‘All right, Christ!’ They headed for the base of the stairway. ‘Stick the rucksacks in that room there so we don’t have to lug them with us.’
Nina put the replica key in the inside pocket of her coat; then, the packs stowed, they started to ascend the rubble. It only took a few minutes to pick their way to the ledge on the second level. The carvings Nina had pointed out were an elaborate latticework with images of animals like bulls and elephants worked into the design. ‘It won’t be an insult to the big man up there if we use these as footholds, will it?’ Eddie asked Kit.
Kit smiled inside his fur-lined hood. ‘We’re here for a reason that will honour him, so I don’t think Lord Shiva will mind.’
‘Great. I like having God on my side. Any god.’ He brushed snow off the carvings and started to climb. ‘They’re all solid,’ he called back down from the next level.
Nina came next, breathing heavily with the exertion. Eddie helped her up, then did the same for Kit. ‘Okay, so now where?’ she said. The gap in the ledge through which they had climbed was too wide to jump, but it looked possible to climb across using the wall carvings to reach some dangling ropes further along.
Eddie tested the carvings, then picked his way carefully across the gap. The stone face of a cow crunched alarmingly when he stood on it; he hurriedly found an alternative foothold and completed the crossing. Avoiding the weak spot, Nina and Kit followed. By the time they were both on the other side, Eddie had tested the ropes to see if they would hold his weight.
‘Are they okay?’ Nina asked.
‘Too okay, if you ask me,’ he replied.
‘You think someone has been here recently?’ said Kit.
‘Yeah. In the last few years, definitely.’
‘Then somebody knows about this place,’ Nina said. ‘Girilal! That’d explain why he was trying so hard to persuade us not to come up here. He was worried we’d find it.’
‘He had the perfect cover,’ Kit mused. ‘He could watch everybody who came to Kedarnath or Gaurikund, and nobody would give a second thought to a yogi in either place.’
‘But he didn’t do anything to stop us, did he?’ said Eddie as he shimmied up the hanging ropes. ‘He could’ve killed us in our sleep if he’d wanted.’
‘Maybe . . . maybe he was warning us,’ Nina suggested, not liking the idea as soon as she said it.
Eddie looked down at her. ‘About what?’
‘I don’t know. I mean, we were in enough physical danger finding this place, but . . .’ She tried to dismiss the thought, and climbed up after Eddie.
Another room carved out of the cliff awaited her on the next tier, stone figures framing the arched entrance. As Kit climbed up, she shone her flashlight inside. It was considerably deeper than the ground-level chamber. Bundles of wood were stacked haphazardly near the doorway . . . but further back, the torch beam found something more regular.
Wooden boxes.
She advanced inside, bark fragments crunching under her boots. The boxes were old, the rough wood discoloured and mouldering, but the utilitarian construction was unmistakably the product of the industrial era. And as she got closer, she picked out words stencilled on them.
The language was English.
‘Nina? You coming?’ Eddie asked from the entrance.
‘Eddie, look at this.’ She crouched beside one of the boxes, reading part of the text. ‘“577/450 Martini-Henry”. Any idea what it means?’
‘It’s ammo,’ he told her. ‘Point five seven seven calibre with a four-fifty cal round. The Martini-Henry was a really old rifle.’
‘How old? And who used it?’
‘The British Empire. Don’t know exactly when - Victorian times, I suppose.’
She straightened. ‘Which means the colonial-era Brits found this place too. They definitely would have made a record of it . . . if they’d ever returned.’
‘You’re saying whoever lived here killed anyone who found it?’
‘Looks that way.’ They returned to the ledge, where Kit was waiting.
‘So who were they? And when did they leave?’
A faint sound reached them over the wind’s constant wail: an echoing whisper.
Growing louder.
More voices joined the sinister chorus, the mutterings coming from all round them. Metal scraped and clinked against stone.
‘I don’t think they did,’ Nina whispered.
Men emerged from the dark openings below them across the valley. Through the falling snow, the only details she could make out were that they all wore robes of dark blue and their heads were shaven.
Eddie looked down through the gap in the ledge. ‘Shit. There’s more of them underneath us.’
‘Who are they?’ Kit asked nervously.
‘Guardians,’ guessed Nina. ‘They protect the Vault of Shiva. And I think they’ve been doing it for a very long time.’
‘Maybe we can talk to them.’ Kit called down to the shadowy figures in Hindi. His words didn’t appear to have any effect, more men coming out of the chambers.
‘What did you say?’ Nina asked.
‘I told them I’m a police officer, and that we mean them no harm.’
‘I don’t think they believed you!’ Eddie cried. ‘Down!’
He pushed Nina to the floor. Something flashed across the narrow valley and clanged off the stonework just above them before spinning away. Kit ducked as another object scythed at him. It hit the wall with a ringing screech and landed in the snow beside Eddie. A flat hoop of gleaming steel about nine inches across, a chakram, inscribed with Sanskrit text - and with a razor-sharp outer edge, as Eddie discovered when he tried to pick it up.
‘Ow! Fuck this Xena bullshit,’ he growled as another chakram slashed overhead. He took out his gun. Their attackers clearly recognised the weapon, warning shouts prompting them to move into cover. He heard movement on the tier below and aimed the Wildey down through the gap. A robed figure darted out of sight.
‘What do we do?’ said Nina, anxiously watching the entrances on the far wall. Faces stared back at her from the shadows. Hiding in the nearby chamber was not an option: it had no other exits, an inescapable trap.
‘If I take a couple down, it should put the others off.’ Eddie pointed the gun at one of the archways, the faces instantly vanishing into darkness. ‘Just need a good shot . . .’
‘Eddie!’ Nina warned, seeing a man climbing through another gap in the ledge about forty feet away. Eddie whipped the gun round - as something heavy struck his hand with tremendous force and a savage bolt of pain surged up his arm.
The Wildey was jarred from his grip, clanging off the edge of the tier and tumbling down to the ground. ‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ Eddie spat, clutching his hand.
The object that had hit him lay nearby. It was a dumbbell-shaped piece of metal almost a foot long, the bulbous sections formed from four thick, curved arms. A vajra, another ancient Indian weapon, which could be held and used as a club - or hurled at a target.
The climber saw that he had disarmed his opponent - and reached over his shoulder to draw a sword from a sheath across his back.
‘Uh, I think we should go,’ said Nina, pulling urgently at Eddie’s sleeve.
‘Go where?’
‘There’s only one place we can - up!’ She started to scale the carved wall to the fifth level, Kit doing the same.
Eddie looked across the valley. The robed men emerged from cover, and began to climb the walls. The man who had thrown the vajra ran along the ledge towards him, sword raised.
He snatched up the Indian weapon and hurled it at the running man. The vajra hit him hard in the face with a dull clang. He collapsed, face bloodied.
Eddie was about to run to the fallen figure and get his sword when a fusillade of missiles from the other side of the canyon deterred him. He ducked to avoid another chakram and several fist-sized stones, then scrambled up the wall.
Nina was already hurrying along the next tier. ‘Eddie, this way!’ she shouted, r
eaching one of the rope bridges. Its widely spaced planks were coated with snow, icicles hanging from them.
‘Are you bloody mad?’ he gasped as Kit helped him up.
‘There isn’t a way up from here!’ This section of ledge was truncated by a gap far too wide to jump, and any carvings they could have used to shimmy across had also been scoured away by whatever had fallen from above.
‘Shit!’ He looked down. The guardians had the home advantage, knowing the fastest routes up through the different levels, and were quickly gaining. Across the valley, though, he spotted an intact stairway connecting the level opposite to the sixth tier. If they could find a way to the top level, they might be able to get across to the giant statue of Shiva . . . ‘Nina! That key - will it get us into the Vault?’
‘What?’ she asked, surprised. ‘I don’t know. Why?’ He pointed up at the enormous figure, frozen in its dance. ‘If we can get inside, we might be able to shut them out.’
‘But they’ll have a key too!’
‘Maybe we can jam the door. Go on, get across!’
She hesitantly took hold of one of the bridge’s guide ropes. ‘I don’t think this is safe . . .’
‘If they can use it, so can we!’ More stones hurtled across the gap, smacking against the wall. Eddie threw one back. It hit a climbing man; he screamed and fell to the ledge below. ‘Go!’
Nina put one foot on the first plank. It creaked, but held. Both hands clutching the ropes, she took another step, and another. Icicles cracked and fell away as she moved across.
‘You go next,’ Eddie told Kit, picking up another stone. The guardians seemed reluctant to attack Nina, concentrating their missiles on the two men. Maybe they were worried about damaging the bridge. He ducked another lump of rock, then looked back down. Some of the guardians were only two tiers below, running along the ledge to reach more ropes where they could continue their ascent.
Nina was over halfway across, taking the bridge step by frightening step. The planks were not regularly spaced, requiring her to look down to be sure of finding a foothold - which gave her a horrible swaying view of the ground fifty feet below. But she pressed on. Only fifteen feet to go . . .
Movement through the wafting snow. Guardians were scaling the ropes to the fourth tier, only one level below.
She quickened her pace, gasping ‘Shit, shit, shit!’ in time with each step. Two planks left, one, there! She looked back, seeing the progress of the guardians on the other side of the valley - and to her horror finding that they were not only more numerous, but closer. ‘Eddie!’ she yelled, jabbing a hand at the robed men rapidly picking their way up the wall. ‘They’re right behind you!’
‘Go!’ Eddie ordered Kit, waiting for him to traverse a couple of planks before following. The bridge juddered violently with the extra weight, more ice breaking free and exploding into shards on the hard ground below. ‘Nina, get up to the top!’ She was about to protest when the first guardian reached the ledge on the other side - and sent a chakram spinning at her like a lethal Frisbee. She shrieked and ducked, the disc whistling overhead to clang off the wall. She hopped up and hurried towards the stairs, jumping over the dogtoothed gaps in the stone.
Kit picked his way across the bridge, Eddie right behind him. A plank cracked alarmingly as the Indian stepped on it. He gasped, transferring his weight to the support ropes.
The bridge wobbled. Eddie clutched the ropes as one foot slipped off a plank, the wood painfully scraping the back of his calf. Kit looked back in alarm. ‘Keep going!’ Eddie told him, levering himself back up.
He waited for Kit to reach the second to last plank, then started after him. The bridge’s guitar-string vibration eased as they got closer to the end—
A plank snapped under his weight.
Eddie dropped before catching himself on the ropes, legs flailing helplessly in empty space. The bridge lurched violently, a whipcrack ripple running along its length - jolting his left hand from the ice-crusted rope.
Kit stopped on the final plank, looked back - then turned round. ‘No, keep going!’ Eddie shouted, but the Interpol agent was already returning.
Nina reached the stairs, a series of stone blocks jutting a foot out from the wall, and was about to climb them when she saw Eddie dangling from the bridge. She was on the verge of running back to help when she caught movement in her peripheral vision.
Above her. A man hung from one of the ropes between the uppermost tiers, legs wrapped over it as he pulled himself along. More guardians were starting across on other lines.
If any reached the top level before her, the explorers were doomed.
She ran up to the sixth tier, her eyes searching frantically for the next flight of steps.
Kit reached Eddie. He wound one of the support ropes round his arm, stretching out his other hand. The Englishman strained to lift himself up, his right fist clenching the quivering rope.
The bridge swayed. Another crack from under Kit’s feet. The plank was breaking—
Eddie lunged - and caught Kit’s hand.
The Indian pulled him up, the board moaning and splintering. Eddie brought up his foot and found support - not on the wood, but on one of the ropes supporting the planks. ‘Okay, get across, go!’ he shouted. Kit turned to complete his crossing.
Eddie looked for Nina. She was almost at the stairs to the top level—
What the hell? He saw a man seemingly hanging in mid-air, before realising he was traversing a rope to the top tier.
And would reach the ledge in front of Nina.
Kit reached the far side and stopped to wait for him. ‘No, go and help Nina!’ Eddie shouted as he continued across the bridge. ‘They’re gonna catch her!’ Kit saw the men on the ropes, then ran for the stairs.
Nina arrived on the highest tier. The top of the broken stairway leading to the statue was beyond its far end. She would have to jump the gap to reach it, but it looked an achievable distance.
If she could get there. The man on the rope was making alarming progress. She started to run. He was only ten feet from the ledge, effortlessly pulling himself closer. She ran faster, feet slithering in the snow. He would be at the ledge in moments. She had to get past him—
His hands reached the stone.
The guardian swung himself on to the ledge, revealing a sheathed sword across his back. Nina was still a few yards short. She tried to swerve past him before he could get to his feet - but he drew his sword and swung it to block her path.
She skidded to a stop. Another robed man had crossed the valley behind her. Trapped—
There was an arched entrance to another chamber just a few feet back. She darted inside. Some of the rooms went deeper into the mountain than others - maybe they were linked, by passages she could use to escape . . .
Not this one. She could see the back wall. Another storage area, objects piled at random.
The guardian was a deadly silhouette framed in the arched doorway.
Kit pounded along the sixth level, following Nina’s tracks. He passed a taut rope, one of the guardians halfway across. A glance down told him that Eddie had made it over the bridge—
Something dropped from the broken tier above.
It was a statue, pushed by a man on the next level. It blew apart like a bomb as it hit the ledge in front of him. Kit tried to hurdle it, but his foot clipped the heavy stone core and he tripped. He landed hard, sliding on the snow . . .
And going over the edge.
Running down the fifth tier, Eddie heard someone scream behind him. He looked back and saw Kit fall from the ledge above, plunging towards the ground—
He slammed to a stop as his leg caught in a bunch of tangled ropes, leaving him painfully hanging upside down forty feet in the air. More guardians were crossing the bridge.
Eddie hesitated, then ran back. ‘Kit! I’m coming!’
Nina retreated into the small room. The items within seemed to be the former property of previous adventurers unlucky enough to encount
er the lost valley’s defenders. Mildewed clothing, rotten leather bags, wood and metal boxes, but nothing helpful.
The guardian entered the chamber. He didn’t seem angry, or triumphant - the only aura he gave off was that he was simply doing his job. He raised his sword.
An old rifle amongst the detritus. Nina snatched it up, spun, pulled the trigger—
A dry metal click. The gun was empty, and even if it had been loaded the barrel was scabbed with rust.
But it had still shocked the guardian into freezing, the corroded muzzle just inches from his throat. A relieved smile turned sardonic as his hand tightened round the sword’s hilt—
Nina jabbed the rifle at his neck with all her strength. The man’s eyes bulged in pain as he reeled back, choking. She whipped the gun round and swung it at his head. The vintage weapon’s wooden stock shattered with a very satisfying crack, pitching her erstwhile attacker into the piled garbage.
She raced back out. The guardian who had pushed the statue over the edge saw her and shouted commands to his comrades.
No sign of Eddie or Kit. Nina ran for the end of the tier. The top of the ruined stairway was across the gap. At the back of the ledge, she saw large stone doors between the statue’s feet, circular markings upon them. A lock?
She had a key.
The guardian was in pursuit. She pushed harder, angling at the tier’s corner to narrow the gap as much as possible. If she misjudged it, she would die.
Jump—
The valley floor rolled past seventy feet below . . .
Nina caught the very bottom step with her leading foot and threw herself forward. Her boot slipped on the snow. She fell, her cry abruptly cut off as she hit the unforgiving stone.
She slid down the ancient stairway, feet sweeping a miniature avalanche over the edge—
She clawed at the steps, finding snow, stone beneath - and a crack where a slab had been dislodged in the collapse. Nina stabbed her fingers into it. Her death-slide stopped, legs hanging over the void. She found a hold with her other hand and pulled herself up.
The guardian was still running along the uppermost tier. He would make his own jump in seconds. Nina staggered up to the deep, broad ledge and headed for the doors. There was a circular indentation at the centre of the carvings.
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