The earth itself will quake!
The Beast will be forever stilled
When Seven Sleepers wake!’”
“But what does it mean?” Josh asked. “Who is Goél, and who is the Beast—and who are the Seven Sleepers?”
“I am only fisherman,” Dedron said, shrugging his shoulders. “But I think it mean that one day—soon—bad men will all be killed and good man will come. And then all the world be happy.”
“But who sings this song? And how did you learn it?” Crusoe asked.
“I know it all my life.” Dedron shrugged again. “But now, lots of people sing it. Not when Sanhedrin is near, but at night in secret places.”
Crusoe breathed quickly. “Do you hear that, Josh? That’s the Uprising the Sanhedrin is trying to stamp out. And it sounds like it’s spreading faster than they can get rid of it.”
Crusoe turned once more to Dedron and asked, “When will all this happen?”
Dedron looked at him impatiently. “Listen to song— ‘When Seven Sleepers wake.’ Maybe soon. Then House of Goél be filled!”
He shoved the coins back into Crusoe’s hand. “No pay—we brothers. Anyway, I no can spend.”
They heard him laughing as they hurried back to camp.
When the two reached camp, Josh was at first so filled with their news that he noticed nothing unusual. No sooner had they got in voice range than he cried out, “We’ve found out about the Uprising and about the Seven Sleepers!”
Just as he was about to launch into his story, Josh saw Mat gesturing with his head toward a clump of trees. Josh realized then that Mat’s hands and feet were tied! Everyone was tied up!
A scarlet-clad figure stepped from behind a giant elm. It was Elmas, the Chief Interrogator, who had met them in the forest.
Josh tried to run, but a single “Stop!” from Elmas froze him in his tracks.
“Bind them, Onar. I will take these two in the chariot to the Temple for the Questioning,” he said, indicating Tam and Jake. “An armed escort will be sent for you and the rest. You will guard them well. On your life, Onar.”
There was a clear threat in Elmas’s muffled voice.
Onar answered at once, “Yes, Master.”
Onar threw Tam and Jake into the chariot, cuffing them into silence when they tried to speak to the others. Then Elmas got in and, without a word, picked up the whip and lashed the horses into a dead run down the road.
“How long will it take the escort to get here?” Josh whispered to Crusoe.
“About four hours—unless he meets a patrol already on the march. We’ve got to get loose.”
“Quiet!” Onar suddenly stood over them. “You will not speak.” Then he looked at Crusoe and said, “Maybe you will talk. There is much that you can tell me before the Master returns. What is your name, Old One?”
Crusoe tightened his lips and made no answer.
His silence seemed to infuriate Onar. He seized the frail hunchback and carried him toward a clump of trees almost as easily as Volka would have done. When the pair was concealed by the thicket, Josh heard Onar ask a question and pause. Then, instead of an answer, there was the sound of a blow being struck—then another, and many more.
“He’ll kill Crusoe,” Mat whispered in a fury. “Can’t any of you get loose?”
“I can’t,” Sarah said.
Volka groaned. “No, too tight.”
Perhaps Onar had been in too much of a hurry, but Josh felt a slackness in the ropes around his wrists. He gasped with effort and was almost free when Mat warned him, “Watch out, Josh! He’s coming.”
The hulking figure came toward them, carrying the limp body of Crusoe. He threw him down with a curse. “Stubborn fool!”
Then his eyes lit on Sarah. He moved toward her and jerked her to her feet. “Maybe you will be more talkative,” he said. He moved with the frightened girl, now helpless in his grasp, toward the trees.
“No!” Josh cried.
Onar glanced at him with an evil grin. “Don’t worry, boy, your time is coming—and you’ll be begging me to take her instead of you!”
He laughed cruelly as he moved to the trees, but this time he was not concealed. His broad back was just visible.
Josh grunted fiercely, and his hands finally broke free. At the same time, he heard Sarah cry out in pain. Blind with rage, Josh started to run to her aid, but Mat’s whisper stopped him.
“No, Josh! You won’t have a chance! The bow! Josh, the bow!”
Mat nodded at a nearby tree, and Josh saw Onar’s bow and a full quiver of hunting arrows. He seized the bow and strung it in one smooth motion. Then he cocked an arrow and pulled it to his cheek. Suddenly he paused.
“Shoot! Shoot!” Mat urged.
Josh had never loved hunting, though he had often accompanied his father on trips. Looking at Onar’s back, he realized that he was about to take a human life. Everything in his past said no.
Yet, even as he wavered, Sarah cried out again.
Mat whispered desperately, “They’ll kill Sarah, Josh. They’ll kill all of us, if you don’t get us away from here! And you can’t do it as long as Onar is alive!”
Perhaps even this would not have been enough, but then there came into Josh’s mind the same faint voice that he had heard once before. He heard the words again, The House of Goél must be filled.
Josh set his jaw and sent the arrow right through Onar’s broad back. The Servant grunted once, then fell forward.
Josh ran and pulled the scarlet-clad form away from Sarah.
“Come on. It’s all right now, but we have to hurry,” he urged.
As he pulled her away, Josh took one clear look at the blood that stained the ground around Onar. He realized that he had lost something very precious. Never again, he knew, could he be the simple boy that he had been.
They freed the others quickly.
“What are we going to do about Tam and Jake?” Sarah asked.
“We can’t help them by staying here,” Josh said. “We’ll find some way to get them back later.”
“Where are we going?” Sarah asked as they moved toward the sea.
Volka was carrying the limp form of Crusoe. The others carried the supplies.
“We’re going to the boat, then to the next Sleeper.” Josh spoke with a hard tone. Onar’s death had changed him.
He got them to the boat and, when they were ready, shoved off. Mat knew a little about sailing, so he took control of the small craft.
“How is he?” Josh finally asked, as Sarah leaned over Crusoe.
“He’s unconscious,” she said. “I—I think he’s hurt very badly. Can’t we get a doctor?”
“I don’t see how,” Josh said grimly. “Do you know any medicine, Mat?”
“If I did, I’d use it on myself,” Mat said.
Then Josh noticed that Mat was swaying on the seat, pale as ashes.
“What’s wrong?” Josh sprang to help him, and the dwarf slumped to the bottom of the boat. “I’m a Gemini—that’s what’s wrong.”
And then Josh remembered what Crusoe had said— that Gemini twins would die if separated.
“You’ll be all right soon, Mat,” Josh encouraged him. “They’re taking Tam to the Temple, and that’s where we’re headed too—in a roundabout way.”
Mat brightened a little. “We are? That’s good. I don’t feel so well.” Then he fainted.
So there they were. Two dying men, two teenagers, and a giant.
∗ ∗ ∗
It was nearly dark when Mat awoke and pulled himself up to look over the side. “That’s it,” he whispered. “That’s the sea entrance to the Ghost Marshes.”
Somehow they landed, and then Volka had his finest hour. They could not have done it without the giant, for he practically carried them all on his broad back. “Load me up!” he said with a swagger. “I’ve never seen a load I couldn’t carry!”
They tied Mat in a sling on Volka’s back, then hung the supplies and packs anywhere they
could. Volka picked Crusoe up in his arms. Loaded like a frigate, he plowed into the muck of the evil-smelling swamp. He called to Sarah and Josh. “Catch hold and come on, young ones! I’m Volka, and no little swamp stops me!”
Forever after on that trip, when any of them was in trouble, Josh would remind himself that nothing could be as bad as the Ghost Marshes. For hours they slogged through the sucking mud. They finally gave up trying to wave away the bloodthirsty mosquitoes. They exhausted all their strength, then summoned still more.
It was not just a terrible physical effort. Josh thought there was something evil and hungry about the way the mud tried to suck them under, as if it were trying to devour them.
And there were voices that whispered, “Rest a little! You’re so tired! Just for a moment, then you’ll be stronger.”
Finally even Volka was swaying from side to side, about to topple with his burdens. At last they all slumped in a helpless sprawl beside a huge cypress.
And the voices sounded so good that, one by one, each of the weary travelers slipped into a drugged sleep.
What would have happened if they had continued sleeping, Josh never knew. Only a familiar voice that stirred in his mind kept him from finding out.
“Joshua, you must get up,” the voice urged.
He tried to ignore the words, but the voice came again, sternly this time. “Joshua, I need you.”
Josh slowly and painfully opened his eyes. There before him in the shadows of the swamp was a tall figure dressed in rough brown cloth, his face shielded by a hood.
“You must awaken the others and follow me,” he said.
Josh staggered to his feet. Somehow he got them all awake, and they staggered out of the swamp.
“Where are we going, Josh?” Sarah asked weakly.
“Out of here—where he says,” Josh said, pointing at the tall figure going before them.
But Sarah seemed not to see the man.
Finally they stumbled out of the mud onto firm land. The sky opened up, and fields appeared.
Suddenly Josh felt someone near and turned to find the tall man beside him pointing at something.
“That is where you are to go, Joshua,” he said. He would have passed on then, into the woods, but Joshua called after him.
“Who are you?” he cried. “What’s your name?”
The man was almost invisible in the darkness of the trees, but he turned and spoke clearly.
“Yes, you have earned the right to know my name.”
He turned, and as he disappeared in the morning mists he called back in a clear voice, “I am Goél!”
Then he was gone.
Josh stood and listened to the echo of that name.
8
The Fourth Sleeper
Josh peered into the darkness of the woods so long that he was startled when Sarah came up behind him.
“What is it, Josh?”
“Oh! I was just wondering …” Josh began. Then for some reason he felt powerless to mention the stranger. He said instead, “Look, there’s the place. At least I think so.”
He pointed to a large steel door set in a hillside about a hundred yards away from where they stood.
Sarah pulled her necklace free. As they walked toward the cave, she said, “You must be right. Look how the heart is glowing.”
Without hesitation they walked up to the massive door. Josh immediately recited the song.
“‘All caves of earth are dark and drear,
except that one that glows like diamonds clear.
“‘He who would this Sleeper wake,
must pass the deadly jaws of fate.’”
Suddenly the door separated like a set of huge fangs. The top half slid up, and the bottom half lowered, revealing diamond-shaped teeth that met.
“They’re jaws! Just like a shark,” Sarah said.
“Come on, Sarah,” Josh said. “Volka, you rest here and take care of the others.” Josh indicated the still unconscious Crusoe and Mat, and the giant wearily nodded. Then Josh and Sarah slipped through the dangerous opening.
Josh had expected the cave to be as dark as the hive had been. Therefore, he was amazed to see that a brilliant light illuminated the cavern, making it even brighter than daylight.
“What is it?” Sarah asked breathlessly. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful! It’s like a million Christmas trees all at once!”
“Sure is,” Josh whispered. He blinked. The walls and roof glittered as if they were studded with precious stones —green emeralds, glowing red rubies, flashing diamonds.
Josh touched the walls carefully. “I think it’s some kind of quartz formation,” he said. He did not know really, but the words sounded impressive.
“Let’s hurry. We’ve got to get back to the others,” Sarah said.
Finding the Sleeper was not difficult. The familiar capsule lay open to view in a small chamber. As they had done before, they paused to activate the system that would awake the person who lay resting inside.
Sarah said, “Josh, I have a feeling that this Sleeper is really something. I mean,” she tried to explain, “it’s just got to be, hasn’t it?”
Josh knew what she meant. “Yeah, we’re in such a mess now it’ll take a real somebody to do us any good. Well, push the button, Sarah. Keep your fingers crossed, and hope it’ll be a super person!”
After Sarah had pushed the button, they waited for the vapor to clear. When it did, they both gasped as the plastic hood swung free.
“Oh!” Sarah breathed. “I think we really did find a super person!”
The Sleeper who opened his eyes and slowly sat up was one of the handsomest boys that Josh had ever seen.
He was perhaps a year older than Josh. Everything about him seemed perfect, from his clear skin and perfectly formed head to his trim athletic figure. He looked like one of those young men that Josh had always envied in Oldworld because they could always win at any game or find a ready audience.
Perhaps this bitter memory set Josh to wondering what good another teenager—and probably a spoiled one, at that—was going to be on the Quest. But as he greeted the Sleeper, Josh tried to hide his thoughts. He smiled quickly and said, “Hello. I’m Josh Adams, and this is Sarah Collingwood.”
“I’m Dave Cooper,” replied the Sleeper.
They shook hands awkwardly.
After a pause, Dave prompted, “Well, I guess you’ll have to tell me what’s going on.”
Sarah began to explain.
Josh grumpily thought that she elaborated and exaggerated too much. Showing off, he thought.
“You see, Dave, there are seven of us, we think,” Sarah was saying. “We have to wake up all of them. Now that there are four of us—”
“Where’s the other one?” Dave asked.
“Well, a man named Elmas—wait a minute, I’ll have to tell you about the Sanhedrin—”
“We’d better get to the others,” Josh interrupted. “It’s going to take a while to tell all this. You can tell it as we go, Sarah.”
They left the capsule and made their way toward the Jaws of Fate. Sarah led the way, rapidly telling Dave all the story. Josh trailed behind.
When they got to the Jaws of Fate, Dave and Sarah passed through easily, but just as Josh cleared the opening, the Jaws snapped together, barely missing him.
“What—what was that?” Dave whispered, swallowing as he stared at the massive steel teeth.
“Oh, nothing,” Josh said casually, though his voice was not quite steady. “Let’s get going.”
By the time they reached the others, Sarah had explained the Quest to Dave.
She had also prepared him for what he would see. Thus Dave showed no fear when Volka suddenly stepped toward them.
The giant grunted. “I see you got him.”
“How’s Crusoe?” Josh asked at once. “And Mat?”
“I think Mat is better. Crusoe—not so good.”
The old man, in fact, looked terrible. He was pale, and his heart
seemed to be skipping a beat now and then.
Josh said worriedly, “He’s really sick. I don’t see how we can travel until he gets better. He needs some rest and something to eat.”
Josh tried to think, but the ordeal in the Ghost Marsh had drained him mentally as well as physically. “I just don’t know what to do,” he muttered wearily and slumped to the ground.
None of the group spoke for a moment.
Then Dave said slowly, “Well, of course I’m in the dark about most of this, but you all look beat to me. I don’t think any of you could get very far without some rest and food—especially Mr. Crusoe.”
“We know that. I just said so,” Josh snapped. “Where can we get something to eat? That’s what we need to know.”
“From the cave,” Dave said. “Didn’t you see the room next to where I was? They showed it to me before I went to sleep.”
“I didn’t notice,” Josh said, trying to dismiss the information.
“It’s full of all kinds of stuff—food, clothes, supplies.”
The others began to look a little more encouraged.
“Say,” Dave said, suddenly, “I’ve got an idea! Why don’t we go back and stay in the cave? It’s safe there— especially with those jaws! And we can rest and get some food inside us. I’m starving, myself.”
Dave organized them into some kind of order, with Volka carrying Crusoe, and the rest taking the few supplies. Soon they were moving toward the cave.
Sarah pulled at Josh’s arm.
“Dave is pretty super after all, isn’t he? He sure learned everything quickly enough. And now he thought of the cave. I think we’ll be all right now.”
“It’s going to take more than Mr. Wonderful to get us through,” Josh grumped.
Sarah looked at him in amazement. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like Dave?”
Josh could not answer honestly. He was a little envious at the easy way that the other boy had taken command.
“I’m just tired,” he muttered. He was about to say more when Sarah left him, running ahead to walk beside Dave.
They entered the Jaws of Fate and soon had a cheery fire going. They fixed chocolate, and toast covered with cheese. There was some soup for Crusoe, who was beginning to show much more life, and there was a variety of canned meat. Some chocolate chip cookies in sealed bags had survived the years quite well.
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