Nathan attempted to wipe the dirt from his pants and quickly went after Jonathan. His eyes squinted as he tried to catch up to the green light. The trail seemed to get darker and darker the farther they went; he could barely make out the shape of Jonathan anymore. I should have caught up to him by now. Is he running?
He picked up his pace; following the green light as it bounced sporadically around the trees. The light seemed to grow as Nathan got closer and then it seemed to rest in one spot. He must have stopped.
Nathan stopped running; he could make out the shape of Jonathan again. “For a guy that spends all of his time researching, he sure can run fast,” he gasped. He was out of breath. “Jonathan!”
Jonathan continued to look into his phone. It appeared that he still didn’t hear Nathan. Nathan paced forward. “Jonathan!” he called again, but with a labored voice.
Jonathan frantically closed his phone, almost dropping it, and the green light disappeared. Nathan could still make out his silhouette in the darkness. Jonathan appeared to look quickly around and then a haze of blue and white light circled him, illuminating him again. Nathan’s eyes grew wide at the display of brilliant light but the light vanished as quickly as it had appeared and so did Jonathan. Nathan took a few steps forward, but suddenly froze. He thought his eyes must be deceiving him. He peered into the darkness trying to make out the new shape that was forming. Where Jonathan once stood was a silhouette of a small animal.
19
SOMEONE TO COME
Nathan couldn’t believe what he saw. Jonathan Black had just changed into what looked like a small animal right in front of him. He tried to make out the silhouette of the animal better, in the darkness. A brilliant bolt of lightning struck above, revealing in a split second the surrounding trees and the shaggy black face with piercing blue eyes staring back at him. “The disheveled black dog,” Nathan mumbled. “The day we left for camp – that dog in the forest – it was you?”
Nathan inched forward and a loud and long rumble of thunder filled the air. A moment later, the forest lit-up again and Jonathan took off.
“Wait!” shouted Nathan, taking off after him.
His heart beat rapidly as he tried to keep up. He was breathing hard by the time he exited the trail. He looked up just in time to see Jonathan dash across the well lit museum parking lot and into the trail leading to the top of the cliffs.
The trees on both sides of the parking lot swayed with the wind and dark grey clouds were gathering above. Nathan paused to wipe the raindrops from his forehead and the beads of sweat from his nose, and then continued after Jonathan, wondering if Jonathan was headed to the caves…
Nathan entered the trail and it was soon dark again. He could barely see in front of him and couldn’t tell if Jonathan was far away or near. Lightning from above lit-up the forest, revealing two yellow-ribboned trees. He has to have gone to the Cahokia Caves.
A thick silver chain ran across the entrance to the trail and Nathan stepped over it. “So much for the ‘warning do not enter’ sign,” he murmured. He carefully continued down the trail that led to the series of caves behind the cliffs. The trail wasn’t as well maintained as the others and mud accumulated at the bottom of Nathan’s shoes. The path to the caves opened up to an enclosed meadow surrounded by tall trees on one side and the cliff wall on the other. The meadow stretched downward several feet before leveling out and meeting the cave wall. Nathan carefully maneuvered past squared sections of dig sites that were marked by ropes and yellow flags.
He caught a glimpse of flickering light from within one of the caves and pressed forward thinking it was probably a safe bet that Jonathan was inside that one.
Nathan stood outside of the cave. He could now see a torch attached to the right side of the cave wall. He peered inside, but suddenly flinched back at the sound of scuffling. There was a woman’s scream followed by a growl and then a low whimpering sound. “That has to be Jonathan,” Nathan said, charging in. “But who else is there?”
He ran towards the sounds echoing from within the cave. Every few feet a torch burned, illuminating the smooth, light-brown limestone walls. Every so often the torches created unusual shadows from the large stalactites that sprung out of the ceiling.
Nathan heard what sounded like huge rocks hitting the ground. A few rock pieces flew towards him, barely missing his head. He dove behind two large boulders. Near the back of the cave, were the black dog and a slender woman dressed in all black. Jonathan, the dog, growled; it looked like he was blocking her entrance into another chamber. On the ground, slumped against a pile of rubble, was an older woman with glasses. That must be Dr. Helmsley, thought Nathan.
The woman in black folded her arms across her chest and sneered. “You really need to move out of my way,” she said. “I know you’re just a simple Spirit Walker, but if you keep getting in my way you’ll be going back to The Spirit Realm permanently.”
Jonathan growled; this time showing his sharp teeth.
She sighed and threw several energy balls, missing Jonathan by seconds because he had disappeared. Jonathan reappeared behind her and tried to bite her in the leg. Before he could sink his teeth in, she spun around and attempted to kick him in the head, but Jonathan was gone again.
Nathan’s mouth fell open. He was surprised by the speed with which Jonathan was here, but not here. He’s moving like a Shadow Creature.
Jonathan reappeared on top of a boulder and leaped at the woman with claws and teeth pointed at her throat. She quickly ducked, but he was still able to rip a hole into her long black leather trench coat. Still bent over, she retaliated by hitting him with a blue energy ball, sending him forcibly into the air and crashing into the cave wall.
Jonathan let out a slight whimper and tried to get to his feet. She adjusted her coat over her shoulders and walked towards him. She grinned and raised her right eyebrow confidently over her silver rimmed sunglasses. “I gave you a chance,” she said. “Now it’s time to meet your fate like your friend over there.”
Nathan took a deep breath. His hands trembled uncontrollably. “It’s now or never,” he whispered, before springing to his feet.
She stretched her arm out towards Jonathan and his bright blue eyes winced under his black furry face. “Ciao,” she said.
“Not if I can help it,” Nathan shouted, sending a bright blue energy ball straight into her back.
The woman fell down so hard that he paused to look down at his hands. “Wow,” he said. “That’s impressive.”
“I’ll say,” she commented, while slowly getting to her feet. “Who are you and who invited you to the party?”
Nathan frowned. “Hmm,” he said. “I would like to ask you the same questions, but something tells me you’re not in the mood to tango.”
“Nope,” she said, and before she could move, he quickly sent another energy ball at her.
Instantly, she launched herself into the air performing a forward summersault, missing the energy ball entirely, and kicking Nathan hard in the chest.
Nathan smashed violently to the ground of the other room. “No one told me agility was an ability of Pneuma Novo,” he groaned, while clutching his chest.
She tossed back her long blonde hair and laughed. “That’s because it isn’t.”
He tried to get up, but couldn’t, stumbling backwards until finally resting against the back chamber wall. She slowly continued forward, one eyebrow cocked over her dark sunglasses, and one hand stretched out towards him.
He jumped when Jonathan materialized next to him; human again. “Jonathan. Nice to see you again.”
Jonathan held his side and tried to smile. “Hello Nathan,” he said, in a whisper. “You have an impressive talent.”
Nathan glanced up at the approaching blonde woman and struggled to help Jonathan to his feet. “Sort of,” he said. “But that’s a nice dog show you have there, why don’t you perform that disappearing trick and get us out of here?”
Jonathan winced. “I would
if I could,” he said. “But I don’t think my ability works that way, and besides, I’ve only been able to move between realms when I am in animal form and currently I am all out of juice or something – I can’t change back.”
“Why didn’t you just leave?” asked Nathan.
Jonathan’s forehead was drenched with sweat and his glasses slid down his nose. “I wasn’t going to leave you alone to fend for yourself.”
“Okay,” snarled the woman. “I hate to break up this heart to heart session, but this little college town is cramping my style and frankly I would like to get back home in time for tea.”
Nathan attempted to balance himself while holding Jonathan to free his hand. “Well, I’m sorry to inconvenience you,” he retorted.
She smirked. “Ciao boys!” She raised both hands and fired a stream of energy balls directly at them.
Nathan and Jonathan dove forward with pieces of rock falling behind them. Nathan placed his hands over his head and stayed close to the ground. After a few moments of silence, he slowly opened his eyes. The small chamber swirled in a cloud of dust and pieces of rubble lay in clumps all around him. “Jonathan!” he called out.
“I’m right here,” responded Jonathan, through coughs.
Nathan turned around to find Jonathan slowly getting to his feet. He quickly surveyed the room to find their mysterious visitor and hobbled over to the chamber entrance to look for her. “I…I think she’s gone,” he said.
“Are you sure?” asked Jonathan, caressing his side. His face suddenly went white. “Dr. Helmsley!”
Dr. Helmsley’s body still lay slumped over outside the chamber against a pile of rubble. Jonathan knelt down beside her and checked her pulse. He gasped. “Thank goodness!” he shouted. “She’s alive, and I think she may be all right. I think she’s just unconscious.”
Nathan stood over Jonathan as he examined Dr. Helmsley. He was looking around the cave when a shiny object caught his eye. He picked up the gold necklace he spotted and headed to the small chamber. The torch to the room was still lit so he held up the necklace. The charm attached to it cast a shadow next to the symbol on the wall.
“It’s the symbol for the firewalker,” said Jonathan, while standing beside him. “It’s the same symbol used…”
“As the crest for The Order,” finished Nathan.
Jonathan nodded. “Yes, you are correct.” He stood closer to the wall with the symbol and inspected the damage. There was a sad look on his face as he traced his fingers across the remaining symbols. “What I don’t understand,” he said. “Is why our nefarious visitor was trying to kill us?”
Nathan walked over to the wall and wiped the dust from the hieroglyphs. He then stood back. “I don’t think she was trying to kill us,” he said. “Dr. Helmsley maybe, but not us.”
Jonathan raised his eyebrows and then surveyed the rubble and damage in the room. “And how do you surmise that?” he asked.
“Because she had us,” he said. “She could have killed us if she wanted to, but she didn’t.” Nathan placed the gold necklace into his pocket. “I don’t even think she was aiming at us,” he said. “From the looks of it, I would say she was trying to destroy the wall.”
“That is quite plausible,” said Jonathan. “Tonight I received a text from Dr. Helmsley saying that she felt like someone was following her, and that’s why I came here. She told me about a week ago, that after she contacted Dr. Colvers about her discovery, she felt like someone was after her; that her life was in danger.”
“But it’s just a symbol,” said Nathan. “I mean, what could be so threatening about it that you would want to kill someone over it? What exactly did Dr. Helmsley discover?”
Jonathan pushed his glasses further up on his nose and pointed to the symbols. “See, it’s not just about the one symbol,” he said. “I mean, it is a very important one, but it’s what all the symbols together say about it that makes it so special.”
He ran his index finger across the wall. “See these symbols,” he said. He paused; more pieces of the wall crumbled beneath his finger. “Well, what’s left of them. They tell a story; a new legend to add to Cahokia mythology. Together, these symbols tell a story about the Legend of the Firewalker.”
“All this craziness for just another story?”
“No, not just any story. This one is different; this one is prophetic in nature. It talks about someone to come.”
Nathan looked confused.
Jonathan sighed. “Look,” he pointed. “Based on what we were able to decipher, the legend says…” He paused, attempting to read the symbols and to fill in the parts that were now missing. “In the time before the last battle, he will emerge, igniting the spirit from within, bringing down the veil that separates Spirit and Earth; restoring balance back to the spirit of man. And he will wield the power of the three; Earth…”
Jonathan paused.
“What is it?” asked Nathan.
Jonathan pointed again. “That’s strange,” he said. “Dr. Helmsley didn’t record it like this in her notes, but the symbols for Earth and Spirit appear on top of one another as if it should be read as Earth and Spirit and fire.”
“So what does that mean?”
“I’m not sure,” Jonathan said. “Probably nothing.” He took a step back from the wall and repositioned his glasses. “There are still parts to the legend that we haven’t figured out yet, and that’s where Dr. Colvers comes in. We were hoping he could help us decipher the rest.”
“It doesn’t look like it matters now,” said Nathan, pointing to the damaged wall. “There are parts missing and the bottom part is completely gone.”
“That’s not entirely accurate. While I deeply regret we couldn’t preserve such a rare find, all is not lost.” He smiled. “The first time we entered the chamber I took pictures of the entire wall with my cell phone.”
Nathan shrugged. “Well, I still don’t understand why a person would be willing to murder someone over this,” he said. “Regardless of it being a never-heard-of Cahokia prophecy. It’s just a story…”
“That’s exactly it Nathan,” Jonathan interrupted. “What if it’s not just a story?” Behind his glasses, Jonathan’s eyes were as large as saucers. “What if what Dr. Helmsley was close to discovering was something bigger; something that could profoundly affect all of us?” His voice lowered. “Someone was willing to go to great lengths to keep that something hidden and whatever that was; was on that wall.”
“Yeah,” Nathan said. “And now on your phone. Do you think Dr. Colvers is behind this?”
“No, the only reason Dr. Colvers is involved is because of his research. And I suspect because of how vocal he is with his conspiracy theories about The Order, they are probably monitoring him, and that’s how they learned what Dr. Helmsley was working on.”
“And that’s why you wanted me in the dark about Dr. Colvers.”
“Precisely,” said Jonathan. “I didn’t want to risk The Order coming after you too, and thanks to the little golden souvenir left behind by our dangerous femme fatale, I am almost certain they are behind our little visit today. I believe we were close to learning something they didn’t want us to know and they were willing to do whatever necessary to stop that from happening.”
Nathan’s face lit up. “What about Argus?” Jonathan looked confused. “He has a tattoo of the firewalker symbol on his arm. Malick said he’s probably a member of The Order.”
“Argus?” Jonathan asked. “Well, he would know.”
Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “What do you mean?”
Jonathan looked at him disbelievingly for a second before continuing. “I am not surprised he hasn’t told you,” he said. “According to my research, Malick’s father is a member of The Order.”
“What?” asked Nathan, in sheer disbelief.
Jonathan nodded. “Yes, Stephen Malick Sr. is a member of The Order. This is the first time I’ve learned anything about Argus being involved, but if he’s wearing a tattoo of
the symbol, it’s highly probable he’s a member.”
“What about Malick?” Nathan asked. “Is he a member?”
Jonathan had started to pace. “I’m not sure yet,” he said. “It’s difficult finding anything about The Order; even basic things such as who their members are, what their purpose is, and where they’re located.” He stopped pacing. “But for now, be very cautious. After tonight, it appears The Order is no stranger to people who have abilities, and until we learn about his involvement, don’t trust Malick.”
There was a loud moan and the boys turned around to find Dr. Helmsley’s eyes fluttering; she was attempting to wake up. “We should get her back to campus,” said Jonathan.
Nathan nodded. “So,” he said, pausing for a moment. “The black dog in the forest. The first night at camp….”
Jonathan had knelt down to check Dr. Helmsley’s vital signs. “Yes,” he interrupted with a smile. “But it’s more like a black fox, not a dog.”
“Don’t you think you’re a little too big to be a fox?”
Jonathan frowned and his blue eyes glared over his glasses.
Nathan thought he had just received the look of death. “All right,” he said, raising his hands as to surrender. “Whatever you say, black fox.”
Jonathan pushed his glasses back on his nose and a smile crept back onto his face. “Could you give me a hand?” he asked.
Nathan reached down and together they slowly helped Dr. Helmsley to her feet. “I just want to say thank you,” said Nathan. “You saved us that day. I don’t know how, but I just knew you wanted us to turn down that road.”
Jonathan continued to smile, but suddenly looked uncomfortable.
“How did you know where to find us?” Nathan asked. “And why are you a dog – I mean a fox?”
Jonathan took a deep breath and looked at the wall outside of the secret chamber. “He will be known by those around him,” he said.
The Legend of the Firewalker Page 26