“I just realized something.”
“What?” I asked.
“Do you remember what McGarrett had in his trunk the night he and Jesse first crossed the gray mist?”
I smiled. “The belt.”
“What were all the things the chief saw again? A dagger, a locket, a bracelet, an anklet,” Ike recalled. “Do you remember?”
I exhaled a thoughtful breath. “There was a crown, and it was two bracelets, not one.”
“Right, and two anklets,” he corrected. “So a dagger, a locket, two bracelets, two anklets, a crown, and we have the belt.”
“Something for every body part,” I joked.
“Almost.” Ike put his hand on his chin in thought.
The elevator doors started to close automatically. I shoved my hand forward, stopping them. I should mention that the elevator was not original to the hotel, so the technology stopping the lift doors from chopping off your hand was included.
“I need to research. I’ll be in the library if you need me; I’m going to pass on that swim,” Ike said. He was never one for athletic activity, but certainly not if put against reading.
I almost reminded him of what the chief had said about non-hunting activities, but reading was, I knew, the most relaxing thing Ike could do.
I nodded and let the doors close. I was going to make use of the hot tub. It was time to let my nerves unwind.
Chapter Seventeen
October 18th—Wednesday
I’d tried to visit Jesse and McGarrett in the infirmary, but an elderly lady had told me to come back in half an hour. She asked me if I’d had any breakfast yet, and when I shook my head, told me that some of the ladies from the church had prepared a great spread this morning.
I obeyed and took the elevator down. To my surprise, the foyer was filled with people still. Some of the same from the night before, but some new faces as well. I made my way past them and into the dining hall.
Ike was already at the table, as were two others. The police chief and another man I didn’t recognize. I sat and was happy to see that there were several options for breakfast. French toast, waffles, and St. John’s breakfast casserole. Yum.
“Morning, Taylor,” Chief Rutledge said. “I hope you don’t mind me joining you this morning for breakfast. I wanted to come up and check on Mr. and Mrs. Riley. It looks like The Gathering is doing a good job of supporting in the best ways they can.”
“The Gathering?” I asked.
“It’s what we call the body of believers who have come together to pray,” the chief explained.
“Don’t you mean have gathered?” Ike said with a smile.
The chief shook his head, “Funny. You’d better be careful, I’m taking the two of you to school today, but I might just take you all the way down to the jail.”
I laughed.
Ike was pouring sugar into his coffee, “You mean we get to ride in a squad car?”
“I guess you do,” the chief answered.
I scooped some breakfast casserole onto my plate. St. John’s could be made with ham, sausage, or even bacon. This one was ham. I looked at the man next to the chief.
He was gone.
“Where’d that other guy go?” I asked.
Chief Rutledge frowned, his bushy white eyebrows furrowed. “Who?” he asked.
“There was someone else sitting next to you when I came down.”
“No there wasn’t,” the chief said. Ike nodded in agreement. “Look,” the chief continued. “I know it’s been a crazy few days and there are a lot of new people at the inn today. Let’s just finish breakfast and we’ll go up and see Jesse and Mr. Riley before we leave for school.”
“Any change in condition?” Ike asked.
“Afraid not.”
We’d seen McGarrett and Jesse, and nothing had changed. They looked just like they were sleeping. So we headed off to school.
It got me thinking about what might have occurred within that chamber last night. About the people and the ritualistic stuff.
“Do you think you could show me how to get back to the chamber?” I asked the chief.
“He doesn’t need to,” Ike interrupted. “It’ll be recorded in the tracking software. We can get there ourselves.”
Chief Rutledge nodded as he pulled up next to the curb to drop us in front of the school. “Sounds like Ike’s got it figured out. I’ll see the two of you after school.”
We exited and headed for the front door of the school. Three steps in, I saw Mel. After our weird meeting the other day, I wanted to find her and see what was going on. But as I approached, the boy appeared, stepping out from behind her.
Either way, I wasn’t going to let his presence stop me. Ike stood back, but I moved ahead.
The boy turned and glared at me. His eyes were black as coal. He scowled. “What do you want?” he asked.
The frigid voice caught me off guard and I stopped. Mel turned and stared at the boy, a look of surprise on her face. But the moment she saw me she stepped back, awkwardly bumping into the locker bank behind her.
The boy stepped toward me and cracked his knuckles. “I think it’s time for you to go.”
I looked around his shoulder. “Mel?”
My body launched backward as two hands shoved me in the chest. The boy had attacked. I fell to the ground, sliding across the concrete floor a few feet. I felt my anger rise like a serpent inside my chest.
Ike was at my side and pulling me to my feet, whispering, “Shake it off, you can’t risk getting into trouble and getting detention. We have to find that chamber.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled. I was still angry, but I knew Ike was right. I watched as the boy put his arm around Melanie and they headed down the hall and turned a corner.
“What was that all about?” Ike asked.
“I don’t know. I guess he was just jealous.”
For the rest of the day, I watched for a chance to find Mel alone. I only saw her once more, and the boy was with her, hovering like the secret service over the President of the United States.
When the chief of police picked us up, he had bad news. The boring machine had broken. Something about a cooling system, and the bore overheating and snapping. Ike understood all of this, of course. It meant repairs were needed, and if that didn’t work a new machine would have to be brought in.
I could tell Ike was disappointed, but he seemed confident that his parents were safe. Protected.
Later on, Ike persuaded me to follow him to the workshop while Chief Rutledge went to check on the status of McGarrett and Jesse. We found out that my aunt and uncle were going to catch a train down and should be here in the next day or so. They wanted to fly in, but the airport’s radar and communications had been damaged. The news report said it had been vandals, but we knew one of our enemies was responsible.
Ike loaded the tracking software and quickly eliminated most of the sensor alerts using his animal registry tactic. It was clear that demons, possibly the HowlSage, had been at the tunnel. Likely they were responsible for the malfunction of the machinery. The other three hot spots were the canning factory, the park, and the mines.
We knew the mines were our goal for the night. Regardless of whether the chief wanted us to hunt, Ike and I had determined at lunch we would be finding that chamber.
The boy genius loaded up the tracking from the night before and located the chamber, or so we believed. We couldn’t positively see each mine tunnel we needed to traverse to get there. But we would at least get pretty close.
Chief Rutledge came back in and let us know that McGarrett’s and Jesse’s conditions had not improved, nor had they worsened. He told us that he’d appreciate it if we’d wait to seek the chamber, but I knew why he stopped short of ordering us or making us promise. He knew it’d be in vain. And he was right.
The second he left, Ike was suiting me up. He would watch me from the workshop and keep track of my surroundings, trying to watch for the tell-tale signs of the
HowlSage.
With the Raptoryx ruling the sky and primarily living aloft at all times, we hadn’t been able to track it. Ike had linked to the local airport radar, but this hadn’t been successful in locating the creature—it appeared that the Raptoryx was impervious to radar.
The same with the gray mist—we couldn’t technically track it; however, Ike had noticed that light sensors had typically failed in the presence of the smoky matter. Whatever the gray mist was, it consumed or shrouded light.
Basically, I would be going solo, and without any concise information. Basically blind.
Ike had gotten out the belt and laid it on a table. He then drew a chalk line body across the table, the belt at its center. He made marks where the crown, bracelets, anklets, and locket would go. The dagger was placed near the body’s right hand. Ike’s puzzle was designed to figure out what else there might be.
Ike hadn’t bothered to explain what all of these things were to be used for, but I was sure they would adorn the HowlSage in some hope of making it stronger or invincible.
As the last rays of sunlight disappeared over the horizon it was time for me to go. Ike waved goodbye as I flew into the night.
The new moon had gone, and a sliver of the Earth’s satellite now glowed clearly in the sky. The sky was a dangerous place with the Raptoryx still on the loose, but it too had to be destroyed.
I watched a logging truck slowly making its way down the narrow road from the mines. Sustainable logging had been one of the ways Ashley Meadows’ economy had survived; it had boomed in recent years with everyone “going green.”
I could hear the wind whistling over the semi’s cargo and its taught chains. The high-pitched noise grew louder, unnaturally so, and then Ike’s voice broke in over my radio.
“Taylor, watch out, the Raptoryx is near.”
“How do you—?” I didn’t finish my sentence. The screeching sound hadn’t been coming from the truck below.
Rolling to my back, I looked up. High above, the creature soared over me, clearly visible through my night vision goggles. Its head looked like that of a raven, but its body was long and scaly like a lizard. It had two sets of wings, all flapping independently of each other. The forward two were half as long and less pointy then the back set.
Why hadn’t I thought to borrow Jesse’s invisibility suit?
To my surprise, the Raptoryx folded its wings and angled into a dive down, heading straight for me. A pair of long arms, each with three talons, stretched out before it as if reaching for its prey—me. Its legs looked powerful, like those of a dinosaur or dragon.
I wasn’t afraid, but it currently had the advantage. First, I didn’t know what could kill it; second, if you’ve ever read anything about the World War II dogfights over Europe or the Pacific, you’ll know that the diver always had the initial advantage. It’s the same with modern-day birds and rodents. In this case, I was the rodent.
I dove backward, but kept my eyes glued on the creature speeding toward me. I felt for my sword, then recounted the other gadgets I had at my disposal. I grasped a smoke grenade and pulled the pin, but kept hold of it. Then, with my other hand, I pulled out my grappling hook launcher.
As the smoke grenade ran out and its trail dissipated, I sighted the winged beast. It’d pulled out of its dive—the smoke had provided enough shroud to disrupt its lock on me. I was nearing the trees, and I hoped it couldn’t follow me into the branches. The area of forest I was heading into consisted of tall pines, narrowly planted together. The sustainable forest I’d mentioned. I collapsed my wings and shut off my J-Pak. I was in freefall. I turned my body so my feet were down and my head up.
As my feet pierced the pine canopy, I saw the Raptoryx slow its descent. I watched a few branches fly past and fired my grappling hook. It connected and planted itself into the wood. A sharp jerk to my body stopped my descent and I hung several feet above the forest floor. I released more of the wire, and lowered myself to the brown, pine-needle-strewn ground below.
“Ike,” I said into my radio. “Raptoryx avoided. I need directions to the mines on foot. Can you guide me?”
“Of course,” he countered.
For the next thirty minutes, Ike provided me turn by turn directions down several paths and over a few small ridges until I was overlooking the mines.
I used my goggles to scour the area and the sky. No sign of the flying creature, and no sign of the HowlSage. “It looks clear,” I said. “Anything from your side?”
“Negative. The sensors haven’t shown any spikes for the HowlSage.”
I slowly made my way down the rocky slope of the ridge overlooking mine entrance number seven. My foot caught a patch of loose rocks, and I slid twenty feet down before getting a handhold on a long, dead root. The final thirty feet went smoothly.
I stared at the mine entrance, knowing that somewhere in there was a chamber with a lot of stuff for a purpose I didn’t know. Somewhere in there might be the gray mist, the HowlSage, the cloaked figures, and a myriad of other things.
“Ike, I’m going in.”
“Copy that,” he said. “Can you start recording?”
“Yes.” I’d almost forgotten. I switched on the streaming for the small camera Ike had given me. He’d fitted it to a cord so it could hang loosely around my neck. He’d wanted to put it on a helmet, but I was not about to wear one of those around all night.
“It’s pretty clear, go ahead.”
As if I needed his permission. I started for the black hole, which glowed green through my goggles. It was close to what Ike was seeing on the screen back in the workshop, but his video also flared up with heat signatures. He’d be able to give me a half second warning of something living at best. Of course, that’d only work for the cloaked figures. If the HowlSage had recently eaten and the contents of its dinner were still warm, it might show up.
Ike continued to guide me through the tunnel, his voice a whisper. After twenty minutes, he said I was close. And in five more I’d found the chamber.
As I approached, a flicker of light lit the tunnel leading to the room. I slunk along the mine walls and pulled my goggles down, knowing the firelight would interfere with them. I peered around the corner into the room, and there were two figures hovering over a table. Three bowls before them. From my angle I couldn’t see what exactly they were doing. I took the camera from my neck and held it around the corner, to capture the scene.
They were busy working on something. A spark shot up from before one of them.
“Be careful, my sweet,” the other spoke calmly, a male voice. “We mustn’t waste our supplies.”
The figure working where the spark had come from nodded in agreement.
The boy spoke again. “Yes, just like that. Be sure they are secure. I will prepare the incantation.”
The boy moved toward the ring of stones, the same I assumed Jesse and McGarrett had been in. The boy was cloaked—only his hands were exposed in which he carried a large silver vase.
He moved in an odd pattern of circles, pouring out a red liquid, which I assumed was blood. The dirt at his feet became mucky, but he didn’t seem to mind. A whisper was coming from his lips, like a song.
I whispered into the radio, “Ike, you getting this?”
“Yes,” was his nearly silent reply.
The boy continued to move in his circles, a never-ending stream of red liquid pouring from the vase.
The boy stopped. The vase dropped from his hands and gave off a resounding clang when it struck the floor, red liquid splashing across the ground.
In three swift moves he’d gone to the table, pulled off a dagger, and now stood facing the tunnel in which I hid.
“I know that you are here. Reveal yourself to me,” he spoke, his voice deadly.
I swallowed, but I didn’t feel scared.
I slid my sword from its sheath and stepped into view. “I am here and I do not fear.”
His head rose, and his hood slipped backward, but at the same momen
t all of the candles in the room went out. I was blind without my goggles and could not see the boy’s face.
Then I heard a clang as if two swords had met in midair. The sound was only feet from me. I pulled my goggles up, and the boy was before me within arm’s reach, his dagger raised, but stopped. It’d been countered by another weapon. His face was shrouded again, behind an unnatural darkness.
The boy took four steps backward and entered the circle. He looked toward the table, as did I. The other figure swept their arm across the work table, dumping all of the contents into a large burlap sack.
“You will not stop us,” the boy whispered. “We are more powerful, and he will rise. The signs have shown it and the stars and planets have aligned.”
A brilliant flash of light momentarily blinded me, and my body flew backward. I hit the ground hard; my ears rang. Had there been an explosion?
I shook my head, trying to clear the ringing from my ears. I removed the goggles and rubbed my eyes. Someone stood over me. They offered a hand and pulled me to my feet. The cavern smelled of burnt rubber or something.
The person spoke, “Are you all right?”
I didn’t recognize the voice.
“Yes, I am,” I said as I ran my fingers over my arms, legs, and through my hair. Everything was still intact.
But then the person was gone and I was again alone.
Chapter Eighteen
October 19th—Thursday
Midnight rolled around and Ike and I were still watching the video. Since I’d returned, we’d viewed it at least fifty times, slowing the footage and using all sorts of enhancement techniques. It was amazing what Ike could do with lighting, reflections, zooms, and heat signatures. But regardless of what we did, we could not see my defender.
He was able to capture the cloaked boy’s facial features, shadowed and grainy as they were. The unnatural darkness that had shrouded his mug from me in the chamber was surpassed by Ike’s blending of the information captured by the camera. Neither of us recognized him; we flipped through our old yearbooks. Ike even pulled up a list of all Friendbook users in Ashley Meadows—still none matched. We were quickly running out of suspects. And there was no good video of the second cloaked figure, so we moved on to another piece of the puzzle.
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