“I've never seen anything like it...” an awestruck Tinko said as they surveyed the city across the river.
“Truly amazing,” added Regan.
"Little different dan what yer used to?" asked Lem. He then leaned in close to Regan and whispered in her ear. "Like I says before... ders more to dis world dan what can be found in Reysa. About time ya came down and had a look fer yerself"
"You've got to be kidding me," said Loras, his attention now turned to the problem in front of them. "How does anyone cross this?" The waif smiled and pointed up.
The teens hadn't noticed until now that running up above them were a series of thick zip lines that spanned the entire width of the river. At the ends of the zip lines were wooden huts of different sizes. These huts were attached to large trees on either side of the riverbank.
The teens could see that in one of the smaller huts a waif was being strapped into a harness that connected to the zip line above it. Once he was secure, another waif inside of the hut began turning a large crank. Gears turned, raising the hut along the tree trunk that ran through its center. After it had risen about thirty feet, the harnessed man began to slide down the zip toward the hut on the opposite side of the river. The zip line dipped under the waif's weight to the point where his feet skimmed the water as the line bowed at its center. The Reysene teens watched the man nervously, expecting him to plunge into the angry water, but the zip line had been calibrated perfectly. The man sped along until he eventually made it to the other side of the river where he was caught by a waiting man in a similar hut.
The larger huts were connected by a much thicker zip line. Instead of individual harnessed riders, these zip lines held large metal cages that could fit about ten people inside. The process was the same. Once the passengers were loaded into the cage, two men turned a large crank inside of the hut and it rose until the cage began to slip down the zip line.
Tinko watched the passengers zipping across the river with an uneasy look. "That's what you had in mind?" said Tinko. "That's worse than a boat!"
"Don' worry, big fella," said Lem. "We won't be takin da zips. Sure to be spotted if we do. Plus, I dunno if dey could handle da weight." The waif patted Tinko on the stomach.
"Then how are we going to cross?" asked Regan.
"Dis way. We ain't der yet."
Lem waved at the teens to follow him and they traveled along the river bank for about a mile. They passed the fork and followed the eastern branch of the river, the one which led to Gartol. Maybe it was the shade of the trees, but the water seemed darker on this side of the river.
The waif stopped at a large pile of rocks about fifty feet from the shoreline. He circled the rock pile twice as if inspecting it, then once he was satisfied with what he saw he started moving some of the boulders around.
Loras watched Lem, impatiently. He whispered to his sister, “I don’t get it. We stopped here so that he could play with some rocks?”
“Give him a minute,” said Regan. “He’s led us this far, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah, he led us to Woodhaven… and then walked us straight past it! What are we doing here?”
“Look,” said Tinko, joining the conversation. “Look at the rocks.”
The teens inspected the rock pile that Lem was working on. Eventually, they began to see that there was a method to the way that the waif was shifting the stones. It was as if each rock had two places where it fit perfectly – its current spot and the spot that the waif moved it to.
After a few minutes, Lem beckoned to the teens. When they walked over to where Lem was standing, their jaws dropped. There, in the side of the rock pile, was a perfectly shaped rectangle, large enough for a man to fit through. The hole was totally undetectable if you were looking at the rock pile from any direction other than directly in front of it. The teens had been standing only five feet away from Lem as he created the hole, and they had not seen it.
Tinko peered incredulously down into the cavity. The path beyond it appeared to slope down and underneath the river. It was extremely dark. "I think I'd rather take the zips," said Tinko.
"In ya go!" yelled Lem as he gave Tinko's backside a kick and the Reysene boy went tripping into the tunnel.
Loras, Regan and Lem followed him in. Once Lem had entered the tunnel, he turned towards the entrance and pulled on a small, wooden lever that protruded from the side wall. Immediately, all of the rocks that he had previously moved fell back into their original places and covered the door.
The tunnel was now pitch black. Loras held his hand up in front of his face but couldn't see it. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was his sister's.
"Here," said Lem as he placed Regan's other hand on Loras' shoulder. "Keep a hand on da person in front of ya and don't let go." He then took Loras' hand and dragged him forward, following the sound of rapid, shallow breathing until he found Tinko. The waif then put Loras' hand on Tinko's shoulder and moved Tinko's hand onto his own.
"All set now, here we go!"
Lem led the teens down under the river. Their pace was slow. The teens used their free hands to reach out and touch the wall of the tunnel. Occasionally, they felt gaps in the wall. The air was different in these gaps. Tunnels. Lots of them. In fact, they counted at least a dozen other tunnels branching off of the one they were currently in. All of them were pitch black.
Lem led his little train of blind teenagers through the silence for about ten minutes. The darkness made it difficult to gauge the distance they had crossed. They knew that Woodhaven was about a half mile away, but they didn't know if they were near it or still underneath the river.
"Once we get there, how are we going to find this Declin person?" whispered Loras to his sister.
"We'll have to send Tinko out to look for him while we stay hidden somewhere," answered Regan.
"Do you think we're nearly there?"
"It can't be long now."
But another ten minutes of silent walking passed, and they had not reached the city. Then another twenty. During this time, Lem made several turns, and they were now traveling in a side tunnel that ran off of the main one. The teens had no idea how to get back the way they had come, so they silently continued to follow the waif through the darkness. On more than one occasion, the teens swore that they heard a noise coming from one of the tunnels that they passed. They were sure Lem heard it too. Whenever it came, the waif would stop briefly, turn his head and listen. Then, after a few moments, he would continue on, leading at the same steady pace.
With every minute that passed, a sense of dread grew larger in their stomachs. They should have reached Woodhaven long ago. Had Lem betrayed them? It occurred to Loras how easily they had placed their trust in the stranger. A few roasted pipkens was all it had taken. How naive they had been. The waif could be leading them straight into a trap, or to Gartol itself. It did not take a genius to imagine the bounty that could be claimed if the young Reytana were handed over to the Gartune. Lem didn't seem like that type, but he was a waif... One thing was for certain. Lem wasn't taking them to Woodhaven.
Other than the sound of their soggy footsteps trudging through the damp tunnel, there was complete silence. Nobody said it, but after over an hour of walking in the darkness, Loras knew they were all thinking the same thing. There was no more questioning it – Lem had betrayed them, and there was nothing they could do about it. If they challenged him now, he would surely kill them right then and there in the tunnel. And even if they could overpower him, they were totally and utterly lost. They had no chance of escaping this underground labyrinth on their own. There was nothing to do but continue following the waif toward whatever fate awaited them.
As if being blindly led to an uncertain fate wasn't enough, Regan and Loras were beginning to struggle for breath. They had never been prone to claustrophobia in the past, but now the darkness of the tunnel seemed to suffocate them. An emptiness formed within Loras’ chest the further along they went. Eventually, that emptiness filled with col
d and he began to shiver. Loras could feel his sister's frozen fingers digging into his shoulder as she followed him through the darkness.
After another hour of dips and turns, Loras could finally make out a faint light up ahead. It was the first light that he had seen since they entered the tunnel. As they got closer, an outline of a door began to appear. This is it, he thought. Their fate waited for them behind this door. At least now he could stop guessing as to what terrible situation lay ahead of them. They would soon face it, and the fearful anticipation would end. If nothing else, at least he would be out of the tunnel, or so he hoped.
"Is... is-s this W-w-oodhaven?" stammered Tinko.
"Oh, I think ya know better dan dat, big fella," said Lem. Tinko took his hand off of the man's shoulder and slumped backwards, huddling with his friends. Lem then took his walking stick and knocked three times on the tunnel door. Nobody answered. There was a faint murmur of commotion on the other side. The waif knocked three times again, this time louder. After a few moments, there came another three knocks from the other side of the door.
"Who goes?" thundered a deep voice from the outside.
"Special delivery!" yelled Lem.
"Who goes?" repeated the voice.
"Just open da bloody door," replied the waif.
"Who goes?"
"Oh fer god's sake, it's Declin! Now open up ya big galoot!"
Chapter Thirteen: The Hole
When the door opened the light was blinding. After walking for hours in the darkness, it took the teens' eyes several seconds to adjust to what they were seeing. Even after their vision cleared, they couldn't believe it. They climbed out of the tunnel and emerged into a gigantic cave. It appeared that some of the cave had been formed naturally, but its area had definitely been expanded past its original size. Half of its walls were smooth and natural, but the other half looked dug out by hand. Running all along the walls of the cave were tubes of light – the same tubes that ran throughout Reysa. But where the city's tubes merely twinkled, these tubes were so bright that you couldn't look directly at them without hurting your eyes.
The cave was full of Reytana.
"Welcome to The Hole," said one of the Reytana as he helped Regan out of the tunnel door. "My name is Gracien." He smiled warmly and offered his assistance to Tinko next. Tinko reached out with a shaky hand and grasped the Reytana. "You're safe now, friend," said Gracien as he helped him out.
“You’re the Lost Reytana!” exclaimed Tinko.
“And now you’ve found us,” said Gracien with a warm smile. Loras exited the tunnel last and joined his companions. He didn't even seem to notice the Reytana but rather went directly to the waif.
"You're Declin," he said.
"At yer service."
"You mean this whole time—"
"But you said your name was Lem" said Tinko.
"No, I said yous can call me Lem if ya like," said Declin. "And it seemed dat you liked it, so I didn't stop ya."
"But the whole point of us coming to Woodhaven was to find you," said Loras.
"Aye, I figured dat were da case. Last I talked to Dario, he said I was to bring you here, so dat's what I did. In fact, I was on my way to pick yous up in Reysa when I found ya in da forest. Saved me a day's walk, ya did. Much 'preciated."
The teens exchanged a flabbergasted look.
"Declin is a friend to the Reytana," explained Gracien. "He has been helping us send messages back and forth to Dario for many years now."
"Loras, give it to him," said Regan. Loras was still confused. He was having a hard time processing this overload of information. Loras didn't budge until his sister nudged him with her elbow. "It's him," she replied, more forcefully this time. "You promised."
"Aye, if yous got somethin' fer me you'd best hand it over," said Declin.
Loras took Dario's letter out of his pocket and reluctantly handed it over to the waif. Declin unfolded the paper and read its contents. Dario must not have written much, because only a few seconds passed before he re-folded the letter. Then, he stared hard at the twins, as if he was looking for something that wasn't there. Without saying a word, he handed the letter to Gracien.
"Wait!" shouted Loras. "Dario told us that you were the only one allowed to read that letter! We weren't even allowed to look at it!"
"And did you?" asked the waif. His tone was serious as death. Gracien finished reading the letter and looked up at the twins as well. He repeated Declin's question.
"Did you? Answer us true," said Gracien. "Did you read the letter?"
"I didn't. I promise," answered Regan. She looked at her brother. "Loras? You didn't, did you... Loras?"
Loras' eyes darted between his sister, to the waif and then to the Reytana. He didn't know what was going on and he was starting to get upset. "No! I didn't read the damn letter! Why? What does it say? We have the right to know!"
Gracien folded the letter and placed it in his pocket. As he did so he let out a relieved sigh. He then bent down and whispered something to Declin who, after receiving the message, turned and walked away from the group.
"Wait – where's he going?" shouted Loras. "What's going on? Tell me what the letter said!"
"Now is not the time," said Gracien and he walked over and placed a hand on Loras' shoulder. His grip was incredibly strong. "Be patient, young warrior. All will be known when it needs to be. "
"But—" exclaimed Loras as he unsuccessfully tried to shrug off Gracien's hand.
"Look at me," said Gracien. He, too, studied the young Reytana's face as if he were looking for something. It made Loras uncomfortable and he refused to look the older Tormada in the eyes.
"Loras, look at me," Gracien repeated. Loras finally gave in and looked into Gracien's unblinking golden eyes. He saw warmth and concern in the Reytana's gaze. "I know you have many questions," said Gracien, "and rightfully so. Much has happened to you in a short period of time. Just receiving your light is traumatic enough; add in everything else that has happened... Anyone would be overwhelmed and frustrated. But know this. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. There is a plan – one that you will be part of. But for right now, you need to trust me. Do you trust me, Loras?" Loras held Gracien’s gaze. The older Reytana's hand had not left his shoulder. Eventually, Loras nodded his head. "Good," said Gracien. "Now, if you'll follow me, I will show you the lay of the land, if you will."
By this time, several other Reytana had come over to inspect the visitors. When they saw the golden eyes of the twins, an excited buzz began to grow in the crowd. More and more Reytana joined the group as Gracien showed the newcomers around the cave. Tinko looked at the group of giants that were happily following them.
"Look!" whispered Tinko to Regan excitedly, "they're all wearing the bands! It's just like in the books." He pointed towards the glowing bands of light that were wrapped around the Reytanas' forearms.
"I know," answered Regan with equal excitement in her voice. "They're just like the pictures. But look how much brighter they are!"
Gracien led a slow pace through the cave, allowing the teens to soak everything in. It was hard to tell who was more in awe – the newcomers or the surrounding Reytana who whispered to each other while they motioned towards Loras and Regan.
"The Hole has long been a haven for the Reytana," explained Gracien. "Declin claims that it was his ancestors who originally built it, hundreds of years ago, in order to 'hide things.’" Loras and Regan exchanged sideways glances. "At some point, the waifs struck a deal with the Reytana and allowed us to use the location for our own needs."
"I wonder how much that cost them," whispered Tinko to Loras. Loras didn't seem to notice. He was too busy looking around at everything, trying to take it all in. He hadn’t blinked since he entered the cave.
Gracien continued, "Before the Eighth War, we used The Hole to conduct business with the woodsmen. The tunnels you have traveled through connect to the forest cities; Woodhaven, Arsdale, Spirea – all of them. The Hole has
also been used to hold prisoners, triage injured soldiers and, most recently, hide Reytana from the Gartune."
This last part struck a nerve with Loras. "Why have you been hiding all this time? Why not come out and fight? The Gartune have taken over our city. They live in our city! What are you waiting for?!" Some of the Reytana who had joined the group began to whisper amongst themselves uncomfortably. A few looked away so as not to catch the gaze of the teens.
"I understand your frustration, young warrior," Gracien replied calmly, "but we have had no choice. The shield was a major blow to our defenses. As long as it is up, we cannot defeat the Gartune. To expose ourselves would be suicide."
"So are you just going to hide in here forever and let the city suffer?" asked Loras.
"Not forever," replied Gracien. "We have waited eighteen years for the right time, and that time is coming soon. Look over there." He pointed to the center of the room where a beam of sunlight was streaming down from a small hole in the ceiling of the cave. The hole couldn't have been more than a foot in diameter. Directly underneath the hole was a large, glass orb full of shimmering, liquid light.
"An energy orb! " exclaimed Tinko.
"Yes," replied Gracien. "And it's nearly full. It's taken us all this time to fill it because we get such a small amount of sunlight each day. Some days we have to cover the hole altogether if we think there might be Gartolians in the area."
"But how did it get here?" asked Regan.
"We smuggled it out of the city right before it fell to the Gartolians. Only the Reytana knew that this second energy orb existed. It was meant as a back-up; a reserve in case the lotus was depleted. Unfortunately, both orbs had been drained during the attack on Reysa, and once the shield was raised, they could not be replenished. King Atholos knew this. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the city fell. And so, he ordered me to take the remaining Reytana and flee to The Hole with the empty reserve orb. I protested – we all did – but he would not be dissuaded. The night that he went to fight the Gartune alone, we snuck out of the city." The teens could hear the regret in Gracien's voice as he told this last part of the story.
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