C. J. Barry - Unearthed 01, page 25
She followed on his heels as he led her through row upon row of statues. The lightballs lit up each row, but beyond the light were hundreds moredark shadows that seemed to follow their every move. For a thousand years, she thought, they had stood here. Waiting, watching. Now they all seemed to be watching her. In fact, she could swear they were all facing her wherever she looked. How could that be? She could have sworn that they were pointed in the same direction when she and Cohl started. She shot a terrified look around her and found them facing her, no matter where she stood.
She suddenly felt very much alone.
“Cohl?”
There was no answer.
Tess froze in her tracks in Tink’s little circle of light.
“Cohl?” she said louder.
Nothing, just a million statues all staring at her.
“Cohl, answer me!” she screamed above the pounding of her heart. Her breath came in short bursts as the statues seemed to close in around her in a dizzy fog. She knew if she didn’t calm down, she would hyperventilate. Clenching her fists, she forced her eyes closed and concentrated on just inhaling and exhaling. Gradually, her heartbeat slowed and her breathing with it.
She opened her eyes and blinked. The statues were all lined up in perfect order again, facing one direction,
“Cohl?” she tried one more time. Again, silence. Something had happened to him. Something awful. She had to find him. He would never leave her voluntarily.
She spun around in a complete circle but all she could see were thousands of robed figures, and by now she was totally disoriented. She looked down. Not even a footprint to follow on the stone floor. She checked her pack. Cohl had left enough water for a few days and some food. She still held her pistol and the data pad. And Tink blinked faithfully beside her. Better than nothing.
Don’t panic yet, she told herself. Cohl said it was a circular room. If she followed a direct line of attack, she would run into a wall sooner or later. Tess took a deep breath, picked a direction, and started walking. As she navigated the statues, she called to Cohl. There was never an answer. Either he was no longer in the massive chamber or he was dead. With the absolute certainty of a lover, she knew he wasn’t dead.
Tink zipped above her, casting giant circles of light around the statues. They didn’t seem so ominous now. She tried to stay in a straight line, glancing behind her periodically. But there was no way to mark the path she was taking.
Suddenly, Tink’s light flashed on something solid ahead. A wall. She’d found a wall! Tess rushed past the last few statues and flattened against the warm stone as if it were salvation.
She turned and leaned back against the wall. “Damn. What now, Tink?” Her faithful lightball hovered nearby offering no help whatsoever. Tess closed her eyes. What would Cohl do in a situation like this?
She basically had two choices: Move forward or go back through the traps. Staying put simply was not a choice; she had to find Cohl. She dismissed the going-back option as a very long and unpleasant shot. Moving forward meant finding the amulet.
Her eyes popped open. She didn’t need any special tools except her voice to do that. And it held some sort of powerat least that’s what the legend said. Maybe she could use that power to find Cohl. He’d said it was in a room off the chamber so if she followed the perimeter, eventually she’d find it. She pushed away from the wall, placed one hand against it, and cast a quick look at her lightball.
“Come on, Tink. We’re getting that amulet.”
Cohl shoved on the stone slab in the tunnel ceiling above him to no avail. Sweat drenched his bodypartly from exertion, partly from the humid, hot air of the tunnel. He leaned back against the wall to catch his breath and rubbed the battered shoulder he had landed on.
“Damn it!” he yelled to no one in particular. The single word echoed in stereo down both directions of the tunnel that ran beneath the room of guardians. He looked up at the flip-over trapdoor he’d dropped through. Who would have guessed? He was so distracted by the statues that he never looked down. A major mistake and possibly his last. Most likely, Tess’s last too. Now she was alone up there and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead. He pulled out the SAMA unit and pointed it down one direction of the tunnel. It appeared to dead-end a short distance away. He pointed in the other direction. This side was longer and it too appeared to dead-end but the SAMA picked up something else. Hope sparked. If he could find a way out, he could get back in and rescue Tess.
He pocketed the SAMA, pulled out his weapon, and ran.
The alcove was smaller than she had imagined, unobtrusive with nothing spectacular to mark its legendary treasure. Tess stepped in front of the entrance and peered inside. Cone-shaped, about fifteen feet high at its point, it reminded her of a beehive. In the center of the compact room stood a solid column of stone, atop which sat the amulet encased in a clear crystal block.
Thousands of precisely spaced tiny steps lined the interior of the room from bottom to top. She knew what those were for. If she sang her song right, they would shatter that crystal casing and release the amulet. If she sang it wrong She closed her eyes. It didn’t matter. She needed that amulet to save Cohl and then to save his father. Not to mention to get herself out of this place. If she failed, they would all be lost.
She turned to Tink. “Stay right here.”
Carefully, soundlessly, she stepped into the tiny chamber. Tink’s light backlit her own shadow on the walls where she stopped in front of the amulet.
She clenched her fists. This was it. Every adventure had brought her to this point. And for the first time in her existence, lives were literally in her hands. She suddenly understood how Cohl felt about Yre Gault and its people. Terrified. If she failed, if she stumbled, then all the danger and struggle would have been for nothing.
She licked her lips and relaxed, conjuring up the song and its cryptic wording as if she were getting ready to sing a number onstage. The melody played in her head until she was sure she had it perfect. This was a onetime performance and the audience would be merciless.
She pushed everything else from her mind and released the first note. It resonated in the room like a pure ray of sunshine, lighting up the entire space. The brilliancy nearly blinded her but she held on to her composure and let the song flow. The words swirled around her like a whirlwind, twisting and turning and feeding into itself until she could almost see the notes lengthen into ribbons of light.
From the tiny steps, a grand chorus breathed a hush as sweet as freedom. They were the same voices as she’d heard from the faces at the city entrance. Powerful and strong, the singers surged in unison and joined her. Their voices added light to the radiance, different colors to hers.
She forced the words from her lips, all the while watching in utter fascination as the dizzying tendrils wrapped the tiny room. Faster and tighter they raced, strengthened in numbers and brilliance as her final note rang out. The chorus swelled to a horrific level and spiked through her head with a violent flash and suddenly Tess was no longer alone.
She could see them all, their beautifully adorned dresses and shirts flowing around them. They swirled about her in a sea of celebration, smiling and welcoming her to their precious world. Demisie spread out before her in all its former glory. The striking buildings and splendid artwork, magnificent courtyards full of color and lifebefore the silent faces, before the suffering. She felt the people’s hearts, their love and pride for their world.
A small girl approached through the blurring mass of color and Tess recognized her immediately. Straight black hair capped her head, framing giant brown eyes and perfect red lips. The lost daughter. In her small hands, she held the amulet out to Tess.
You have come, the girl’s voice whispered in Tess’s head. We have been waiting for you.
Tess shook her head to disagree. She was not the one they were seeking. She was merely an implement. No one special.
I can’t save you, Tess thought.
The child smiled sweetly. Do not despair. Our world is no more but you can spare others our fate. They are outside, waiting for you to show them the way. Use the amulet wisely.
Tess looked down at the amulet in her own hands and back up at the girl who was already fading into the festive celebration wearing a smile much too old for her age. The girl spread her arms wide and the celebration faded with her.
In their place, the rise and fall of Demisie, its entire existence, played out like an old, faded movie. As the beauty was systematically destroyed and the bodies piled up, tears streamed down Tess’s face. The last of the dancers faded into the wilderness and the silence of a thousand years descended. Tess sobbed at the stillness.
Then her camp outside by the entrance sharpened into sight. There she saw the dangers and the showdown about to occur in its own space in time and her place in it. The players, their faces shown to her, stood waiting, their destiny in her hands.
What do I do? Tess wondered.
They need a new leader. The little girl’s voice spiraled through her head.
How do I choose? Tess asked her. If I am wrong, millions will pay.
Look for the light. Follow your heart and you will not fail.
The voice drifted away with the vision. The room spun back to her in a jarring jerk where she stood painfully alone and crying in the absolute silence. The stone column and floor were littered with crystalline shards. She quickly lifted her hands and stared in disbelief at the amulet glittering back at her. She clutched it to her heart in overwhelming relief. She’d done it.
Tess slipped the chain of the amulet over her head and it settled warm against her chest, alive and living in her now. She recalled the little girl’s words. You must spare others our fate. They are waiting for you to show them the way.
Tess breathed deeply. Her mission was not yet over. She had to stop Trakas from becoming the next Demisie.
She stepped out of the amulet room and strode through the guardians toward the opening where she and Cohl had entered. She knew exactly where it was. She was no longer concerned with the traps. The amulet had been freed and she knew in her heart that the beasts would be gone, the wind dead, the spinning tunnel still. They would be quiet forevermore, their purpose fulfilled.
* * *
Chapter Nineteen
Water. He’d found water just as the SAMA had detected. In a tiny cave that dripped with moisture, Cohl knelt beside the small pool. The fluorescent green color looked very familiar. He scooped up a little in his hand. Warm. The same color and temperature as the pond by their camp. This was his lucky day. It made perfect sense. After the guardians had built the traps and placed the amulet, they would need a way out. A back door. And he had dropped right into it.
He shrugged off the pack and the harness that he still wore. They would have to stay behind. He secured the SAMA, a single dose of Aritrox, and the laser pistol in his shorts pockets.
He glanced at his lightball. “Can’t remember if you are waterproof or not.” Then he shook his head, unable to believe he just spoke to his lightball as if it were alive. Tess’s fault. He grinned at the thought of her and the warmth it always brought and then turned serious. His fists clenched. He had to get back to her.
Cohl slipped into the pool up to his shoulders, hanging on to the stone ledge while he inhaled and exhaled deeply. The lightball hung over his head. He took one final breath of oxygen and went under.
He heard the lightball plunge into the water and caught its faint light in his peripheral vision. It propelled itself ahead of him through a long, narrow underwater tunnel. Gripping the rocks that jutted out, Cohl pulled himself along, deeper into the tunnel. No air pockets above. He could feel the burn in his lungs already.
Then up ahead, rays of sunlight filtered through the water. He pushed forwardhis lungs screamingcleared the underwater tunnel, and kicked his legs toward the surface. He breached it with a gasp, sucking clean air into his starved lungs. Just as he had expected, he was treading water in the middle of the small pool by their camp.
The big surprise was the ugly band of twenty or so Trakas surrounding him. And every one of their weapons was pointed in his direction. Shit. Where was Pitz when he needed him?
“Well, well.” A massive, gluttonous man stepped forward. “They sure got some ugly fish on this planet.”
Cohl debated over ducking back under the water and quickly dismissed the idea. Besides the fact there was nowhere to go, he was thinking of Tess. These men were here for her. Damned if he’d let them touch her again.
Stalling to catch his breath, he took his time swimming to shore. Options ran through his head as he staggered to his feet and walked through the shallows toward the leader. Since this wasn’t Rommol but was equally ugly, it had to be his brother Gothyk.
Gothyk nodded to one of his men. “Take his weapons.”
Cohl endured a rough body search and was relieved of his pistol and the SAMA. Meanwhile, he mentally ticked off each Trakas and all their weaponry. This was going to be a challenge.
Gothyk waddled forward and sneered. “Where is she?”
“Dead,” Cohl answered stoically. “One of the traps caved in and she got caught inside. The amulet is also buried.”
Gothyk’s eyes narrowed. “Then you won’t mind showing us exactly where it is. I’m sure we can dig it out.”
Cohl stared hard at him. “I wouldn’t recommend going back in there. The tunnels aren’t stable.”
Gothyk jabbed a laser pistol at Cohl’s midsection. “Then you will go first. Move.”
“Hold it right there, you fat bastard!” The command came from behind the band of Traka-Sou and they all turned in unison.
Surrounding them were Rommol and his men. Being the only one facing that direction, Cohl had seen them coming over the low hill. God, these Traka-Sou were stupid. Not one of them had the foresight to post a lookout.
Cohl contemplated the new situation and prepared his escape plan. He needed to steal a weapon and get back into the cavern with Tess. After that, things would get a little difficult.
“Drop your weapons,” Rommol barked.
“Like hell,” Gothyk yelled back to Rommol. He waved to his men. “Fire!”
“No!” The shout came from behind Rommol. Cohl squinted as a robed figure step forward and stood between the two sides. The flowing robe with the deep cowl reminded Cohl of a Demisian guardian.
Gothyk’s face dropped and turned red with anger when he recognized the invader. “You,” he hissed. “You are with them.” He pointed to Rommol’s men.
The robed figure pulled back his cowl. The face was that of an old man, weathered and aged. However, his eyes burned fierce and bright and he spoke with great strength.
“I am Nish, the last Guardian of the Amulet,” he said. “I have seen what you have done to Trakas and it must stop.”
Nish pointed a bony finger at Rommol. “You.” Then he pointed to Gothyk. “And you. Come forward.”
Cohl watched Rommol and Gothyk don the same expressions of rage.
“Go to hell, old man,” Rommol hissed.
Nish swung around to face him. “Are you too much of a coward to face your enemy alone? Or must you hide behind your men and your people and your weapons?”
Rommol snarled and stepped forward, tossing his pistol to the ground. Gothyk hesitated, glared at Nish, and did the same. Cohl saw the precise moment when they focused on each other and forgot everyone else. He’d had no idea how deep their hatred was. Brothers. It was hard to believe.
He watched them circle each other, while their men closed around them in anticipation. As they moved forward, something caught Cohl’s eye.
Alone in the back, behind the troops, stood his father, his wrists locked in restraints. Relief swept through Cohl. When their eyes met, his father smiled. Cohl glanced back over his shoulder at the cliff behind him. His father nodded understanding. The only way Cohl could save both his father and Tess was to get them all in the cavern. It was the only protection available.
Rommol and Gothyk finally lunged at each other in a meaty collision. Although Gothyk outweighed Rommol by more than half, Rommol was faster. They grunted and struck at each other, faces red, arms flailing.
Cohl took a small step back and noted that his father did the same. The Trakas on both sides were totally enthralled, cheering and roaring.
He had moved ten meters toward the entrance when he heard the nearly simultaneous laser shots. Between Trakas’ legs, he saw Gothyk and Rommol collapse in a heap and knew they’d both cheated and both lost.
A silence fell and a new fear gripped him. The Trakas on both sides gaped at their dead leaders and then began looking at each other. Nor and Sou divided silently and stepped away into their respective sides with their weapons drawn.
Nish had his arms raised and was about to say something when the ground beneath them quaked hard. Great claps of thunder emanated from the cliff behind Cohl. He spun around as blasts of dust and debris burst from the narrow entrance before the entire entrance fell away, leaving a massive hole.
Cohl watched in horror. Jess.
Then the quake ended. For a few minutes, there was only stunned silence. Suddenly, a light filled the hole and Tess stepped out through the dust into the gaping entrance. She stood there, a luminous figure against the dark backdrop of fresh red stone. A hush descended.
The amulet glowed white against her chest, the same glow that encapsulated her body. Cohl inhaled sharply. She had completely changed. Her stance was taller, regal, all-powerful like a goddess.
The wind picked up, whirling sand around them. It wailed a mournful song as the sky darkened and the ground trembled.
She raised her arms. “Look around you.” Her voice rang out in deep resonance, amplified across the courtyard, demanding respect and heedfulness. Even her voice was not her own. It was the voice of many.
She stared straight at the Trakas, her eyes glazed over. “You are surrounded by death. The silent remnants of my people lost, our life destroyed. You have wandered through our empty homes, listened to the wind whistle down barren roads, seen the destruction at hand.”
