by Sophia Sharp
They did, and began looking on the seventh and final story. Light streamed in through cracks in the ceiling mortar. Thankfully, that alleviated some of the feeling of stuffiness that bothered Nora so much before. They went from room to room slowly, checking the walls for hidden enclaves, knocking on the floorboards for a hint of a storage space, all to no avail. As they entered each new room, Nora’s dread about the expedition grew. Every room they found empty was another failure. It not only reflected on her abilities as a leader, she thought, but also made the entire purpose of her mission to take down the elders seem more and more forlorn.
They opened the door to the final, unsearched room, and immediately Nora’s heart dropped to her knees. The space was empty.
“I’m sorry, Nora,” Hunter said gently at her side. “I was so sure…”
“It’s not your fault,” Nora said. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she blinked them away angrily. She had been so foolish to hope! They were never going to find the repository now. The elders would surely discover them soon, and they all would have to face the consequences for what she did. For who she was. She was sure the real reason the elders began the pursuit after her was because they knew the prophecy, and not because Hunter showed her the dream realm while she was still human. They lived to annihilate any perceived threat to their power. She was just that, thanks to the prophecy.
But now, she had failed, and everybody who had aided her would suffer! She took a deep breath. The only way to salvage the situation – if she could call it that – would be to turn herself in to the elders. Maybe that way the others wouldn’t be hurt. Maybe if the elders found her alone, Hunter and Alexander and Madison and Jacob could still survive. If she was going to be found, she couldn’t let those she cared about be hurt alongside her.
“Hold on a second,” Alexander said slowly. He walked into the room, all the way up to the far wall. He turned around, walked back to them, then went to the wall again, counting the steps under his breath.
“What is it?” Nora asked.
“This wall here,” Alexander said. “I don’t think it ends where the one in the neighboring room begins.”
“A hidden space?” Energy returned to her voice. If Alexander was right, there was still a tiny sliver of hope…
“Yes, I believe so. Hunter, go into the other room. Come up to this wall, approximately where I’m standing, and knock three times. If I hear you, I’ll knock right back.”
Hunter nodded and raced down the hallway into the other room. Nora watched from the doorway. Alexander stood by the wall, examining it for any faults and waiting for Hunter. After a few moments, Hunter ran back.
“I knocked,” he said. “You didn’t hear anything?”
“I heard it faintly,” Alexander said, “but not at all like I should if you were on the other side.”
“So something’s in there,” Nora said.
Alexander nodded.
“Yes. Cleverly hidden into the architecture. Come out into the hallway. I have a feeling we’ll find a way in out there.”
Nora stepped aside to let Alexander pass, then followed him and Hunter into the hall. Alexander counted his steps again, stopped, then turned to face the wall. He motioned toward it.
“Right here,” he said, “is where the first room ends.” He took a few paces farther and again pointed to the wall. “And here,” he said, “is where the second one begins.” He took a step back to look at the space he had marked. It was about six or seven feet in length. “We’ll have to tear down the wall.”
“Yes,” Hunter agreed.
“Do we have any tools?” Nora asked.
“Don’t need tools when we’ve got our hands,” Hunter said slyly. He stepped beside Alexander and placed a powerful punch right into the wall. The building shook and dust showered down from above. Hunter stepped back and did it again. Once more, his fist sent a shockwave through the entire structure. Cracks spread across the mortared wall. Hunter punched it again, and cracks erupted all over. Bits of mortar fell off.
“Very smooth,” Nora said laconically.
Hunter shrugged and grinned. “This way we can grip the edges of the wall.” He reached for one and ripped it off. Underneath, Nora saw a dark metal surface. Quickly, she stepped beside Hunter and began to help. Alexander joined in too, and it wasn’t long before the three of them had torn down the entire mortared wall. Underneath the plaster was a heavy iron vault-like edifice.
It rose from floor to ceiling, and its front covered the entire space they had excavated. There was a single, solid door carved onto the front, and around it was a bizarre frame of angular shapes. Nora took a step closer, and what she saw erased any doubt about the nature of the vault from her mind. Inscribed between those shapes, in a tiny, thin hand, were symbols she recognized. They were the same symbols – or at least, of the same type – as the ones that had been on the vault entrance down in the mines. This was it! They had found the repository!
She gave a happy squeal and wrapped her arms around Hunter then Alexander in turn. “We did it!” Nora exclaimed. “Hunter, you did it! You found the repository!”
“Let’s not celebrate quite yet,” Alexander said, in a bemused tone. “We don’t know how we’re going to open that.” He nodded at the thick door.
“It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?” Nora asked, coming up to the door. “We just pull—”
“Stop!” Hunter commanded gravely. Nora froze.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I recognize the symbols. It’s angelic script. And I think… I think it’s a warning. Alexander, will you look at this?”
Nora stepped aside as Alexander and Hunter moved closer. Carefully, Hunter traced his fingers along the shape of the doorframe. “Right here,” he said, tapping his fingers against a particular inscription. “I don’t know exactly what it means, but I think it signifies danger.”
“I believe you’re right,” Alexander said slowly, once he’d had a chance to examine the marking. “It’s a warning against opening the vault.”
“But we have to go inside,” Nora said. “We need to get the torrial in there.”
Alexander turned around. “Are you sure? Perhaps just knowing where this is will be enough. We can meet the angels here in the dream realm.”
“And then what?” Nora asked. “We need access to the torrial, both out here and in the dream realm.”
“But, the warning,” Hunter began.
“Of course there’s going to be a warning,” Nora cut in over him. “The torrial were sealed away because of their danger, remember? We need them, though. Do you think if the elders had access to them, they would shy away at the last moment?”
“Absolutely not,” Hunter said. “But that doesn’t mean we have to rush head-first into it. We don’t know what’s inside.”
“Torrial are inside,” Nora said. “Step aside. If you two aren’t going to do it, I will.”
She pushed through Hunter and Alexander and placed her hands on the handle. She knew she was being rash, but it was beyond time to get to the torrial. They didn’t have forever. She lifted the handle and pulled.
Nothing happened.
She tried again, summoning all her strength. The door remained in place.
“It’s locked,” Alexander said coyly, “but I do not see a keyhole anywhere.”
“How is that possible?” Nora asked.
Alexander came over to examine the handle. “You’re sure you want to open it right now?”
“Yes!” Nora said.
“Fine. Let me try.” Nora moved away to give Alexander space. He lifted the handle much as she had done and tried to pull it. Again, brute force did not budge the door. He knelt down, looking at the handle carefully. He tried twisting it side to side, and moving it up and down, but Nora couldn’t see a mechanism to make the door open. Alexander tried pulling again, with the same result.
“Strength is not the answer here,” he said finally. “I believe the door has been locked fro
m the inside.”
“From the inside?” Nora exclaimed. “How? Why?”
“Most likely,” Hunter said, “to keep everyone out.”
“But there must be a way to open it, right?” Nora asked. “I mean, why would they put the door onto it in the first place, otherwise? Alexander, do you think we can access the lock somehow?”
He shook his head. “Only from within.”
“Then what do we do?”
“I don’t know,” Hunter said.
“We can’t just come so close and then leave!” Nora exclaimed. Pushing by Hunter and Alexander, she tried the handle again. No matter how hard she pulled, the door would not budge. Hunter tried after her and then Alexander. No matter what they did, though, they could not pull it open.
They sat back, exhausted by their efforts. The vault stood there, mocking them. Nora sulked. They were Vassiz, possessing supernatural strength. If the door was locked, they should have been able to force it open through sheer strength!
Nora slumped against the opposite wall. She stared at the vault angrily. They had come this far, searched for three weeks, only to have failed the very moment they found the repository? She wouldn’t believe it. There was some way to open it, and she wouldn’t leave here until she figured it out.
Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she spotted that same dark shadow from the chest. It was crawling on the edge of the floor, slinking toward her. This time, she definitely was not imagining it. She started to get up, to alert the others to its presence – but something told her not to. Instead, she sat still and watched it move. It slid along the floor, never altering speed, moving as an amorphous blob. Nora watched, fascinated. It came all the way down the hall before stopping right in front of her. For a split-second, Nora felt like the shadow was commanding her to remain quiet. Before she had a chance to do anything, it zipped to the locked vault and slipped into it under the crack of the door. Nora heard a distinctive click.
She looked at Alexander and Hunter, who had their heads pressed together in conversation beside her. They appeared not to have noticed.
Nora stood up slowly, as if moving underwater. She walked toward the vault door, placed her hand on the handle, and pulled toward her.
The door came open.
Chapter Seven
~A Shadowed Threat~
Hunter was the first to notice.
“What did you do?” he exclaimed. “How did you get it open?”
Nora ignored him, completely entranced with what she saw. The inside of the vault was lined wall-to-wall with all types of artifacts. They ranged in size from as big as her pinky finger to larger than the chest they encountered before. And they were truly diverse. There was a stout metal goblet rimmed with red rubies, an oddly curved walking stick, the handle ending in a carved impression of a boar. There was a chair unlike any Nora had seen so far on the other side, with a seat that seemed to sag down to the very floor. Along the other wall was a series of small figurines, each depicting a ballet dancer in various stages of flight. Many of the items she saw were decorated with rubies and precious stones. Some, she could not distinguish at all; for example, an interlocking grid of metal braces that made a cage around three, fist-sized concentric spheres. And yet, from the moment she laid eyes on all these things, she knew them for what they were. Torrial.
“Nora?” Hunter called out behind her. She could hear him starting toward her but didn’t pay him any mind. She had just uncovered an absolute treasure. She couldn’t let anyone else have it. A commanding pull came from the far corner of the vault. There, she recognized the dark shape from before. The shadow was beckoning her inside, enticing her to cross the threshold and step into the repository. She didn’t want to share the treasures with anyone.
She stepped inside, and before Hunter or Alexander could do anything, shut the door behind her. She heard the click of the mechanism as it locked into place. A pounding noise began on the other side, but it was muted. Neither Hunter nor Alexander would get in. The treasure was hers, all hers.
She stepped dreamily toward the first row of artifacts. She could feel the shadow’s presence lurking near the rear of the vault, but she was unafraid. Or rather, unconcerned – all she could think about were the torrial that lay in front of her. The pounding noise drifted away as Nora reached out to pick up the nearest torrial…
A wicked shadow flashed in front of her vision, momentarily blinding her. She staggered back. The shadow darted in front of her again, racing over the row of torrial. It moved back and forth, back and forth, and every time it did, it left pieces of black over the items. The black pieces grew like a coat of paint, encompassing each torrial in turn.
Nora felt a stab of fear in her stomach and realized what she had just done. Somehow, the shadow had lured her in here – and separated her from the others. She moved quickly to unlock the vault door, but when she turned all she could see was black.
She took an uncertain step toward the door and reached out. Her hands should have met the cold iron, but instead, they felt…nothing. A noise behind her startled her and she whipped around. What she saw made her feel true terror for the first time in her life.
Everything that had been there before was gone. The torrial were not there. All she could see was never-ending darkness, extending indefinitely in all directions. Every now and then the darkness shimmered, creating a type of black enclosure much the same size as the vault had been. The black walls waxed and waned dizzyingly, though, and morphed in shape and size like in some kind of bad dream. And there, standing right before her, in a black deeper than should be possible, was the figure of a single man.
He had no eyes, but Nora knew he was watching her. The ends of his arms and legs trailed off in wispy ends, connecting him to the darkness that surrounded everything. She knew he – or it – was what the shadow had been. He was what lured her here.
His arm morphed into the scythe of a blade, and he lunged at her. She jumped out of the way, but the man – creature, shadow, whatever it was – was impossibly fast. A part of its blade caught the edge of her shirt, causing the fabric to hiss and burn. If Nora had been just a split second slower, her arm would have been sliced right through.
Before she even had a chance to regain her balance, the creature lunged at her again. It moved with the deadly grace of a snake. Nora backpedaled out of the way desperately. The walls continued to shrink and expand, playing tricks on her mind and on her assessment of distance. In stroke of pure luck, she realized she had believed the man-shaped shadow to be closer than it actually was. The small difference was enough for Nora to avoid the second blow and scramble to her feet. The walls pulsed menacingly in on her.
Nora barely had enough time to orient herself before the shadow struck again. It aimed right for her head. Nora jumped back, narrowly avoiding the vile blade. She felt the rush of air from the swipe on her face.
Desperately, she felt out for something she could use to defend herself. Something, anything would be better than her bare hands. Instinctively, she knew that if she let the shadowed blade touch her, she would be worse than dead. She knew that unless she could find an advantage soon, she stood little chance. The shadow seemed to be made for killing, and it was more than a match for her. It was the first thing she ever encountered that moved faster than a Vassiz.
Her empty hands grabbed at air, finding nothing. Where there should have been torrial there was nothing. Where there should have been walls, there was nothing. Nora was sure this was not the human world anymore. She suspected that somehow, the shadow had pulled her into some sort of vortex. A vortex that, potentially, existed between the real world and the dream realm. There was nothing there except her and the creature.
The man-shaped shadow did not strike at her immediately after the last miss. Instead, it had taken to slowly circling her. It was almost like it was teasing Nora, daring her to fight back. Knowing she could not.
The shadow made a move toward her. Nora jousted to one side. The strike did
not come – the creature was just playing with her. It pulled back, and stepped to one side. Nora could feel its unyielding eyes on her.
It made another abrupt move toward her, but this time Nora didn’t flinch. Again, the actual strike didn’t come. She wouldn’t be caught entertaining this thing like that. If she had to fight, let it be on her own terms. Nora felt the shadow tense, angry, and take a slow, agonizing step toward her.
Suddenly Nora noticed a glitter of something near the creature’s chest. It wasn’t there all the time, but when the shadow moved…she caught a peek of it again. The darkness that made up the creature swirled and fogged around it to give it shape, but every so often the barest hint of the glimmer would come up. What was it?
The creature lunged for her, not faking it this time. Nora waited until the last moment and sidestepped the attack. It was close, though – she felt the air rush past her along with the shadow. She knew the creature wasn’t going at full speed.
She saw the glimmer of light again. It looked like there was a…gem, or something like that, embedded into the shadow’s chest. As the dark shape turned back, Nora caught another glimpse of it. It seemed to be glowing, but the shine was swallowed up by the greater shadow. It seemed familiar, somehow.
The creature had turned back, slowly. Hate radiated from it, directed purely at her. It was done playing games. The next time it struck, it wouldn’t miss.
Suddenly Nora realized what the glow was. It was the same light of every active torrial she had ever seen. Was that how the shadow was operating? Maybe if she could separate the jewel from the shadow… It was her only chance.
The shadow vaulted at her. She ran back, but then pretended to stumble and lose her footing. The creature fell for it. It streamed toward her with a maniacal intensity. At the very last moment, Nora caught herself and whipped around. She dove right at the creature’s chest – right at the gemstone.
