by Bryan Davis
Bonnie held the flame closer to the page. The handwritten letters were thick and bold in one entry but weak and barely readable in another, probably reflecting Elam’s exhaustion when he wrote it. Still, bold or not, none of the odd characters made sense.
“This Hebrew poem,” Sapphira said, running her finger along the text, “is cryptic. We’ll have to figure out the symbolism. It talks about liquid fire, which is probably the magma river, and water stirred by an invisible oar, which might be the whirlpool Elam and I went through to get to Dragons’ Rest.”
Bonnie nodded. “That makes sense, but it’s obviously too hot down there now.”
“Right, so we have to figure out the rest. It says to obey the command Moses neglected, and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream will awaken. Yet, fear not, for he who …”—she squinted at the words—“made alive, I think would be the best way to say it. He who made alive Balaam’s lowly servant can do the same for a face of granite.”
“Balaam’s lowly servant,” Bonnie repeated in a whisper.
Sapphira looked at her. “I’ve read the story of Balaam, but I don’t remember a servant.”
“Balaam had a donkey that spoke to him. Maybe that’s what it means by making his servant alive.”
“I suppose a donkey could be a servant. What about the other parts?”
Bonnie blinked at the text, still a mess of indecipherable marks. “Well, the command Moses disobeyed was to speak to a rock that gave them water in the wilderness. And Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a statue made out of gold and silver and clay. Then a stone crushed the statue and became a mountain.”
“I remember that.” Sapphira kept her finger on the page. “So it sounds like we have to speak to a face of granite.”
“Have you seen any granite that looks like a face?”
“The cliff that overlooks the magma river is granite. When I was down at the side of the river where Elam and I waded in, I tried to find a place to climb up, but I don’t remember anything that looked like facial features.”
“Was that when Paili fell from the cliff?” Bonnie asked.
“Right. I guess I didn’t notice anything but her.”
The sound of running footsteps clopped toward them. Bonnie turned and looked up the incline. A light bounced in the distance, getting closer in a hurry.
Rebekah’s voice broke the silence. “That blast punched a hole through the rubble.” When she arrived, she stopped and gasped for breath.
Dallas joined her a half second later. Puffing, she pointed back into the tunnel. “A bunch of strange creatures are gathering on this side of the debris.”
“Strange creatures?” Sapphira asked. “What did they look like?”
“Covered with hair, more like monkeys than men, but they wore loin cloths and spoke to each other, so they couldn’t be monkeys.”
“Did they see you?” Bonnie asked.
“I’m not sure. They didn’t seem to. They just sniffed and snorted and jumped up and down.”
“They had a bright flashlight,” Rebekah said, “so I kept the lantern behind me. I would guess there were at least six of them, but they were still coming through the hole. They’ll probably head this way as soon as they’re all through.”
Bonnie pointed at the hidden trap. “Maybe the first few would fall in, but it couldn’t possibly catch them all. They’d have to be pretty stupid.”
“If you saw them,” Dallas said, “you might be more confident. They make monkeys look like Einstein.”
“We can’t fight that many.” Rebekah nodded toward the springs chamber. “Should we hide at the waterfall?”
Sapphira sidestepped the trap. “You and Dallas hide there. Near the ceiling where the springs come out, you can climb behind the falls. When you swim under the rock, you’ll come out in an air pocket with enough room for both of you. There’s a vent, so you should have plenty of air.”
Rebekah forked her fingers at Bonnie and Sapphira. “What about you two?”
“We’ll head down the shaft and then the river overlook,” Sapphira said. “If they show up there, I should be able to send a few over the edge.”
“What if there are more than just a few?” Dallas asked.
“Then we’ll have to deal with that.” Sapphira tucked the journal behind her waistband. “You and Rebekah go. It might take you a little while to get hidden. I’ll stay here until the last second.”
Rebekah gave her an inquisitive look. “Why?”
“If they’re just creeping along, they’ll see the hole. So I’m going to make sure they’re in a hurry.”
“Bait the trap?” Rebekah gave Sapphira a thumbs-up. “Good idea.”
As soon as the two former dragons left for the springs, Sapphira took the pick handle from Bonnie and crept a few feet into the escape tunnel. As she crouched, she appeared to be listening, her white hair shining in the glow of her flame.
Bonnie tiptoed in and crouched next to her, careful not to make a sound.
“If they figured out that Shiloh’s an impostor,” Sapphira whispered, “they’re probably coming for you.”
Bonnie nodded, holding her breath as she listened. The fire on Sapphira’s stick dwindled, now barely the size of a match flame. In the dim light, the sides of the passage seemed to get narrower, funneling the slightest sounds from the depths—a scratching noise, a click, a tap. Were they even real? Or were they figments, tricks her anxious mind played to get her to run?
Soon, a whisper pierced the silence, then another, though the words seemed foreign, more like guttural chatter than human speech. A circle of yellow light came into view, distant, yet growing by the second.
Sapphira clutched Bonnie’s wrist and whispered, “Get ready.”
Bonnie tightened her leg muscles. She mentally traced a path to the elevator and imagined the climb down, already difficult enough without strange monkey men chasing her. But there wasn’t another option.
As Sapphira rose slowly to her feet, Bonnie did the same. Sapphira pressed the stick into Bonnie’s hand and whispered, “When I say run, you go first. Don’t worry about me.”
Bonnie nodded. “Don’t take too many chances.”
Suddenly, the stick blazed. “Bonnie!” Sapphira shouted. “Someone’s out there! We have to hide! Run!”
Bonnie turned and, dodging the hidden hole, sprinted toward the elevator shaft. With her wings giving her a boost, she zipped along, but as she neared the shaft, the breeze blew out her flame. Now in darkness, she groped for the opening in the wall, looking back for any sign of a white-haired girl with a ball of fire riding on her palm.
Finally, her hand passed across a gap. She reached in, grabbed the rope, and looked back again. More shrieks erupted in the darkness. Had some of the creatures fallen into their trap? Was Sapphira trying to increase the number of victims somehow?
A hand touched her shoulder. “Let’s get going!”
“Sapphira? How did you—”
“I know my way around in the dark. Climb down! Hurry! I’ll be right behind you.”
Bonnie swung out into the shaft and let the rope slide through her hands, braking with her shoes only when the burning sensation in her fingers grew too painful. Within seconds, she felt the breeze from the next level’s opening and swung to the floor, then quickly backed away to make room.
The sound of bare feet slapping the stone followed. A fireball appeared. As it grew to the size of a baseball, it illuminated Sapphira’s palm and face. She whispered, “Come on,” and ran through the tunnel.
Bonnie dashed after her, again propelling herself with her wings. “How many of the ape men were there?”
“I think four fell in the trap,” Sapphira called back, “but there were at least six more. I’m not sure if they saw which way I ran.”
As they jogged along the stony path, they passed by a tiny spring pouring from a one-inch-wide hole in the wall. A bucket collected the water, but it had long since overflowed. The excess spilled to the floor and ran down a network of s
hallow cracks.
When they reached the entry arch to the magma river overlook, Sapphira stopped and set a hand on her chest. “Whew! That’s the farthest I’ve run in centuries.”
Bonnie looked back. “I think I hear something, that chatter those creatures make.”
“Let’s get out of sight.” Sapphira snuffed out her fire and guided Bonnie through the entrance. When they neared the ledge, the river provided all the light they needed.
Stretching out her wings, Bonnie looked over the side. “You came here to try to find the face, didn’t you?”
“We couldn’t all fit in the other hiding place anyway, and this was the first alternative that came to mind.”
“So if the face is on the cliff underneath us, do we speak to it from up here or from down there?”
“We might as well try from up here first,” Sapphira said, “but what do we say to it?”
Bonnie looked back at the tunnel. The sound of monkey chatter drew closer. “Moses was supposed to get water from his rock, so maybe we should ask this one for water.”
“It’s worth a try.” With Bonnie holding to her shirt, Sapphira leaned over the edge and shouted at the wall below. “Would you please give us some water?”
No reply came, only the low rumble of partially molten rock grinding against the walls on either side of the river.
As Bonnie pulled Sapphira back, a light appeared on the tunnel wall just outside the entryway. Bonnie spread out her wings. “They’re coming!”
“Fly me to river level,” Sapphira said. “We could ask the wall from down there.”
“It’s too hot to land.” Bonnie looked out over the chasm again. “Maybe we could fly in front of the cliff and find a face. If it has ears, we can talk into one. If all else fails, we’ll head to the other ledge.”
“It’s worth a try. But it will be faster and safer if you search without me. Remember the updrafts.”
Two hairy men crept toward them, one bearing a thick club and the other a flaming torch.
Bonnie pointed. “You can’t stay here with them.”
“I’ll fend off the monkey men.” Sapphira stepped back from Bonnie and spread out her arms. Her entire body erupted in flames, sending their attackers scurrying. “Now hurry. I can’t do this for very long.”
Flapping her wings, Bonnie leaped out over the chasm. A surge of hot air pushed her higher, but she quickly adjusted and angled down toward the cliff wall. Flying in a tight oval, she scanned the granite surface. Two deeply set clefts near the top could easily be eyes, and a rugged protrusion just below them made for a crooked but passable nose.
She flew lower. After flapping once, she let the upwelling breezes keep her in a glide. A deep hole, round and craggy, made the face seem like it was trying to blow out a flame. Yet, with the wall staying flat as far as she could see, there seemed to be no place for ears anywhere.
As she swept closer to Sapphira, she shouted. “No ears. I’m going to ask as I pass by the mouth.”
Sapphira, still in flames, kept her arms spread wide, while shadows jumped up and down nearby. “Okay, but I’m running out of energy.”
Bonnie flew back to the face. Just before reaching the circular mouth, she shouted, “Please give us water!”
Nothing happened. Bonnie passed by the mouth, made a tight one-eighty turn, and flew toward it again. Suddenly, water gushed out in a geyserlike surge. It blasted against her side and thrust her across the chasm and into the far wall. Her wing bent painfully against the rock, but its strong mainstay cushioned the impact, allowing her to push off with her feet and fly toward the precipice.
Now dripping wet from her waist down, Bonnie had to beat her wings hard to stay aloft. The hot updrafts had vanished, and her right wing faltered, likely bruised by the impact.
Her flames dwindling, Sapphira grunted as she flung fireballs at the approaching monkey men, now several in number. “You can do it!” she called. “You’re almost here!”
With a final thrust, Bonnie lunged back to the ledge and stopped just short of Sapphira’s flames. The attackers ran away, the last one with a flashlight in his grip. As they retreated in the inner tunnel, the glow dwindled for a few seconds before steadying. Quiet chatter echoed from wherever the hairy beasts had stopped.
“I guess they’re regrouping.” Sapphira shut off her inferno. “Good thing. You can’t fly me anywhere until I get cooler.” She touched Bonnie’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Bonnie shook her wings, throwing off streams of water. “Just a bruise, I think.” She hustled back to the edge and looked down. A three-foot-wide column of water shot from the face’s mouth and plunged into the river. Huge plumes of steam rocketed upward, filling the chamber with a misty cloud.
“Whew!” Bonnie waved a hand at the vapor. “I got back just in time. That steam would have cooked me.”
Sapphira fixed her gaze on the river. “And now we might have another problem.”
Bonnie joined her. Below, at the point where the water struck the magma, the river solidified. As the hardening magma piled up behind it, the flow of molten rock rose with the growing wall.
“How high can it go?” Bonnie asked.
Sapphira pointed at the far wall. “I think it will eventually seep around the sides of its own barricade, but with the water flowing faster than the magma, it’s hard to tell.”
Bonnie stared through the rising vapor. “It looks like the waterfall’s making a pool, and it’s swirling.”
“I noticed,” Sapphira whispered. “That must be our portal.”
Bonnie glanced back at the entry. The flashlight’s glow stayed steady. The monkey men still lurked, but they seemed to be coming no closer. “So do we go through it?” she asked, matching Sapphira’s low tone. “Or do we fly to the other ledge and warn Rebekah and Dallas about the rising magma?”
“I can’t see it rising all the way up here. Once it gets higher than the water source, there’s nothing to dam it up.”
“Will our new portal stay open if the magma creeps around the sides? I mean, if hardening magma caps it off, we might not get back.”
“It’s hard to say, but considering the prophecy, I think we have to see what’s there.” Sapphira touched the wounded wing. “Are you able to carry me down?”
Bonnie pulled her wing to the front and massaged a bruise on the outer part of the mainstay. “I think so. Going down should be easier than crossing the chasm.”
A shriek sounded from the tunnel. In the shadows, a line of hunched men drew near, snarling. One of them carried the bucket Bonnie had seen in the tunnel.
“The monkey-man fire department is here.” Sapphira pulled Bonnie toward the edge. “Let’s fly!”
A wave of water flew over them. Her hair dripping, Bonnie wrapped her arms around Sapphira’s waist. Just as one of the creatures leaped, she vaulted into the air. The beast’s momentum carried him over the side, and he plummeted, his hairy limbs flailing.
“When we get down there,” Sapphira shouted, “I’ll let you know if I sense a portal.”
A loud bang sounded in Bonnie’s ears, then another. “Did you hear that?”
“Gunshots? Did those freaks get reinforcements?”
“Maybe. Let’s hurry.” Staying close to the near wall, Bonnie flew around the column of steam and drifted downward from the cooler side. As they closed in on the whirlpool, the swirling water grew clear. It spun downward at least ten feet, guarded by a wall of steam and mounting rock that separated the pool from the oncoming magma.
“I can feel it!” Sapphira yelled. “The portal!”
“Do we just dive right in?”
“What’s the worst that could happen? We’d get wet.”
Bonnie grimaced. The words we could drown came to mind, but she decided it would be better to stay quiet. Elam’s prophecy had come true so far, so this portal had to lead somewhere. But to a dark world beneath all others? Would that be worse than drowning? Yet, with her injured wing aching, there seemed to b
e no other option.
As she neared the mouth of the whirlpool, she folded in her wings, held her breath, and plunged in feetfirst. The water, hot enough to sting her skin, sucked them down. Then, like a slide at a theme park, it zipped them along a twisting path. With her eyes closed, she could only feel the sensations—bubbles brushing past her face, a sense of coolness as the water tempered, Sapphira’s warm body in her arms, and a continued downward pull into a seemingly endless coil.
Her lungs now begging for air, and the rush of water slowing, she opened her eyes. Darkness blinded her. Thousands of bubbles continued to blow past, but not enough to allow her to catch a gulp of oxygen. Within seconds she would have to try, or else faint.
Just as she opened her mouth to gather bubbles, she burst out of the water. Her shoes struck soft turf, and she tumbled into a somersault, flying over Sapphira and sliding to a stop on her back.
Blinking, she sat up and looked behind her. Sapphira had already risen to her knees. In the dimness, she appeared as a dripping gray shadow against a darker background.
Bonnie climbed to her feet and helped Sapphira get up. “Can you call for some fire?” Bonnie asked.
Sapphira shook her hands, slinging droplets. Then, raising a palm, she whispered, “Give me light.”
Nothing happened.
She added a hint of sternness to her voice. “Give me light.”
Again, nothing happened.
“Are you too wet?” Bonnie asked.
“I don’t think I’m any wetter than I was at Morgan’s swamp.” She blew on her hands. “Maybe I flamed out scaring those monkey men. I’ll try again in a minute.”
A low voice rumbled from somewhere nearby. “You have no power here, dread Oracle. At least, not yet.”
Chapter 8
A New Dragon
Churning her arms and legs as fast as she could, Marilyn puffed. If Yereq didn’t slow down soon, she would have to fall back and follow his lantern light instead of his sprinting body. Sure, it was easy enough for Gabriel to keep up. He had wings to give him a boost, while she had nothing but weary legs. Following these two was like trying to compete with Superman and the Flash.
