by Lisa Lace
“That sounds confusing.”
“The legends say only those who believe in their self-worth can pass. No one knows how it works, but somehow the sensors can measure whether you think about yourself.”
She took my hand, and we walked up to a large arched doorway. She let go of me and immediately walked through. Nothing happened. She came out on the other side and smiled at me. “See? No problem.”
“Wait a second. What happens if someone doesn’t pass the test?”
She looked away from me. When the seconds stretched into a minute, I felt myself begin to sweat. “Just say it. We don’t have a lot of time to waste.”
“We don’t know for sure. The stories aren’t always accurate about everything.” She swallowed.
“Any information is better than no information.”
“Well, I might have heard a few stories about laser blasts turning would-be gate passers into ashes, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She didn’t look sure.
Was my lack of self-confidence that apparent?
“Ven, do you remember how it felt when you worked out the Fibonacci sequence earlier?”
I smiled involuntarily.
“Try to remember that feeling. You succeeded in a challenging puzzle. Keep your successes at the front of your mind as you pass through. I believe in you.”
I walked toward the gate and stared up at the strange symbols etched into the rock. Maybe Emmy was right. My mind filled with images of me overcoming obstacles. I remembered how effortless solving the Fibonacci sequence was, and I had done it better than Emmy.
When I reached the threshold, I paused, holding myself back.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to hesitate.” Emmy glanced nervously up at the arch.
I closed my eyes and imagined how it felt for a fleeting moment to be my true self. I took a step forward through the arch and felt good.
Out of nowhere, my aunt’s voice sliced into my consciousness.
What have you done, you stupid boy. You aren’t ever going to amount to anything. Don’t take another step.
For some reason, I stopped moving, and I couldn’t start again. I heard Emmy shouting at me. She sounded like she was far away. “Keep going!” she called.
But I was frozen. I was an imposter and a sham. I couldn’t go through the gate because I felt like I had lied my whole life. Emmy didn’t know who I was. If she did, she would leave me. What was I thinking trying to go through a Gate of Truth? I was a pretender.
The telltale whine of lasers warming up filled the room. Emmy’s voice called to me. “Ever since I met you, you’ve been amazing. You’ve taken care of me and risked your life when you didn’t have to. But my thoughts are worthless right now. It only matters what you think about yourself.” She paused. “I think I love you.”
She sounded like she was crying. I closed my eyes, allowing the feeling of her love to fill my soul.
I took another step. I was intelligent and worthy. I could do anything. Emmy believed in me. The least thing I could do was believe in myself. The lasers retracted, and I knew I could make it past the gate.
Keeping my mind filled with positive thoughts, I walked into Emmy’s waiting arms. She clutched me too tightly, but I wasn’t going to complain. I was alive, and I knew who I was.
“I love you,” she whispered into my chest.
I wanted to tell her I loved her too, but something felt wrong. I opened my mouth to speak when I was interrupted by another voice.
“I’m sorry to interrupt this happy reunion, but we’ve got a ladle on our shopping list. If you will excuse us, we’re coming through.”
Emmy pulled away from me. “Abel,” she growled. “How the hell did you get here?”
“It was easy. I followed you.” He had a smug smile on his face. “I even had a little help.”
He stepped aside, and I saw Morley behind him, hands tied behind his back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
EMMY
“You bastard.” I was furious and ready to kill. “Let him go.”
Abel just laughed. “Why would I do that? I might still need him. Hell, I might need you too. You’ve been a great help so far.”
“You let us get away.”
“That’s right, Emmy. Don’t forget, I brought you here. You didn’t even need to find transportation yourself.”
I snapped my mouth shut as I realized Abel had been controlling my actions every step of the way. “But how did you track us? I thought we scrambled your signal.”
“You scrambled a signal, that’s true.” He looked thoughtful. “It required the use of some illegal technology, but it was all worth it in the end, don’t you think?”
“Neurotracking? You bastard.”
“I left one of my men with orders to try and stop you half-heartedly if you tried to escape. I wanted you to get away. I knew you wouldn’t cooperate with me voluntarily. There was no way to make you tell me how to get here or force you to bring the ladle to me. I tried that with Morley before, and it didn’t work.”
I pressed my lips together, trying to hide how angry I was at myself.
“The solution was letting you think you were doing everything for yourself. That way, I could follow from behind, and you would never know.”
“You lazy bastard. You wanted us to do all the work and waltz in after us to claim the ladle for yourself.”
“No one was dancing. We lost four men to the statues before we noticed the ropes hanging overhead. It was an ingenious solution. I can see why Morley chose to work with you.”
I couldn’t believe I led this asshole right to Zelia's ladle. We wouldn’t let him get it. Would we? I glanced at Morley, and he shook his head.
Unfortunately, Abel noticed our little exchange. “Don’t play any games with me.” His face looked terrifying. “You’re going to take me all the way to the ladle. I’m going to drink from it and get healed.”
Morley looked at Abel with a sad expression on his face. “That was always the goal.”
“I doubt it. It’s not like I would be able to use the ladle once it was in official hands. They would seal it, or set up a priority waiting list for humans and aliens from all over. I wouldn’t have a chance.”
“That’s not true, Abel.” Morley cut me off with a frown.
“Don’t be naive, girl. To you people, it’s just another bauble or cute artifact. It’s the only thing that can save my life.” He held up a skinny, shaking arm. “Look at this. I’m dying, in case you don’t remember.”
Morley looked at the ground. “I’ve always cared about you, Abel.”
“I don’t want to hear it, Morley. Let’s go.” One of his men poked Morley with a gun and he stepped forward, stumbling a bit.
Ven had been silent, absorbing the conversations around him. He whispered softly so only I could hear him. “The bridge.”
That might work if I could trick them across. “Okay, then.” I tried to look as upset as possible. “Let’s go. You have to come through the Gate of Truth.” I pointed to the archway, taking their attention away from the bridge.
Two of Abel’s men immediately started forward and stepped on the wrong blocks, which fell away, dropping the men into the chasm.
Abel sighed. “You know they’re not dead, Emmy. They have hover pads to stop their fall. They can’t come all the way back up, but we can retrieve them later.” Abel gave me a furious glance. His team now consisted of one woman and two men.
Three of them and three of us. The odds were almost even now, but Ven was out of commission, and Abel had the better of us. Secretly, I was relieved. I didn’t want unnecessary deaths on my conscience.
“Tell us how to get across,” he shouted.
I didn’t say anything.
“Let’s not make this difficult. Give me what I want, or I kill him, right now.” He put his gun against Morley’s head.
“I can’t believe you’re capable of this. Mother would be disappointed in you.” Morley looked gray.
“Don’t put me to the test. Do you want to know if I can murder my brother?”
The revelation stunned me. Was Abel Morley’s brother? How come no one had ever told me before? I looked to Morley for confirmation. He nodded, then dropped his eyes.
I didn’t want to deal with dramatic revelations right now. Ven swayed beside me. I wondered if he looked paler than before or if I imagined it. His body seemed stiff, and he was sweating. Estimating the potency of centuries-old poison was difficult. With one arrow, I hoped he would have lasted a few hours, but two arrows had entered his body. He probably only had an hour before the onset of full-body convulsions.
“Tell them, Em,” Ven muttered.
“Yes, tell us, Em.” Abel couldn’t prevent himself from mocking him.
It didn’t matter if Abel came with us. The only thing that mattered was getting to the ladle and saving Ven’s life.
“You have to step on the numbers in the correct order. The numbers which aren’t part of the Fibonacci sequence will fall away.”
“Clever.” Abel muttered to himself and Morley winked at me. I was glad he was still alive, but I hoped we could keep him that way.
“So what’s the correct path? Morley will be going first, so don't bother lying, unless you want to see him plummet to his doom.”
“0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13.” I felt impatient as they crossed. “I’m interested in your plan to get through the Gate of Truth. Can you look in the mirror and consider yourself worthy?”
“It doesn’t matter at this point. I’m going around the Gate of Truth. Let's call it Abel’s Gate.” Abel walked forward, pressing a small round device onto one of the columns.
Ven grabbing my hand and pulled me down. Everyone on the other side scattered, running as far away as they could. We realized Abel was prepared to use explosives. Ven fell on top of me. I couldn’t see much, but I heard a loud blast. Debris fell onto our bodies.
“That human is not like you other humans,” Ven whispered. When everything was quiet again, we stood up to inspect the damage.
“He’s crazy. We can’t be sure a structure thousands of years old will remain standing after destroying one of its primary supports. I don’t think everything will come crashing down, but losing the Gate could destabilize this area. We should retrieve Morley and get away from Abel’s team. Do you have any ideas?”
“Abel is desperate. He’ll do anything to get the ladle, probably even kill.”
I took Ven’s hand and looked into his eyes. “Morley’s alive for now. I want to keep it that way. We’re not going to die either.”
I saw everyone else start to get to their feet. Abel pushed Morley forward and over the rubble first.
We climbed the pile of rocks that used to be the Gate of Truth. Ven met Morley at the top, helping him climb down. Morley’s hands were still tied behind his back. I was afraid he was going to trip and fall on his face.
“Leave him alone. No tricks, Emmy.” Abel waved his blaster in our direction.
“I’m trying to help him down,” Ven said. “You’ve tied his hands. It makes it hard for anyone to move.”
“Fine.” Abel gestured with his blaster. “Move away from him now. We’ll move his hands in front of his body so he can move.”
Abel made a sharp motion, and one of his team came to bind Morley’s hands. “Let’s go,” Abel called.
I glanced at Ven as we moved down the open passageway. Sweat had started dripping off his face, and his breathing was erratic. He needed to use the ladle soon.
After a few minutes of walking, we came to a closed door. I turned to look at Morley questioningly, and he nodded. We were at the finish line.
We had done all the research. It was hard work collecting information on the myths and legends surrounding Zelia's ladle. The only thing we had no information about was the final test.
Everything we learned about the ladle was shrouded in mystery, but the last obstacle was a total enigma. As far as we could tell, there were no stories about it. All we heard were frustratingly vague rumors.
We walked into a strangely-shaped room. To our surprise, the Silver Mestolo of Zelia was inside. It rested at the far end of the room on an altar. It wasn’t even in a case.
Maybe the reason why we never heard anything about a final test was that there wasn’t one.
The ladle had a silver hue because of its composition. It was made from filaden, an unnatural element with a high concentration of Higgs boson particles. The ladle was encrusted with yellow jewels. The gemstones were vital for preserving the stability of the metal.
It was amazing to discover the ladle was real, but as my sense of wonder faded, I started to look around the bizarre room. The surroundings were long and narrow — perhaps twenty feet across. At both ends, the floor sloped upward. From the outside, it looked like the letter U.
Alcoves were cut out of the rock walls every few feet. Each one was waist-high. Inside were small pools with beautiful golden fountains in the shape of Heralla deities. The water sparkled and the sounds soothed my mind.
The others caught up with us. Abel let out a strangled cry.
“It’s finally within my grasp,” he whispered to himself. Abel rushed across the room. “You won’t stop me this time.”
“Do you honestly think no further safety precautions are surrounding the ladle? You may be a fool, but I didn’t know you were stupid.”
Abel paused momentarily.
“Do you remember the stone soldiers?” Morley was getting louder. “If they took the time to build those statues, why would they leave the ladle lying around for anyone to take?”
“Figure it out. You’re supposed to be the smart one. How do we get it? And you better hurry up,” Abel said, nodding his head at Ven. “He looks like he could use the ladle right now.”
I turned my head to look at Ven. As his legs spasmed, he lost his balance and collapsed on his ass. The poison had started to consume his body already.
“You’re going to have to untie Morley,” I said, deciding to give Abel a few orders. “If you want that ladle you’ll do as I say.”
I stared at Abel angrily, exhibiting a power I didn’t know I had. Ven wasn’t going to die if I could do anything about it. He tried to hold my gaze but quickly surrendered, giving a nod to someone who cut Morley’s bonds.
“What’s wrong with Ven?” Morley asked.
“He got hit with two arrows.”
“You know they’re coated with strychnine, right?”
“Of course I know.” I cut him off. “The ladle better work or death will be his reward for helping me find it.”
“How much longer does he have?”
“I think he’ll be in real trouble in about twenty minutes.”
Behind me, Ven’s body was starting to convulse. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I blinked them away. “Let’s just take it. I don’t care who ends up with it at the end as long I can use it now.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
EMMY
I ran and checked Ven’s pulse. It was erratic, but it existed. I stood up and made my way back to Morley, trying to hide my terror.
Morley knew me too well. He could sense my feelings with a look. “You care about him, don’t you?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
“Let’s do what we have to do. Zelia's ladle appears to be on the altar, ready for the taking.”
“It can’t be that easy. If we try to walk up and take it, something’s going to try to kill us.” I didn’t want to make another mistake.
“I agree.” Morley rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Don’t you think the monks were using the ladle at the same time they guarded it? They were supposed to live for a long time and be almost impossible to kill. If the legends are true, it would make sense for them to be regularly drinking from the ladle.”
“Right. They would need a way to get to the ladle without killing themselves.” We walked gingerly into the room and looked around, examining the flo
or and walls but avoiding the area that contained the ladle.
“There’s one fact on which everyone agrees. The stories all say the Stone Goddess will destroy anyone who tries to touch the ladle.”
“The Stone Goddess.” Morley looked up at the ceiling. “Do you remember the dig we did on Tyrranus 4? There was a giant rock that fell at the end and almost killed everyone on the team. If the mechanism hadn’t rotted away, we might not be standing here today.” He looked at me expectantly.
I snapped my fingers. “The Stone Goddess is always represented as a stone wheel with the outline of a woman over it. If the wheel is an actual thing, it would be perfect for smashing intruders to smithereens.”
“Exactly.” Morley nodded. “Look at the design of the room. The wheel will fall and start rolling, crushing everything in its path. When it reaches the end, it will roll up as high as it can. Gravity will pull it back down into the room and crush anything it missed. The wheel will move back and forth like a deadly pendulum until it pulverizes everything in its path.”
“It could be set in motion if anyone touches the ladle.” I felt the familiar excitement which came from solving the riddles of the ancients. “What if there is a scale or weighing mechanism built into the altar? They wouldn’t need any further protections.”
“Why would anyone risk destroying the thing they wanted to protect?” Abel moved behind us and had a skeptical look on his face.
Morley didn’t stop looking but still took the time to answer. “A giant stone that crashed onto the ladle wouldn’t crush it. It’s essentially indestructible.”
Abel didn’t say anything else. I supposed he was satisfied with Morley’s response. Thinking about Morley’s words, I remembered the inscription on the stone wheel at the festival.
“At City Hall, for the Festival of the Stone Goddess, there was a wheel with an inscription. It said, 'The Stone Goddess leaves no survivors'.”
There was a hairline crack in the ceiling shaped like a rectangle. “There it is. Do we trigger it or try to avoid it?” Sometimes it was necessary to activate traps in a controlled way that prevented anyone from getting hurt.