The Chosen

by Theresa Meyers

  “Means we’re getting close to the temple,” he said as he whacked at the foliage, trying to create a footpath for them. China wished she could volunteer to help, but she’d done enough shifting for one day. Just walking was an effort.

  The white stones, now easily distinguishable as squared stones stacked atop one another, formed a massive stepped pyramid above the tree tops. They were close!

  The ground beneath their feet began to shiver.

  China looked at him, terror streaking through her. They were both thinking it. More bone warriors.

  Points of white polished bone began to poke up through the soil. “Blast! Don’t those things ever die?”

  “Do you ever get the feeling that perhaps those bone warriors were letting the jaguar herd us here?”

  Remington narrowed his eyes, taking in their surroundings, looking for a means of escape. He didn’t need to bother. She could have told him there was none.

  “Remington, are you even listening to me?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What did I say?”

  “Herds of jaguars.” But he wasn’t even looking at her; he was looking at the ground. More and more of the bone warriors sprouted up out of the soil, forming a solid blockade around them.

  Remington had his feet spread, his knees bent, and his arms akimbo, like a man ready to wrestle. He frowned. “They aren’t attacking. Why?”

  “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If it’s a standoff, that’s fine with me.”

  But it wasn’t.

  In a few minutes the warriors closed in tighter, until they formed a wall around them. China and Remington were stripped of their packs and weapons, but not physically harmed. Slowly the bone warriors began marching forward, pushing China and Remington along with them.

  China grabbed Remington’s hand, holding on tightly, terrified they’d be separated. “Where do you think they’re taking us?”

  They rounded the bend, and there before them the flat ground started to dramatically rise upward, a mix of gold and green and white. It took a moment to realize that this was the temple. She could barely make out the squared steps of the pyramid-like structure and the carvings through the layer of vines that had taken root and tried to reclaim it. Along the outside of it were rows upon rows of small rectangular windows on each step level. A long, angled stone staircase rose straight up the middle of the building.

  Remington’s steps slowed as he stared openmouthed at the temple. A prod in the back with a sharp spear point was enough to get him moving faster again, even though his legs ached and burned. Up ahead a dark square entrance was cut into the white face of the stone, and they were headed straight for it.

  “Looks like we’re getting to the temple just like we wanted.”

  “I didn’t want to come in here like this!”

  It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Inside the thick stone walls, the temperature was twenty degrees cooler and the air much dryer. His sweat evaporated quickly, leaving him chilled. China’s hand felt very small in his, her skin, cold and clammy.

  Lit torches lent a flickering light to the squared hallway that seemed to stretch into the bowels of the temple. Remington eyed the bone warrior up ahead. The thing had the Blaster strapped to its back. If he could just get close enough to get his hands on it, they might have a chance of ditching these strange creatures and delving into the secrets of the temple themselves to find Elwin’s piece of the Book. “Don’t worry. It’ll be all right.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. I’m working on that.”

  “Work faster, dammit!” The bone warriors didn’t seem to care about their raised voices. They just marched them steadily through the stone hallways decorated with painted carvings of sacrifice scenes, where bloody heads rolled away from the bodies and hearts were pulled from the victim’s chest and held high to the skeletal god looking down from above.

  “They mean to kill us.”

  His control finally snapped. “I know!”

  The hall continued until it opened into a massive central room with a raised stone dais at the far end. High above it loomed a huge stone replica of their skeletal god, his ribs forming a cage and his bald bone head crowned in an array of stone feathers.

  “Is that a sacrifice altar?”

  The blood on the altar was dried in flaky, rust-colored patches, but certainly not hundreds of years old. In fact, if he had to guess, he’d say it was far more recent, perhaps even from within the past few months. “Don’t panic.”

  “Don’t panic? Don’t panic! You can’t be serious! They’re gonna sacrifice us, and I’m just supposed to remain calm?”

  He flicked his gaze in her direction. “Just keep calm and I can get us out of this. Trust me.” Remington hoped they weren’t famous last words.

  Chapter 17

  The great stone rib cage of the skeleton god opened with a harsh grating noise. The sound scraped her already frayed nerves raw, making China shiver. Goose bumps of trepidation prickled her skin, as the sharp poke of a spear in her back propelled her forward through the opening in the sternum.

  The two halves swung closed with surprising speed, sealing them inside the cavity where she imagined giant lungs and a heart might have been. The convex bones, thick as her wrist, were carved of tan stone, and even a hard shake with both hands didn’t budge them. Too close together to squeeze through, too hard to break. They were trapped inside the cavity that was their prison.

  For the first time in millennia, if ever, the stone god had two beating hearts inside his chest. But for how much longer?

  A quick glance around the space showed it was no more than a ten by ten cell. There were several man-height rock formations protruding from the ground, making the floor space limited.

  She glanced at Remington. He’d made himself comfortable, sitting down on the cold stone floor, knees drawn up, head resting back against the rock. His eyes were closed.

  Irritated, China kicked his foot to get his attention. “How can you be so relaxed at a time like this?”

  He opened one eye. “I’m thinking of how to get us out of here.”

  “You could look like you’re actually trying, instead of taking a nap.”

  With an easy smile he closed his eyes again. “A nap—not a bad idea—but not going to help us much at this point. We have to wait for them to start fighting one another.”

  China snorted. “You really think that’ll happen?”

  He opened both eyes and locked his intense blue gaze on her. “I’m a student of human nature. If they revert to their warrior roots, they’ll want to sort our things and portion them out. That’s bound to cause conflict.” He closed his eyes again. “Just be patient.”

  But these damn things weren’t human. They weren’t exactly Darkin either, at least not Darkin she was familiar with. His relaxed appearance put her even more on edge. China put her hands on the rib bars of their cage and peered out at the bone warriors milling about the temple, preparing for their sacrificial ceremony. Remington was right. Now that they’d been incarcerated, the ordered behavior of the bone warriors seemed to dwindle.

  Four of them were digging through China and Remington’s packs, pulling out items, shaking them, and running their bony digits over them. They seemed to squabble in another language as they sorted. Three more were playing tug-of-war with the Blaster, their dusty voices rising as they talked louder and louder. Clearly arguing.

  “What are they doing?”

  This time he didn’t bother opening his eyes. “I told you. Arguing.”

  “Over what? Us? Over our stuff?” Were they arguing about what to do with the prisoners? Kill them, or . . . ? China rubbed the chill on her arms.

  “Over spoils of war. They’re warriors. This makes perfect sense.”

  She glared at him. Patience wasn’t one of her stronger attributes. “How’s that escape plan coming?”

  He grumbled under his breath. “If we wait long enough, we might n
ot have to do much.” He glanced at her, a sly smile lifting the corner of his mouth. “Care to place a bet on how long it takes one of them to figure out how the Blaster works?”

  At the thought of the bone warriors blowing themselves apart with Marley’s invention China returned his easy smile, suddenly feeling much better about their chances of escape. “You’re hoping they’ll destroy each other?”

  “Destroy themselves, create a distraction, I don’t really care which as long as it gives us a chance to find the entrance to the caverns Diego said run under this temple.”

  She rubbed the center of her bottom lip with the point of her index finger in concentration as her gaze slid over the room. She was growing antsy in the confines of the cell and needed to occupy her mind with something. Looking for means of escape seemed the best choice. “We need to look for clues. Diego must have left some sign when he came through.”

  “Look for the Hunter’s cross, a lion, raven, or palm tree, anything that might indicate the Legion,” Remington suggested as he rose from the floor and dusted his hands off.

  If his prediction of the warriors’ behavior was right, it wouldn’t take long. Time to find the mark was in short supply. While he ran his broad hands along the walls of their cell, she used her Darkin-enhanced vision to scan the rest of the huge room.

  It was immense. Each stone from ceiling to floor looked like it fit perfectly against the next. And while the outside had seemed neglected because the jungle had reclaimed most of it, here inside the temple, time had stood still. The paint on the intricate stone carvings decorating the walls was still vivid, the whites and blues, reds, yellows, and greens, all enhancing the grisly detailed scenes. She looked at each one, searching for some of the Hunter insignias, but found nothing.

  She pulled back, rubbing her burning eyes, trying to rid them of the dust-dry sensation. She blinked and sighed, looking at the sacrificial altar, a short distance beyond the bars of their cage.

  She’d avoided looking at it, not wanting to think about what would happen to them if Remington’s plan didn’t materialize. The tug-of-war between the bone warriors became more intense. They were growling and wailing in dry, skin-scraping shrieks at one another as they wrenched the Blaster back and forth between them.

  “Remington!” He turned.

  “Look at the altar!”

  He joined her at the bars, squeezing his face between the ribs so he could get a better look.

  “Just there, in the center on the back side of it. Do you see that lion fighting a jaguar? There’s a triple cross on the lion’s shoulder.”

  A buzzing hum filled the air, and the hair on her skin lifted with static electrical charge. One of the bone warriors had powered up the Blaster. They both looked up at the same time. The bone warrior who had managed to pull it away from the other two rested his hand near the trigger. The large cylinder on the front of the Blaster was glowing with pulsing blue electrical charge. The other two tried to grab the Blaster back.

  “Here’s our chance.” Remington pulled her back with him behind the cover of an outcrop of rock.

  ZZZott! A blinding blast of blue light, like a lightning bolt, filled the room, followed by the sound of shattering stone. China coughed at the haze of acrid smoke and sharp ozone that filled her throat.

  When the dust cleared a huge black scorch mark the size of a train car marked half the interior of the chamber. Where there had been bone warriors, there were now bits of ash, charred stone, and curls of smoke, and the vile stink of burnt bones in the air. The remaining skeletons scattered in confusion, their bony feet clattering against the stone floor. The Blaster still hummed. The warrior holding the Blaster turned the device to look at the business end.

  Remington picked up a stone from the floor and took aim and threw it like a skipping stone. The stone hit the weapon, triggering it. ZZZott! The bone warrior got a big electrical charge that vaporized his upper body.

  “Move!” He shoved her hard, slamming her body up against the back wall of their cell, covering her with his body. The Blaster clattered to the floor. ZZZott!

  He pulled away from her. China winced. Her whole back ached. “What were you think—” She stopped mid rant the instant she spied the smoking remains of their cell. Marley’s weapon had blown apart the half where she’d been standing. Without Remington’s quick reflexes, she would have been incinerated. Her eyes flicked up to lock with his intense blue ones.

  He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  Remington didn’t waste a precious second. He dashed out of the smoking remains of their cell and snatched up the Blaster from the floor before any of the other confused bone warriors had a clue what was going on. For now, they had scattered from the main chamber. Some fled down the long entrance hall; others had disappeared into the niches that lined either side of the temple. He crouched on the floor, using the altar as a shield, pulling China down beside him.

  Her cheek was dark with a smudge of soot. “That was impressive.”

  He gave her a superior look, even though their escape had just been by chance. “I know.”

  China rolled her eyes. “See, you had to go and ruin a compliment by being a know-it-all.”

  He smiled. “I’ll admit I don’t know everything. I just know enough.” He jerked his head at the abandoned packs on the floor. “We’ve got to get our packs before we go any farther. They’ve got Diego’s transcript of the codex, the stone statue, and our supplies.”

  China nodded. “I’ll get the packs. You stay here and figure out how we use the lion to get out of here.”

  Remington frowned, but nodded. “Be quick about it. They won’t be scared off long.”

  He looked at the altar, running his hands along the detailed carvings that had to be hundreds of years old. And yet there it was, the triple cross of the Legion of Hunters inscribed on the lion’s shoulder. The outline along the lion was deeper and more distinct than the one chiseled around the jaguar.

  Remington pushed on the lion, and the sound of grinding stone made him step back. The altar slid toward the front of the chamber and away from him, revealing a stone staircase that disappeared down into the darkness. “China!”

  She came barreling around the corner of the altar, breathing fast, her eyes bright and a pack on each shoulder.

  “That fast enough for you, Jackson?”

  He gave her a nod. China glanced down at the steps, then back at him, her eyes wide with terror. The lively pink color in her cheeks drained away. “We’re not going down there, are we?”

  “We don’t have much choice. Not if we’re going to get to the Book.”

  She worried her full lip between her teeth. “I don’t know if—”

  “We have to. This is our only way out.”

  The rattle of bone on bone and the dry wails of the warriors were growing louder. The warriors were coming back. She was hesitating, and he didn’t understand why. She’d been so brave, thus far. What about those dark stairs frightened her so? He could see it in the slight tremble of her body, the downward turn of her mouth, and the extra shine in her eyes that looked like she might cry.

  He grabbed her hand and held it in his and realized how small it truly was. Strong, but small. “I’ll be right there beside you. We’re in this together.”

  Her gaze met his, and the air between them charged. It raised the hairs on his arms, neck, and scalp. Something had shifted between them in a profound way. Danger had a way of doing that, but this was different. He could see the trust in her eyes. Deep down a part of the protective shell he’d always kept over his emotions cracked. In this moment they were each truly all the other had. It was only the two of them, live or die, and Remington realized he had to trust her in equal measure if they were to survive. He would have to trust her to guard his back as he’d guard hers.

  It went against everything he’d been trained to do, everything his Hunter education taught, but right now he was going by his gut to keep them alive—and his gut said trusting China w
as the right thing to do.

  “Promise you won’t leave me down there alone?”

  “Promise.”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll even head down first.”

  China squeezed his hand. “Just don’t let go of me.”

  Remington pulled a coil illuminator from the pack. Marley had assured him the brass tube with a glass lens at one end would provide ample light if it was shaken. He’d filled it with magnets coiled with wire. There was a fifty-fifty chance it would work beautifully or disfigure Remington somehow. He hadn’t been eager to find out, but the situation demanded a source of light, the sooner the better, and there were no torches around. It was getting hard to see the steps as they descended, and for all he knew they could just randomly drop off into nothing, a trap of Hunter design.

  He shook the coil illuminator. Clack. Clack. Clack . . . Rumble. Rumble. Overhead the altar began to slide back into place, sealing them in the stairwell. China grabbed onto him, her body coming up flush against his as the darkness welled up around them and swallowed them whole.

  She could barely breathe. It wasn’t that there wasn’t enough air; it was that her lungs refused to work. They’d frozen, just like the rest of her. The second she’d looked down those dark stairs, the smell of smoking skin and burning flesh had filled her nose. It was memory. She knew that in her head, but it didn’t stop her body’s violent reaction to it.

  The brand at the base of her spine would forever remind her of her link to Rathe. That he had claimed her as his property and forbade all others to give her sanctuary or help in the Darkin realm until he allowed it. And he would not allow it until she came crawling back to him and won his approval.

  Her body shook, and it took a moment for her to realize a voice was calling her name. “China! China! Wake up!” The press of warm hands to her chilled face brought her back to the present. A blue glow of light lit the stairway, and Remington was holding her close. In the strange glow that uplit his face, his brows were bent, deep lines scored around his mouth, and his eyes and his jaw ticking. “Can you hear me?”