The Watcher Key (Descendants of Light Book 1)

by Troy Hooker

  Sam didn’t mean to rush them, but they were on a mission to get home, and he was ready to digest what they had learned and collected from the City, including the Stone. The adventure was exciting, but he didn’t want to let Mr. Sterling down. He was skeptical, yes, but loyal to the promises he made.

  The boathouse was hidden in a semicircular cove at the far end of the massive arch room where a small but manageable river flowed swiftly through the middle of racks and racks of tiny canoe-shaped wooden boats. Upon immediate inspection, there didn’t seem to be any damage to them, but they were old, and certainly showed their age.

  “Think those are seaworthy, captain?” Lillia punched Gus in the arm sharply.

  Gus, who was going over every inch of one of the boats with a lantern, held up beside his nose, determined that he would see the positive side of the situation.

  “Actually, they don’t appear to have any reason they couldn’t float,” he said. “Not quite sea worthy, but able to traverse through an underground river? Certainly.”

  “I just can’t believe there’s an underground boathouse on a plateau inside the City,” Sam stared at the water as it meandered past the sandy cavern floor.

  Emma immediately began trying to wrestle one of the boats off the rack. With the exception of her seemingly undying courage, Emma, too, seemed ready to get back to the City.

  “People from the Old City did it, and so can we,” Gus muttered as he helped Emma with the boat, which looked just big enough for three people sitting in line.

  “Yep, and they would rather brave the City being burned to the ground than join the death river ride,” Lillia added.

  “Two of us can ride in one, and two in the other,” Sam suggested, reaching for another boat.

  Emma was immediately at his side, slightly touching his hand to let him know she wanted to be the one to ride with him. He blushed at the thought that she actually felt safe with him. She, in fact, may be the only one that had ever trusted in him for anything. None of his friends back home had that kind of faith.

  One partner positioned the boats in the river while the other partner got in each boat. Then the first partner counted to three before the other climbed in and let go of the loading ramp.

  ***********************

  Immediately the river carried them into pitch black. Then began the queasy rhythmic flow in the dark current, pushing them swiftly through the curves and dips in the underground waterway for over an hour until each of them was forced to take turns hanging their heads over the sides of the boat.

  “Why does this remind me of a theme-park ride?” Sam mumbled sickly as the boats slowed to turn an especially tight bend in the river.

  “I hate rides like this,” Lillia called out in the dark behind them. “Actually, I hate rides in general.”

  “As do I,” Gus said with a burp.

  Emma punched Sam suddenly in the leg, startling him in the worst of his queasiness, and finally sending up solid chunks in his throat.

  “Cheer up you sickies! I think I see light ahead!”

  Sure enough, around the next bend was an opening in the dark abyss. A beckoning light appeared in front of them as they approached, turning out to be another smaller cavern. The glass dome overhead spilled enough light into the room that even the darkest corners were as though the sun were shining directly into the room.

  The river carried the riders in the boats in a snakelike pattern around the center of the cavern until they had passed through its interior completely. The water began moving at a more rapid pace the closer they traveled to the far wall. Enamored with the beauty of the various colors dancing happily on the walls from the dome above, no one paid attention as the boats made their way to the opposite end of the cavern. It was only then that they noticed the faded signs warning them of the danger ahead. The sign read:

  Make your exit sure,

  or a certain end you will endure!

  “I think we were supposed to get out in the cavern!” Gus called back to Emma and Sam from his boat, which was already picking up speed.

  Panic settled in the two boats as they hurdled toward the rushing water that disappeared into the pitch-black waterway in front of them. The opportunity for bailing out of the boats into the cavern was becoming increasingly impossible as they picked up speed.

  The boats disappeared into the underground river once again, moving at such an incredible rate that even the intermittent blue from Gus’s lantern as it clung to the side of the boat became only a distant speck that bobbed to and fro in the current.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of being slammed from one side of the boat to the other, scraping their hands on the sides of the wall sometimes just for balance, the river began to level out and the boats slowed to where they could just hear each other above the noise of the rushing water behind them.

  As the second boat caught up to the first, Lillia pitched her head over the side of the boat just in time to heave into the dark water once again.

  Lillia’s sick floated by, bathed in eerie blue from the lantern’s light, and upon seeing it, Sam did his best not to heave his own lunch again. It was at that moment, head over the side of the boat, that an even more eerie feeling swept over him.

  “Uh … do you uh … what’s that—” he could only manage to utter, hearing a soft dull roar reverberating off the water as he struggled to hold in his vomit.

  “I can’t take any more of this,” Emma winced as she, too, looked green even in the blue glow. “Please Lord no more.”

  The dull roar grew louder.

  “Guys, seriously, what is that?” Sam lifted his head up wearily as a tiny speck of daylight suddenly illuminated in front of them.

  “What are you talking about?” Lillia started, then stopped suddenly. “Oh, I hear it too! Sounds like a waterfall!”

  They began to realize their peril as the daylight ahead of them disappeared when the boats dipped into another stretch of swift current. At about that time, Gus’ lantern smacked into a rock that jutted from the narrow river chute, sending glass and blinding Lazuli light bursting into the cavernous emptiness until it vanished into the dark water behind them.

  Now in complete blackness, the boats leveled out once more. Sam and Emma’s boat bumped sharply into Gus and Lillia’s, nearly throwing Lillia out of the boat.

  Panic set in as another bend in the river suddenly met them with a rush of warm fresh air and a distant soft light casting strange reflections on the violent water.

  Sam attempted to reach out and grasp the walls that he knew were there, even though he still could not see them clearly, but they were moving so fast that his fingers just bumped along until one struck a jutting rock, and instantly he felt the blood trickling down his hand and the searing pain that followed.

  “Duck down and hold on!” Lillia yelled out suddenly in the darkness ahead of Sam and Emma, barely audible above the roaring falls, which loomed closer with every drenching wave from the growing rapids lapping against the boats.

  Sam obeyed, and he felt Emma instantly curl into a ball and turn to lay sideways on his lap. He wrapped her up in his arms like a cocoon.

  The boat hurled itself around bends in the underground waterway to the left and right, the rapids increasing in strength so badly that Sam found it difficult to hold on to the slippery makeshift handles of the craft and still keep Emma from bouncing around all over the place. Water gushed over them both, soaking them to the bone.

  Suddenly the roar ahead of them was upon them, and sunlight pierced into the cavern through the opening in the side of the plateau that swallowed the underground river into the open expanse below. The boats slowed momentarily as they approached the falls, and they had only seconds to make a grab for the side of the cliff before the river spilled over the side to the rocks below.

  Gus saw the chance and heaved himself onto the smal
l ledge just inside the opening of the cliff, then snatched Lillia’s arm before she tumbled over the edge, pulling her from the boat before it disappeared into the roar. Sam knew he would have to do the same with Emma, but he would have to hop in front of her first before he too could grab the ledge.

  Fortunately, Emma let go of him out of instinct, allowing him just enough maneuverability to crawl over her before they reached the cliff. Gus reached out and grabbed his shirt as Sam grasped firmly on the ledge, and then he reached back to yank Emma from the boat.

  Although she was stiff from fear, she managed to understand that she needed to hold on to Sam’s arm instead of clinging to the boat. Together, Gus and Sam dragged Emma onto the ledge with them.

  Panting heavily, the four laid on the ledge for a long while before attempting to sit up and survey the scene. They knew the closeness of their brush with death, and it kept them wary and quiet as they watched the thirty-story waterfall pound on the rocks below. Lillia pointed out the pieces of their boats swirling around the falls, the turbulence of the water churning them around like a blender.

  When they had regained their nerves, Gus led the search for a way down the face of the cliff, but they didn’t need to look long as a winding slender path presented itself near the back of the ledge.

  “Who in their right mind would use this path of death?” Lillia muttered as they picked their way down the thin ledge.

  “For once, Lil’, I share your negativity,” Gus acknowledged, his back pressed firmly against the rock behind him.

  Emma had produced a rope that they used as a hasty lifeline down the path, but they still took their time getting to the bottom. It was almost nauseating moving so slow next to the thundering falls, and Sam looked forward to when they would get to the bottom and make camp for the night.

  Gus had told them that they would need to stop again at the head of the swamp even though it would only be mid-day, because it would take them an entire day to travel through the swamp, and stopping in the middle, according to Gus, was a very bad idea.

  “Other than the fact that Giants occasionally hunt down this way for the larger mammals, there are said to be monstrous reptiles of the dinosaur species that live in the swamp,” Gus told them.

  After what they had just gone through, a few extra-large lizards didn’t sound so bad. But then again, upon remembering the razor-sharp teeth of the Sarse they encountered upon entering Lior, perhaps it was best to follow Gus’ suggestion instead of trying to push through and get stuck having to set up camp along the banks.

  Once down from the plateau, they fished their water-logged packs from the bank and filled up their canteens from the churning falls, then walked through the trees a short distance to where a rather large vine-covered stone boathouse sat proudly next to the river. Inside, there were more of the small canoe boats like the ones they sent careening over the falls, but there were minor differences, like a small hatch where they could place their packs—which were now certainly drenched—and a sail. They found two of the boats that were in the best shape and dragged them out of the boathouse to the bank of the river, then the four began setting up camp and drying themselves and their packs next to the fire.

  Gus and Sam immediately gathered a stockpile of wood for the fire in hopes of warding off any larger animals that wandered in their direction. They circled the tents around the fire to make sure they didn’t wake up cold and in the dark.

  Emma got to work frying some dried pork and beans, while Lillia and Gus looked over the route they would take the next day.

  “Looks like the river turns into the swamp not too far from here,” Gus said over lunch. “I think the best route is through here,” he pointed at a thin line running through the crooked body of water.

  There were many fingers jutting to and fro on both sides throughout the great swamp, snaking like thick vines down a brick wall. For a moment, Sam had an awful feeling that they would get lost in the twists and turns, having to spend countless days eating turtles and insects and running from untold creatures who thought of them as a perfect midmorning snack.

  “I heard it was really easy to get lost in the Great Swamp,” Emma pushed her beans around her plate. “How can you be sure it’s the right way?”

  Gus shook his head sadly.

  “I can’t.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence while they all pondered the consequences, as they had already had many close calls. It seemed as though everyone was feeling the exhaustion from all they had experienced up to this point, and the added uncertainty about how they would get home was beginning to take its toll on their spirits.

  Strangely, it was Lillia who brought them back around.

  “It’s okay,” she cleared her throat. “We will just have to try the route and pray it’s right.”

  Emma nodded wearily.

  “As long as we do it together.”

  Sam leaned his pack against a rock near the fire and laid his head back and closed his eyes. Before long, the sun was beginning to edge down the far side of the treetops, and the shade was lending itself to a bit of cool in the breeze. The river bubbled and danced in front of them, the waterfall still easily heard deep and steady as it bombarded the rocks below it.

  At some point, Sam must have nodded off, for instantly he was no longer at the river, but standing in a Lightbase overlooking the sun setting over the ocean.

  ***********************

  He looked around him, and for a moment he thought he was alone, but then discovered he was not. There, standing in the doorway with their backs turned to Sam were the figures of two men standing in the shadows. The tall man was dressed in beautiful robes, but the smaller man wore a simple, bland robe. Sam could not see the faces of either of the men where the shadows fell, but he heard them talking in low, deep voices, and he strained to hear what they were saying.

  “Have you considered my offer?” said the taller man with a deep, throaty voice.

  “Do I have a choice, really?” said the smaller man just above a whisper. “Either we invite chaos into our city or endanger all of Lior.”

  “I have been told you have the ability to hide him,” the robed man said.

  “Yes, we have been able to hide ourselves for a long time now, but that doesn’t mean that if the Prophecy is true we will be able to stop it from happening.”

  “We will deal with that later,” the man turned toward the window facing the ocean, his robes swishing as he moved. “We need him gone from the City immediately. I have already set things in motion in the Council. He will be in your hands shortly.”

  The smaller man sighed.

  “I suppose the fact that you will become Chancellor from all of this is only out of genuine concern.”

  The taller man turned sharply from the window to look at him.

  “I do what’s best for Lior. Nothing more,” he said sharply.

  The smaller man nodded and then the scene slowly melted away from him, the voices fading into muffled noises.

  I know that voice, Sam thought as his eyelids began to flutter open and he left the paralyzing effect of sleep, but while the dream still lingered, for some reason he couldn’t pick out the person to whom the voice belonged. He strained to listen once again, but the voices were too distant to hear clearly.

  ***********************

  “Have a good nap?” Emma said as Sam blinked in the evening sun throwing its last glimmers of light on his face.

  She was stirring the dying fire, attempting to revive it as both Gus and Lillia slept on their packs. It seemed as though they all needed a long nap. Unwisely, they had not even thought about posting a watch, and Sam wondered if Emma had stayed up for that reason.

  “It was good, thanks,” he responded to her question. “Did you get a nap too?”

  “Yes. Lillia and I took turns on lookout while you and Gus slept,” she sa
id as she placed another large branch on the fire.

  “I’m sorry,” he said genuinely, feeling suddenly bad.

  “You both needed it,” she said smiling. “But don’t worry. You will return the favor sometime.”

  He smiled back, still blinking in the light. He couldn’t take his mind off the dream that was still fresh in his mind. While he was glad it wasn’t the same he had been having, it wasn’t a normal dream either—if that was even possible. It felt as though he had actually been there, even after waking up—just like in the Dark arch dream. In any case, he was beginning to become accustomed to the dreams, almost as though he expected them to happen.

  “You had another dream, didn’t you?” Emma didn’t even look up from the pot of coffee she was nursing over the fire.

  “How can you know that?” he was stunned.

  “Call it a gift,” she smiled again. “But you also wear your thoughts on your sleeve.”

  He thought for a moment about making up something to tell her instead of the real dream, but couldn’t find a reason not to tell her the truth. He had always had trouble trusting—he knew that—but this was personal, his dream. It didn’t seem important enough to talk about, but by the stubborn, anticipated look on her face, she wasn’t going to let him drop it.

  “I saw two guys in a tower,” he started. “They were talking about getting some guy out of Lior and hiding him. He seemed important for some reason.”

  Emma considered his words, then went back to stirring the coals under the coffee pot.

  “Who were they?” she asked quietly.

  “I don’t know. One was short and talked quietly but the tall one had shiny robes and had a booming voice like—” he stopped short, because he had just discovered where he had heard that voice before. “Mr. Calpher.”

  “Oh,” she said quietly. “Did they say who the guy was they wanted out of the City?”

  “No,” Sam recalled. “Just some guy, I guess. But neither of them seemed too happy to have him.”

  The water in the pot began to boil as the sun continued to fall below the trees. Sam and Emma felt it best to wake Lillia and Gus up for some dinner and to gather some wood for the night before they settled down. It seemed like a safe place where they were, surrounded by the river on one side and on the other, a smaller rock ledge that made a horseshoe shape behind their tents. Before long, they had a good roaring fire burning with plenty of wood to keep it going for much of the night.