by David Wood
“Did that do anything?” Bones called down from the top of the hill.
“What did you just do?” Maddock asked.
“If Echard already knew where the hidden door was, he must have had a reason to go to the sundial first. Otherwise he’d have just skirted the hill around to the tomb.”
Maddock clapped a hand to his forehead. It should have been obvious.
“Bones, you’re a genius.”
He looked up to see his friend grinning down at them from above.
“Can I get that in writing?”
33
They followed a steep passageway that wound down into the earth. The air grew cool and damp, the surface beneath their feet slick with moisture. The beams of their flashlights sliced through the darkness ahead. And then a shape appeared.
Maddock drew his pistol, but relaxed almost immediately.
“It’s a statue.”
The figure was that of a robed man with long hair and a beard. He stood with his back to them. He held a tablet in both hands, thrust out in front of him. On it was engraved a scripture from the book of Isaiah.
In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent, even Leviathan that crooked Serpent; and he shall slay the Dragon that is in the sea.
“What the hell is this doing down here?” Bones asked.
“Look at the way he’s holding the tablet,” Maddock said. “It’s like a shield.”
“A symbolic repudiation of the great serpent,” Rae said.
“Which means we’re headed in the right direction,” Bones said. Undeterred, he brushed past the statue and headed deeper beneath the earth.
They soon came to a fork. The passageway to the left was clear, the one to the right caved in. Maddock’s light fell upon an engraving directly above the blocked passageway. It was faint, but he could easily make out the form a roughly hewn cross flanked by a fig tree and a sword. The image was ringed by words written in Latin.
“Exurge Domine et judica causam tuam,” Maddock read aloud.
“What does that mean?” Rae asked.
“Rise Up, O Lord, and Judge Thine Own Cause! This was the emblem of the Spanish Inquisition. I think we’ve found the torture chamber.”
“Which means Echard went the other way,” Bones said.
“Good,” Rae said. “I can’t wait to see him again.”
Echard had never come this far before. Always he had stopped when he reached the bridge. It was narrow, slippery, and the pit beneath it so deep that he’d never survive the fall. Before he had the amulet in his possession, it had always seemed like an unnecessary risk. But now that it was finally in his possession, it was time to claim his prize.
He wore the amulet tucked inside his shirt. For some reason, he felt the need to feel it touching his flesh. It hung there, cold against his skin. Strange it felt so ordinary. He’d expected a transformational experience. Not for the first time he tugged at the collar of his shirt so he could get a better look at it. The blue crystal in its eye glinted and his heart leapt. No, it was just reflecting the glow of his flashlight.
“It probably won’t work until you actually meet the creature,” he said. At that thought, a shot of adrenaline surged through him, a mix of fear and excitement that made his toes tingle and his stomach clench. He was frightened, but eager.
He’d made the decision to go his own way. His hired goons were dead, and who knew where Issachar was? Hopefully still lurking around Mermaid Hole waiting for Maddock to turn up. The man was scary, to be sure, and the prospect of crossing the Dominion even more frightening, but what choice did Echard have? Issachar had made it clear that he knew about Echard’s unsavory dealings, and that he disapproved. There was no way the Dominion would let him back in. But once Echard commanded the great beast, he wouldn’t need them. There would be no stopping him. But first he had to cross the bridge.
Echard ran his light back and forth across the narrow stone bridge. It was scarcely a meter wide, it surface engraved with a serpent’s scales. Water dripped from the ceiling.
Echard took a deep breath, then stepped out onto the bridge. He was half-expecting it to collapse beneath his weight. It held, but his foot immediately began to slide. He hissed and drew back as if he’d touched a hot stove.
“I should go back,” he said. “Get some safety equipment.” He considered this idea but discarded it immediately. Issachar wouldn’t remain at Mermaid Hole forever, and if he came looking for Echard, he’d go to the Hermitage. Echard’s only hope was to finish what he started.
Trembling, he dropped down on all fours and began to crawl.
Maddock was the last one across the bridge. The crossing wasn’t as difficult as he had initially feared. The surface was slick, but they’d come prepared. With the added security of a safety rope, the group had made the crossing quickly. That obstacle cleared, they kept moving.
Soon, they came to another fork. Here, there was nothing to indicate which way they should go. The only difference was that the ceiling of one passageway was tall enough to stand in while the other was so low a person would have to get down on hands and knees to pass through.
“Do we split up?” Bones asked.
“No. I think we should stay together.”
“Try one and then the other?” Willis offered.
“Maybe, but I hate to go in blind. Do you see anything?” Maddock looked around. Something caught his eye. One particular spot on the wall in between the two tunnels looked different. As he moved in closer he could tell that someone had smeared dirt over a spot the size of his hand. He touched it. It was still fresh.
“I think Echard covered something up.” He took out his knife and began scraping away the damp soil. When he’d cleaned as much as he could, Willis took out a water bottle and washed the rest away.
“Whoa!” Bones said.
Carved into the rock was a bizarre, owl-like creature with a long tail and spindly arms. It had three fingers on each hand, each tipped with large, curved claws.
“That’s a chickcharney,” Maddock said.
“What does it mean?” Willis asked.
Maddock thought about what little he knew of the creatures. They were proud, easily insulted. And it was important to show them respect.
Acting on a hunch, he moved to the passageway on the left, the one with the high ceiling, and shone his light down its length. Lying on the floor at the very edge of the circle of light, lay what he had initially thought was a pile of rocks. In fact, it was a pile of bones. Running up the side of the wall, just above where the bones lay, was a series of holes about a half an inch across.
“I think this way is booby trapped.”
“So we take the low road?” Bones asked.
“The chickcharney demanded respect. Which is more respectful? Approaching on your feet, or on hands and knees?”
“I guess it’s the best theory we’ve got,” Bones said.
Just then, they heard a series of loud bangs coming from the tunnel to the right.
“Gunshots,” Willis said.
“It’s got to be Echard. But what is he shooting at?” Maddock said.
Bones shrugged.
“Only one way to find out.”
He dropped to his knees and crawled into the passageway.
34
Echard fled blindly through the cavern, ducking and dodging around piles of rock and debris. What the hell were these things?
He heard the sounds of pursuit behind him. Snarling, he fired a shot blindly over his shoulder.
A flicker of movement off to the right, just at the edge of his vision. They were trying to flank him! Or was he just being paranoid? Maybe they were just curious, and his panic had set them off.
Maybe they’re like dogs. Don’t show fear.
He slowed to a jog, tried to catch his breath.
Big mistake.
A hot lance of pain pierced his back as something slashed him. He whirled about, opened fire. T
he thing was gone.
Damn! He started to run again, with no idea where he was headed.
Something snagged his foot and he fell hard to the ground. He got a mouthful of grit, a split lip, and what felt like a chipped tooth for his trouble.
The things were still coming. He could hear the way their claws scuffled across the cave floor. Why didn’t they call out? Make some kind of sound? The silence made it all the more unnerving. He hauled himself to his feet and continued to run.
Up ahead loomed a narrow crevasse, just large enough for him to squeeze through. Let the freakish things come in after him. They’d have to come one at a time, and he had his gun.
Something swooped down in front of him and he opened fire. The bullet found its mark, caught the thing right between the eyes. He smiled in satisfaction.
He was almost there. But would he make it?
Several of the creatures were moving to cut off his escape. He raised his pistol and fired.
Click.
The magazine was empty! In desperation he flung his empty pistol at them.
Suddenly, they all stopped running. They cocked their heads, listening to a something Echard couldn’t hear. And then they turned and headed back in the direction from which they had come.
Echard was so shocked that he stopped running. He turned slowly, made a complete circle. Impossible as it seemed, they were gone. Echard didn’t know what had drawn their attention, but he wasn’t about to complain. Relief flooding through him, and he sprinted out of the cavern.
“What the hell is this place?” Willis said.
They were in a large underground chamber, filled with piles of rubble and surprisingly, plant life—creepers, a few low-growing woody shrubs, some scrub pine, and vines laden with dark purple berries. The floor of the chamber was dotted with water-filled sinkholes. Guano dripped down the walls, which were pockmarked by what looked like large burrows. A glowing cloud of mist hung about thirty feet above them, illuminated by a handful of tiny shafts of sunlight streaming down from somewhere high above them.
“It’s like a biosphere down here,” Rae said. “It’s remarkable.”
Maddock froze in place. “You don’t know how right you are.”
Approaching them on all sides were some of the strangest-looking creatures he had ever seen.
They were owls, some of them four feet tall. Their bodies were brown, their faces white, their beaks disproportionately long and sharply pointed. And while they lacked the arms of the legendary chickcharney, their feet were tipped with long, razorlike talons.
“Tyto pollens,” Maddock said. “I guess Andros wasn’t the only island they inhabited.”
“Do they bite?” Bones asked as the semicircle of owls inched closer.
“We gotta get out of here,” Willis said. “If we had shotguns I’d take my chances, but all we got is knives and handguns. I don’t like them odds.”
“I’m going on ahead.” Rae brandished the knife Matt had given her. “If Kyle is somewhere down here, I can’t turn back.”
“I didn’t say we give up; just find another path.”
“What other path? The one with the booby trap?”
She was right. There was no other way forward. Maddock eyed the advancing owls. They didn’t make a sound, which unnerved him. He looked at the others and inspiration struck him.
“Rae, take off your shirt.”
“This is really not the time, Maddock.”
“Just give it to me. You can have mine if you like.”
Rae made a face. “It’s fine. I’ve got a sports bra on.” She stripped off her bright orange tank top and handed it to Maddock. It was a measure of the seriousness of the situation that neither Willis nor Bones so much as glanced at her. As soon as she took off her shirt, the birds stopped advancing. That was a good sign. Perhaps Maddock’s theory was correct.
“You guys gather up some rocks, baseball-sized if you can find them.”
Bones cocked his head. “Are you trying to make a slingshot or something?”
“Not even close. Cover my back.” Maddock turned his back on the birds and began shredding the shirts into long strips, which he then had the others tie around the rocks.
“These are very cute, Maddock,” Willis said. “But I don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do with them.”
“According to legend, islanders carried flowers or bits of bright fabric to charm the chickcharney. And considering the engraving outside the entrance to this chamber, I think it’s a safe bet that these things are the source of the legend.” He held up one of the rocks, a strip of orange fabric dangling from it. “Bones, shine your light on this.”
When the beam of Bones’ light hit the orange fabric, the effect on the owls was immediate. They all seemed to stand at attention, their rapt gaze fixed on the orange cloth.
“Here goes nothing.” Maddock flung the rock far off to the side. Bones tried to keep his light on it as it flew like an orange comet until it fell somewhere out of sight.
As one, the owls made a mad dash for the rock.
“Let’s go. Keep your rocks ready in case they come back. And watch out for water hazards.”
They dashed through the cavern, with no idea where they were going. As they ran, more owls appeared, their eerie white faces poking out of the burrows in the cavern walls. A few of them fluttered down to the cave floor. Time and again, Maddock and company were forced to distract the creatures until finally they reached the far side of the cavern, where a narrow passageway provided the only means of egress they had seen.
“Will they follow us?” Rae asked.
“I don’t know.” Maddock shone his light down the passageway. “It looks like there’s another chamber up ahead. You guys go ahead. Once everyone’s through, I’ll throw the last rock and try to distract them.” Maddock hefted the rock and took up a position in front of the passageway.
“Shout when you guys are through.”
“Be careful.” Rae planted a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t be too long.”
Maddock waited. More owls emerged from their burrows and slowly approached him, their eyes shining red in the dim light. Closer they crept.
“Are you guys through yet?” Maddock shouted.
No reply.
The owls closed in.
“Bones?” he shouted.
Nothing.
He stole a glance over his shoulder, shone his light down the passageway, but the others were nowhere in sight.
“Doesn’t anybody follow instructions anymore?”
With a powerful heave, he flung the rock with all his might back in the direction from which they had come. Once again, the owls moved as a flock, turning and running after the rock. Breathing a sigh of relief, he made his way through the passage.
It wasn’t long before the silence up ahead began to worry him.
“Are you guys all right?”
Silence.
Pistol in hand, heart in his throat, Maddock emerged from the narrow passageway into a larger chamber.
It was empty.
35
Bones squeezed his bulk through the narrow passageway and emerged into a small chamber. His body wasn’t all the way out when a cold, sharp point pressed against his throat. Many hands seized his arms, stripped him of his weapons, flashlight, and backpack. Someone clamped a hand over his throat. He was hustled along another corridor. Behind him, he heard a grunt and the sound of a fist striking flesh. He tried to turn around to go back and fight, but someone jabbed what felt like a spear into his back, just above the kidney.
“Do not resist and none of you will be harmed.” It was a woman’s voice.
He relaxed, let himself be ushered along the corridor and into another chamber. Here, a cell had been carved into the bedrock. The three of them were ushered inside and the door slammed closed and locked behind them. Someone lit a torch, illuminating their prison with flickering golden light.
They were in a small chamber dominated by a pool of crystallin
e water. Bones saw the shadow of something move beneath its surface, and for a moment he was almost happy to be behind the safety of the bars.
A dozen or more of their captors stood staring at them. All but two were women. They were clad in knee-length tunics belted at the waist. Some wore leather jerkins. All wore knives like the one Thel had left behind, and were armed with spears or bows and arrows. As they watched, one of the men, a tall, dark-skinned man with long, braided hair, began dropping their weapons one by one into the pool.
Their leader was a fair-skinned woman with blue eyes and white blonde hair. She smiled at Willis, then turned her gaze on Bones.
“So powerful. So dusky. What are you? A Moor?” There was a hint of Cockney in her accent.
“You’ve never seen an Indian before?”
“India! I have heard tell of that wondrous place!”
“Native American. Cherokee.”
The woman shook her head. “It does not matter. We don’t have anything like you here. You will improve our stock greatly. You might even produce a boy!” She reached through the bars and caressed his cheek. “I am Gwyneth. I think you and I are going to be great friends.”
Bones grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm.
“I’m not that easy.”
Immediately, several spears were thrust through the bars.
“If you want to keep your eyes, hands, and feet, I suggest you release me,” Gwyneth said. “Whether you keep them makes no difference to me. You won’t need them in order to serve our purposes.”
Bones let go of her arm and she took a few steps back. “Even stronger than I thought. Our child will be a great warrior. This one looks promising, too.” She glanced at Willis.
“Is my brother here?” Rae demanded.
Gwyneth smiled. “Is he the handsome one Thelxiope brought home? He is a simple boy, but sweet. He will serve us well.”
Rae snarled and attacked the bars, trying to get at Gwyneth. Willis pulled her back.
“Easy, now,” he warned. “It’ll be all right.”