“Amazing.” Erynn smiled. “Great trick. Wish I could do that.” She watched the aleun grab and swallow the bits of food. When the crumbs were gone, the aleun bobbed off, returning to the mottled color of the ground cover.
“Thanks for stopping by. Come back.”
Erynn explored the forest behind the cabin during the afternoon. She didn’t sense being watched this time. She again found nothing to explain this place or any significance for the statue. She spent time gathering wood well into the evening before returning to her camp. The weather remained cloudless, windless, and cold. A small swatch of clear night dotted with stars was visible. Erynn stared into the open sky.
I should be actively fighting the enemy that has invaded my world. No, my worlds— Arranon and Korin are both part of me.
Erynn sat before the fire, wondering if she should return. She wasn’t accomplishing much staying here. “If I don’t find the reason for the statue tomorrow morning, I’ll leave.”
The maejen returned just after dark. They moved into the circle of firelight less timid than the night before, bringing their young with them. A large silver male, whom she assumed was the pack leader, walked around the fire, close to her. He chuffed and made a deep rumbling sound in his throat.
Erynn watched the large animal, wary for any threatening posture.
He sat, eyeing her from a meter away.
“You know what I’m supposed to do, don’t you?” Erynn asked.
The big male chuffed again and lay down, continuing to watch her. The fire popped. Erynn’s gaze remained fixed with the maejen’s yellow-brown eyes. Her lids became heavy under his hypnotic stare, and soon she dozed, dreaming.
In the dream, she watched the maejen running through the woods and dense brush. But this wasn’t at all like watching. She ran with them. They traversed the forest with agility and a supernatural precognition that allowed them to move through the tangle of limbs and undergrowth.
Erynn stirred sometime later, the night still deep around her. The maejen slept near her and around the fire. She added wood and returned to her spot next to the log after the flames rekindled. The maejen yawned, showing long white teeth, stretched powerful legs, and closed their eyes. Wrapping her blankets around her, she went back to sleep.
***
When she woke to the musical voices, the maejen had once again gone. Wind howled around the tops of the trees. The high sighing made a lonesome sound. Thin gray clouds blew in, followed by darker, thicker ones. Erynn could smell the clean scent of approaching rain. She rushed to the far side of the pond. The clouds moved with rapid purpose. With only a few moments of sunlight to test the jeweled statue, she made no progress. Returning to her small camp, the crimson aleun awaited her arrival.
Erynn sat under a hastily erected shelter, and the aleun joined her. He was not alone. Another smaller aleun appeared as Erynn began to toss bread and cheese about under the tent. The second aleun was not as bright. It was more of a burnt red color. “Hurry up and eat, you two. After this storm blows through, I’m packing up and leaving.” The two stayed until no morsels of food remained, and even as the rain started, they blended with the ground colors, leaving the cover of Erynn’s camp. The larger aleun returned to his crimson red, turned to look at Erynn, and bobbed his head twice in her direction before leaving.
“You’re welcome,” she called.
The powerful rainstorm didn’t last long. The wind pushed the storm on and away. A vibrant rainbow appeared over the pond, dark gray clouds behind the gleaming arc and sunshine bursting forth before it, giving the refracted light substance. Erynn marveled at the vivid colors and gasped with the recognition. She scrambled out from under the tent and stood up. “Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple—the same colors as the jewels from the statue.” Understanding hit her. She pulled the dagger from her pocket and stared at the ornate hilt. The small jewels aligned like the rainbow. She’d had the answer in her pocket the whole time.
Time seemed to slow for the rest of the day. Anxious to test her theory, Erynn did try once. The attempt failed. She would need to wait until morning to check out her idea.
***
The maejen returned well after dark. Erynn began to wonder if they were coming at all when they trotted into the firelight, taking up their positions around the fire.
“What are you going to do when I leave?” Erynn asked the group, her smile widening. They glanced over at her through sleepy eyes as she added wood to the fire and settled into her spot for the evening.
She leaned toward the dozing maejen. “I think I’ve discovered the secret of the statue. The rainbow and the dagger—the colors are the same. Could the answer be that simple?” Erynn told them her thoughts. “In the morning, I’ll try out my idea.” A strong kinship was developing between her, the animals, and the forest. She began to understand and tap into her connection with Arranon. Although, how that bond would aid her against the enemy infecting her worlds remained unclear.
***
Erynn woke to the singing voices of the pond and the maejen gone. She hurried over to the statue, arriving before the sun hit the jeweled face. Watching the sky for any sign of clouds, she saw none. The day promised to be clear and bright. Her stomach knotted.
Am I correct? What will I find?
She waited until sunlight bathed each jewel before pressing the first. She took a deep breath and began. First red, the gem clicked under her touch. Orange was next, and then yellow, green, blue and purple. Each made a distinctive click and stayed in its depressed position.
The ground trembled beneath her feet, followed by a low rumbling. Grinding stone chased the rumble. The statue before her slid apart and around, separating the line of jewels from the symbols, exposing an opening beneath. A crude ladder disappeared into the dark.
She stared down into the hole. “I’m going to need light.” Jaer anticipated every possibility and had provided lanterns. Erynn ran back to her camp and rummaged through her supplies. The capora stopped his grazing behind the cabin and watched her dig through the packs. She pulled one of the lanterns free and hurried back around the pond. Her fingers fumbled with the controls in her excitement to explore the underground space.
Erynn lay flat on the ground before the opening, the lantern held below the mouth of the passageway. The dagger nudged into her side, and she shifted her weight. Below, an area roughly three meters down and about six meters wide reflected in the lantern’s glow.
She sat up and swung her legs over the rim. Her feet found the third rung of the ladder. She turned, holding tight to the rope connecting the ancient wooden rungs, testing their strength. The brittle wooden treads creaked. Faint snapping accompanied the creaking. She glanced down, preparing to jump if the ladder began to fail. She needed to safeguard her only way out.
The lamp strapped over her neck and around one arm bounced light across rough stone walls. The wood continued to crack under her weight but held. The last four rungs were gone, rotted away, and she jumped the final distance.
A thin layer of fine dirt covered what felt like smooth rock beneath. Erynn directed the beam to survey her surroundings. She was in a round chamber with a high ceiling. She walked the periphery, shining the light of the lantern up and down the rough golden-brown stone. An old watermark about one meter up explained why the ladder’s lower rungs were gone.
Symbols like those on the statue ran in vertical ranks from ceiling to floor. There were thirteen distinct lines precisely spaced. They danced in the play of shadow and light as the beam of the lantern passed over them. Erynn moved to the center and turned in a slow circle, studying the symbols and considering their significance.
They must be important. This place is here for a reason.
“I’m here for a reason.” Her voice echoed about the chamber. She rotated, studying the carvings from top to bottom and then from bottom to top. The beam of the lantern illuminated the symbols in turn, leaving the line on either side in dim shadow. They wavered and blu
rred. Erynn checked the lantern. The light was strong and steady.
A rumbling and grinding began. The floor spiraled downward. Light from the opening above narrowed and disappeared. The movement knocked Erynn off balance, preventing her from regaining her footing until the motion stopped. She jumped up and ran to the base of the ladder, but the rail was no longer within her reach. The last rung was now four meters over her head, the opening above resealed. Dark turned the walls a deep black. Erynn fought the panic that threatened to overtake her.
“I’ve been in caves before. No glowing creatures to show me the way out this time, though.” She took in a deep breath and held the air a moment, then let it escape between pursed lips. “I can do this.” She nodded and surveyed the periphery again. The symbols, instead of ending three meters above her, continued to the new position of the floor. “That’s significant.” At the far side of the chamber from the ladder, Erynn listened to the faint rush of water. She ran her hands over the wall, searching for anything that might produce an opening. “Nothing.” She sighed.
She held the lantern high, examining the symbols etched in the walls around her. They meant nothing. “They do mean something. Calm down. Think rationally. There will be a way out. I only have to find it.”
Erynn studied the carved symbols.
Chapter 19
TWENTY-THREE DIFFERENT SYMBOLS APPEARED next to corresponding carved pictures. The prevailing one she stood before represented water, or more precisely, a river. Above the sign for river, and at eye level to Erynn, a keyhole reached into the stone. Over the keyway, a pictogram representing the world above her dominated. Images showed trees, the sun, and animals.
Her gaze traveled over the wall. The stone wasn’t all one piece. A straight line ran from two meters above her head to the bottom of the floor. Peering up into the dark, she perceived another line about a meter long across this section of the wall. A less distinct split the same meter distance over ran down the length of the barrier.
“A door.” Her breath hitched. “This is the way out. But how do I get through without the key?” She glanced around the walls and then at the ground. “The key has to be here.” Erynn scuffed her boots along the dirt-covered floor of the chamber. Holding the lamp angled downward, she searched the area and found nothing. Panic churned, grating against heightened nerves. She stopped her investigation to compose her wildly mounting fear.
“I will not die here.” A coarse laugh bubbled out. “There are no skeletons, no rotting corpses of previous prisoners.” She glanced up at the dark ceiling. “There must be a way to open the door.” She leaned against the wall. A solid bulge dug into her ribs. “Zander’s dagger. I can use the point to pick at the keyway.” Erynn pushed off the wall and hurried over, slipping the dagger to the hilt into the slit with a scraping sound.
Made for the spot?
A deep rumbling and grinding began. The stone arced inward at the right edge. Erynn stepped back. The resulting cascading rush of water on the other side was a deafening roar. She peered through the opening. To the far right, a thundering waterfall ten meters high crashed down, bathed in blue light from above. A river raced past, angling down into inky blackness. The narrow ledge along the rushing water disappeared a short way to the left, eroded by the constant flow. She returned the dagger to the inside pocket of her coat.
With the lantern held before her, she set off to the right. The shelf widened, ending in a flat, broad bank. Above the surging falls, light issued from a crescent gap. A concave area behind the waterfall revealed carved stones, a staircase leading up to a ledge beneath the opening.
“Well, there’s the way out. But how will I fight the powerful current to reach the surface?” She stared at the rush of water, mesmerized by the constant flow and booming roar.
The water swirled in the shallows of the gentle slope Erynn stood on. There was only one option, one route to the forest above. She must enter the cove and go through the water to the stairs. She shook off her trance and stepped into the churning stream. Icy water soon reached her chest, and she held the lantern high. She pushed through the tugging current and climbed out of the stirring pool tucked behind the waterfall. Stone steps rose before her.
The crash of falling water rang in her ears. Spray surrounded her, finishing the job of soaking her.
Erynn stood up, her clothes dripping onto the rough stone. Vibrant colors erupted from the cavern walls. More than the purple, blue, and green she’d previously witnessed here. There were yellows, reds, oranges, gold, and silver. With the colors came the familiar sweet, spicy scent, cloying in the confined space. Musical voices sang through her mind. The song muted the thunderous roar.
No—not muted.
Erynn turned toward where the cascade once rushed. A soft shower of gently sheeting water from above flowed before her. Her gaze snapped up, expecting to see the crescent opening narrowed, no longer wide enough to allow her to pass through. Instead, the gap remained unaffected. She frowned, tipping her head in all directions, attempting to find an explanation for what she observed.
The water is restrained from falling full force by… what?
Light from the developing day tempted, pulling her attention from the incredible sight. Around her, the colors changed to an insistent deep blue. Their voices urged her to hurry up the rough stone steps.
She climbed to the landing below the smooth, suspended undersurface of clear blue water. Erynn shivered, remaining in a low crouch on the last step. Sunlight shining through the pristine pond above made her hands appear ghostly and transparent. She reached up, skimming the undersurface of the bubble with trembling fingertips. Where she touched, droplets formed and ran down her fingers, but the shield didn’t burst. “How is this possible?”
Voices instructed her. “Feriem.” Rise.
“Ahfarine. Trust.” Erynn took in a shaking, but deep breath, thrust her hand in, and stood up. The surface was only meters above her. Pulled upward, enveloped by a peaceful, sparkling sensation, time ceased to exist while immersed in the liquid warmth. But she wasn’t in the water, nor was she in the air above. Suspended in a layer between the two, she reached out. An invisible barrier held her.
The Anim Blath called. Their singing was no longer just musical notes. High, sweet voices held words Erynn understood.
“Welcome,” one voice sang.
“Where am I?”
“You’ve found the portal of water,” a second voice chimed.
“Portal? To where?” A flutter of unease tickled at her mind.
“Four portals guard the realms of above and below,” a third intoned.
“Below. Where Dhoran lives?” The tickle became a scratch.
“Yes,” the first voice called. “The evil presence the alien has brought to Arranon will wake Dhoran’s foul wickedness. You must stop this from happening.”
“I don’t want to go below. I need to go up. I need to find Cale—to help him fight the invasion.” She twisted, kicked, and tried to reach up.
“Feriem,” a fourth voice rang.
Erynn rose. Trees cleared into view above her. Sunlight glinted off the crystal water.
“Yes. Find Cale. Our enemies are many. Listen to the maejen. Learn from the aleun, the wind, the trees. Arranon awaits your request. Bind the two worlds. They must be one. Unite your brothers and sisters,” the voices chorused.
“Brothers and sisters? I don’t understand.” The surface of the pond neared. Erynn tried to stop her ascent by turning away from the sun. There were questions she needed answers to. “Can you tell me how to free our worlds from the enemy?”
“Ask and believe,” the first voice whispered.
The barrier dissolved. Cold water rushed in around her, dragging her down. Erynn reached up, pulling her arms back against the fluid resistance, and kicked. She broke the surface, taking in a gulp of air. The pond was still and silent. She swam to the bank and climbed out. Erynn stood shivering and dripping, staring at the pond. Late morning sunlight dappled wher
e the sentinel forest allowed. “Magic,” she whispered. “No,” she tipped her head, gazing into the water, “more than magic.”
A great intelligence far beyond her understanding had communicated a purpose to her. These sentient beings believed this was the way to save Arranon. They entrusted her to relay their imperative.
***
Erynn sat before her fire that night, contemplating the task before her. Her need to find Cale was now vital. Both Zander and the Anim Blath had beseeched her in this charge. She considered Tiar and Sean, their uncanny abilities, and their connection to Arranon. They would help.
Then there was Jaer and Roni. She needed their vast knowledge of this world to help her identify Cale’s location.
The maejen returned after dark.
“I’m leaving in the morning,” she said, sadness in her voice. She would miss them. “Will you be okay?”
The big silver male sat close, touching Erynn. He chuffed. His lips turned in an obvious smile.
Erynn laughed. “I understand. You were fine before I came, and you’ll be fine after I leave.” She reached out and stroked soft, dense fur. He curled his body against hers and closed his eyes. She left her arm around him, fingers tracing powerful muscles, relaxed under her touch.
She slept fitfully when sleep finally came, her dreams filled with faceless enemies.
***
The maejen were gone when the music from the pond stirred her from a restless sleep. Erynn had spent the previous afternoon stuffing what was left of her supplies in leather bags. After packing the bundles on her capora, she went to the water to say good-bye.
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