by Hanna Peach
“This is it. We need to go down,” said Do’hann from behind her.
Alyx shook her head. “I don’t think this is it. This crossroads is the right way up.”
“What are you talking about?” said Varian. “It’s clearly upside down.”
Alyx shook her head. “But remember the tunnels moved so that the ‘ground’ is now the ceiling. That means that this crossroads is actually the right way up. We’re the ones that are upside down.”
“You willing to bet your life on that?” asked Varian, a growl to his voice.
“I am.”
“Then we keep going.”
Alyx started to move past the crossroads when she felt Varian grab her shirt, yanking her back against him. Her body tensed as his breath touched her ear and a slimy chill rolled down her spine. “This better not be a trick.”
“Hey,” Alyx said, “if you get lost, I get lost too, remember?”
Varian grunted. Then he let her go. She swallowed, composing herself, and kept going.
Moments later Alyx heard the sound of gears started to click. “Here we go again,” she called out. “Keep an eye on the original ‘floor’.”
The tunnel rolled once more, this time the other way and this time for longer. She stared intensely at the original floor rolling around her until it stopped moving, three-quarters of a turn later. Now the original floor was on the ceiling. The clicking of gears stopped and a small thud sounded as if something had fallen into place.
She took another breath. Okay, Up is now Down.
“Everyone good to go?” she yelled back. She received affirmations, then kept moving.
Soon they came across a second crossroads. Exactly as before, the post came up out of the ground and five arrows pointed in each different direction. Like the previous crossroad, all these arrows said “Up”. But now that Down was Up, this crossroads was actually Upside-Down. “This is it. This is the crossroads the instructions were talking about. I think.”
“You think or you know,” Varian said.
“I know.”
“Then get on with it. The instructions were to go Down.”
Alyx nodded. “Which now means Up.”
Wait…a line of the instructions floated back to her consciousness.
…Remembering to inspect the True Up…
All the arrows pointed Up, but there was only one True Up. Alyx moved back to the crossroads post, reminding the others of this line in the poem.
“What do you think you’ll find, Alyx?” asked Tii’la.
“I’m not sure, but if it’s in the instructions, we can’t miss it.” She stared at the arrow pointing the True Up. It didn’t look any different than the others. But then nothing in this chamber had been what it first appeared.
She opened her Soulsight. There, a line of blue light ran around a square section of the arrow. It looked like a seam of some sort. She ran her fingernail around the seam and found a small slanted insert that she could get the edge of her nail into. The section clicked away and she was able to remove the thin piece of wood. There was a shallow hollowed space in the wooden arrow. Within it was a small brass key.
Alyx pulled it out and showed it to the others. “We’ll need this, I’m sure of it.”
“I’ll hang on to that.” Varian grabbed it from her and tucked it into a pocket.
Alyx made her way Down the tunnel. They were silent as they continued through the caves, the gears clicking into place every so often. Alyx stopping and watching the walls intently so she could remember which side was the True Up. At times it made her dizzy, but she ignored the feeling and just kept leading the pack past the second Left as per the instructions.
Something shiny and large appeared ahead in one of the walls. As she approached she realized that it was a golden door. But wasn’t this too early for the golden door? Was this the golden door that they had to go through?
“We’re here,” Varian said. “The poem said something about a golden door.”
Alyx frowned. They were missing something. She reread the instructions again. “No,” she said, as Varian slid the key into the lock of the door. “This isn’t the right one. It’s a trick. We have to make another Left. Remember the instructions:
‘And Left again.
Only when you reach the real golden door,
You know you’ve reached your end.’”
Varian glared at her. “How do I even know you’re not making these instructions up? How convenient that only you can see them.”
Alyx almost rolled her eyes. “You think I would doom us all? I want to find the Amulet just as much as you.” And get out of here alive. With Tii’la. “Look,” she said, as she scratched a section of the door with her fingernail. Flecks of gold flew from her nail, revealing copper underneath. “It’s not even made of real gold. It’s not a real golden door.”
Varian stared at her and the door for another beat longer before he snorted. “You’re just playing games now.”
“No, don’t!”
Varian turned the key and pushed the door open. There was a loud growl and a thundering of hooves from whatever was on the other side. Alyx couldn’t see what was through the doorway, but she could see Varian’s face twist into horror. A curse flew out of his mouth. He shoved the door but it didn’t shut. The thing that was on the other side collided with the door with an awful crash and Varian was almost thrown back. Alyx threw her weight against the door before the thing could get through, but she couldn’t get it closed either.
“Help me,” she screamed.
Do’hann and Tii’la rushed forward, joining Varian as he slammed his back to the door. They kicked back against the other wall to brace themselves.
“Close it, Goddammit!” Varian yelled as his face strained.
“I’m trying,” Do’hann yelled back as he pressed against the door. The door shuddered and groaned like a man in pain. Large claws scratched through the gap between the door and the frame closest to Alyx, leaving exposed copper gouges in the edge of the door. The creature’s claws were stopping the door from closing. It slammed against the door and the gap grew a little wider, allowing the thing to get more of its claws through. It rammed its weight against the door again. Whatever this thing was, it was smart and large and about to smash through the door if they didn’t do something.
Alyx grabbed the thin hidden blade from her ribs and slashed at the creature’s claws. It howled as her steel found purchase and blood flung from his wounded paw. It withdrew its claw and the door slammed shut. Alyx glanced once at Varian and Do’hann. They hadn’t seen her blade. She slipped the blade back along her rib to hide it again.
Varian turned the key and snatched it from the lock. As soon as the key left the lock, something heavy rammed into the door from the other side. The creature howled and hit against the door again.
“Thank God,” Alyx breathed. “Is everyone okay?”
Varian pointed the sword at Alyx. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Give me that blade.”
Dammit. “What blade?”
Varian scowled. “Don’t play smart with me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do’hann, kill Tii’la.”
“Okay, okay,” Alyx said. She reached for her hidden blade.
“Go slowly,” Varian demanded. “And no tricks.”
Alyx showed him her palm in a surrender to placate him and then moved her hand slower towards her ribs. She pulled the blade out by the handle using just her thumb and forefinger. “No tricks, see?”
“Drop it and kick it over to me.”
She did and her last weapon clanked onto the rocky ground like a death knell. Varian picked it up and studied the blade for a brief second. “Small but sharp. What were you planning to do with it? Stab me in the back?”
Something like that. But Alyx stayed silent. The last thing she wanted to do was to enrage Varian anymore. She knew from her dealings with him in Michaelea that he was unpredictable. In this bad s
ituation she was in, she needed as much predictability as possible.
As they continued on several more curved golden doors appeared in the sides of the tunnel. Alyx kept moving past them. They weren’t the right ones and thankfully Varian had learned from his experience with the previous fake door not to just go opening them willy-nilly.
After several more tunnel rolls and another Left, they reached what Alyx believed was the real golden door. She scratched her nail on the door and this time, no flecks came off. This was it.
“You open it,” said Varian, handing her the key. He took a step back and held his sword at the ready.
Great, Alyx thought, use me as a shield.
She stepped up to the door with the key and wiped sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. A bolt of apprehension flashed through her as she slipped the key in the door. What if it wasn’t the right one? Even though she had been concentrating on the tunnels when they had turned and she was sure she had followed the instructions, everything had looked so much the same that she couldn’t be sure.
What if something horrible was waiting for them on the other side of this door?
She turned the key. Please let this door be the right one.
Chapter 12
Jordan felt his shoulders tense tighter and tighter as he and Lukas followed the dark army. They stayed well enough behind them that it looked like a menacing cloud. After they had reached the southern Spanish coastline, the army turned north-northwest. Now they flew over England.
“What is Michael doing?” said Lukas as they flew over the vast city of London, stretching out like a strange desert of gray and white below. Few square patches of green were dotted like consolations around the concrete sprawl. “This army isn’t even trying to hide themselves from the mortals.”
“You’re right,” said Jordan. “He’s usually paranoid about the mortals seeing us…he’s stopped caring. He’s stopped caring, which means…”
“Which means?”
Jordan gritted his teeth. If Michael was no longer hiding the Seraphim from the mortals, it meant that soon, to him, the mortals wouldn’t be a “problem” anymore. “It means, war is coming.”
They continued on, flying farther and farther north until they were almost to the Scottish border. Jordan frowned. This army was headed to the west of Scotland. What was in the remote west of Scotland that an army would be interested in except for…
An icy fear gripped him as a growing realization reared its head. “Oh my God, Lukas. I think I know where this army is headed.”
Chapter 13
Alyx tensed as she turned the handle and pushed the door open just a crack, ready to slam it shut if she heard any growling or the sounds of a beast charging at them. But nothing happened. No bangs came from the other side, no growling. She pushed open the door a little more. Still nothing. With confidence now, she let the door open wide and stepped into the room.
It looked as though she was in some kind of lab. The room was long and rectangular, made of hexagonal crystal pillars, the edges making the walls undulate in a clean-edged pattern. More pillars dripped from the high ceiling and stopped partway down, creating a staggered honeycomb effect. The ceiling was comprised of more hexagonal pieces.
Dust coated everything. Within the room were tables and benches covered in large sheets of crinkled brown scrolls. The contents of variously sized and shaped beakers had long since dried, leaving behind a pale film or brightly colored crusty rings around the bottoms.
This must have been Raphael’s old office. Were they the first living beings to step foot into this place since Raphael died? It wasn’t cold in here but something about this chamber made the hair on Alyx’s skin rise…
She moved along the wall, marveling at the construction of this chamber. The crystal was warm to her touch and a light seemed to radiate from it. It must be from the sun, she realized. These crystal pillars pulled down light and heat to keep these underground chambers warm. At the end of the room was a red curtain. Alyx moved towards it, drawn to it, and drew the curtain back. Behind it was a rectangular display box, a shelf set into the wall like one that would be used to display art. But this one was long and started at her waist height. Up on the shelf − a flat gray stone with iridescent pieces − were five large copper vases. She ignored Varian, who fell in beside her. She opened up her Soulsight. Across the altar, blue cursive script appeared.
“Only within the greatest power on Earth will you find your greatest treasure. Placing your faith in anything else will lead to destruction.”
Across the five vases was a word written in Soulsight ink. From left to right they read: Thought, Magic, Anger, Love, Death.
Alyx ascended the steps to the platform. She reached out to touch the first copper vase and gasped at the icy coolness of the metal under her fingers. She peered in.
There! There it was! The missing Amulet piece shone like a gem at the bottom of the vase filled with water.
Really? Was it this easy? She stepped aside to the second vase. There at the bottom was an identical Amulet piece. Her heart sank. All five vases had identical-looking Amulet pieces at the bottom. Four fake Amulets and one real one, she just had to pick which one was which. The riddle promised “destruction” if she chose wrong.
Alyx spoke out the riddle of the vases to the other three and called out each word written across each vase. “We can only pick one vase. We can’t get this wrong, otherwise…” Placing your faith in anything else will lead to destruction. “It won’t be good, whatever the consequences are.”
“So what’s the answer?” said Varian.
“Magic is pretty kickass,” yelled out Do’hann from the other side of the room. He was bent over a bench inspecting a scroll.
Magic was…but the greatest power on Earth? Alyx stared at the vases, reading over the five choices: Thought, Magic, Anger, Love, Death.
It wasn’t Thought. Thoughts meant nothing unless followed by action.
What about Anger? No, she mused. It couldn’t be Anger. Anger was self-destructive. Look at Passar and his anger at the Elders over Elijah’s death, and look where it led him. His anger didn’t give him the greatest power, it only destroyed him and caused him to make weak decisions.
Love? Her heart skipped a beat when she thought of Israel. A smile spread across her face and her insides glowed, despite everything she was facing. But…he would one day die.
And if she let Michael get his hands on the full Amulet, thousands more would die.
Death, she thought, Death was final. Absolute.
It must be Death.
Alyx stepped up to the final vase, the word Death shimmering around the curve of the copper vase like lines of sapphires. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Placing your faith in anything else will lead to destruction…
Was it Death? Was she sure?
Alyx lowered her hand into the vase and hovered it inches from the surface of the liquid. It rippled at her as if a breeze was blowing across it. A memory entered her mind as if it had been blown in.
Israel leaned down to kiss her deeply. His eyes so deep and dark that she felt herself being pulled into them. “I love you,” he said, his voice growing fierce. “I love you, in this life and the next. I would die for you and be glad to do it.”
Alyx pulled back into her body and snatched her hand away from the water. The greatest power on Earth wasn’t Death.
Death was not absolute.
But Love was. She stepped to the vase named Love.
“Love,” Varian sneered. “Loving someone just weakens you. They can be used against you. You were right with your first choice. Death is final. Death is the end of love.”
She ignored him. Death was not the end of Love. She would put all her faith in Love, even over Death, and she would do it every time. She plunged in her hand into the water without another thought. The liquid was surprisingly warm, comforting. Her fingers hit the bottom of the vase and curled around the Amulet piece.
Everyth
ing became very still, deathly still. Alyx frowned and glanced left. To her complete surprise, Varian had frozen, mouth partly open as if he were about to say something else. Do’hann and Tii’la had frozen too. What in the hell was going on?
Before she could move, Alyx felt the water from the vase travelling up her arm and across her body, tugging on her. She was being pulled in by the water in the vase. She barely had time to blink before she sank, totally submerged in water.
Chapter 14
“Now swing your sword to block. That’s it. And again. Great work, Sparrow. You’re a natural.”
Israel lowered his practice sword. Sparrow withdrew his own wooden sword and beamed at Israel. He turned aside, waving the wooden blade in the air, then thrusting as Israel had taught him to do. The kid was picking this up fast. He had natural speed and balance. He just needed someone to teach him the basics and he would be a great swordsman.
Israel wiped his hand over his eyes at the sun that was dipping close to the horizon now. The training fields were empty, as the FreeThinkers were all inside getting ready for dinner. It was the perfect time to train Sparrow. He had seemed to want to avoid all crowds.
Sparrow turned the wooden sword over in his hands. “Do you think I could have a real sword one day?”
“Sure. Maybe you’ll get one for your birthday.” Israel grinned.
Sparrow looked away, an unhappy pout forming at his mouth. “Maybe,” he mumbled.
That hit a nerve. Better tread lightly here. “So, just out of interest,” Israel said casually, “when is your birthday?”
Sparrow snuck a look at him. “Dunno. Never had one.”
“But you know when it is, right?”
“No.”
Damn. The kid had never had a birthday. Israel knew his childhood didn’t rate very highly on the scale of happy childhoods, but at least his aunt always made sure he had a birthday cake. On the years she could afford it, even a birthday present.
“Well, we’ll have to rectify that. When do you want your birthday to be?”
