Now though, Jack could feel the space above and around him soar; he felt his chest loosen and his breathing, which had become short and panicky, eased. The cavern was vast, and covered with enormous stalagmites; some of them cradled improbable magma pools bubbling indolently, occasionally spitting out balls of fierce lava. Here and there flames burst from the ground so ferociously that Jack could see the rock melting around them. All of this was bathed in the disturbing orange light which emanated from the walls, the mountain, the air.
Jack could see no-one in the cavernous space but, after giving the extraordinary cave another sweeping glance, he ducked quickly back into the tunnel where Brayden skidded to a halt, red and breathless from the sprint. The Keeper, cool and unruffled as always, stood serenely at the mouth of the tunnel.
‘There’s no one out there that I can see,’ Jack said quietly. ‘We need to find where the others are being kept. Do you have any idea?’ Jack asked Brayden. Brayden shook his head. Jack sighed. It would have to be the hard way.
‘Do you know what’s through the door?’ Jack asked. A nod this time
‘Another tunnel. Then the main hall,’ Brayden said matter-of-factly. There was no shame in his voice - it had to be business.
Jack turned back to the enormous cave. The door opposite, yawning black and menacing, was so close, it seemed simple. Too simple. Like the tunnel.
If there were only two entrances to the mountain surely both should be protected. The tunnel had certainly been unnatural, but Jack knew there had to be something else, something less subtle. Years of living beneath the weight of suspicion had honed his ability to sense deceit. Despite all appearances to the contrary, the cavern was protected - but by what? He needed to speak to the Keeper. Alone.
‘Brayden, can you blend and walk around the chamber, check to see if there’s anything there that I can’t see?’ Jack said. Brayden nodded slowly.
‘I’ll see if I can connect with the rock. It may be able to help us,’ Brayden said. Before Jack could respond to this extraordinary announcement, Brayden vanished.
Jack waited, watching the Keeper, whose eyes were moving along the wall, presumably following Brayden’s progress.
‘Is he gone?’ Jack asked in a low voice.
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘You said you could help when the others weren’t around,’ Jack said. The Keeper inclined her head gently. ‘Can I trust him?’ he asked, glancing over his shoulder although he knew he would be unable to see Brayden.
‘I cannot tell you. Only you can decide. You were chosen. It falls to you to decide what is right and what is wrong. Whichever path you chose will determine the history of our people,’ she said.
‘Our people?’ Jack asked, his mind was clearing - her voice acted as an anti-dote to the fumes that were everywhere in the heart of this volcano.
‘Yes. Our people are all connected Jack. Although I live outside time I am still affected by the actions of those who live within it.’ She fell silent. Jack stared at the yawning door opposite, racking his brains furiously for ways to get the information he wanted from the Keeper without having to answer a riddle.
‘Well, what would you do?’ Jack finally asked.
‘I? I would not have embarked on this quest. Inaction is also action.’ Brayden took that moment to return.
‘Did you find out anything?’ Brayden shook his head. Jack looked at the Keeper who looked back and not with the flicker of an eye did she betray anything that she was thinking.
‘Let’s go,’ Jack said, starting forward purposefully. He knew that there was something, whether Brayden could see it or not, but he had no choice. The door was ahead. Through it was the only way to reach Sophie.
‘Wait,’ Brayden said, taking Jack’s arm again but this time it was to hold him back. Jack turned back to Brayden. He looked pale again and the hand that held Jack’s arm was shaking.
‘What’s the matter?’ Jack asked. He could feel the urgency to move pressing down on him.
‘I tried to speak to the rock, the mountain, but it’s dead,’ Brayden said. He looked sickly, a sheen of sweat across his face glistened horribly in the orange light.
‘I don’t understand,’ Jack said, thinking that the fumes might have affected Brayden more badly than he thought because the gnome really didn’t look well and he was rambling.
‘I couldn’t…there wasn’t… it’s just empty. Completely empty,’ Brayden said helplessly and the horror and misery that flooded the gnome’s face made Jack look over his shoulder, his heart banging hard against his rib cage because surely Auldred was standing right there. But there was nothing. He looked back at Brayden.
‘There’s no time now. I’m sorry,’ Jack said and he shook Brayden off and stepped out of the tunnel. He considered going around the outside, trying to make himself less visible, but in the end decided that they might as well go straight over.
‘Keeper, can you blend,’ Jack said, his voice low, hoping that no-one could hear him ‘you too Brayden.’
‘No,’ Brayden said, looking more sick and terrified than ever.
‘Look, one of us is less of a target than three. And less visible. It makes sense this way,’ Jack said. Brayden shook his head again.
‘No. If he can kill a mountain…’ Brayden seemed to be too horrified to complete the sentence but continued shaking his head.
‘Brayden, if I’m seen they’ll take me to him,’ Jack said, his voice desperate.
‘I know,’ Brayden said and though he was terrified he still did not blend.
‘If you’re caught too who’s going to be left to get Sophie, the others… your family?’ Jack asked. Slowly Brayden nodded and, his eyes still sunken and horror-struck, he faded from sight. The Keeper, after looking at Jack for a long moment with her beautifully deep, warm eyes, followed him into invisibility.
Jack stepped out into the large hall with the other two close behind but feeling very alone. He hurried across the floor past the dry, twisted stalagmites, where the occasional lava cradles spat out rogue balls of magma. Jack had to jump aside several times to avoid being burnt. It got even hotter towards the middle of the cave and he could feel the soles of his boots melting into the floor – when he looked back he could see the black footprints where he had not lifted his foot quickly enough. There were similar marks close by which Jack thought had been made by Brayden. The Keeper left no mark of her passing.
He was more than halfway now and to Jack’s complete surprise he hadn’t been challenged. He could feel his heart getting lighter as he hurried on. Three quarters of the way now and Jack sensed rather than felt a coolness from the tunnel ahead. He turned to look back across the massive cavern - there was no reason to, he would be unable to see Brayden and the Keeper - when he noticed something peculiar. The cavern, which seemed like a natural space when he first ran into it, was oddly symmetrical. The columns, which Jack had taken to be stalagmites, were too neat to be natural and the lava pools… the lava cradles… cradles? Jack’s eyes widened as an unbelievable idea began to form in his mind. It wasn’t possible, surely not, but even as the idea was born he heard an unearthly screech echoing across the cavern, multiplying, overlapping, merging into one ear piercing noise.
The protection that no one could see.
Soaring above in air that heaved in the heat, beady eyes fixed on Jack, was a beast the like of which Jack had never seen before. Its head was huge and birdlike, with long tufted ears and a fiercely sharp, cruel beak. The front legs of the animal were massive, immensely muscled; it’s talons reminded Jack of a bald eagle he had seen when he was younger but these were bigger, much bigger. Its legs were black as soot and the claws were crimson. Jack didn’t know if it was their true colour or if the creature had recently made a kill.
Its wings were huge and powerful - Jack suspected, in a heightened state of awareness brought about by terror, that they would rival the Keeper’s. The beast’s body and hind legs were like the Keeper’s too, but glossy black instea
d of warm gold and, though he was not close to it, he could see that feather and fur came together seamlessly in its coat.
Jack knew what was flying before him, its eyes fixed immovably on him – crimson eyes of blood and fire. King of the Earth and King of the Air, a creature of Fire that was dual natured and fated to choose its path at birth.
The Griffin.
Jack was running across the Hatchery.
As if it could hear Jack’s thoughts the Griffin cried out, a scream of unending fury and terrible pain. Jack felt the cry tear through him and knew that his only choice was to run. He turned and sprinted flat out towards the tunnel where he no longer thought of how he was going to reach Sophie and the others but only how he could reach the black archway. Though it was less than a hundred metres away, it was the furthest he had ever had to go.
The beast shrieked again but Jack didn’t look back – that way was death - if he even glanced over his shoulder it would be the last thing he ever did. Instead he ran towards the tunnel, the tunnel which had been so close only moments ago and now stretched far away into the distance. As Jack ran, dodging the weirdly twisted stalagmites, he could hear the bubbling, flicking and popping of the lava - the lava in cradles, the lava that was nursing and growing countless Griffin. And, though he was trying to concentrate on his breathing, Jack was sure that his straining ears could hear the beat of gigantic, ebony wings moving closer and closer…
Jack ran into the tunnel so suddenly that at first he didn’t realise that it had happened, not until he heard a screech of rage and felt a warm gust of air push him still further into the dark. He span round to see if the Griffin was behind him - if the creature managed to follow him into the tunnel he had no chance of getting away. To Jack’s relief the Griffin swept past the mouth of the tunnel and away. He crept to the entrance and cautiously looked up towards the vast ceiling. He knew it was there, more of the creatures must be there too but there wasn’t enough light to see. He could hear their cries of loss and they were terrible.
Jack backed into the cave again feeling a warm wave of relief wash through him when he sensed something wrong, something other than the impossibilities circling above and the improbability in the chamber itself.
Jack saw movement only moments before his arms were pinned roughly to his sides by someone immensely strong. He struggled, though he knew that it was useless. A rough hand cuffed him around the face. The darkness beneath the arch pressed against Jack’s eyes, which throbbed painfully in their sockets after the exposure to the heat and orange light. He closed them against the gloom. The only thing that kept him on his feet was the knowledge that Brayden and the Keeper were still there, had not been caught.
‘I’ve gotcha now,’ he heard an excited, hissing voice close to his ear. It was high and thin; painfully at odds with its physical strength. Jack wondered if there were more than one of them as he felt his arms being dragged behind his back and bound tightly.
‘Who are you?’ Jack asked, tying to keep the fear from his voice but it was there in every shaking syllable. Jack heard a sly titter.
‘Not scared are you Steele,’ the voice sang. Jack could feel flecks of spittle landing on his face. Rancid breath bathed Jack and he couldn’t stop himself from gagging. A laugh in the dark that was more like a scream. ‘Not got any friends to help you out then? Not like Five Oakes. You got away that time.’ His captor yanked his arms up his back so hard Jack thought one of them would snap. He bit his lip to keep himself from crying out loud as he was slammed into the wall of the tunnel, his head bounced against the rock – he felt a warm stream of blood start a journey down his face. ‘Never mind, we’ve got some friends waiting for you. That pretty young thing I wrestled with before, a few others,’ the cunning voice said searching Jack roughly.
‘What friends? I don’t have any friends,’ Jack regained the presence of mind to say as he was led further into the tunnel, the orange light fading once more to darkness.
‘You’ll see soon enough,’ the voice sniggered and shoved Jack forward, so hard he stumbled and almost fell. Jack stopped trying to talk, he knew that there was no point - he would find out about his friends soon enough. Now he was more concerned about the warmth trickling down his face.
The tunnel was similar to the one they had travelled through before, however this one felt much higher and was certainly wider. It was still stiflingly hot but Jack didn’t feel the same sense of claustrophobia as he had before, nor the crushing despair.
He knew that Brayden and the Keeper hadn’t been caught; whoever had him was completely unaware of their presence. And the more he thought about it, the more excited Jack became - he knew that it was on the Black Prince’s orders that people were waiting for him. If Auldred knew Brayden and the Keeper were there he would have tried to capture them too or come up with a plan to capture the three of them together. There was still hope.
Still, Jack dreaded reaching the end of this tunnel. It felt like no time at all before he left the tunnel and found himself in a large chamber similar in size to the central atrium at Five Oakes. There were a lot of doors leading off from the room, not only on the ground, where Jack now stood, but on all the tiers of floors above. Jack looked up and counted six before a hush fell over the room. The Salamanders slowly became aware of him.
‘I got ‘im,’ Jack turned to look at his captor for the first time. He looked… ordinary. His thin voice and massive strength came together in a mediocre body, with thinning grey hair. His eyes though burned a dark and deep red. A Griffins eyes. Jack shivered.
‘Well, well, well. So this is Jack Steele,’ a smooth voice, like melted chocolate spoke. Jack turned towards the voice had come from but there was no-one there. He heard a laugh, rich and melodic then, before Jack’s unbelieving eyes Aloysius materialised before him.
Chapter 15: The Black Prince
‘Aloysius?’ he whispered.
‘I? I am not Aloysius,’ the man spoke the name with a great deal of contempt, his eyes dancing. Then he laughed; it was sharp, wintry.
‘Who are you then?’ Jack asked, completely thrown. It had to be Aloysius - he was identical. Jack’s blue eyes stood out starkly against his white skin as he stared at the man.
‘I am,’ the man said. Jack felt a sudden jolt of recognition as the man’s eyes changed from human green eyes to orange from corner to corner.
‘I know you!’ Jack said, anger growing in his voice. There was a self-satisfied smile on the man’s face and something else. Something reptilian. ‘You were speaking to Sophie in the garden!’
‘Yes, I do believe we almost met a couple of years ago now. You’ve grown a little taller,’ the man smirked at Jack, eyes flickering. Jack couldn’t believe that he thought the man’s voice smooth. It grated on him gallingly sweet.
‘What’s your name?’ Jack demanded, trying to shake off his captor.
‘I have been called many things,’ the man said. ‘My true name is the Black Prince.’ Jack felt cold despite the sweltering heat of the volcano.
‘Auldred,’ Jack whispered. Auldred smiled, revealing sharply pointed teeth.
‘You’re not a prince! You’re a kidnapper and a thief,’ Jack said, eyes blazing in his white face.
‘You will pay for that,’ Auldred said lightly, though his voice was as cold and hard as the ice shelf Jack had stepped onto when he first set foot on Antarctica. The fire in Auldred’s eyes was no match for it, it was bone deep.
‘Where is Sophie?’ Jack asked, matching the fury in Auldred’s voice.
‘It is no longer any of your business,’ Auldred sneered, his lips peeling back from his sharp teeth in a grin that held no humour.
‘Give her back,’ Jack shouted, not hearing the gasps of shock and mutinous muttering from the watching crowd, only feeling their orange eyes, like hundreds of tiny suns, burning into him.
‘She is mine,’ Auldred growled. The words were like fire in Jack’s belly.
‘She will never belong to someone like you,�
� Jack said so fiercely that Auldred blinked and took small step back. He recovered quickly, but the retreat did not go unnoticed and the Salamanders gathered around became silent and watchful. Auldred snarled and lifted his arm to strike Jack, but Jack stood his ground. Auldred dropped his arm without striking.
‘Perhaps I should introduce myself properly,’ he said, a smile crawling across his face. The silence lifted and an excited, fearful buzzing filled the room. Jack watched as Auldred’s grin, which had widened horribly began to ripple. Jack, paralysed with horror, watched as Auldred’s whole body began to writhe inside his clothes, his skin bubbling and melting, becoming something else…
Though the transformation took only a few moments the change was enormous. Instead of skin, bright white scales covered Auldred’s body which was human shaped but completely hairless. He had grown a long tail that seemed to have a life of its own, sweeping angrily back and forth across the black floor. Auldred’s eyes remained a fiery orange although they were pink rimmed.
‘Is that supposed to impress me?’ Jack asked. He could feel himself shaking but he wasn’t going to let Auldred see. Auldred’s tongue (which was dreadful - forked and blood red) hissed out of his lip-less mouth, scenting the air and when he drew it back he smiled, a smile that stretched too far, almost to his ears.
‘It is fortunate indeed that you arrived when you did,’ Auldred hissed appraising Jack coldly. ‘I found your friends coming the other way. There was no one stationed in the Hatchery until moments before you started crossing. Convenient, very convenient. For me, of course,’ he said, his odd stretched smile widening still further.
‘What friends?’ Jack asked, feigning ignorance.
‘Oh…. You didn’t know? What a shame.’ His tail was still twitching and swishing across the floor, blindly seeking. ‘They escaped the first time I caught them on the ocean floor. There was… a development,’ Auldred said, and Jack saw a flash of rage and his eyes glowed scarlet.
Elemental: Steele Stolen: Part 1 and 2 Page 18