Before she could finish her sentence, a tremor shook the tower. It was slow at first, rolling like a wave. It soon grew increasingly violent.
“Hold onto something,” Columbus warned. “It’s a big one!”
A series of jarring jolts ripped through the tower. Stone and mortar fell from the walls, and the ceiling splintered above. The nearest stained-glass window shattered, sending glass across the floor. Nyx curled into a ball, covering her ears as the rending of stone reverberated throughout the room. Columbus grabbed her and Elara, and they hunkered down together.
Eventually, the quake abated, leaving only the sound of rusty lamps swinging on the walls to vie with the trio’s panicked breathing.
“Is it over?” Nyx asked.
No one answered. She was set to ask the question again when Elara shushed her. Then, the sound of a deep thrumming filled the air. Terror filled Elara’s face.
“That is the sound the Void makes before a contraction! We have to hurry.”
Columbus bolted for the lift tube. “If I climb up through here, maybe I can find a path inside.”
“Look!” Nyx gasped.
The others turned to see what she saw. One of the large wooden trusses had cracked during the quake, revealing rusty steps hidden inside.
“Poseidon favors our quest,” Elara said.
“Or he wants to tease us before we die,” Columbus quipped as he ran to the base of the truss and kicked it. The facade crumbled, revealing the rising ladder. Moving as quickly as possible, the trio scaled upward, unlocking a hidden hatch. One by one, they crawled through.
The tower’s apex was circular, unadorned save decorative stones jutting from the walls. At opposite ends of the room were two bureaus from which a multitude of metal pipes ran over the walls, each inexplicably disappearing at odd intervals. Columbus was approaching one of those bureaus when Elara gasped. He followed her eyes skyward.
One hundred feet high, suspended in air at the tower’s apex, was the first gem-encrusted key. And it was glowing.
The trio was dumbstruck by the sight.
“Look, beyond the key,” Elara finally managed. “Do you see it?”
The Void. Its dark surface roiled ten or twenty feet above their prize.
“I see it,” Columbus said. Then he noticed several stone steps jutting out of the wall. They ran in a pattern that wound all the way to the top of the tower. The problem was the distance between them. It was at least eight feet.
“I could traverse these if they weren’t so far apart. Maybe If I climbed—”
Another tremor rocked the tower, followed by a warbling thrum. Everyone covered their ears and looked skyward only to see the Void collapse several feet, instantly devouring more tower and edging ever closer to the key.
“There isn’t enough time,” Elara said once the thrum had stopped. “We need a plan now.”
“I’m working on one, Princess,” Columbus said, unable to keep the edge from his voice. “Maybe less ordering and more thinking might help.”
Elara was about to retort when a trumpet-like blast filled the room, sending hundreds of streams of dust and mortar into the air. As it cleared, both Columbus and Elara turned to see a sheepish Nyx stepping away from the bureau she’d accidentally bumped into.
“Damnit, Nyx!” Columbus shouted. “Watch what you’re doing!”
“Don’t shout at her,” Elara snapped.
“Why not? She shouldn’t even be here.”
“I got it,” Nyx said softly.
“Got what?” Columbus snarled.
“The second stanza.”
Columbus grunted, ready to rail her again when Elara spoke his name. The clarity of her voice silenced him. She turned back to Nyx, gently. “Go ahead, Nyx.”
“To seek the riddle of Cyclops’s crown, scour beneath the papuros bound. What did we find on the bottom of the book?”
“Codes,” Columbus offered. “Gibberish.”
Nyx shook her head. “Notes. Do you see these?” She pointed to the bureaus at opposite ends of the tower. “They’re organs. And these pipes feed the blowholes in the wall. …to avoid Icarus’s fate, one must learn to fly before the wind abates.”
Columbus looked. Could she be right?
“Try it,” Elara said.
Nyx sat and wiped the dust from her organ’s keyboard. Then she depressed a single key. Nothing happened.
“I don’t understand,” Nyx said, confused. “It should work.”
“I told you this was foolish,” Columbus said.
“No,” Nyx snapped. “I know I’m right. And I need you to believe me.”
Columbus stared at her and gritted his teeth. If she’d been a man, he would have trounced her. Then, he heard the Void warble again, and his senses returned. As did the realization that he could not do this on his own. Finally, he gave a curt nod for her to go on.
“Organs emit sound by air. The air comes from these bellows. But to fill them would require enormous pressure. Where could that kind of power come from?”
Columbus considered the question before turning for the nearest window. Far down below he saw the static waterwheel. And to his left, an orichalcum wheel. He tried to turn it, but it wouldn’t move. “Give me a hand.”
Elara turned for him, but Nyx called out, “Wait!” She turned back to Columbus.
“We need to hear you say it,” she said.
“Say what?”
Nyx tipped her head and crossed her arms. “The magic word.”
Elara snorted and rolled her eyes.
Columbus’s face went as red as a strawberry. “Unless you wish to fly, get over here.”
“Good enough for me,” Nyx gulped as she and Elara joined him at the wheel.
“Why must all the women in my life be so cheeky?” Columbus bemoaned.
“Because you wouldn’t notice them otherwise,” Elara replied.
With their combined strength, the wheel began to turn. First it groaned, and then it snapped free. A great grinding noise echoed through the tower as the waterwheel down below began to turn.
“That’s sure to draw the sirens,” Elara said.
“I think we’re beyond that point,” Columbus said. “To the organs.”
Nyx rushed to her organ and depressed the keys again. This time, air fed the pipes and more dust exploded from the tower’s blowholes.
“Do you know how to read music?” Nyx asked Elara. The princess shook her head. “Come on, then. I’ll teach you.”
As Elara joined Nyx, Columbus made his way to the lowest stone step.
“Another skill,” Columbus remarked. “That teacher of yours sure was prolific.”
“For your information, Mansa only knew how to play the drums. This I learned from my mother.”
Columbus was surprised to find he wanted to know more. Though the girl was a nuisance, she’d obviously led an interesting life to date. And despite the weeks they’d travelled together, it came as something of a shock to realize he knew so little about her. For a man that took pride in reading people in an instant, her secrets unsettled him.
“See how the blowholes alternate?” Nyx asked Elara. “That’s because we need to play in unison, alternating one note at a time. These are your seven.” She played them twice until Elara nodded. “Go.” Elara ran to the opposite organ. Nyx rapped on the organ to establish their rhythm. “Together. One, two, three, and…”
The notes trumpeted out of the organ, sending more dust into the air, but this time Columbus saw the pattern emerge.
Stairs made of air!
As if the Void had somehow sensed their progress, it warbled again. Only this time the pitch was so low it shook the building and plummeted another few feet.
“It’s nearing the key!” Elara shouted. “We have to hurry!”
Columbus mumbled something about time. When he was in position, he nodded, and Nyx counted her lead-in once again. As the first note sounded, Columbus stepped onto the stone step before stepping onto air. It was a
terrifying sensation, and he leaped for the third stone. He hesitated, let out a loud curse, and shouted for the others. “Start again!”
This time, the women were ready. One after another, those fourteen notes rang out in time. It took everything Columbus had to trust in them, but with each step, that trust was rewarded. And then Elara fumbled a note, and Columbus fell eight feet and hit the floor like a stone.
Nyx shouted, but Columbus waved her back, rubbing his tender backside and groaning. “It’s only my third greatest asset. Begin again. And no matter what happens this time, don’t stop.”
Elara offered a sheepish smile. Columbus took several deep breaths as Nyx counted out the time again. Then the notes rang, and he ascended.
Outside the tower, the notes carried across the isle and far out to sea. The music was so loud, Dion imagined even those in the city could hear it. His attention quickly turned to the wooded area north of them when movement flickered within the tunnels between the two islands. The sirens were coming.
Prepare yourself, Dion signaled the others. Thetra and Sareen signaled that they were ready. The ones called Pygmies had already prepared their weapons.
Near the tower, Fanucio watched on with a growing sense of dread. He held the sonstave in his sweaty hand, doubting it would do much good against those things. Maybe the giant was wrong. Maybe the sirens hadn’t heard the music. Well, of course they heard it, but maybe they didn’t care. That was possible, wasn’t it?
The question was answered when a flood of sirens erupted from the tunnels and the defenders opened fire.
Columbus’s chest heaved as he continued his march upward. He was just getting used to the difference between the real stepping stones and the fabricated ones when he glanced upward and saw the key, clearer now even in the haze of dust. Another dozen steps and it would be within his reach.
Then the Void warbled again.
“Faster,” he shouted, his thighs burning as those notes came one on top of each other now, the three-way dance as dangerous and precarious as anything he’d ever done before. It took immense focus, pushing everything else but the timing and notes from his mind. The organs sung, the tower trembled, but Columbus continued to rise.
Three quarters up the tower, Columbus braved another glance at that glowing key. His sweat-stained shirt clung to his back, his heart pumping in time with the melody. Each step was a balancing act between life and death. Air, step, air, step! Then one of the stones crumbled beneath his feet. His hand flailed out, fingers gouging stone, but he managed to catch the next gust of air. Twenty steps left. Then fifteen. He was nearing the apex of the tower.
But with every step he drew closer, so too did the Void. The diaphanous veil of corruption pulsed harder, longer, winnowing its way into every cell of Columbus’s body until he thought the very nature of it might drive him mad.
At last, he reached the final stepping stone, shouting as he drew even with the key. There was only one problem. He had no clue how he was supposed to get down.
Columbus shouted, but the women couldn’t hear him. The warbling had grown too loud. Cracks spread across the tower’s wall. More stone steps crumbled and fell. Columbus covered his ears but couldn’t keep out that sound. It was like the Void knew he was there to stop it, and it wanted to stop him first.
At that moment, Columbus closed his eyes and tried to clear everything from his mind. He knew the chances of his survival were thin, but should he succeed? A feat like this could put him right up there with champions like Hector or Sampson. Champion? Hell, he could become a legend. He liked the sound of that.
“Where others run, I leap!” he said aloud. Then he nearly slipped off his rock. “Okay, okay. I’ll keep working on it.”
Columbus jumped.
The key was much farther than Columbus anticipated, but when his hand locked around the key and it came away with a tug, he gave a silent cheer. And then he fell. Nyx cried out. Elara shouted something unintelligible as he tumbled down the tower, limbs flailing, muscles tightening for the fateful impact. But just as the floor rushed up to meet him, Elara and Nyx turned back for their organs again, slapping their hands across the keyboards just before the air assaulted Columbus from every direction. The organs shrieked in unison as Columbus hit the ground hard, but very much alive.
“Huh.” He looked up at their shocked faces. “I do believe I’ve developed a new appreciation for chamber music.”
The women rushed to embrace him, and a strange joy filled his heart. He was surprised how good their smiles made him feel. Then, the Void fell, swallowing ten feet of tower, sending more debris tumbling down, smashing the wood at their feet.
“We need to get out of here,” Nyx shouted.
It was the understatement of the millennia.
As the wall began to crumble, the wood trusses splintered with ear-piercing cracks that left no doubt that the tower was coming down. Columbus stuffed the key in his trousers as they raced for the hidden ladder. Bookshelves toppled, and floors crumbled. They made it fifteen levels down before one side of the tower split open and fell away. Columbus knew they’d never make it the rest of the way in time. He spun around until he had determined which way was south. Then he turned his sonstave toward the wall.
“Take cover,” he said before blasting a hole in the wall. The trio raced to it and looked out. The waterwheel was below and to their left. Directly underneath them was the flowing river.
“You can’t be serious,” Nyx said.
Columbus smirked. “You wanted adventure.”
Without hesitating, Columbus shoved Nyx out. She screamed expletives all the way down. She hit the water and emerged a moment later. Columbus turned to Elara.
“I am a princess,” she warned. “The last of my line from the kings of—”
“Oh, shut up,” he said before grabbing her arm and pulling her in for a kiss. Stunned, she didn’t utter another word as he wrapped his arm around her and jumped.
They hit the river like stones, the water’s crisp chill washing over them as they struck the muddy bottom and pushed off for the surface. As they burst above the surface, the rest of their party arrived, firing salvos as the host of sirens stormed in their direction.
“Captain!” Fanucio exclaimed gleefully. “You’re alive!” Then an arrow sailed past his head. “Don’t suppose you can lend a hand?”
A groan of astonishing proportions shook the earth. As the tower’s base broke, everyone looked up and saw it was teetering in their direction. They ran screaming and shouting as the shadow hurtled toward them. The tower struck the ground with such force that everyone was thrown from their feet. Through the dust, they saw the tower had cut off the sirens from their path.
One by one, they crawled from the dust, coughing, but alive. Only Fanucio sat immovable in the rubble. Columbus rushed to his side.
“Fanucio?” he said. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No,” the first mate grumbled. “Just hungry.”
Columbus clapped his friend on the shoulder and laughed.
Chapter Thirteen
Word of their success had somehow preceded them back to the city.
As the sore and weary eight-man party drew near the rocky breakers, they were met with rousing cheers from the Atlanteans gathered on the walls and balconies, waving flags and banners while chanting some melodic battle cry that to Columbus sounded more like a funeral dirge than anything. Still, it raised his spirits, especially when he saw all the children tossing flowers in the water only to laugh when a league of exotic waterfowl swooped in over the shoals to claim them.
It wasn’t until the transit tubes spit them out at the central colonnade that the true enormity of their accomplishment set in. The halls were lined with the citizens of Atlantis, jockeying from the balconies by the hundreds with smiling faces, tossing gossamer petals and streams of silk.
Now this is a hero’s welcome, Columbus thought.
Elara and her Gadeir betrayed no reaction, though there was no
denying their chests were a little fuller, their chins a little higher. This they could feel. They marched on until they reached the lobby of the Nave where King Atlas stoically stood waiting. Even he appeared to be standing a little taller, his eyes a little sharper. It was the first time Columbus had seen the man look like he didn’t want to kill someone.
“Daughter,” the king said once the din died, “on behalf of Atlantis, I congratulate you and your fellow Gadeir on your successful mission.”
Another rousing cheer ensued. Elara gave a curt nod, embarrassment mixing with pride.
“You have the key?” King Atlas asked.
Elara turned to Columbus. He drew the key from his waistband, hesitating a moment before he handed it over. Elara gave it to the king. To the delight of the crowd, he lifted it triumphantly into the air, and the crowd roared. Even Columbus’s crew weren’t immune to the gaiety. Nyx’s teeth shone bright and full, and when her cheeks flushed she looked every bit her age. Fanucio also basked in the adulation and combed his hair back several times, his tooth-gapped mouth on display for all to see. Even the Pygmies got in on the action, singling out a few female admirers who tittered at their attention.
After passing the key to an attendant, King Atlas addressed the group once more. “There will be a celebration tonight at evening bell.” For the first time, he acknowledged Columbus. “You will be my guests.”
Columbus bowed, low and fitting for a king, but he couldn’t let the moment pass without a coup de grace of his own. “I’ll see if I can fit it into my schedule, Your Highness.”
Elara’s eyes ballooned. Even the king froze a moment before he burst into laughter. He cuffed Columbus hard on the shoulder before he turned and walked away. Once out of eyesight, Columbus groaned and rubbed his shoulder.
“You enjoy playing with fire, don’t you?” Elara admonished.
“Sometimes it’s the only way to heat things up,” Columbus replied.
She shook her head but did not look away. Instead, she held his gaze in a way all men wanted women to look at them. But where he should have felt joy, he felt only trepidation. Soon, she would learn it was all for naught. Even with this victory, the writing was on the wall. Time was their enemy and it was marching steadily closer. Yes, he was developing feelings for the princess, but such admissions did him no good. Nor would ruminating on the promise he made her or how she’d feel when she discovered his betrayal. He had a job to do. He needed to keep all his attention on the prize.
Christopher Columbus and the Lost City of Atlantis Page 17
