Grip of the Shadow Plague

Page 22

"What if he comes to retrieve it tonight?"
Gavin smirked. "Coyote-on-a-stick, remember?"
Kendra shook the stick hard, listening to the crackle of the rattles. Outside, the wind rose, lightning flashed, and thunder erupted, drowning out the rattling. She kept shaking it briskly, trying to hear the rattles over the wailing gusts outside. The wind shrieked even louder. Hail began drumming against the roof and pelting through the broken portion. Ice pellets skittered across the floor.
"I'd be careful how you shake that," Gavin said.
She stopped, holding the rattle still. Within a few seconds, the hail stopped, and the wind wasn't gusting as hard.
"This is controlling the storm?" Kendra exclaimed.
"Influencing it, at least," Gavin said.
Kendra studied the staff with amazement. She held it out to Gavin. "You earned it, you should keep it."
"N-n-nope," Gavin said. "It's your souvenir."
Kendra held the staff carefully, keeping it still. Over the next minute the storm went into a lull. The wind no longer blew as hard. The rain diminished to a sprinkle.
"Do you think the others are okay?" Kendra wondered.
"I hope so. Dougan has the key. If they don't show, we may have to fight our way back to the stairs." Leaning on the spear, Gavin glanced over at Kendra. "The way things played out, I know it seems like I made a good call about the danger, but this is much worse than I'd guessed, or I would have been more forceful with everyone about you not coming. Are you hanging in there?"
"I'm okay," she lied.
"That was smart, shining the light in the coyote's eyes.
Thanks."
The wind and rain picked up again, but still didn't lash the mesa as furiously as earlier. Sheet lightning started flickering regularly, accompanied by growls of thunder. On the fifth flash, three men staggered through the doorway.
Warren, Dougan, and Neil crossed the room to Kendra and Gavin. Dougan no longer had his axe. Warren held the top half of his broken spear. Neil limped between them, supported by the other men.
"Ugly business out there," Dougan said. "Have you had any visitors?"
"C-c-coyote man dropped by," Gavin said.
"He came inside the room?" Neil asked, his face haggard.
Gavin nodded. "I had to repel him with the spear."
"Then Kendra and I won't be safe here after all," Neil said. "In times past, the creatures who haunt the mesa would not have dared set foot here in the weather room. Then again, I know little about the rite we interrupted. We must have rendered all protections ineffectual."
"He definitely came inside," Kendra said. "He left this behind." She held up the staff. Neil frowned at it.
"It's her souvenir," Gavin insisted.
"We need to get inside the vault," Neil said. "Anywhere will be safer than this mesa tonight." Dougan and Warren helped him toward the hatch in the floor. "Sorry I wasn't much of a bodyguard," Warren apologized to Kendra. "They struck so suddenly, and I saw Gavin taking much better care of you than I could have. Gavin, I've never met a man who could top your dad in a brawl, but you would have given him a run for his money."
"Only thanks to all he taught me," Gavin said with a proud grin.
Below them gaped the hatch. A long, upright log with pegs in it functioned as a ladder. Shining flashlights into the void, they saw the floor about twelve feet below. Gavin descended the ladder first, holding Kendra's flashlight. Then came Dougan, then Kendra, then Neil lowering himself with his arms and one leg. After Neil reached the ground, Warren did not follow, and they heard the sounds of a scuffle. Spear in hand, Gavin raced up the ladder with incredible speed.
After a few tense moments, Warren and Gavin descended the ladder.
"What happened?" Kendra exclaimed. "Are you two all right?"
"No coyote-on-a-stick," Gavin said regretfully. "He didn't show up."
"But others did," Warren said. "The hawkman and a freakish oaf. I'm with Neil. We can't leave anyone above ground. There are too many enemies abroad."
"Will a dragon be any safer?" Kendra questioned.
Warren shrugged. "Neither option is inviting, but at least the vaults are designed to be potentially survivable."
Kendra hoped Warren was right. She could not help remembering that only one and a half of the three people who had entered this vault last time had emerged.
Dougan removed the key from his bag. It was a thick silver disk the size of a dinner plate. The underground room had a spacious circular depression in the center. Water flowed into the depression but, instead of pooling there, continued to drain deeper. With Warren helping Neil, they all stepped down into the circular recess.
"This room was a kiva," Neil explained. "A site for sacred ceremonies."
Dougan pressed a small protuberance on the disk, and several oddly shaped metal teeth clicked out of the sides like blades from a pocket knife. When he released the button, the jagged teeth retracted. Kneeling in the center of the circular depression, he set the disk into a round indentation where it fit snugly. Then he pressed the center of the disk and twisted it.
With a jolting clack and a subterranean rumbling, the floor of the circular depression began to rotate. Dougan had taken his hand off of the key, but still the floor turned, and as it turned, it sank, as if they stood on the head of a gigantic screw. Ever rotating, they gradually descended into a vast chamber, where the irregular walls had the appearance of a natural cavern. Looking up, Kendra watched the round hole in the ceiling grow distant. The sounds of the storm faded. Announced by a final echoing thud, the turning floor came to a halt.
Chapter Twelve
Obstacles
Dougan squatted beside Neil. "How's your leg?"
Brow crinkled, Neil probed his knee. "I think I tore a tendon. I won't be walking normally anytime soon."
"Who injured you?" Kendra asked.
"I did," Neil said ruefully. "This was an old man's injury, earned by running too far too fast over ground that was too firm."
"Call it a hero's injury," Warren said. "You should have seen him bowl over some of the creatures who had me pinned."
"You can use my spear as a crutch," Gavin offered.
"We all stand a better chance of surviving if the spear stays in your hands," Neil said.
Gavin handed Neil the spear. "When trouble arrives, pass it back to me."
"If it would be better for the mission, I could stay behind with Neil," Kendra offered.
Warren shook his head. "If we could have left you safe up top, fine. In here, our best hope for survival is to stick together."
"Tammy mentioned a hulking beast covered by so many knives that they looked like feathers," Dougan said. He shone his flashlight around the vast chamber, showing the mouths of three different caves. "The beast should be down that passageway, the widest one. She said it prowled along behind to prey on stragglers."
"Speaking of Tammy," Kendra said, "can we do this without her? Wasn't her job to get us past the traps?"
Dougan stood and stretched. "Losing her was a tragedy, and a serious blow to the mission, but she shared enough information that we won't be wandering blind, at least not until after the dragon." He swiveled his flashlight to illuminate the narrowest exit from the chamber. "For example, that tunnel gets gradually steeper until it falls away to unfathomable depths. We want the medium-sized cave."
"W-w-w-we should get moving," Gavin suggested.
Warren stepped off the circular platform that had lowered them into the room, tapping with the broken end of his spear to test the ground. The others followed. Dougan tried to assist Neil, but the Navajo man quietly refused any aid, preferring to limp forward leaning heavily on the spear. Though Neil uttered no complaint, the set of his jaw and the tightness around his eyes made the pain he was suffering evident. Warren held a flashlight, as did Dougan. Gavin, bringing up the rear, retained Kendra's light. Gavin shone his light on a glistening stone formation against one wall shaped like a melting pipe organ. The mouth of the medium-sized passage was guarded by tall stalagmites, tapered stone projections the color of caramel reaching for the stalactites above.
After weaving through the stalagmites, they descended into the steep, winding passageway. Tiny, soda-straw stalactites hung in fragile clusters. The contorted walls were a burnt yellow. Some portions of the descent were so steep that Neil sat down and scooted forward. Kendra crouched, grabbing knobs of stone with her free hand, clutching the staff with the rattles in the other, trying to keep it quiet.
From up ahead, Kendra heard the sound of water flowing. The steady rushing grew louder until they found their way blocked by a chasm with a swift, deep stream at the bottorm. The only way to get across was by hopping along the tops of a staggered collection of rough stone columns, none of them quite the same height.
Warren shone his flashlight on the three broadest, most inviting columns. "Tammy warned that these three are traps, rigged to collapse if you step on them. As you can see, there are enough other columns to take alternate routes around the three biggest."
Warren uncoiled a length of rope, handed one end to Dougan, and set off across the columns, bounding from one to the next without any significant pauses or missteps. Despite his confidence, Kendra felt tense inside until he stood safely on the far side of the chasm.
"Fasten the rope to Kendra's harness," Warren called. Dougan knelt and secured the rope to her metal buckles and carabiners. "You saw how he did it?"
Kendra nodded.
"Don't think about the drop," Gavin suggested, returning her flashlight. "I'll hold your rain stick." She handed him the coyote man's staff.
Kendra moved to the edge of the chasm. The flat top of the first column was a short step away. She tried to imagine she was stepping onto a rock in a shallow stream, and strode forward. The next column was more rounded, and she would have to jump in order to reach it, but there was easily room for both feet on it. If it weren't for the gloomy void beneath, the leap would not have been intimidating, but she could not make herself move.
"Place a hand on the rope," Warren called to her.
"Remember, if you fall, I'm here to pull you up."
Kendra compressed her lips. If she fell, she would swing to the far side of the chasm and smash into the wall, probably striking columns along the way. But holding the rope did provide an illusion of security. Admonishing herself to think like Seth, which to her meant not to think at all, she leaped to the next column, wobbled, and righted herself.
Jump after jump, step after step, she made her way around two of the three biggest columns. Near the far side of the chasm, to get around the final inviting, traitorous column, she would have to use columns so small that each would support only one foot at a time.
"Do these all in a row, Kendra," Warren advised. "Five quick steps, just one brief game of hopscotch. You're almost to me. If you fall, no big deal."
Kendra planned her steps. Warren was right, if she fell now, the swing to the far wall of the chasm was no longer as threatening. Mustering her courage one last time, she leaped, leaped, leaped, leaped, leaped, and stumbled off balance into Warren's outstretched arms.
Dougan, Neil, and Gavin cheered from the far side of the chasm. Warren untied Kendra, fastened the climbing rope to his large flashlight, and flung it across the gulf to Dougan, who caught it.
"Neil doesn't want to try crossing the columns on one foot," Dougan called. "He thinks a deliberate swing across the chasm is best, which means I had better cross next to help you anchor him."
"All right," Warren replied.
"I think I can carry him," Gavin interjected. Nobody responded. "It wouldn't be too different from one of the training exercises my dad used to make me do. I'm stronger than I look."
"Either way, I had better come across to help belay you," Dougan said, tying the rope to himself.
"How did Javier get back across with his injured legs?"
Kendra wondered.
"Tammy carried him," Warren said. "Javier had a potion that reduced his weight." "For that matter, how did they get out at all?" Kendra continued. "I thought these vaults were designed to keep people from going back unless they claimed the treasure."
Warren nodded, watching Dougan as he started across. "That was my understanding as well. Tammy and Javier felt like the dragon meant certain death, so they risked backtracking, and the gamble paid off."
Although his movements were not graceful, Dougan traversed the chasm without mishap. Warren threw the flashlight with the rope attached to Gavin, who caught it with one hand and began affixing the rope to Neil.
"Are you sure Neil won't be too heavy?" Dougan shouted.
Gavin stooped and hoisted Neil over one shoulder. Without responding, he stepped onto the first column, and then hopped to the second. Besides Neil on his shoulder, Gavin held the staff, which rattled every time he jumped.
Kendra felt her insides clench with each small leap, and then lurch violently when he swayed awkwardly while perched on a small, rounded knob. Gavin hesitated where Kendra had last paused, studying the five consecutive jumps that would complete the crossing. Shifting Neil slightly, Gavin sprang from column to column, tumbling to his knees when he reached the far ledge.
"Well done!" Dougan enthused, slapping Gavin on the back. "I may never again underestimate the strength of youth."
"It w-w-w-was harder than I expected," Gavin panted. "At least we made it." Warren helped Neil off Gavin's shoulder. He coiled up the rope, then led the way deeper into the cave, which continued to descend, although not as steeply as previously. Gavin used his flashlight beam to point out sparkling patches of calcite on the moist cave walls. He also spotlighted colorful ripples that looked like bacon. Kendra could practically taste stone with each breath she drew. The air was uncomfortably cool. She wished her clothes would dry.