you can go to the brick kiln level where we met them earlier.”
After picking up another lantern near the wall and lighting it, Yereq left it on the floor, sidestepped the hole, and headed toward the springs chamber in a quick march.
Gabriel handed the new lantern to Marilyn. “Hang on to this. We’ll take a shortcut straight down. If they’re at the overlook, this has to be the fastest way.”
“Let’s split up,” she said. “Since you’ll have light from the river, I’ll go down the shaft with the lantern. That way we’ll cover more ground.”
“Do you know how to get there? Won’t you need protection?”
“Don’t worry. Just give me directions.” She patted her holster. “I have a protector right here.”
“Right.” He pointed into the darkness. “Follow the tunnel until you see an open doorway cut into the rock wall to your right. There’s a rope that’ll lead you to the next level down.” He touched the lantern. “Can you climb while holding that?”
She looked at the narrow handle on the top of the lantern. “I’ll hold it in my teeth if I have to.”
“Good. After we search that level, I’ll fly you back up. See you at the overlook.” Folding in his wings, Gabriel leaped into the hole.
Marilyn didn’t bother to watch his progress. She had to hurry.
Jogging in the direction he had pointed, she waved the lantern from side to side to illuminate every cleft in the dark walls. Staring past the flickering light and trying to pick up a nondescript black hole seemed impossible, but soon it came into sight.
She set the lantern handle between her teeth, grabbed the rope, and, braking with her shoes, climbed down hand over hand. It was hotter in the shaft, and the work raised a quick sweat. Within a few seconds, a draft cooled her skin. Had she reached the next level? With the lantern’s glow blinding her eyes, she couldn’t see an exit hole.
She pushed a foot against the far wall, hoping not to crash into anything. As she swung, her hair brushed against something, probably the top of the lower doorway. She dropped to solid ground, released the rope, and pulled the lantern from her mouth.
“Whew!” She mopped her forehead with her sleeve. “Now to find the overlook.”
Again holding the lantern out in front, she passed by a dark chamber. She stopped and lifted the lantern close to a sign on the wall next to the gaping entrance. The strange lettering probably revealed exactly what was inside, at least to someone who could read the language.
Extending her light, she stepped in. Her shoe pushed something heavy, making a scraping noise. She set the lantern on the floor and touched a wooden handle with curved metal on the opposite end. It looked like a rusted pick. As she lifted it, the handle crumbled in her grasp.
“The mines,” she whispered.
Trying to quiet her pounding heart, she turned the lantern’s brightness up and tiptoed in. When Yereq mentioned searching the magnetite channels, she had imagined a network of trenches with sweating girls driving their picks into hard rock while a brute of a man ripped their backs with a barbed whip. Of course, the girls were gone, but as she stepped down into a trench, it seemed that the pain of every lash pierced her mind, and the anguished cries of little slave girls drifted through the stale air.
She stooped and picked up a flat glass disk. On the inside, black particles covered the bottom. They looked like iron filings, the kind she had used for magnet experiments in school. A scrap of an old dress lay nearby, torn and bloodied. She snatched it up and clutched it tightly in her fist. Those poor girls! The torture they endured must have been the worst of nightmares!
As she let the scrap fall, she straightened and looked into the darkness. This place had to be massive, far too big to search thoroughly. Maybe if they were close, they would respond to a call. If not, she could come back after checking the overlook.
“Bonnie!” she shouted.
The name echoed in the chamber, fading with each reverberation.
“Sapphira!”
Again, the name echoed. The sound seemed to travel along multiple corridors, as if conducting a search in the deep recesses of the mines.
Marilyn listened. Besides the sound of her own breathing and a slight trickle of water somewhere in the distance, nothing reached her ears.
After calling each name twice more, she climbed out of the trench and returned to the tunnel. As she hurried on, strange sounds emanated from the darkness in front of her, a combination of running water and …
She squinted. “Monkey chatter?”
Creeping slowly now, she passed a fountain springing from the wall, explaining one of the sounds. As she continued, the shrieking clamor heightened. A light appeared to the right, revealing another arched passage. The light danced, seemingly in time with the chanting beasts.
Marilyn set the lantern down and pulled out her gun. Even if bullets just slowed the Caitiff down, a few well-placed shots might be enough to send a monkey into the magma river.
With her back against the wall, she slid closer, listening. A girl somewhere within the adjacent chamber called out, “Let’s fly!”
Extending the gun with both hands, Marilyn leaped in front of the opening. Behind a wall of jumping Caitiff, two with flaming torches, Bonnie vaulted from a ledge with Sapphira in her arms, both dripping wet. One of the Caitiff fell in their wake and disappeared.
“Back off!” Marilyn shouted as she stalked toward the other Caitiff. “Get out of my way!”
The hairy men, now about seven in number, turned as one. Snarling, one leaped toward her, but with a quick aim she shot it through the chest. As it dropped to the ground, she turned the gun back on the others. “Who’s next?”
One of the Caitiff threw a bucket. She ducked, but it glanced off the side of her head, making her stagger. Squealing, the Caitiff lunged. She fired shot after shot. One fell, then another. But three made it through her hail of bullets. A hairy hand grabbed her gun. Two others latched on to her wrists and bowled her over. A torch fell beside her ear, something metal struck her head and flashed a light in her eyes, and an arm covered her mouth.
She yelled into its smelly skin, her voice muffled. “Get off me, you disgusting ape!”
Just as one of the beasts turned her gun toward her, it flew backwards into the darkness. A second disappeared, releasing her wrists. Finally, the one covering her mouth jumped off and backed away slowly.
Marilyn grabbed the torch and leaped to her feet. Extending the flame, she illuminated the area. Gabriel, his wings spread wide, pointed another torch at the Caitiff. “If you don’t want to follow your buddies into the chasm, then get out now!”
The lone Caitiff turned and sped out through the passageway.
Marilyn ran to the edge of the precipice. “Did you see where Bonnie went?”
“Bonnie? You saw her?”
“She jumped off with Sapphira in her arms.”
She looked down into the depths. Water poured from a hole somewhere in the wall, but with the magma river’s glow dying from the cooling effect, and steam rising in a billowing column, she couldn’t see anyone.
Marilyn cupped her hands around her mouth and called out as loudly as she could, “Bonnie!”
Gabriel threw down his torch and beat his wings. “I’m going in.”
“Be careful!”
He leaped straight out, then dropped. As he fanned his wings, he slowed his descent and disappeared into the plumes of white.
Marilyn continued her calls, shouting for Bonnie and Sapphira again and again until her voice grew hoarse. With the roar of water and the loud hiss of venting steam, her cries seemed to hit a barrier and die away.
After a few minutes, Gabriel flew back to the ledge, soaking wet and puffing. With a shake of each wing, he cast off hundreds of droplets. Some splashed on Marilyn’s cheek, hot and stinging.
“Sorry about that.”
She rubbed her cheek. “It’s okay. I’ve had worse burns.”
“I know what you mean. Flying here through the channel nearly fried me.”
“Any sign of them?”
“Not a trace.” He turned back toward the chasm and looked down. “The water’s rising like crazy, and I didn’t have a light.”
She pushed the torch into his hand. “Then try again. We have to find them.”
“Not with this,” he said, pushing it back. “That steam will put it out in a heartbeat.”
“Then maybe …” Waving the torch near the ground, she scanned the area. “I felt something hit me, something metal that flickered in my eyes.”
The firelight raised a sparkle a few feet away. Gabriel leaped toward it and snatched up a flashlight. “This should do it.”
“Any sign of my gun?”
“Nope. I think it went into the soup with the first one I yanked off you.”
“Okay.” She rubbed her head where the flashlight had hit her. “Better get going.”
“I’m on my way.” With a leap, he dove into the chasm again.
Marilyn shuffled back to the tunnel, her head aching. She searched for her lantern, but it was nowhere to be found. With a huff, she murmured, “The Caitiff must have taken it.”
Now with only a dwindling torch, she hurried back to the edge and waited. The beast that escaped might return soon, and who could tell if there were any others in the matrix of tunnels?
After several minutes, Marilyn sat down in a shadow near the wall. No use yelling for Gabriel. He probably couldn’t hear her anyway, and she didn’t want to alert anyone else to her presence.
The flames at the end of her torch wilted, then died away. Probably all for the best. Now to anyone walking by, she would be undetectable.
Soon, lantern light appeared in the tunnel again. Marilyn froze. She glanced back and forth between the chasm and the passageway. How many of those monsters were coming? Where was Gabriel now?
A massive figure lumbered onto the ledge, his lantern illuminating his bearded face.
Marilyn jumped up. “Oh, Yereq! I’m so glad to see you!”
He offered a smile, but his expression quickly turned serious. “Where is Gabriel?”
She nodded toward the chasm. “I’m pretty sure I saw Bonnie fly Sapphira down there, so he’s trying to find them.”
“Since I was unable to locate anyone on the upper level,” Yereq said, “I tried to climb down to the kiln chamber, but it was flooded, so I decided to find you.”
Marilyn kept her gaze fixed on the white clouds rising from the boiling water below. They jetted upward only a few feet in front of her, vanished into the darkness above, and reappeared in swirling streams that rocketed down, then back up again after bouncing off the swelling river. “This place will be like pea soup in a few minutes,” she said. “Gabriel had better hurry.”
The magma’s glow continued to weaken, and with thick vapor filling every cubic inch of air, the chamber grew darker and darker. Pops and sizzles diminished until only the sound of falling water reached their ears.
Soon, another sound drew near, flapping wings and heavy grunts.
“It’s Gabriel!” Marilyn stepped as close to the edge as she dared and searched the sea of white fog. “I can’t see him anywhere.”
Yereq knelt, reached over the precipice, and hoisted Gabriel up to the ledge, a handful of shirt in his huge hand. After setting him upright, Yereq raised the lantern near Gabriel’s face. “Did you see them?” Yereq asked.
Water streamed from Gabriel’s soaked hair and down his reddened cheeks. “No sign of them,” he said, puffing quick breaths. “I thought I saw a swirl in a pool, so I dove in. It didn’t lead anywhere, and the water was scalding, so I climbed out.” He took a deeper breath and let it out slowly. “Magma was spilling in, and while I was flying around, it hardened over the first pool and now the sideways geyser is making a lake over the new layer.”
“So will it keep making layers of rock and water until it fills the chasm?” Marilyn asked.
He nodded, slinging water up and down. “Looks that way, at least for a while. The cooling magma built a wall a little ways upstream, so it overflows, cools down, and keeps building the wall.”
“So where could Bonnie and Sapphira have gone?”
“Nowhere down there, unless there was a portal. When I was in an energy state, I could sense a portal, but not now.” He nodded toward the other side of the chasm. “I’m going across to check the brick kiln room.”
She grabbed his drenched sleeve. “Yereq already went there. It’s flooded.”
“Then I’ll search the tunnel. Maybe they’re hiding out in between.” He took the lantern from Yereq, then, with a quick flap, he leaped into the vapor and disappeared, leaving Marilyn and Yereq in the darkness.
“If he doesn’t find them,” Marilyn said, “we’ll have to leave and come back as soon as possible with search lamps and maybe even scuba gear.”
Yereq kept his gaze locked on the fog. “I have heard of such equipment. Are you trained in its use?”
“I’m certified, but not for cave diving. If this chamber fills up, it’ll be very dangerous. I’ll have to find an expert.”
For a few minutes, silence ensued, save for the constant splashing from below. Then the familiar beating of Gabriel’s wings drew near, and lantern light pierced the fog. He landed in a graceful walk, stepping between Marilyn and Yereq as he folded in his wings.
“I struck out.” Water streaming down his worried face, Gabriel nodded toward the chasm. “It’s filling up pretty fast. We’d better go topside.”
Marilyn touched his arm. “We’ll get search equipment and come back.”
He paused, looking forlornly at the rising steam. “If there’s anything to come back to.”
After climbing to the first level and hurrying through the escape tunnel, they rushed out into the daylight. Blinking, Marilyn looked around. Dorian sat cross-legged on the ground next to two dead soldiers, the rifle in her lap. Kaylee, Tamara, Elise, and Jordan were all at the helicopter, Kaylee studying the controls and the others standing just outside the pilot’s door.
“I had to shoot the woman,” Dorian said. “She is no longer among the living. The man is dead, as well.”
Kaylee called from the pilot’s seat. “Marilyn, this is not my field of expertise. Have you ever flown a helicopter?”
“Not one this big, but I should be able to handle it.” Marilyn marched toward them. “We’ll need it if we’re going to get search equipment down here.”
After everyone except Yereq boarded the helicopter, Marilyn started the blades rotating. Yereq stooped at her side, the shining lantern again in his grip. “If you see them,” she shouted as she passed her cell phone to him. “Push number three and hold it down for two seconds. It will dial the phone Gabriel has.”
Gabriel reached into his pants pocket. “If it’s not too wet.”
“And if that doesn’t work,” she continued, “dial nine-one-one like you did before. You might have to climb to the top to get cell service.”
“I understand. I will continue searching until you return. At the very least, I should try to find the last Caitiff. If he is still prowling, Bonnie and Sapphira are not safe.”
She touched her holster. “Do you need a weapon?”
“I have my sword, and the dead soldiers left their rifles. I know how to use them.”
“Great. We’ll be back as soon as we can.” She lifted the helicopter into the air and guided it slowly upward. The surrounding walls seemed closer than before. Of course, it was an illusion, but with the swirling wind, it wouldn’t take much of a gust to sweep them close enough to brush the tail against the rocks. The higher they rose, the more susceptible they would be to the winds at the surface.
Soon, however, they had flown safely above the crater’s lip and were rising still higher. The mountain’s bald top came into view, the borrowed airplane still parked near the forest’s edge.
Marilyn wrapped her fingers around the cyclic stick. Flying the plane would be a lot easier, but the helicopter had more passenger room, and transporting people and equipment from one vehicle to the other would be too time consuming. Experienced or not, she would have to make do.
“Okay,” she said as she turned the helicopter toward town, “let’s get everyone up to date and plot our strategy.”
Bonnie swung toward the voice. Dread Oracle? Who could have said that?
She whispered to Sapphira. “Did you hear a voice?”
“I heard, but I didn’t like the tone.”
Bonnie cleared her throat. “Who’s there?”
The voice returned, this time with a low echo following each word. “The guardian of the expectant ones, the warden who watches the fruit of unopened wombs, the caretaker of the forsaken but not forgotten. So you see, I am all three.”
She narrowed her eyes. Something moved out there, something large and dark. But how far away was it? Everything was warped. The man’s reply, if it was a man at all, seemed to beg her to ask what his strange words meant. Should she play along? Or should she go straight for the heart of the matter?
“Who are you?” she asked.
“A guardian.”
Sapphira clutched Bonnie’s arm and whispered, “Wait. Let me.”
“I was hoping you would.”
“Guardian,” Sapphira said, “you speak in riddles. Are you able to tell us plainly who you are and where we are?”
“Some now, some later.” The voice carried no hint of friendliness or malice. “The learning ladder is better climbed a rung at a time rather than in leaps and bounds.”
Darkness faded. Like dawn on a cloudy day, muted light illuminated their surroundings. Behind them, a head-high waterfall fed a swiftly flowing brook, shallow by all appearances. To each side, a wall of black mountains sealed them in, perhaps a mile or so away, though their height likely skewed the distance. In front, a verdant field lay before them with human-shaped statues dotting the landscape, one within reach.
A column of white mist swirled around the statue, dressing the polished black stone with a semitransparent veil. With every orbit around the stony face, the vapor seemed to animate the features, giving life to the eyes, nose, and mouth. Wrapped in fog, an arm stretched slowly toward Bonnie and Sapphira. Starting at the tips of its fingers, stone morphed into flames, making a crackling sound as the transformation inched along. Muscles rippled on the forearm, and a fiery sleeve took shape over the bulging bicep.
Bonnie latched on to Sapphira’s elbow and backed away. “I don’t think it wants a hug.”
“Not likely.” Sapphira raised her free hand. “Give me a fireball!” She looked at her uplifted palm. Nothing appeared.
Now engulfed in flames from its waist up, the figure took a step. As if breaking the façade away with its crunching weight, the stony boot crumbled, revealing more flames.
“It’s too slow to catch us,” Bonnie said, her retreat keeping pace with the statue’s advance. “I wonder what it is.”
“Once it’s finished transforming, it might be a lot faster, so we’d—”
“You are solid rock!” The voice seemed to thunder across the land. The flaming man stopped in mid-step and hardened to stone again.
Bonnie looked up at the ash gray sky, searching for an airborne creature, something large enough to bellow such a resounding command, but nothing appeared.
A low voice droned. “It is wise to my eyes to avoid the citizens of this valley. You are likely not prepared to face them or displace them.”
Bonnie again looked for the speaker of the rhyming words. A large red dragon stood near the brook, maybe a dozen feet away, the end of its tail flicking the water.
Pushing back her wet hair, she narrowed her eyes again, trying to get a good look at the dragon. This scene was so much like the first circle in the Circles of Seven, even the heaviness, a dragging weight that was worse than the effect of her saturated clothes.
“Do you fear me?” the dragon asked, his voice low but not unpleasant.
“Well …” Bonnie peeled her sweatshirt over her head and began wringing it out. Maybe it would be best to show confidence in spite of their circumstances. “Should I fear you?”
The dragon’s eyes flashed dark blue, and his voice lowered to a growl. “Only my enemies need fear me. My friends revere me.”
“Hmmm. . .” Bonnie squinted at him. He didn’t answer the question, very much like the deceitful dragon in the circles. During that encounter, the dragon had tried to get her to look into a pool, in violation of a command to avoid reflections. If this one was trying to play games with her mind, she would have to be on the alert.
Sapphira stepped ahead of Bonnie. “What’s your name? And how did you know to address us in English?”
Extending his neck, the dragon brought his head closer and spoke in what sounded like an old and lovely language.
Sapphira set her hands on her hips. “No, I don’t prefer ancient Hebrew. I’m just trying to figure out who you are and where we are.”
“You two are inquisitive for a pair of intruders.” The dragon shuffled toward them and stopped within a wing’s reach. “Tell me, if two alien beings barged into your home and demanded answers to their inane questions, would you be pleased or pestered?”
While Sapphira aimed a suspicious stare at him, Bonnie pondered his words. With only the dragon and statues in this land, a human could be considered alien, yet the statues seemed human enough. Apparently hewn out of some kind of black rock, they were roughly shaped and indistinct, though the faces carried more detail. “I would be pestered,” she finally said.
“Why did you hesitate?” the dragon asked. “Is truth so precious in your land that you must speak it sparingly? Do you consider the cost of truth before you spend it? Or do you merely lend it at your leisure?”
Bonnie looked at Sapphira. With her hands still on her hips and her brow bent low, Sapphira seemed unwilling to play this dragon’s game. Bonnie copied her pose, hoping to show her distrust, but for some reason, her arms and legs felt heavy and stiff. She had to raise and lower her feet as if marching in place to keep her blood circulating. And she had to answer. This dragon represented their only source of knowledge.
“It’s fair to say that truth is precious in my world,” Bonnie said. “There are many liars, as well as those who would use our words against us, making us hesitant to reveal all we know. Yet, among friends, we are glad to speak truth without reservation.”
The dragon let out a long “Hmmm,” then added, “Is that so?”
Sapphira dipped her knee as if offering a curtsy and flavored her tone with a lovely formality. “Please pardon our intrusion and our many questions, but since we all find truth to be valuable, is it not reasonable for us to seek it and for you to dispense it?”
The dragon gave them a slow nod. “Reasonable to ask? Yes. Reasonable to expect answers? Not necessarily. For the one bearing answers is sometimes obligated to hold his tongue. For some, truth is an incisive sword, a light in low luminance, a path to protection, yet, as the other lass has already indicated, in other hands, truth is a divider, a stone hurled to inflict injury, a club to beat down those who lack opportunity to light lamps of their own.”
Bonnie let his words soak in. They seemed profound, more straightforward than those of the dragon in the Circles of Seven. And this dragon alternated between lovely prose and abrupt, in-your-face declarations, sometimes alliterating and sometimes speaking with rhymes. He was definitely not the evil dragon from the first circle.
“It is wise,” the dragon continued, “to learn in what manner someone will wield a sword before equipping her with one. Quite often this discernment requires a test to prove both worth and wisdom, and those of integrity never fear the light that such a test would bring, for light is the key to every locked door.”
“Very well.” Sapphira bowed her head. “Since we have no opportunity to prove our worth, may we have leave to explore this land … to light our own lamps, as you say?”
“Have you grown weary of conversing with me?” Twin lines of smoke rose from his nostrils. “Do you think that I am unable to light your lamps? Ask me a question. I will give you a truthful answer.”
Bonnie looked down at her legs. Her jeans were caked with dried mud. She stamped her foot lightly, making it break away and relieving a buzzing tingle.
“A truthful answer?” Sapphira spread out her arms. “What is this place, and who are you?”
“I invited a singular question,” the dragon replied, “and you have offered a pair of puzzlers. Is requiring only one a reasonable request?”
“It’s reasonable. I just wanted to save a little time.”
“Ah, yes. Time. A tantalizing topic.” The dragon set his head near Sapphira’s and drilled his shining stare at her eyes. “Tell me, do you believe that God exists within a time framework, or is he outside of time, able to see every past and future event as if they were present?”
“Why does that matter?” Sapphira asked. “I’m just trying to figure out where we are.”
Bonnie glanced once more at her heavy legs. As before, mud covered her pants from knees to ankles. She stomped both feet, loosening the dirt again.
“Explaining where you are,” the dragon said, “is dependent on your understanding of time.”
As the dragon droned on, Bonnie looked at Sapphira’s legs. They, too, were coated with drying mud, and her feet seemed locked in place. Bonnie took Sapphira’s hand and pulled her to the side, forcing her to move her feet. The mud cracked and flaked away.
“Why did you do that?” Sapphira asked.
“Just trust me.” Bonnie shifted back to the dragon. “It’s been nice talking to you, but we really need to go and learn about this place ourselves.”
“Has it really been nice talking to me?” he asked. “Or is this an idiomatic pleasantry by which you are hiding the truth of the matter?”
Keeping hold of Sapphira’s hand, Bonnie walked back the way they came. “We’re going.”
“You may go,” the dragon said as daylight waned. “But you must begin without a flame or a flicker. As you discover the truths of my realm, your vision will be restored.”
Bonnie wheeled back toward the dragon. Darkness blanketed everything in sight until only a pair of pulsing blue eyes floated in the midst. “I will provide you with a few of truth’s precious gems,” he continued. “First, you who claim to cherish the true treasures have neglected to secure a most precious valuable. Since the waterfall was your source of entry, I suggest you search the river. Second, you have no reason to assume that the creatures you meet in this place will tell you the truth. And third …” The eyes drew so close, Bonnie could feel the dragon’s hot breath on her cheeks. “There is only one way to escape. That truth you must also learn on your own, but it might be a terrible truth that you will be unable to bear.”
The eyes vanished, leaving Bonnie and Sapphira in complete darkness. A shiver ran along Bonnie’s soaked skin. She checked for her necklace. It was gone, likely stripped over her head by the rushing water, but would the dragon be aware of that? “Do you know what valuable he was talking about?” she asked.
“Maybe …”
Bonnie waited, listening to the swish of Sapphira’s wet clothes. A low groan followed.
“The ovulum and Elam’s journal are gone!”