Sonora and the Scroll of Alexandria (Book #2)

by T. S. Hall

  It was silent for a minute as they thought about where the bomb could be. The time on the clock was now down to ten minutes left.

  Allora’s eyes grew wide, remembering her first visit to Shangri-La. “The statue! He made a tribute statue that he put in the main lobby of the acropolis.”

  “Of Zeus,” Mr. Swan added. “You’re right. It’s got to be inside the statue. It’s perfect. Zeus was the epitome of everything that Hades despised. Allora, you’re a genius!”

  “Duh,” Katie remarked.

  “Shut up,” Allora replied.

  “Theus, come in,” Milly said over her intercom as they all left the conveyance room through the blown-out windows and packed into the transport.

  “This is Theus. What’s your status?” a voice said, projecting throughout the transport.

  “Almas took us captive. He turned out to be Hades, and he’s planted a hadron bomb in the center of the acropolis, which will go off in about twelve minutes.”

  There was a slight pause.

  “You’re kidding, right?” he replied.

  “Negative. We are coming in with a transport. We’ve got to load that thing in and get that bomb as far away from the city as possible.”

  “That might be difficult,” Captain Theus answered, sounding completely exhausted. “We’ve neutralized the interior threat, but they’ve amassed a large air force that is hovering on the outskirts of the mountain. The entire city just went on full lockdown. The override would take twenty minutes just to bypass.”

  Milly breathed in deeply through her nose and closed her eyes. “Now what?”

  Sas looked toward his brother and said, “The falls.”

  Sas’s brother backed the transport through the main archway in the acropolis, a foot away from the large monument of Zeus. Mr. Swan lowered the back ramp, and a group of security forces walked around. Sas’s brother unhooked his seatbelt and walked to the back, which prompted an immediate response from Captain Theus and his men. Their eyes grew wide as they drew their pistols from the holsters on their sides.

  “Hold it right there!” Captain Theus yelled, aiming the weapon right at Barmanu’s chest.

  Sas walked in front of him and held up his furry hands. “Don’t shoot. He’s not who you think he is.”

  “Yes, he’s exactly who I think he is. A traitor and the enemy. I don’t care if he’s your brother.”

  “I have been working undercover as an agent of the SSS as code-name Apollo. Everything I did was for the guardians and the rebellion.”

  “Theus, we don’t have time for this,” Milly added. Captain Theus and his men kept their pistols trained on Barmanu. “Stand down now!”

  Captain Theus lowered his weapon and holstered the pistol, motioning his squad to do the same. Barmanu went back to the pilot seat to back the transport closer to the acropolis, while everyone else helped to lower the statue. They placed the large limestone figure onto a hover pad and pushed it into the back of the ship. Milly nodded to Captain Theus as the ramp moved up and closed.

  “You really think that you can navigate the falls?” Milly asked.

  “I’ve done it before,” Barmanu said as he flicked a couple switches on the overhead dashboard and lifted the ship up into the air.

  “And you made it through?” Milly asked, as the acceleration pulled her backward.

  “No, he definitely crashed the thing and ended up falling three hundred feet off the falls and almost killed himself,” Sas said, causing everyone to stare at him. “Well, you got a better idea?”

  “And what happens if we get out of those tunnels?” Milly asked, unsure about this plan. “Theus said that they have an entire fleet out there just waiting.”

  “We’ll have to jump,” Mr. Swan said.

  “Jump?” Katie squealed.

  “ Sas, can you make a targeted portal in midair?” Mr. Swan asked.

  “Are you insane?” Katie said.

  “I can do it,” Sas confirmed.

  Barmanu pulled back on the throttle as they got closer to the large waterfall that cascaded into the city.

  “Please fasten your seatbelts. This may get a little dicey,” Barmanu said over the intercom. Allora jumped into the front, placing herself in the passenger seat next to the pilot. “Are you sure you want to watch this?”

  “I hate not knowing where I’m going,” Allora said, clipping in the strap across her chest.

  “You may regret that decision.”

  At the top of the waterfall, there was a small, dark opening where the water poured out. Barmanu flipped on the outboard lights, which flooded the dark opening with light as they shot through the cave opening. The interior icy water glistened in the light as they skimmed across. A hundred feet ahead, there was a wall of water. Allora glanced at Barmanu, who was clutching the yoke. His whole body was tense and rigid. About five feet from the wall of water, Barmanu pulled up vertically, flooding the glass windshield with cascading water. He started counting out loud as they flew upward. After seven seconds, he turned his whole body right and then pushed forward, accelerating the transport over an arching outcrop. The windshield cleared of water, showing them a small opening in the cavern ground, like that of a large well. The ship glided in the air as the back went upward, with the front pointing down. As they got closer, Barmanu hit the throttle, and they took off straight down into the black hole. Allora was hanging onto the seat belt, watching the passing rock, like traveling through a wormhole. With no room to move, Barmanu held the stick steady. Any deviation from the current trajectory would cause the transport to clip the side of the rocky tube.

  “Everyone, hold on,” Barmanu said. “This next part is kind of a doozy.”

  Before anyone could respond, he pulled back on the throttle, causing the transport to lurch back. Then the tube opened into a field of enormous icicles, hanging randomly throughout the area.

  “No time to take this one slow,” Barmanu said, pushing down on the throttle. The lights glimmered on the ice, reflecting a multitude of eerily beautiful images in the dark cavern. “Hold on!”

  He took a sharp right, passing around an icy cylinder, and then dropped down under an ice shelf. The transport veered to the left, barely missing the pointed end of an icicle, and then Barmanu had to slam down on the stick to avoid crashing into a falling sheet of ice. The transport skimmed on the bottom, causing a screeching sound similar to nails on a chalkboard. Barmanu turned right, pushed the throttle, and inched under the ice sheet.

  “That was freakin’ close,” Allora said, clutching the arms of her seat.

  Barmanu didn’t even get through exhaling before the entire cavern shuddered. His eyes widened as the entire roof of icicles descended from its locked position. Barmanu pushed the throttle harder, maneuvering through the falling ice like a slalom skier. In the distance, Allora could see a very small light, covered in snow. She bit down hard, thinking about their exit from the icy tomb that seemed to want them dead. With only two hundred feet to go, a large chunk of ice hit the transport, spinning it to the left. They spun rapidly out of control. Barmanu tried to negate the spin, but every move he tried made it worse. With the current trajectory, they would slam into the rock. A second from crashing into the wall, the entire transport seemed to jump upward, moving it right in line with the small opening. The transport exploded the snowy cover, releasing it into the open air. Allora glanced back, where Milly had her arms out and her eyes closed. There was no doubt how they had missed certain death.

  Barmanu was able to get the transport back into his control, and they popped out of a fog, revealing a speckled sky above the Himalayas. Now they knew what had caused the sudden earthquake. Allora’s jaw dropped at the amazing yet terrifying scene laid out in front of the small transport. The sky was covered with floating ships of varying size and shape, hovering above like vultures circling an animal, waiting for it to die.

  “Oh, Zeus,” Barmanu said as a barrage of lights escaped the black hulls of the ships.

  Sas�
��s brother took a hard right and dropped down into the snowy fog of the mountains. A barrage of hadron bursts exploded into the rock, showering the transport with ice and debris. The smaller ships and hovering skimmers began their pursuit.

  “We have to go now!” Milly screamed among the violent explosions and howling wind.

  The clock only had a minute left. The ship’s constant direction changes slammed them into the walls as they made it to the back of the transport. Mr. Swan let out the back ramp. The wind and cold blew through the cabin.

  “Barmanu, let’s go!” Sas yelled.

  From behind them, they could see the dark shadows of the pursuing ships.

  “You have to go without me,” Barmanu yelled back, turning into a crevice in the mountain, which shielded them from the onslaught of hadron missiles that trailed behind. “The automatic pilot is destroyed. You can’t survive unless I get this thing out of the way. Now go!”

  Sas didn’t have time to argue. The clock showed thirty seconds. Barmanu turned back for one last look at his brother. This was the moment that they had trained for, the one event in time that all honorable warlocks dreamed of from their birth. The heroic sacrifice of protecting those they loved was the ultimate honor. Sas nodded and then pushed everyone out of the back of the transport. The chilling air pierced their skin, like miniature knives cutting all at once. There wasn’t much airtime as they descended toward the sharp, jagged rocks of Mt. Everest. Sas swirled his arms in midair as Milly and Mr. Swan maneuvered like professional skydivers, scooping up the flailing teens. Allora turned, with her back facing the ground, watching as the transport got to its top speed, heading straight toward the dragon-class cruiser that hovered in the sky like a mountain above the earth. The transport dodged the multitude of hadron bursts as it exploded into the cruiser. The bomb blew the cruiser apart, and a large fireball grew outward.

  Allora turned her body around to face the ground as Sas pushed out the cloud of hadrons, creating a beam of energy that hit the ground, causing it to swirl. Allora leaned to the left, trying to get to the mass of people falling through the air. Sas grew the portal opening larger, but Allora was still out of range. With her current trajectory, she would smash into the rock. Milly spun her body sideways, grabbed her daughter’s falling body, used a hadron bubble to force a change in trajectory, and slammed into the group as they hit the expanding portal.

  Twenty-Five

  NOAH

  Allora felt the familiar pressure pulling at every cell in her body. She shot out of the portal and landed in the shallows of a lake. They crawled out of the frigid waters and collapsed on the soft, grassy plain.

  “Crystal Lake,” Allora pronounced while shivering.

  “Yes, I had to dump us outside of the perimeter shield,” Sas said, shaking the water out of his furry coat. “The port inhibitors wouldn’t allow us any closer.”

  “We need to get back to town and evacuate it,” Milly said. She looked as though the water hadn’t even affected her. The battle suit had prevented any cold from getting to her skin.

  “We need to get to the school and find the scroll,” Allora said, helping Katie up from the grass. “They will send everyone to get that thing.”

  “That is exactly why you and the other three are going to Sas’s cave,” Milly said.

  “Mom,” Allora pleaded, stomping through the field. “I left the Eye in my locker as well. I have to go back and get it.”

  “ Sas, you will take Allora and the other three to your cave and then rendezvous in Sandy to coordinate the evacuation.”

  Milly took out the skipper rod from behind her back and sparked it. It unfolded and melted down in the shape of a rolling carpet.

  Mr. Swan pulled out his own skipper. “Don’t worry. I’ll find it,” he said, giving Allora a wink.

  They took off, skipping over the tree line, west toward town.

  “Sas, we need to get to our school,” Allora pleaded, knowing there was no way to get past the furry guardian.

  “Milly be having a point,” Sas said, swirling his arms. “If that scroll thing be where you say it be, they are going to send everyone they’ve got to get it.”

  “That’s why we need everyone. We’ve got to search for it!” Tanner added.

  “I’m sorry, but your safety is more important,” Sas said, pushing out the hadrons to create the portal.

  Sas instructed everyone to jump through. They landed at the edge of the perimeter, right near the sentry tower of Sas’s cave. After navigating the interior and pushing through the liquid rock wall, they congregated near the pond inside the cavern. Sas put on a few more weapons and attached a sash and belt. He now looked like a warrior. He left the cave, telling them to stay inside. Just to make sure, he locked the exterior walls, making it impossible to get out.

  “What are we going to do now?” Dax asked, taking a drink of water.

  Allora took a towel and dried off, exchanging her clothes with some that she had left there previously. Katie and Tanner did the same, followed by Dax. Then they sat by the pond, defeated looks plastered on their faces as they stared at the blue bugs swimming around on the bottom. Allora pulled out the sapphire orb that was snugly placed in her wet jeans. The perfectly round orb remained still, unwilling to share its one secret. Allora thought back to the pyramid, sitting inside the portal chamber and watching the golden light show them the exact location of the scroll. It was so close, yet they still didn’t know how to get to it. That’s when she realized that Sas had his own portal chamber in the back of the waterfall. Her eyes grew wide in excitement. It was a long shot but worth a try. Without a word, she sprinted behind the cascading water.

  “Where is she going?” Dax asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’ve seen that look before,” Katie said, getting up from the ground and running after her best friend.

  Dax and Tanner followed, walking into the large, round chamber as Allora was placing the sapphire orb into the center of the chamber floor. It was slightly concave, allowing the orb to stand on its own.

  “Great. Another dead end,” Katie said, after waiting for a minute without anything happening.

  “You’re such a pessimist,” Dax said.

  “I’m the pessimist?” Katie argued. “You’re about as negative as they come. Everything is doom and gloom with you.”

  They kept arguing as the entire floor jerked them off their footing. The bottom descended slowly, spinning on an axis. The entire thing was an elevator, dropping down into a cavern below. The blackness was only illuminated by the flicker of the glowing orbs above. Allora focused her mind and pulled the orbs below, further illuminating an expansive chamber carved into the rock. The walls were painted with artwork that was worn from time but still legible. Beautiful landscapes and epic warriors fought with spears and swords in a never-ending cycle of battles that wrapped around the walls.

  The rocky elevator shuddered as it hit the bottom. They stepped off and walked forward toward what sounded like rushing water. As they stepped through the dimly lit cavern, the sound got louder. Allora dropped the orbs down so that they could each carry one. When they got to the other side of the cave, they noticed what had been making all of the noise. A stream of groundwater to their right was flowing down a slide that dropped into total darkness.

  “No way,” Katie exclaimed, knowing exactly what Allora had in mind. “I am not doing this all over again.” Allora stuck out her bottom lip, tilted her head, and fluttered her eyes. “No. Nuh-uh, no. Not happening. No, no, no!”

  “Whatever, you sissy,” Dax said, shoving his twin sister to the side and walking backward toward the water slide. “This is my favorite part!”

  Dax leapt backward, launching himself down the slide with a yell of pure joy.

  Tanner smiled wide and jumped after his friend with a similar scream of excitement. Allora shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “You coming?” She extended her hand. “Forever together?”

  Katie took her best friend’s hand and stan
ding on the edge of the watery abyss. “Forever together.”

  “One…,” they said, smiling reluctantly at each other, “…two…three!”

  They leapt down the slide. The water was bone chilling, causing both to exhale as they careened down the smooth slide. The orbs gave them minimal visibility as they zoomed through the rocky tube at over forty miles per hour. The slide turned right, then left, and then right again. They screamed as their bodies were taken in a loop. Allora figured that they were heading west toward town but couldn’t be sure of the direction.

  After ten minutes, the tube opened up wider. Ahead they heard a terrifying scream that echoed through the tube. The girls looked at each other, unsure of what was about to happen. Up ahead there was a large opening into complete blackness, and there wasn’t anything they could do but scream as they dropped off a four-hundred-foot waterfall. Their bodies flailed wildly through the air. Unable to find the ground, there was no way that Allora could stop herself with a hadron bubble. She finally saw the white water of the falls splashing into the pool below, but it was too late to do anything about it. A wave of water met with her and Katie as they fell, slowing their descent. Allora pushed her feet down, just in time to meet the pool below. The impact still hurt, but she was alive. Allora kicked to the top, spitting up water. She looked around, but Katie hadn’t emerged. She scanned back and forth, sifting through the dark pond. Katie burst to the surface, choking emphatically.

  “I swear to God, if you make me do that again, we are no longer friends,” Katie said as they crawled along the clay at the edge of the pool.

  Tanner was lying on the shore with his back against the ground and feet still in the water. Allora took his hand and smiled, knowing that he had just saved their lives. The pool was glowing from the four orbs that they had been carrying. Allora pulled in the hadrons and lifted the glowing objects out of the water and into the darkness. As the round, glowing orbs filled the blackness with light, sharply edged shadows covered the walls, followed by the outline of something the size of an overturned building. Then they saw the landing gear, rounded cockpit, and extended back of a large spaceship. It was the shape of a rounded arrowhead that extended to over three hundred feet long and almost one hundred feet high. The sides of the ship were covered in dirt, roots, and clay. The orbs got closer, illuminating the confirmation that they had arrived at their destination. Barely legible was the black writing of Alexandria ARC next to a large window at the front of the ship.