Secrets in the Dark

by KD Blakely

  “All who enter beware?” Faith asked. She sounded pretty calm. For her.

  As in, not completely freaked out yet.

  I decided it was time to make sure it stayed that way. “It’s not like we’re going in the forest, we’re going to the cave.”

  Faith opened her mouth, probably to tell me why that didn’t make it less dangerous, but Brady interrupted. He sounded positively bold and daring. Not like himself at all. “Even if we did go in the forest, after some of the things we’ve been through, we could handle it.”

  “Great,” Faith said sarcastically, but didn’t argue. She hunched her shoulders and shoved her hands in her pockets.

  Listening to Brady and Faith kept my mind off where we were, but I suddenly realized we’d walked further down this road than ever before. Would there be something new to deal with? More falling rocks? Strangely mesmerizing fields? Poison fruit? Fog? Or would we finally get to the cave safely?

  According to Brady’s watch, we’d only been walking a couple of hours but I would have sworn it was longer. “Any sign of the Rejects?” I asked.

  Brady asked to see the Rejects again. When nothing showed up, my muscles relaxed and I could suddenly breathe easier. My stomach growled. I guess I’d been too nervous to realize I was hungry before. “Maybe we should stop for lunch. Once the Rejects come in, we won’t be able to take the time.”

  We moved around another bend, looking for a good place to stop. I came to an abrupt halt, awestruck by a strange pyramid shape to our left. It was huge. Taller than a two story house, and covered with strange markings etched deeply into the surface. It was thin, only an inch or so wide. Although it looked like stone, it was glowing.

  Brady walked around it, then carefully reached out, skimming it with his fingertips. He jerked his hand away. “It’s hot,” he said, startled, and held up his hand. His fingers were red and I could see blisters rising. He took a step back, and tripped over one of the loose rocks on the ground. As he fought to keep his balance, he knocked one into the structure.

  It may have looked like stone, but it sounded like metal. Like a huge bell. It gave a deafening peal that kept reverberating on and on. We all jerked around in different directions as the sound of matching bells sounded in the distance all around us.

  A large dark shape showed briefly above the trees, way to the right. Ahead of us, a plume of red mist streamed into the sky, and then slowly dissipated. The sound of howling came from trees on all sides of us, then died out, leaving only silence.

  My stomach chose that moment to growl again, loud enough for all of them, human and animal alike, to hear. Rusty started barking, and I chose to believe it wasn’t doggy laughter.

  “So, let’s stop and eat here.” I perched on the stone wall next to the road, and pulled off my backpack to get my lunch. I felt Shadow’s head stroke against my legs and looked down to smile at her.

  “Want some?” At her trilling meow, I offered some of the chicken off my sandwich. She ate it daintily from my fingers, while a loud purr came from her chest with each bite.

  Rusty was thrilled when Doug sat and offered a bite of his peanut butter sandwich. We all laughed as he tried to lick the peanut butter out of his mouth. He had a doggy grin on his face, and danced around begging for more when he was done.

  “Uh oh,” Brady said, looking up from the map he’d been studying. “Guess who just came in.”

  “Let’s go!” I jumped to my feet. “We’re ahead, but we can’t risk them catching us.”

  “How do they keep turning up wherever we are,” Faith asked, sounding frustrated.

  Doug sat back, staring at Faith in surprise. “That’s a really good question. Any ideas?”

  None of us had an answer, then Faith frowned. “Well, I’m going to figure it out.”

  Our animals danced around as we packed up the remains of our lunch. When I was ready, I started down the road. Brady called, “Slow down. Keep an eye out for signs.”

  I gritted my teeth in frustration. I wanted to speed up, not slow down! The Rejects were coming, and they wouldn’t be walking slow, looking for signs. But remembering the rock fall, I reluctantly started paying more attention.

  It didn’t take long before we left the rolling hills behind and entered the mountains. We slowed our pace as the road grew steeper and rockier. Singing was not giving me enough exercise. I was puffing a lot more than Faith, Doug or Brady. I tried to keep up, but was mortified to realize I was falling behind. I was about to give in and ask the others to slow down, when Olivia beat me to it.

  “Hey, you guys…some of us aren’t…Olympic level…athletes. Some of us…can’t keep up…this pace. Can you please…slow it down?”

  “Sure.” Doug sounded surprised. He wasn’t out of breath, not even a little. If I had enough energy, I’d stomp on his foot — maybe that would slow him down — but I was way too tired. He said, “I didn’t realize we were going too fast. Next time let us know. Before I can’t tell what you’re trying to say through all the panting.”

  “I’m not…panting,” Olivia huffed.

  “Then you’re doing a great imitation of a dog.”

  “Shut up!”

  “Then stop arguing,” Doug said, smirking. “You’ll have more breath for walking.”

  “Fine!” I was sure Olivia had meant to sound annoyed, but she only sounded breathless.

  After another fifteen minutes, according to Brady’s watch, we were still well ahead of the Rejects. We’d been climbing rapidly, and after several hairpin turns on what was now more trail than road, we saw a dark opening in the mountainside.

  I was the first to notice the odd shape of the cave opening. “Perfect name,” I said, fanning my face with my hands. We were all looking hot and sweaty now. “I wish it was cooler,” I said, without thinking.

  Lightning flashed and a sudden crack of thunder sounded overhead. Clouds gathered around us as if someone hit fast forward on a movie about a storm. Seconds later, a cold rain began to fall. Just where we were standing.

  “Well,” Olivia said, pushing her heavy wet hair off her face. “That’s certainly cooler, Kat.” The words sounded nice, but her tone sounded as happy as Shadow looked. Her ears were flat and water was dripping off her whiskers. Her eyes were half-closed and glaring straight at me.

  “Sorry!” I told everyone, and watched them turn to trudge up the path, which was rapidly turning to mud.

  Note to self — Stop wishing!

  As we slogged around the last turn on the path, Brady said, “I see why it’s called Sleeping Dragon Cave.”

  Faith’s voice was hushed. “I can’t believe we finally made it. We’ve been talking about this place for months.”

  “It’s really dark in there,” Doug said. “Looks like Ghalynn’s not here.”

  “We’ve got to look. There might be a clue where we can find him,” I said quickly, afraid he was going to suggest leaving without checking out the cave first.

  “Of course we’re going to check it out!” Olivia sounded surprised. “After all the work to get here? Oh hey, did anyone remember to bring a flashlight?”

  “I’ve got one,” I said, slipping my pack off my shoulders.

  “That might not work,” Doug reminded us. “It runs on batteries.”

  “No problem,” Brady said, and pulled a small glowing baggie out of his pocket. It let out a surprising amount of light. I recognized the berries he’d grabbed off the bush by the fog.”

  “And if that doesn’t work,” Doug said, “I brought matches and candles.”

  “Logical,” Brady said admiringly.

  We entered the cave slowly, staying close together. I was relieved when Brady’s lightberries worked. He lowered the bag near the floor, and then held it high so it shone around the walls of the cave. The rough gray stone glistened oddly where the light touched it, casting strange sparkles through the large space. The berries provided just enough light to see that most of the large space was still shrouded in darkness.


  I turned on my flashlight. It wasn’t totally dead like our phones, but the light was very weak, even with the new batteries I’d put in that morning. The beam began to flutter on and off, making it harder for everyone to see.

  “Yuck,” Olivia said. “Turn it off, Kat!”

  I turned it off regretfully and shoved it inside my backpack. “I guess we’re using your lightberries, Brady.”

  Doug said, “Don’t worry,” and lit us both a candle.

  Olivia suddenly started to sing something about champions. At least I thought that’s what she was doing. She sounded like a cat being mauled by a bear.

  Olivia broke off her screeching and said, “We made it. High five.” She slapped her palm against each of ours. Even Brady and Doug held up their hands.

  “Come on,” Doug said, practically shaking with excitement. “Let’s check this puppy out.”

  The cave was shaped in an almost perfect half circle, with several tunnels leading off into darkness. “I’m glad we have our animals,” I said, grinning. “They’ll let us know if anything is dangerous in here.”

  We moved slowly around the main cave. “This doesn’t look like any cave I’ve ever seen!” Olivia stated. “It’s way too smooth and round.” Now that she said it, I could see what she meant. I wondered if someone had used magic on it.

  Not everyone saw what she did. Doug made a disbelieving sound, and Brady quickly said. “It just looks like something wore down the rocks until the whole area became round and smooth.”

  At the back, a tunnel was blocked off. At first, I thought it was full of rocks that had collapsed. Then Faith spoke, her voice filled with disgust. “Eeeow! Those are bones.”

  They were obviously old, clean and dry, and none of them looked human. At least not like the ones on TV. But still, they were bones.

  “Maybe there really was a dragon here,” Doug said. His eyes were shining with excitement in the light from his candle.

  “Dude, you’d better hope there’s no dragon in here now,” Olivia told him. At her words, Faith glanced around, worry clear on her face.

  Brady carefully poked at a place where a few bones had spilled out of the tunnel. He dislodged some, and then others began pouring onto the cave floor. He leaped back with a sound of disgust, then we all had to back away to avoid the rapidly spreading pile. Finally, the avalanche of bones came to a stop, settled, and grew silent.

  Doug suddenly darted over to the edge of the pile. “Don’t touch them,” I yelled.

  He reached out and snatched something off the floor. It was a heavy leather wristband, covered with intricate patterns burned deep into the leather. In the center, a small blue-green stone gave a brief flash of light when Doug picked it up. He looked it over and before any of us could protest, fastened it on his right wrist. For a moment, it looked too big, but when he pulled his hand away, it fit him perfectly.

  “Cool!” he said. “Maybe the legends about dragons are right. Maybe they do collect treasure.”

  “You’re not suggesting we dig through all that!” Faith’s voice was high and her eyes looked too wide in the flickering light from the candles.

  “Not today,” Doug told her. “But I’m definitely coming back here sometime!”

  “How do we know if there’s something dangerous in the other tunnels,” Faith asked, voice shaking.

  “Fangface can show the tunnel we should check next.”

  I was amazed I could still get my jaw to work, it had dropped so far open. “You call your bat Fangface?”

  Brady grinned at the bat clinging to the side of the cave. I could swear the bat was grinning back.

  That had to be a trick of the flickering candlelight, right?

  Brady said, “I decided, since we’re in a magic place and none of the other rules seem to apply, I should accept that vampires might exist. I saw a vampire movie where the executioner called the main vamp Fangface. It was funny.”

  He called out, “Hey Fangface. Can you check out the tunnels and show us the best one?”

  Olivia snorted. “You expect it to understand all that?”

  “Sure,” Brady said. “I’ve decided that’s one of the rules in this place.” He smiled widely as the bat gave a squeak and flew into a passage on the left.

  Doug told him, “Let’s finish checking this room. There might be a something interesting on the walls or the floor.”

  We worked our way around, watching Fangface flying in and out of the three open tunnels on the left of the cave. We found a fourth tunnel on the right side of the cave, but it was not much bigger than a closet.

  It didn’t take long to explore the main cave. I was disappointed. There was no sign of Ghalynn, and worse, no sign he’d ever been there. What were we supposed to find here?

  Fortunately, we didn’t need to wait long for Brady’s bat to come back. Brady called, “Hey Fangface. Which way should we go?” The bat squeaked, flew around Brady’s head and flew back to the first tunnel. Brady followed, and we crowded after him into a dark narrow passage.

  The tunnel went on a long way.

  Mostly I didn’t mind. In fact, I really enjoyed some parts, like where the roof of the tunnel sparkled in the light of my candle like it was covered with hundreds of stars. But occasionally, it grew so low and narrow I had to bend almost in half or turn sideways to make it through.

  The worst was a thankfully short section where we all had to drop belly down in the dirt and squirm forward like worms to keep from smashing our heads into the low ceiling. I’d heard of claustrophobia before but never understood it. Now, I was stuck with Brady and Faith in front of me, and Olivia and Doug behind me. I couldn’t turn around if I wanted to.

  What if the tunnel keeps getting smaller? Could we get stuck?

  “Next time I’m bringing my bike helmet,” Faith grumbled, just in front of me. “I’m going to crack my head open on these stupid rocks.”

  All of us were bumping against the rough uneven surface. I could tell that by the grunts and yelps which accompanied our slow forward progress. Good thing we were only twelve, not sixteen. I wouldn’t want to do this if I was any bigger.

  That thought made me pause. Would we still be coming to Chimera when we were sixteen?

  “What’s the hold up, Kat?” Olivia shoved at my foot.

  I started moving, but continued to think about coming into Chimera for four more years.

  Well, why not? It’s interesting here.

  Just ahead of me, Faith disappeared from view. I hurried forward, and emerged into a small circular cavern.

  Chapter 30

  That’s a Clue?

  A Clue to What!

  “Hey!” Olivia exclaimed as she crawled out behind me. “Look at this. Brady, what does it say?”

  Brady was walking back and forth in front of the cave wall, holding up his candle. The wall was covered with pictures and symbols. He kept muttering, “This is different. This is really different.”

  He finally turned and said, “Parts of this seem like clues. The kind you get in a scavenger hunt. Did anyone bring a paper and pencil?”

  He grinned when Faith held them out. “Hey, Doug, hold the berries up so I can see to write this down, okay? It’s going to take a while to figure this out. I’ll have to write it down and take it home to work on it.” Doug held up the baggie, while Brady handed his flickering candle to Olivia.

  As Brady lowered his head over the paper, I wandered around, occasionally lifting my candle and shining it into different parts of the cave.

  It didn’t take long to circle the small space, and I could tell Brady wasn’t done yet. “There’s nothing else in here. Why don’t some of us go through one of the other tunnels?”

  Olivia and Doug said they’d go too. Doug handed the berries to Faith. She held them up close to the wall, while Brady continued to hastily scribble down the symbols.

  We made our way out of the long winding passage. I’d forgotten how bad some of it was. At least it felt better to be in front. I wonde
red how Doug liked being stuck in the middle this time.

  When we finally made it to the main cave, we took the second tunnel. This one was shorter than the first, but it also led to a small cave. It was even smaller than the first, and there was nothing written on the walls. I started to leave, but Shadow went to the far side of the cave and meowed.

  “Shadow thinks there’s something over there. Why don’t you check it out?”

  “On it,” I told Doug shortly, knowing I sounded rude.

  Like I would ignore Shadow!

  I stomped across the cave until I stood next to her.

  I would never have noticed it if Shadow hadn’t meowed again, then disappeared into what looked like a small crack. I called her, but she didn’t return. I checked the small crack more carefully. The tunnel actually continued past the cave, after making a tight, nearly one hundred eighty degree turn.

  This made the tunnel invisible unless you looked at it from just the right angle. “Hey, check it out.”

  Olivia moved up next to me. “Why am I looking at the back wall of the cave?” She looked at me like I’d lost it.

  I thrust my arm into the hidden passage. Her eyes flew wide. “How…?” My arm must look like it vanished into thin air. I laughed. “It’s a hidden passage. Shadow wants us to see it.”

  I moved quickly, wanting to be in front this time. We shuffled through the narrow, twisting tunnel, frequently ducking low spots. Shadow waited patiently for us to catch up. She was having a much easier time in the tight spaces. Occasionally there were forks in the passage, but Shadow seemed very sure of the path we should take.

  We’d be lost without Shadow!

  “Make sure you stay with us,” I called after her when she disappeared around a curve. There was a nervous twitching in the pit of my stomach when I thought about trying to get out of here without her. Just trying to turn around in this narrow place would suck. I tried to look back the way we came and struck my shoulder against a sharp rock. Yeah, major suckage!

  We suddenly entered a long, narrow cavern, and I let out my breath in a gust. The floor was messed up. Like someone had dug something up. Or maybe, like something had been buried.