Clumps of grass littered the stone streets as they fought through the cracks for air. Even though Katie could see the grass, she couldn’t understand how it grew here when everything else seemed so dead.
Twice they passed the same building and three times they reached what they believed to be the same dead-end.
“Is there any way out of here?” Katie asked as they passed yet another familiar building. “There must be some path we haven’t yet taken.”
A sound louder than a thunderclap struck the air and ran through the streets along with a cool breeze. It was the sound of a bell from a clock tower.
They looked around for the tower but were unable to see anything more than just a few feet ahead of them. A red number appeared on the ground, like a ghostly, faded figure.
“Seven,” Katie said softly to herself.
Reading her mind, Tyson answered, “I think it means we have seven hours left until dawn.”
“Sounds about right,” Koran added. “Let’s not waste our time just standing here.”
Katie shook her head to keep herself calm. “I agree; let’s keep going. There has to be another route we haven’t tried yet.”
With that, Katie took the lead and ran down a street she felt she now knew too well. Then she took a right as soon as she could. Then another right. Then a left. The scenery was changing. Ten minutes later, Katie was relieved to find that they had not yet covered ground that they had already traveled.
As Katie’s hopes gradually and swiftly rose, she turned another corner and to her dismay, they found themselves back in front of the original building with five pillars. Katie seemed hopeless, but Tyson was the one who looked furious.
“I give up,” sighed Katie. She was exhausted. “Let’s just enjoy the rest of the time we have here.” She sat on the ground.
Tyson looked coldly down at her. “Still think you and your pet can handle this place? He should be good at navigation, at the very least, being a dog. It was your idea to enter.”
Before Katie could retort, Koran raised his voice. “Will you stop it? Just stop. The first thing I get to hear from you since I saved Katie’s life, and yours, is how I am just some son of a bitch who deserves nothing more than to be dumped outside in the cold rain and mud! I don’t know what your problem is, but I suggest you figure it out. I have dealt with enough of your trash talk, and soon I won’t hold back my anger.”
“You don’t get it,” Tyson said, seething, but he didn’t raise his voice; it stayed quite steady, though still cold. “Ever since you’ve shown up, I’ve been through hell, my life is constantly threatened. There hasn’t been one day since I met you where I had a chance to rest and be happy. You’re just another part of this messed-up world.”
“Your life hasn’t been easy since you got here. It has nothing to do with me,” replied Koran. “You don’t belong here. She does,” he said, pointing to Katie. “When you first arrived, you were on the outskirts of the planet. There wasn’t much danger there. The more you ventured, the more danger you came across.”
Koran glared at Tyson, who said nothing.
“I think part of your problem is that you know you don’t belong, you know you’re different,” Koran went on. “And you hate that. The truth is, if I hadn’t come along, you’d be dead by now, and probably Katie too. I’ve saved your life more than once. It’s time you appreciate that.”
Still, Tyson didn’t respond.
“This world was a lot better before Nayara started taking over,” said Koran. “I am truly sorry that this is your first impression of Narque. If only you could have seen it in its former glory. You probably would have liked it.”
“For all I know, you’re lying,” said Tyson.
“Shut up.”
Tyson stopped talking. He removed his glare at Koran and looked down at Katie. Her presence caught him off guard for a moment.
“Just stop talking, both of you,” Katie said, standing up. “We don’t have the time to fight right now. We need to find a way out of here. At least try. That way, if we don’t make it, at least we spent our time trying, instead of fighting with each other. We aren’t each other’s enemies. Right now, this city is.”
“You’re one to talk,” said Tyson. “A minute ago–”
Tyson’s voice faltered under Katie’s piercing gaze.
“We’re leaving now. With or without you, Tyson,” Katie said and took the lead once more. Tyson and Koran, both embarrassed and feeling slightly ashamed, followed her. Neither of them said another word.
Another ten minutes passed before Katie saw it; ahead of her was a gate. The light was gleaming towards them, welcoming a safe return. Excited, Katie picked up her pace but was soon discouraged when she realized that they had ended up exactly where they started.
From a distance, Katie had thought that the gate was a way out, but it was only the large gates that had locked them in.
“Let’s turn back,” Katie said before the other two could say anything. She ran at a semi-slow pace and turned the corner she knew they had just come through. Before her eyes could register what was around her, Katie knew something was different.
She turned a few more corners. The lighting was different here, brighter. Not majorly, but enough to be noticeable. No vines were climbing the walls here, though Katie knew that the other walls were covered in them.
As long as there were no other surprises, no beasts ready to devour them, Katie thought she had just figured out the city.
Another turn and Kati saw the all-too-familiar government-like building.
She stopped and faced Tyson and Koran, both of whom looked exhausted and beat down. Katie paid no attention to the appearance of their condition.
“I think I’ve figured it out,” Katie said. “The city is a maze, a pattern. Depending on which way we go, and how we turn back, it depends on where our path leads us.”
“What do you mean?” Koran asked.
“I mean that somehow, the city changes. If we go down one street, cut a corner or two, and then double back, we will end up on a different street,” Katie explained. “I think that’s why it looks like we have made it somewhere, only to find ourselves back where we began.”
There was silence for a few moments while Tyson and Koran registered what Katie was saying. Then Tyson said, “Lead the way.”
Katie did. She went down the street that she knew would take her back to the gate. Within a few minutes, they were at the gate again. They turned around just as the bell struck again, and the number six appeared on the ground. Katie ignored the ringing bells. She had new hope. She could survive. They all could.
Once more, they ended back up at the old building. But this time Katie got more excited, rather than discouraged. She looked at the five pillars of the building.
Without another word, Katie led them back the same way. They reached the large gate and turned back, though Katie was careful to take another turn. She ran faster and faster. Katie thought she might slip but never did. She felt like she was on fire; she had it figured out.
This time she knew that she guessed right. Katie noticed that there were designs on the walls this time. No vines, no lack of vines, but intricate drawings. Katie couldn’t make out any of them. But Katie knew that they were on a new route, and that was all that mattered.
Again she led them back to the same building, but she barely skidded to a stop when she turned back again to lead them the way she knew would eventually lead them out.
They passed the gate, encountered a slight increase in lighting, vine-free walls and more intricate drawings, though these designs were noticeably different from the ones they saw before. Last time Katie had led them left, so this time she took a right. A gust of wind rushed past them. She slowed down her run. Even with the increase in light, it was still pretty dark and as such, Katie couldn’t clearly see what was ahead of her, but she thought she could make out a building with columns in front of it.
Taking her chances, she turned in the oppos
ite direction. Only a few hundred feet went by before she knew she made the right choice. Their path became narrow, and the walls looked dirtier, covered in moss and grime.
But then they could see what the city actually looked like, and it was indeed a city. Buildings lined one another while still more towered behind them. They were of different shapes and sizes; some tall and others shaped like domes or pyramids. The largest building looked to be about eight stories tall. Each one was made of stone and marble. Trees grew out on the streets, and their roots were so large that they jutted out of the uneven ground. In the night sky, the moon was visible.
Then there was the sound of the bells and the number five materialized in the ground.
“I hope we’re at least halfway there,” Koran said. “I don’t really see a way out of here, but Katie, you definitely got onto something.”
Katie glanced around. Wherever she could see the end of the city, she saw only another massive stone wall. Their only way out was the way they had just come through, and Katie thought that would not be the best idea.
“I don’t see a way out,” said Katie. “This city is entirely surrounded by that wall.”
“Then what do we do?” Tyson asked.
“I think we need to check inside the buildings,” said Katie. “I can’t tell you why, it’s just a feeling I have.”
Tyson nodded with his arms folded over his chest. “Which building should we try first? We’ve only got five hours.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Katie. She walked around slowly, Tyson and Koran behind her, though she never left the cobbled street. She contemplated entering a few of the buildings, but after some thought shrugged to herself like I didn’t matter which and led them to the closest one.
The building had no door to it, rather just a large rectangular opening for anyone to walk in. Inside was considerably darker than outside, as there were no lights. Koran looked around a bit before saying, “It’s empty,” and they walked back out.
Katie promptly walked into the next building. This one had a similar design to it; rectangular, but instead of a hole, this one had an oak door. When she pushed it open, the door fell to the floor and crashed, ripping apart the eerie silence that permeated the city.
When the noise and its echoes faded, they search the building, and they found this one to be similarly empty like the last.
Then they went to the next building. And the next. They searched building after building for anything that the city inhabitants may have hidden as a clue but found nothing. The only things they found were the occasional dusty furniture pieces, such as old tables or rickety chairs. Sometimes they found the odd clock, moth-eaten curtains, or rugs made from ivy.
An hour later and they heard the ringing of the bell and the number four appeared. Katie felt exhausted. Her feet both ached and felt numb. But what wore her out most was the fact that they still hadn’t found anything. Even if they didn’t know what they were looking for.
They talked about the warning just outside the gates of the city. They figured that they were supposed to find what the city folk had hidden but were not supposed to take it.
They were standing out on the street again. Katie looked around. They hadn’t even covered half the city yet and their time was running short. They also didn’t know if there was another puzzle to figure out once they did find what they were supposed to find.
“We need a different tactic,” said Koran, glancing around and rubbing his forehead. “We won’t get anywhere if we keep searching like this.”
“Should we split up?” Tyson asked. “You know, cover more ground?”
“No,” said Katie. “While that would help, it would be more dangerous. We’re sticking together.”
Tyson didn’t seem to have an issue with this.
“Let’s check out the less plain buildings,” said Katie. “It’s probably the first thing we should have done.”
“Like which?” Tyson asked.
Katie looked around. “That one,” she said, pointing on a cylinder-shaped building that was only three stories tall. It was like a small tower.
“Sure,” Tyson said, and they headed towers the building. It took them some minutes to reach it as it was farther away than the main part of the city that they had been searching in. Koran entered it first. They climbed up a spiral staircase until they reached the top. There was a diamond-shaped window that overlooked the city with an obscured view as it was part of a building that wasn’t the tallest.
There was nothing inside, so they walked back down the stairs and back outside. Koran found a building that was made of pure white stone. It was only two floors high but stood taller than most buildings. When they entered, Katie could feel that there was something different about this building. The walls were lined with small, faintly glowing stones that looked like each one contained fire.
“This could be it,” Katie breathed.
Koran walked around the room. He passed the stairs that led to the second floor. The back wall was covered in a painting of a simple, yet beautiful garden with a mountain topped with snow in its background. An elderly lady was kneeling by a creek looking sadly at her hands.
“What an interesting painting,” said Katie softly when she came by to inspect. “Do you know where this is?”
Koran shook his head.
“We should check upstairs,” said Tyson. Without waiting for an answer, he walked up the stairs and disappeared from sight. Katie and Koran followed him.
The second-floor room was slightly smaller than the one below. None of the walls were painted but instead had dark red curtains draping them. They found Tyson staring at a stone tablet placed in the center of the room. It was quite large.
Katie looked over Tyson’s shoulder. The inscription was brief but clear.
If you take it, you’ll never get out.
Katie read the words out loud. “What do you think it means?”
In response, Tyson pointed to a small carved hole underneath the warning. It was an uneven oval shape.
“It looks like some sort of gem belongs in there,” said Katie. “Though the gem is probably badly cut, like an emerald or a sapphire.”
“It could be something else,” said Tyson. “Another gem, I mean.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Koran. “Somebody already took it. I wonder if they were able to make it out.”
“Or maybe we’ll meet them on our way out?” suggested Tyson.
They heard a loud bang as a door opened. They jerked their heads back and saw a large swarm of oversized bats flying towards them, their red eyes gleaming and their teeth bared, all sharp and pointed.
Nayara smiled as she entered her cabin. She had gotten rid of Fredrick many hours ago and left the rest of her more devoted servants. Her ships were sailing quickly towards their destination. She unlocked one of her small drawers. Inside it was just one item: a deep green jade in a roughly shaped oval. Nayara smiled. She pulled out a necklace from her pocket. The necklace belonged to John Dimes. These were the two items she needed to complete her mission.
Acquiring the jade was easy. She stole it from the heart of the ancient city of Galbatrar. She knew the leaders of the city had protected it well and had given their lives to keep it safe.
Queen Nayara knew well that the city was designed to trap anyone who entered it so that no one would be able to take the jade. But Nayara knew a way around that. She didn’t enter the city alone, but only she left the city. There was a certain magic that she taught herself, and it proved useful. While she could safely walk back through the gates of Galbatrar, the next person who entered would have to pay the price she never would.
Palatinii Cycle Page 22
