“Listen, mate, I think we’d better go for my plan.” Sam made a steeple of his fingers. “Amin’s told me of this thing called a cyphon. It can entrap gods, magical beings, spirits. You name it, it does it.”
“Where is it?” Buzz asked.
“It’s over in the Pearl Tower, right on the edge of the Jade Pavilion.” Sam leaned back in his chair. “We get the cyphon, and we’ll solve our problems in one go. We’ll send El Tunchi, Berchta, and the Pantheon to the Forsaken Territories for good.”
“Gone, gone, gone,” Amin crowed.
“It’s the perfect plan. We’ll even remember to get those rune things off El Tunchi before we give him the boot.”
Mary was nodding. “But how do we get the cyphon?”
“Your job is to get us home when the time comes,” Sam said. “Amin can get us to the cyphon.” He looked at Buzz and Mary. “You ready?”
“Ready!” Buzz and Mary replied.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The Carved Wall
“The Pearl Tower awaits us,” Amin said. “We must make our way there.”
Mary bit her lip. “Won’t we be seen?”
“I told you I’m awesome,” Sam said. “None of those other gods want to upset me. They all want a bit of the Samster magic.”
Amin tapped Sam on his head with one of his tentacles. “The girl is right to be cautious. They want your favor, but that doesn’t mean that Berchta doesn’t have eyes and ears in this place. We shouldn’t go by foot.”
Sam scowled. “So what should we do?”
Amin smiled and pointed upward. “You show your friends here some of what I’ve taught you.”
“You’re my only friend, Amin,” Sam said. “But sure, I’ll show them what I can do.” He walked over to one of the chamber’s jade-green shutters and threw it open.
Moonlight poured into the room, and Buzz realized suddenly how much he missed daylight. Almost as much as he missed Sam’s friendship.
Sam held his palm flat, and an orb of smoke began to form there. As it grew bigger and bigger, he set it upon the air, where it twisted and turned until it wove itself into the shape of a motorbike.
“That’s Captain Phantom’s bike!” Buzz exclaimed.
“Yeah.” Sam looked pretty pleased with himself. “Exactly like the one he rides in issues three through fifty-seven.” He turned to Buzz and Mary. “Ready to ride?”
Mary looked nervous as she approached the window ledge. “What are we supposed to do?” she asked.
“Mate, just jump on it,” Sam said. “It’ll take us straight to the Pearl Tower.”
Mary didn’t look convinced. “Will it take our weight? I mean, it’s just smoke.”
Sam laughed. “Why are you so worried?” he asked. “You’ve got a goddess inside you. She’s not going to let you come to any harm.”
“I told you before, she’s asleep.” Mary’s hands were clenched. “Besides, I’m my own person. I don’t need to rely on her.”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “But it’s thanks to her that you can read people’s greatest fears. Sounds like you might need her just a little bit.” He held up his hands. “Listen, I can see it’s a sore topic. Let’s leave it.” Climbing up on the ledge, he jumped onto the bike. The motorcycle dipped for a moment as Sam sat down and then hovered upward again so that it was once more at the height of the ledge. Amin gave them a little wave from his perch on Sam’s shoulder.
“All right, your turn,” Sam said. “Just aim to land right here next to me.”
Mary still did not move.
Strange, Buzz thought. Not like Mary to be scared. Something’s bothering her.
“Look, I’ll show you,” Buzz said. He leaped off the ledge and landed behind Sam.
He patted the seat behind him. “There’s loads of room, Mary.”
She nodded, but Buzz could see that her legs were actually shaking. She took a deep breath and leaped from the ledge, her arms and legs cycling through the air. Immediately, Buzz could see that the jump was way too long. He tried to grab at her, but Mary flew straight over the width of the bike.
Fear must have strangled Mary’s vocal cords, for even though she opened her mouth, no sound came out as she fell through the air.
Buzz felt a cry leave his own lips, but it was drowned out by the roar of the bike as Sam gunned the engine. They shot after Mary, the night wind slashing at Buzz’s face. The bike tore through the air, gobbling up the distance between them.
She was not that far ahead now, but the ground was racing to meet her.
“Faster!” Buzz yelled.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Sam gunned the engine again and the bike hurtled past Mary so that it came to hover just beneath her. She landed on the saddle of the bike on the balls of her feet and balanced there for a moment, a shocked look on her face, before sinking down behind Buzz.
She leaned her forehead against his back and took in a gulping breath. “Thanks, Sam,” she finally managed to get out.
“No worries,” Sam replied. He took the motorbike upward once more.
Buzz turned to Mary. Her eyes were closed.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Her eyes flickered open and she nodded.
“Thanks to Sam.”
Buzz forced himself to ignore the stab of jealousy. “It was quite a good catch, wasn’t it?”
“You’re telling me.” She shuffled up the seat, as if worried she might drop off the back, and tucked her braids behind her ears. “Please remind me next time we need to jump anywhere not to be quite as enthusiastic.”
“I will,” Buzz promised. He dropped his voice. “But it’s not like you to mess up like that.”
“Thanks, Buzz.” Mary’s voice was weary. “That’s exactly what I want to hear right now.”
“No, what I mean is that you were really scared up there.”
“It was stupid,” Mary mumbled. “For a moment, just a moment, I looked at Sam and I just couldn’t trust him. Or rather, I couldn’t trust Sam with Amin on his shoulder.” She shook her head. “Then I couldn’t think straight. I certainly couldn’t jump straight.”
“But you checked,” Buzz said. “You know from that thing you do. Sam wants to stop Berchta just as much as we do.”
“I know,” Mary said. “I told you it was stupid.”
“Hey, what are you two talking about back there?” Sam called over his shoulder. “This engine is so loud. I can’t hear anything.”
“Nothing,” Buzz shouted back. He noticed that Amin was staring at him with inky black eyes from Sam’s shoulder. “We were just wondering how far the Pearl Tower was.”
“Not too far,” Amin wheezed. “Hold on, you two. We don’t want any more accidents, or none of us are getting home, are we?”
The motorbike continued to race through the sky. Soon they were at the far edge of the Jade Pavilion, and the Pearl Tower came into view. It shone white under the stars and was much taller than all the others parts of the building, and it narrowed into a turret that was as thin as a blade, slashing at the sky.
The bike arrived under one of the turret’s windows, but the window was sealed shut by two pearl shutters. A heavy bolt lay across its front.
“Come on!” Sam yanked at the bolt, but it would not budge.
“Let me try,” Buzz volunteered.
Sam smirked at him from over his shoulder. “Don’t be silly, Buzz. If I couldn’t open it, I doubt a mortal like you can.”
Buzz clenched his fists and wished for the strength from his armlets so he could smash through the pearl shutters. Then he remembered. He didn’t have the armlets anymore.
“The bolt has been enchanted,” Amin said. He reached out and touched the metal, before muttering some words under his breath. He shook his head. “No, I cannot break the charm.”
“What exactly are you the god of again?” Buzz asked. “I don’t think you told us.”
“Don’t make fun of him,” Sam said. “It’s not Amin’s fault. His p
ower was stolen by his brother. That thief is the one who left him like thi— Ow.” Sam’s hand went to his neck. “Why’d you pinch me?”
Amin just glared at him.
Clearly the little guy doesn’t want us to know too much about him, Buzz thought.
“Will you all stop arguing?” Mary snapped. “Let me try.”
She stood up and clambered over Buzz and Sam until she was balancing on the handlebars of the bike.
“Mary, be careful,” Buzz warned. He half wished “nervous Mary” was back.
She ignored him, holding up her watch and pressing a button. The unbraider popped out, and she snapped it off the watch in one quick movement.
“What is that thing?” Sam asked.
“It was an unbraider,” Buzz said. “Why’d you just break it?”
“You’ll see,” Mary replied. Still balancing on the handlebars, she began to work on the bottom two hinges that held the shutters in place. Her long fingers worked swiftly, using the sharp end of the unbraider to undo the fastenings. Once she had removed the hinges on the bottom half of the shutters, she immediately started on the top. The bike rose up so that she could reach.
“That’s it,” Mary said as she pried out the last fastening. She opened her arms and the still-bolted shutters fell into her embrace, leaving the window wide open.
“Nice work,” Sam said. A jet of gray smoke left his finger and encircled the shutters. “Let me deal with those.”
Mary gently placed the shutters on the cloud that had gathered in front of her. “Thanks.”
“No problem. The smoke will put the shutters back once we’re all in,” Sam explained. “That way no one will notice anything strange.”
Buzz gazed at the open window that led into the Pearl Tower. It was pitch black in there.
Mary must have been noticing the same thing, because she activated the flashlight on her watch. “I’m going in,” she said, and then lowered herself across the ledge and through the window.
“Wait!” Sam sounded put out. “I should go first.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Buzz said. “Come on, who knows what might be in there. The cyphon will be guarded, right? If it’s as powerful as you say.”
“No, I think not,” Amin replied as Sam climbed onto the ledge and dropped down on the other side. “The gods have short memories in this place. They have forgotten about the cyphon and focus on the wrong things entirely.” His voice became bitter. “They laugh at me because I’m half of what I once was, but at least I bothered to do a bit of research, and I was very efficient when I did it.”
Buzz followed them into the Pearl Tower. “How about the bike?” he said. “We don’t want someone to see it.”
Sam pointed a finger over his shoulder and a jet of smoke flew from it and straight into Buzz’s face.
“Hey!” Coughing and spluttering, Buzz waved a hand to clear the air.
“Sorry, mate.” Sam did not sound sorry at all. The smoke flew out the window and covered the bike, obscuring it in cloud. The shutters, still carried by the smoke, drifted over and slotted back into place, cutting off the moonlight.
Mary’s flashlight illuminated the path ahead, and Buzz saw that they were at the beginning of a stone corridor. Racing along it, they soon entered a wider chamber. On the floor was an etching of a sundial, and on the far side of the room was a wall made up of a towering series of pearl bricks, each with strange symbols carved into them. Lying at the base of the wall were a jeweled chisel and hammer.
Buzz heard a sound like grinding stone, and looking over his shoulder, he saw that a new wall of pearl had rolled across the entrance they had just used.
“Now hang on a second.” Sam blasted a ball of fire at the wall, but the flames extinguished on impact.
“Guess they want us to stay. I wouldn’t waste your time.” Mary held the flashlight higher, and Buzz could see more clearly now the symbols that were carved on the wall.
The symbols appeared in blocks of nine, repeating themselves again and again, but the only symbol Buzz recognized was the question mark. That symbol had been written on the pearl brick in charcoal while the other symbols had been carved individually into the bricks.
Amin placed a tentacle against the wall. “The cyphon is behind here. I can feel its power.”
He gazed hungrily at the wall, tracing the shapes and lines that were etched there.
“Do you recognize any of these symbols, Amin?” Mary asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve looked at many of the ancient texts, but I have never seen these cryptograms.” He wrung his tentacles together. “I don’t understand. I have read everything there is to read about the cyphon. How can I not know this?”
“Great, so we’re trapped.” Sam began to pace, wrenching Amin away from the wall in the process. “And if we do get out, we still won’t have the cyphon. How are we going to stop Berchta and the Pantheon without it?”
“Looks like your awesome powers aren’t quite that awesome.” Buzz knew he shouldn’t have made the dig, but his eyes were still stinging from all that smoke in his face.
Sam glared at him. “My powers are still growing, thank you very much.” He crossed his arms. “Besides, there’s one of me and a load of them. I’d be outnumbered.” He sniffed. “You certainly wouldn’t be much help.”
“Maybe your massive ego will help instead,” Buzz said.
“I don’t have a massive ego,” Sam retorted.
“Are you kidding?” Buzz asked. “You’ve really changed.”
“Must be like looking in a mirror,” Sam shot back. “Now you know how I’ve felt for the last six months.”
“Outnumbered.” Mary had been quietly repeating the word to herself. She began to bounce up and down on the spot. “Mirror!”
“Um, is this what they call dancing in New York?” Sam asked, staring at her.
Mary ignored him, and with her thumb she rubbed away one of the charcoal signs of the question mark to leave just plain stone. She then picked up the chisel and hammer.
“Wait,” Amin said. “What are you doing?”
“You’ll see.” Mary began tapping away at the brick.
After a few minutes she stood back to admire her work.
The block began to tremble and then withdrew to leave behind a perfectly rectangular indentation.
“What just happened?” Buzz asked. “What did you carve into that brick?”
“The right answer, of course!” Mary said. “The number six and its reflection.”
“Nice, I see what you did.” Sam was looking up at the wall with a grin. “That’s actually really clever.”
Buzz was staring at the symbols. They still didn’t make any sense.
“Each of the symbols is made from a numeral—one, two, three, and so forth—and its reflection in a mirror,” Sam explained. “It’s pretty obvious, really. I’ll finish this off.”
A narrow beam of fire left Sam’s finger like a laser, and he pointed it at each of the bricks with a question mark on it, carving the symbol into each one. Each time he carved a symbol on a brick, it withdrew to leave an indentation.
“All done.” Sam dusted off his hands.
“Not quite,” Buzz said. “Look, there’s something up there. Right at the top of the wall.” He pointed at a tennis ball–sized pearl, set in the brickwork, which was now glowing brightly. He scrambled up to it using the indentations as hand- and footholds. At the top of the wall, he plucked the pearl out. It was smooth and shiny and began to glow even more brightly in his hand. It shone a spotlight on the ceiling of the chamber and Buzz saw that there was a perfect pearl-shaped hole there.
He eyed the distance. If I stretch right out, I’ll be able to slot the pearl in . . . probably.
Taking hold of one of the indentations in the wall with his left hand, he reached out with his right and tried to place the pearl into the ceiling. Instantly, he knew he was too far away.
The smooth pearl rolled off his fingertips and tumbled dow
nward.
“Catch!” Buzz yelled, looking down.
Sam and Mary both leaped up for it, but it was Amin who caught it.
“Nice wor—” Buzz stopped. Looking over Amin’s shoulder, he saw that a flicker of flame had ignited in the corner of the room.
Then the fire began to spread.
“Behind you,” he cried. “Watch out!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The Cyphon
The fire flickered orange and blue as it began to blanket the floor. In the center of the chamber, where the sundial had been etched, a thick, circular plinth was slowly pushing out of the ground. Buzz could see that the flames hadn’t reached it yet. He scrambled down the wall, and as he landed, he grabbed Mary’s hand. “Quick,” he said. “We need to get on the plinth.” He dragged her over to the rising sundial and jumped on.
“What’s happening?” Mary asked.
“We need to get that pearl into the ceiling.” His eyes were scanning the room for Sam and Amin. He spotted Sam shooting flames at the fire, which was creeping ever closer to them.
“What are you doing?” he yelled.
“I’m fighting fire with fire.” Sam’s face glowed red and orange in the firelight.
“It’s not working,” Buzz said. “Get on the plinth.”
“I’ve got this,” Sam insisted.
“Please.” Buzz held out his hand. “Get up here. We need that pearl.”
Amin dipped his head and whispered something in Sam’s ear. Sam nodded and darted across the floor and jumped onto the plinth as well.
“I don’t understand why I couldn’t put the fire out.” Sam almost seemed to be speaking to himself.
“The fire’s magic was stronger than yours,” Amin said simply. “But your powers will grow, I promise.”
Mary tucked her braids behind her ears. “Okay, so we got away from the fire, but this plinth is still going upward.” She looked up and swallowed hard. “We need to make this thing stop before we get squashed.”
“Then we need to put the pearl in its rightful place.” Buzz pointed at where the glowing orb needed to go.
Keeper of Myths Page 13