Jane didn’t need to be told a second time. She turned and bolted away, running as fast her long legs would carry and glancing over her shoulder once or twice to check if the great creature was chasing them. Eriunia matched her stride for stride, and soon it was Tasker who was frantically pumping his legs as he tried to catch up with the other two.
“What in the world was that?” Jane gasped when she finally stopped running and the dwarf managed to catch them.
“That was a Naga, more common in places like distant India, but they found ways to spread even here to the new world. Many snake creatures were forced into our world after the Divide was raised,” Tasker said as he panted for breath. “Despite being a common-place animal, serpents of such size are too central to the greatest legends and were deemed magical and, therefore, subject to the ban. I didn’t know a Naga had made the trip here, however. This may complicate our efforts to return to Stockton Island.”
“Do you think!” Jane shouted. She looked nervously back towards the lake. “I’m not going anywhere near that thing again.” Then she paused and looked around. “How do we know it isn’t chasing us?”
“That particular creature doesn’t like dry land,” Tasker said. “I’m surprised he left the water at all.” He rose to his feet and motioned for them to follow him. “The place we seek isn’t far. I found it many years ago when I first …” he paused. “Well, when I was exploring the new world.” He glanced at Jane but found her more interested in watching the forest around them then noticing his near slip.
They walked north through the thick forest until the trees suddenly opened up and Jane found herself standing on the edge of a deep pit cut into the ground. Around the edge of the pit were the remains of ancient stone stairs. They circled the outside and led down into the gloom that filled the bottom of the pit.
“Where are we?” Jane asked. She knew her map didn’t extend this far, and the thought of being stranded far from any way of escape did not make her feel any better.
“In your world it’s called the Portsmouth Mine. It filled with water and was left,” Tasker explained as he stepped onto the first of the ancient stone steps. “In this world the pit was opened by a race of ancient dwarves who emerged from the ground soon after the Divide was created. They lived hidden from both sides until then. When they felt the power of the Divide sunder their world, they came to find out what had happened. Many of their people were stranded on each side of the Divide, and they never forgave the Seely Court for its decision.”
Jane followed Tasker down the steps. “What’s this Seely Court I’ve heard you mention?” She stopped for a minute. Then another thought hit her, “Are you telling me some of the dwarves still exist in my world?”
“We’re not sure if they still survive,” Tasker admitted. “There are places people on your side of the Divide haven’t explored under the surface of the world, and my people are experts at remaining hidden underground.” He paused before answering her other question. “As for the court, it’s a gathering of representatives from the most powerful races,” Tasker explained. “They’re the guiding force behind the committees and provide direction on issues that affect all the mythical and magical races.”
“They’re a bunch of busy bodies who should mind their own business,” Eriunia muttered from behind Jane. “They’re part of the reason the elvish race cut itself off from the worlds.”
An uncomfortable silence descended on the trio as they followed the edges of the irregular pit down into the ground. Around them the walls were damp and covered with moss, and the sickly sweet smell of rotting leaves and mold filled the air. Jane sneezed several times as she fought against urges to flee. The light faded until they were walking down into the ground in what seemed like the half-light of sunset. Jane looked up when they reached the bottom and decided they must be at least a hundred and fifty yards underground. The bottom of the pit opened up around them. Pools of stagnant water filled the dips in the ground. Tasker led them across the stone until they reached the side of the pit.
“There it is,” Tasker said slowly. He pointed at the symbol painted above the door, the image of the eagle surrounded the triangle shape and was painted in black with his wings outstretched as though protecting the stone door set into the side of the mine.
“Why would they retreat underground?” Jane asked. She had read some of the histories of what the Native American peoples had faced in her own world and wondered if it was at all similar.
“I don’t know the entire story,” Tasker replied. “I know Cain tried to contact them, and soon after horrible plagues broke out across their lands. Those who survived were hunted by Cain’s Adherents and were forced to flee. The last contact I had with Walks with Clouds was …” he paused for a moment. “Well, it was a long time ago.”
“How do we enter?” Jane asked. She put her hand against the stone and felt the rough surface, it was gritty and almost wet under her fingers but her thoughts kept returning to Jacob and his desperate plight.
“I don’t know,” Tasker admitted as he examined the stone portal. “This was as close as I was able to make it.”
Chapter 4
Dream Catchers
Silence descended in the musty pit as Tasker and Eriunia stood before the closed stone gate and examined the eagle painted above the mantel. Jane stepped back ten feet and looked up at the whole scene and tried to find anything she thought looked out of place or different.
“Couldn’t I draw a map of the pit and step behind the door?” Jane asked suddenly.
“If you were a runner, yes,” Tasker replied. “A good runner has that much control, but I don’t think it would be wise for a map maker to attempt it.”
“Can I erase the door for a minute, and we step through it?” Jane questioned. “Like I did with the tunnel at the Prison Islands?”
“It’s hand made,” Tasker pointed out. “If it was natural, yes, but with it being hand crafted, it’s immune to alteration by a map maker. It’d resist any attempt to remove it even for a moment of time. Remember, if I’m correct, this door was put in place to protect the Lost Ojibwa from Cain and his Adherents. They wouldn’t make it easy for anyone to enter.”
They examined the door, and Jane chaffed at the delay, every moment they stood trying to gain entrance to the underground mine was a moment closer to Jacob’s death. She couldn’t take the pressure. “We should have brought Jacob’s sword with us,” Jane muttered. “We could have cut the dang thing out.”
“Wait a minute,” Eriunia said suddenly as she leaned forward and examined the painting above the door. She reached up and touched the spot where the eagle’s single eye looked down at them. “Look, the eye isn’t just painted, it’s carved into the stone. The same thing is true where its heart should be. Look around the bottom of the pit. I’m willing to bet there are similar carvings somewhere else with parts that can be removed and placed into these spots.” She pointed to the two places and then began to poke around the floor excitedly.
Jane looked around, taking stock of the bottom of the pit. The area was less than a hundred feet across, and it had been mined into a narrow oval shape. From where she stood, she could see a number of pools and a couple of places where the stones of the floor had lifted up. Other than those features, the ground was flat. The walls around them were rugged but she could not see anything that looked out of place. Slowly she walked around until she was completely across the floor from Tasker and Eriunia but still could not find anything.
“I can’t see anything,” Jane called across the bottom of the pit. She looked around once more, and then thought about how the bottom of the pit looked vaguely familiar. Then her heart started to beat faster. She vaulted up a dozen steps until she could see the entire pit floor through the gloom. “Now I see it,” she laughed. She pointed down at the ground before her. “It’s the pools of water carved into the floor.”
Sure enough. Barely visible in the dim light, the pools of water matched the carved eagle above t
he door perfectly. She hurried back down to the floor and walked to where a small mound of stone marked the place where the eagle’s eye was located. They all gathered around and examined the stone. Eriunia suddenly pointed at a crevasse in the rock craftily hidden under a shadowy ridge in the stone.
Jane slipped her hand up and over the edge of the stone and felt around under the lip of the rock until her fingers found a round stone that came free in her hand. She smiled and pulled it out and found that she was holding a perfectly round stone that held the lines of a Lake Superior agate. The stone was brilliant red and muted brown with thousands of tiny lines that wove across the surface, forming what looked eerily like an eye that seemed to be staring at her. She walked across the pit floor and slipped the eye into place. The moment it touched the painted eagle, the painted lines shimmered for a moment and stopped as the eye rotated slowly and looked at them.
“Quick we need the heart too,” Jane cried. She ran to where the triangle pool of water was carved into the floor. The water was stagnant and brackish and the rocks at the edge of the small pool of water were covered with moss and algae. “Ick,” Jane muttered as she rolled her sleeve up and dipped her hand into the water. Oddly the water was cool. She felt around the bottom of the pool until her hand suddenly came in contact with the sharp edges of a stone.
“I think I found it,” Jane exclaimed. She tried to grasp it and pick it up, but the stone refused to budge. “It seems to be stuck,” she muttered in frustration. With a shake of her head she pushed up her other sleeve and dipped both hands into the water. Grasping the triangle stone in both hands, she pulled against it again. Suddenly it moved, but not in the way she thought it would. Instead of coming loose from the floor, it turned in a circular manner and suddenly a grating sound filled the bottom of the mine pit. She turned and looked at the stone door in anticipation, but, oddly, the door remained firmly closed. Instead the grating sound seemed to emanate from the ground around her. Then the water in the largest pools drained away, and a series of steps began to lower slowly into the ground until the eagle shaped pools of water had formed into a passage that led even deeper underground.
“You did it, girl,” Tasker said with a smile. He turned away from where he had been standing before the obviously fake door and walked to the head of the steps and peered down into the darkness. He rummaged around in his pockets for a few moments and pulled out a round wrapped package from an inner pocket. When he had completely pulled the leather wrapping off the stone, Jane saw it was a perfectly round white stone that glowed with a power that rivaled the brightest of flashlights.
“What is it?” Jane asked as she stepped closer and looked down at the round stone. Then she realized it was carved into the shape of a small round skull, and images of the last Indiana Jones movie leapt into her mind. “Hey, I’ve seen those before,” Jane exclaimed. She looked at Tasker as he raised an eyebrow questioningly. “I saw them in a museum …” she paused as he continued to stare at her. “Like where they stored the maps when I saw you at the Science Museum.”
“Ah,” Tasker said as he nodded. “Do the ones on your side glow?”
“No,” Jane replied. “In fact, the news clippings I read on them said that they were all fakes. The museum tags said they were made sometime in the last fifty years in Germany.”
“I highly doubt that,” Tasker said with a laugh. “Oh, I’m sure they were made in the Germanic States, but not in the last fifty years. It has been thousands of years since the Divide was put in place.” Tasker paused for a moment. “Maybe there’s more interest in the mythical in your world then I thought.” He shook his head as he held the small crystal high and started down the steps.
“How does it glow?” Jane asked.
“It pulls its power from the magnetic lines around the world,” Tasker explained. “The lines activate the power in the crystal, and they glow brightly. I bought mine in the market at Oberstein. They have a nice selection. A local band of gypsies carves them from crystal imported from one of the islands south of the Dark Continent.”
The tunnel leading down into the mine was dark. For a while the passage showed signs of being carved through the stone by hands and not by nature. Bits of chisels had been discarded near the walls where they had broken, and they saw cracked wooden handles. Jane even noticed a complete hammer leaning against the wall as though waiting for some unknown hand to return and wield it.
“They left things behind when they emerged, things not being used as weapons,” Tasker muttered when Jane asked him about the abandoned tools. “My ancestors were always spoiling for a fight, and they were disappointed when they failed to find one on the surface.”
“So are you telling me dwarves still hide on the other side of the Divide?” Jane asked suddenly. Her voice sounded odd in the underground cavern.
“Oh, I’m sure,” Tasker replied. “The Divide was a little more inconsistent as the power went underground.”
“How come no one’s ever seen them?” Jane persisted as she ducked under a low-hanging section of the tunnel and stepped over a pool of water.”
“Many of them live deep in the world’s crust,” Tasker replied as he stopped at an intersection of two tunnels and examined them both. “Below even where the humans deepest mines have managed to penetrate.”
“I thought the deeper you went the hotter it got,” Jane asked.
“For a while,” Tasker agreed. “The heat barrier was put in place to keep humans from venturing too deeply into the crust. There are other reasons, but I cannot speak of them at this time.”
“Why not?” Jane asked immediately.
“Because it is not for you to know,” Tasker repeated with a note of irritation.
“Why not?” Jane stated again. This time Eriunia giggled at the expression that filled Tasker’s face.
“It’s forbidden. That’s why,” Tasker growled. “Jane, there are somethings that have to be taken on faith. There are higher powers at work. I can’t prove it with science but I know it is true.”
Jane eyed the back of the dwarf and stuck her tongue out at him, making a face that made Eriunia snicker again. They were walking along a tunnel that angled steeply into the ground. Suddenly Tasker came to a halt as the passage stopped and a deep shaft opened up before them.
“What do we do now?” Jane asked as she leaned out over the hole and tried to see the bottom lost in the darkness.
“We climb down,” Tasker said. He leaned over the edge and pointed to a series of iron stakes driven into the wall pit.
“What!” Jane exclaimed as she examined the iron spikes. “I can’t climb down that.”
“Then Jacob will die, and you’ll be stuck here wondering if you can ever escape,” Tasker said as he slipped over the edge and carefully put his feet on the nearest steps. The spikes stuck out from the wall almost a foot and provided a slightly flat place for their feet to get a grip.
“It isn’t worth arguing with him,” Eriunia said as she patted Jane’s shoulder. “That, and I’m not sure if the passage up top is still open.” Carefully the elf wormed her own body over the edge of the mine and started down behind the dwarf. “Besides …” she popped her head back over the top. “He has the only light.”
Jane looked around as the darkness began to fill in around her and made her mind up immediately. She carefully sat down on the edge of the pit and placed her feet on the first two anchors. Slowly she turned around and let her weight rest on the spikes, she was happy to find that they held, so she slipped over the edge and began working her way from handhold to handhold. They continued down until Jane thought her arms would fail her and she’d fall, when suddenly the light became stronger, and she realized she was standing on the rocky floor of the mine pit next to Tasker. Two passages led off from the room that opened up at the bottom of the pit. Tasker examined them both before pointing to one of them.
“I think that way is our best chance,” he said.
“They both look the same to me,” Jane re
plied as she examined the passage he had not picked. In her current mood, she didn’t feel like making life any easier for the dwarf.
“Yes, but this side is marked with a dream catcher,” Tasker pointed to the ceiling above the passage to where a circular dream catcher was fastened to the ceiling. Four big feathers hung down to eye level. The middle of the circle was filled with a spider web of strands of some material they didn’t recognize. The feathers seemed similar to eagle feathers.
“All right, I see it,” Jane said as she yawned greatly. For some reason she felt the sudden urge to sleep, and she rubbed her eyes against the urges. “Wow, I didn’t realize I was so tired.”
Tasker took a step towards the marked passage and tried to hold his light high in the air, but his arms sagged in exhaustion. Jane tried to follow him but found her way was blocked by the sleeping form of Eriunia, who lay on the ground. Light snores issued from her lips.
“Maybe we could rest for a moment,” Tasker muttered as he slumped to the ground and rested his head on his arms. His breathing steadied. A moment later he fell into a deep sleep.
Jane caught her balance and looked around as a bit of adrenaline pumped into her system. She fought against the urge to sleep. She looked up again at the dream catcher and suddenly her blood froze and her heart beat wildly, banishing all thoughts of sleep and making a cold sweat break out across her forehead. In her mind she could hear the voice of one of her friends Tara Goodwing whose father was Ojibwa.
“Dream catchers filter the bad dreams out and let the good dreams in through the feathers.”
From the ceiling of the cavern hazy bits of light floated down and entered the web inside the dream catcher’s circle. Jane found just by looking at them she could tell some were happy thoughts and glowed merrily as they entered the web. Others were dark floating bits of evil dreams and nightmares that joined the others entering the catcher, but this catcher was letting only the dark dreams through. Tasker groaned, and a nerve rattling shriek came from Eriunia. Both of them thrashed about in their sleep as though trying to escape the darkness that was chasing them.
The Map Maker's Sister Page 4
