“Where’s Kirby?” he asked, continuing to comfort Cait in his arms. He looked down at Gene, who glanced solemnly at the abyss and told him without words what he dreaded, but knew to be true. Kirby was dead.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered softly to Cait as he brushed her long black hair away from her face. It clung to the tears running down her cheeks and to the blood from the cut on her forehead. Gene climbed to his feet as his strength began to return. Drew could see the blood dripping from his hands as he began to wrap bandages around them to stop the flow. He tossed the bandages to Drew, who affixed a small piece to the wound on Cait’s head.
“He saved us,” said Gene, still panting heavily. “The creature was coming and knocked Kirby and Cait over the side. He knew the weight was too much, so he cut himself loose.”
Drew nodded with sorrow in his eyes. Kirby had been his mentor and in some ways almost like a father to him as well. He knew Cait was in pain but couldn’t ignore his own pain at the loss of this great man who meant so much to him. Cait too realized this was as hard on Drew as it was on her. She wiped the tears from his eyes and began to regain her composure. She was still confused from the blow to her head and slightly in shock at the events of the past few minutes.
“I don’t understand. What happened? Why did it stop? We should be dead now,” said Cait.
“Your father. It was him. He’s probably the bravest man I’ve ever met. Not only did he give his life for both of us, he had the wherewithal to realize we’d be just as dead from the creature as we would if we’d fallen with him.”
“What do you mean?” asked Cait, still trying to process her confused thoughts.
“The box, Cait. He had the silver box. He must have realized it and somehow opened it before the end, driving the creature away. He saved us again and bought us some time. I can’t imagine the amount of love he must have had for you. To make two totally selfless acts that he knew would be his last. He was an incredible human being.”
Drew could see Cait trying to process what Gene had just told her and helped her down to sit against the cavern wall while she wrestled with her grief.
“What about Donnie?” asked Gene, concerned for his friend’s fate.
“They’re alive. I sent them back the way we came. I think they have a chance—as much as we all do anyway.”
Gene acknowledged with a nod. Drew knew that the nod meant he was grateful his friend was still alive.
“So what now?” asked Gene, knowing the loss of Kirby was a big blow to their ultimate goal. His knowledge of the awakening was one of the big advantages they’d had, but now the knowledge was gone along with him.
“I’m not sure,” said Drew, shaking his head. “We have to try and find the entrance that was sealed up. We should be close now.”
“Well, we’d better damn well find it soon before that thing recovers.”
Cait’s pain was eased by a presence that comforted her immediately. Khaheet’s spirit once again filled her soul and showed her a vision of the past. She watched as the goldsmith bent and shaped the giant circular form. With rudimentary hammers and chisels, he worked tirelessly with the golden metal, forming and shaping it until his master was satisfied. A glistening depiction of a beautiful queen, as large as her true form, was forever captured on this circular, gong-shaped object. It was the Seal of Khaheet, attached to the last giant cylindrical stone to be lowered, sealing the chamber from below. It was a sign to the creatures that roamed the caverns not to break Adrian’s bond with her and that the awakening was to be delayed. It was a symbol of love and death to those slaves who held the ropes from below and lowered the last stone into place, sealing their fate for all time. Hagiel’s last bit of engineering allowed him to make his escape while the slaves watched the queen’s image lowered into position above them, closing them off from the rest of the world.
But there was something else she was made to see—a man frantically sketching images with a rudimentary writing instrument. They formed what looked like a set of primitive architectural plans for something that was an afterthought. Something he hadn’t considered until now. Something his soul couldn’t bear to let happen to his people. Sweat dripped from his brow as he completed the drawings and passed them in secret to the teenage boy named Seth, who would be the only one to know. Seth had proven himself to Hagiel as a trustworthy confidant, and the meaning of his name—Seth, the appointed—must have had some cosmic significance, Hagiel thought. He was to be appointed to hold the secret and, when the time came, reveal it to those who would be trapped to allow them to survive. It was Hagiel’s design that had made escape impossible, and he was trying to save his people from the horrible deaths that awaited them. He was driven by the enormous weight of the guilt that tormented him. If he could build into the bottom of Khaheet’s tomb a small escape chamber that could be triggered after the seal was put in place, it would give them a chance to survive. He could then go back into the tomb through his staircase and bring them out slowly and unnoticed.
The boy ran through the dusty fields, where thousands of his people toiled haplessly hour after hour to make the giant blocks that formed the pyramid. He was strong for his age and as a result was chosen to be one of the few thousand to complete the tomb. In the small rags he wore around his waist, he carried Hagiel’s plans to the stone smiths who carved each piece of the tomb. They would not understand how this would fit into the final construction. Nor would they care. The pharaoh was too concerned with his sorrow for his dying wife to pay attention to such small details—the secret to Seth’s and the others’ survival once the last stone was put into place. Seth would wait until the seal was put into place and then inform his people of the escape plan. A day later, they would trigger the escape chamber by pulling free the stone braces that held it in place. Hagiel knew they would have the large ropes used to lower the seal, and he gave explicit instructions on how fifty men should have the strength to pull the stones free. The escape stone would fall, exposing the rock ladder carved within its center that led back up to Khaheet’s tomb. There they would wait until Hagiel brought them out in secret through his staircase. But something went horribly wrong. As Seth walked to the Great Pyramid the day of Khaheet’s burial bearing Hagiels instructions, he was crushed by a falling stone. His fate as well as the slaves below was sealed just as sure as the tomb itself.
“We have to find the seal,” said Cait, appearing to have cleared her head.
Drew rushed over, helping her walk a few steps.
“What seal?” asked Gene as he too offered a hand as she walked.
She pulled Kirby’s book from inside her shirt and began turning the pages swiftly, as if she knew just what she was looking for. She stopped and turned the book toward the others, exposing the charcoal sketched imagery of the beautiful golden seal she’d just seen in her vision. The imagery was part of Hagiel’s notes found by her father, but it had been meaningless before. She’d remembered this symbol in her father’s book from when she was a small child, when she’d sneak into his study and look through his notes of this beautiful image of an ancient queen that always stood out to her. She recalled daydreams from long ago, imagining what Khaheet was thinking at the moment her image was captured. Cait recalled adorning herself with gold-laced material from her mother’s belongings stored in the attic crawlspace and dreaming of the ancient desert landscapes Khaheet must have ruled over. These memories had become a precious part of Cait’s past, and, she thought to herself, a vital part of her future if there was to be one.
“This is what we’re looking for, the seal of Khaheet. It will be above us, somewhere close. This is the entrance to the chamber…to Khaheet’s tomb.”
“I don’t see anything here,” said Gene, shining his light at the cavern ceiling.
“It must be farther up ahead. Rows of giant blocks were used to camouflage the abyss, the underneath of the Great Pyramid. We’ll know we’re clo
se when we find that,” said Cait, still trying to gain her bearings.
“Are you okay? Do you want to rest for a bit?” asked Drew softly; knowing the burning pain Cait must have in her heart over Kirby’s death.
“No, Drew. We have to go now,” said Cait, placing the rubber band back over Kirby’s journal. “We’re so close to finding it now—we have to keep moving.”
“Cait’s right,” said Gene, looking at his Earth locator. “According to this, we’re within five hundred yards of the center of the Great Pyramid. We’re here.”
Gene cautiously walked ahead of the others, scanning the cavern’s ceiling with his light. After a few minutes, the smooth, rounded features of the black rock gave way to the beige color of the massive stones created from the sand in the desert that lay many hundreds of feet above them. As Gene moved the light, he could see the square stones laid out like puzzle pieces above them. They filled in a massive circle that must have been the beginning of the passageway to the surface that was created by the creature more than forty-five hundred years earlier. He could also see four giant pillars of block supporting the structure above. This was the reason for the Great Pyramid, to cover up the massive hole left by Adrian’s minion that even now was regrouping to come after them.
“Look here! This is it!” Gene called to the others. Drew and Cait rushed to where he was standing and began to scan with their own lights.
“This is incredible,” said Drew. “This has to be hundreds of feet in diameter.”
“Yes, and Khaheet’s tomb is right above us,” said Cait. “The seal should be very close. Look for a smaller rounded stone in between the larger blocks.”
They spread out and scanned their lights methodically back and forth as they walked forward. Cait saw something in the distance reflecting her light back at her. She knew it had to be the glimmering reflection of the gold seal of Khaheet. Hope was replaced with fear as Corrado savagely invaded her mind. She looked around as if in a dream and saw the others in slow motion as his voice filled her mind.
“Stop!” he growled ferociously. “Stop now, and I’ll spare you and your friends.”
She felt his desperation and confusion as she tried with all her might to fight against his savage will. His presence drained her soul of all light and hope as she struggled to find herself through the fog of his evil invasion.
“What are you afraid of?” she said as she struggled against his pain. “You said there is nothing that will change Adrian’s mind now!”
“You are just a nuisance to me, and I fear nothing of your kind. But my brother is weakened by your treachery, and I won’t let his foolishness banish me again. I’ll give you one last chance for you and your friends to live.”
“Is that the same promise you made to Setenisi when you betrayed your brother the last time?” said Cait, recalling her vision. “Right before you murdered her in cold blood? No, there is no promise you can make, no word you can give, that I would ever trust. You are pure evil, and I will not stop until I prove to Adrian what you really are, or I’ll die trying!”
Corrado screamed in furious rage as he transformed in Cait’s mind into the devilish beast she’d seen in the graveyard. He tore at her with his claws in a furious rage, but she was protected this time. A force stood between her and Corrado, veiled in blinding white light. It wasn’t clear who or what this was, but its protective force was more powerful than anything Corrado could throw at it. She didn’t know who was protecting her, but she knew that whatever this shield was, it was made of pure love even more powerful than the light from the silver box. At that moment, she knew this was the most powerful weapon she had against Corrado—and against Adrian, if he couldn’t be deterred from his plan. With one final scream, Corrado was driven from her mind.
Cait gathered her senses and ran toward where she’d seen the glimmering light as she held the flashlight forward. “Here it is!” she shouted as the others followed cautiously behind. Above them shone the seal of Khaheet. While dulled from more than forty-five hundred years of dust, it was still one of the most beautiful things Cait had ever seen. She pulled the diary from her pocket and quickly opened to the sketched image of the seal. It was exactly as Hagiel’s notes had described, a beautiful queen depicted in every detail. Drew stood beside her, looking up with the same awe as Cait. Both had spent a large part of their lives looking for archaeological wonders such as this, and even in their current circumstances, they couldn’t help but revel in its beauty.
“Okay. Here it is. Now what?” asked Gene, looking more exhausted than either had seen him before. The loss of blood and exertion above the abyss was taking its toll, and he knew none of them had much longer. Cait removed fresh bandages from a small first aid kit in her pocket, and without a word she began tending to the wounds on Gene’s hands as Drew surveyed the seal and its surroundings.
“Thank you,” said Cait softly as she continued to work on Gene’s hands.
“You don’t need to thank me,” said Gene, wincing from the pain as Cait dressed the gashes in his palms and fingers.
“Thank you for saving me and for giving me the time to say goodbye to my father. Thank you for getting us this far and believing us.”
Gene nodded solemnly as she tried to ease the pain she knew he felt since he hadn’t been able to save Kirby. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but there were other people in war that Gene had been powerless to save. Soldiers, friends, and innocents alike, and he still carried the guilt with him, like a scar that would and could never heal. She tried to channel the love that was shared with her to Gene to give him strength at the end of their journey and possibly the end of all things.
Chapter 24
Drew called to the others as he shone his light on the massive pillars underneath the seal. This was exactly what Cait had seen Hagiel drawing in her vision. The means for the slaves to escape would have been these pillars that held the seal in place. Cait ran her hands along the stone, recounting Hagiel’s plan.
“We have to pull these pillars loose. If we do that, the escape stone should fall and give us access to Khaheet’s tomb.” She found what was left of the giant ropes used to lower the stones pillars into place, and as she reached to pick a rope up, it disintegrated in her hands. “These ropes were supposed to be used to pull the pillars aside so the escape stone could fall. The poor souls never knew they had a way out.”
“Well the ropes are useless to us now,” said Drew. “We have to find another way.”
Gene pulled two blocks of C-4 plastic explosive from his pack and carefully split them into two. “Well, I’m not sure that this won’t bring the roof down on us, but I think it’s the only way.” He secured four detonators to the explosives and set each at the base of the pillars. Cait and Drew took cover behind a boulder as Gene ran the wires and joined them.
“Here goes nothing,” said Gene, placing is finger on the trigger of the detonator. “You might want to block your ears.” As he squeezed the trigger, each pillar exploded and crumbled to the ground. Seconds later, the grinding sound of the escape stone filled the cavern as it slid down through the rock tunnel and fell into place with one final massive impact on the stone floor, leaving a giant cloud of dust and debris.
“Was that what you expected?” asked Gene.
“Yes,” said Cait. “It’s just as it was supposed to happen four thousand years ago. They would have escaped through the tomb, to Hagiel’s stairs and out to safety.”
Drew approached the massive stone as the dust began to clear. It was cylindrical in shape and went from the floor and disappeared through the cavern’s ceiling. It was solid stone all around, except for the small open doorway carved into the backside. As he shone his light into the opening, he could see what looked like ladder rungs carved out in the center of the stone leading upward through a small passageway.
“It’s clear the slaves didn’t have a whole lot to eat. There’s bar
ely enough room to get through from what I can see,” said Drew.
“Yeah, let’s thank God Donny left through the front door. It would have been a shame to have to leave him down here. He’d never fit through there,” said Gene with a laugh. “One too many Snickers, I think.”
In the distance, the rock wall was melted away in seconds as the creature emerged and filled the void behind them with its massive form. The floor shook violently as the beast approached. A second, smaller creature emerged from the other direction bearing down on them. Both creatures held their ground as Adrian materialized in front of his most trusted servant, and Corrado in front of his.
“I tried to warn you, Cait, and you betrayed me,” said Adrian as his body pulsated between physical form and molten fire. “I saw so much of her in you that I was fooled into thinking there was another way.”
As Adrian spoke, Gene pulled two grenades from his belt, pulled the pins, and held the handles in place. He motioned for Cait and Drew to head for the escape stone. Corrado just stared with hatred and a smug look of victory in his eyes.
“There is another way, Adrian. The way of love,” said Cait, stepping in front of Gene. “The same love you shared with Khaheet is in me, because she is a part of me and of you. I know how you’ve suffered without her, how you long for her presence. She’s never left you, all these thousands of years. Search your soul, and you’ll feel her. She’s here if you just open your heart and forget the evil that’s poisoned you. He has poisoned you!” she said pointing to Corrado.
“Destroy them now, brother!” shouted Corrado. “Her words are poison to your mind. Do you not see this?”
“It was your brother that killed Khaheet,” said Cait. “Through his servant Setenisi. His jealousy took her away from you, and now he means to keep you from her again. This was his plan from the beginning, to keep you from returning to her. He’ll do anything to keep you from going back. Can’t you see this?”
The Awakening Page 23