My fingers brushed metal. That had to be it. I patted along it, seeking the hilt.
A thunderous crack filled my ears.
I yanked my arms and legs in, tucking for protection. Splashes and bangs surrounded me—rocks falling into the water and thudding to the floor. One struck my back and I yelped, losing precious air as a cascade of bubbles escaped my mouth. It sounded like the whole place was caving in. The instinct to flee straight back to the tunnel nearly hurled me in that direction, but I groped about for the sword again. I couldn’t leave the stupid thing when I was this close.
There. This time I found the hilt. I had to shake something heavy off the blade to pull it free, but as soon as I had it, I pushed off the bottom, angling toward the exit. I was halted with a jarring jerk less than two feet up. What the—?
I swung my free arm around me, trying to find the rope. It was still tied about my waist with the lead trailing behind me, but that lead was taut. I tugged, but it didn’t loosen. A rock must have fallen on it. More stones pelted down all around me, some glancing off me, some thudding hard. One struck my head with enough force to terrify me. If I were knocked unconscious down here...
Panic welled in my heart, and I yanked with frenzied movements. My lungs had been denied air for too long, and they burned to suck in a breath.
Stop, I shouted inside my head. Calm. Be calm. I could always cut the rope if I had to. Yes, that realization helped. Cutting myself free might land me in a worse predicament, but I had the option if I needed it. First, one more try—a rational try—at freeing myself. I found the ground with my feet again and traced my way down the rope to the rock that held it. I would have groaned if I hadn’t been desperate to save air. It was a boulder, not a rock, and my rope was squarely under it.
I pulled the sword around to cut the rope. There was no other option.
Even from an awkward angle, the blade sliced through the rope as if it were soft-serve ice cream. As soon as I was free, I pushed off the bottom, heading straight for the surface. If I hadn’t had the sword out ahead of me, I would have given myself a second head injury. The alcove had filled with water.
A new wave of panic swept over me. I’d lose control of my instincts any moment and my lungs would force a gasp, a gasp that would give me nothing except water. I paddled toward the pull of the current—in the darkness, it was the only thing telling me in which direction the larger chamber lay. I forced myself to keep a hand on the wall instead of simply stroking like mad. If I were swept into the current, I’d never touch air again.
A hint of light burned somewhere. I swam around piles of boulders that hadn’t been there before, always angling toward that light. I was in the main chamber now, the water dragging at me. Holding the sword limited the effectiveness of my strokes, but I kicked for all I was worth. My fingers broke the surface. I hauled myself up and gasped before my head was fully free. I sucked in water and sputtered, nearly choking. I clunked my forehead on a rock in my effort to push myself farther out, to get clearer air. There were only a few inches between the surface and the ceiling.
“Delia!” came two cries. With my ears filled with water, they sounded muffled, but I’d never heard such beautiful noises regardless.
Using the rough ceiling to grab onto, I kicked hard and made progress against the current. I nearly crashed into that stalactite again. Later I’d be thankful it had been out there guiding me, but now it was one more obstacle. At least I had air—I inhaled in great gasps between my strokes.
“There she is,” Simon shouted.
“Over here, Del,” Temi called. “This way. You’ve got this.”
I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so busy kicking for my life. She sounded like a teammate cheering me on at a race. Some race.
“You’re almost there,” Temi promised.
“Here,” Simon shouted, “grab my hand.”
My eyes were half blinded by their flashlights and the water streaming down my face, but I spotted Simon’s hand and reached for it, eager to be pulled free and escape the flooded chamber. I wanted so much to see the sun again.
Our fingers brushed. I made another snatch for him and our hands clasped.
Then something clamped onto my leg.
CHAPTER 28
When claws bit through my soggy jeans and into my calf, I screeched like a dying hog. I hung onto Simon’s hand and foisted the sword at Temi.
“Stab it,” I sputtered. “Get it off.”
The tunnel had filled almost as quickly as the chamber, and only their heads and shoulders were above the water. But Temi managed to clasp the sword. I grabbed the ceiling with my other hand and kicked with my free leg. I connected with something, but it didn’t let go. I couldn’t see anything—the creature was submerged—but it was impossible to miss those claws. My kicks only made them sink deeper. Pain blasted from my leg to my brain as I twisted and writhed, struggling to shake the paw free. Simon was trying to pull me away at the same time as the monster tried to pull me deeper.
“I don’t have the sword any more, you stupid— Gah!” I kicked harder and was surprised when my blow worked—the grip released, and I had my leg back.
I stroked away so quickly I almost mowed over Simon. I grabbed him and tried to push him ahead of me, up the tunnel away from that creature.
“Temi,” I called, “come on. We have to get away while...” I trailed off, confused as I twisted my neck to check on her. The tunnel had grown oddly brighter, especially given that I couldn’t see anyone’s flashlights.
It was the sword. Glowing.
“Go ahead, I’ll give you time,” Temi called over her shoulder. She was standing in the tunnel, the blade thrust before her, holding the creature at bay. Only the iridescent eyes of the smooth black head were visible between the ceiling of the lower chamber and the surface, but it was enough to see the murderous intent there.
“We’re not leaving you,” I said.
“Then figure out a way to kill it,” Temi said without looking back.
The creature advanced and she swiped at it again, almost losing her footing. Simon grabbed her by the back of the shirt. The monster howled and drew back. Why it was glowing for Temi, I couldn’t guess, but that was a question we could worry about later.
“Maybe we can drown it in there,” I said.
“What if it doesn’t need air?” Simon asked. “It’s been holding its breath forever.”
“Then what if we trap it? That stalactite—if we could knock it down and it fell across the tunnel entrance...” That was a big if. It was just as likely to fall in the other direction. Not to mention we’d be trapping it in there with Jakatra and Eleriss—if they were still alive.
“With what?” Simon asked. “The TNT’s back in Phoenix, remember?”
The creature lunged for Temi. Again, she swiped with the blade, the silvery reflection bouncing on the gleaming walls with its movement, like candlelight in a draft. The sword clacked against stone, and shards flew free.
“I should have taken fencing classes when I was in Europe,” she yelled. “At least I’m keeping it at bay.”
I barely heard her. I was staring at the rock that sword had cut. “Did you see that?” I jostled Simon’s shoulder. “Maybe we don’t need dynamite. The sword can cut stone.”
“Uh, that stalactite is thick,” Simon said.
I wasn’t sure he’d seen the blow. He was still holding onto Temi’s shirt to keep her from being pulled away. At the same time, he was holding onto a bump in the wall to keep himself from being pulled away.
“Do you have any more of that rope?” I asked. “Did it ever come free after I cut it?”
“Yeah, we finally yanked it out, figuring we were yanking you out. It’s tied around my waist.”
He didn’t look like he was in a position to untie it, so I patted him down until I found it. Without waiting for questions as to what I was trying, I swam up the tunnel, searching for something promising to tie the rope to. The uneven walls had numerou
s bumps and divots. If I could find one that formed something close to a hook...
“There you are,” I said, spotting a formation similar to an eyelet. “Even better.”
I tied the rope through the hole and gave it a good yank to make sure it would hold, then let the current sweep me back toward my friends.
Temi cried out in pain at the same time as Simon shouted, “Look out!”
By the time I reached them, she’d batted the monster back again, but had switched the sword to her left hand. She was shaking her right hand. Blood streamed down it and into the water.
“Are you all right?” I swam in close and tied the other end of the rope around Temi’s waist.
“Yes, though I think it’s figuring out I’m not as dangerous with this thing as Jakatra. Do you want to try, Del? You always did more of the martial arts stuff.”
“Sorry, but it doesn’t glow for me.”
“It’s coming again,” Simon warned. “Can you hit it with your left hand?”
Temi lunged out to meet the attack. She might not be experienced, but she had good reflexes and instincts. With most of the battle taking place underwater, it was hard to tell where the blow landed, but the monster lurched backward and yowled again.
“I’m a six-oh as a leftie,” Temi said.
“A what?” Simon asked.
“It’s a tennis rating,” I said. “It means she’d kick most people’s butts even playing left-handed, blindfolded, and in a wheelchair.”
Temi snorted. “Not quite.”
“Okay, Temi, we’ve got the rope around you. I want you to try and force the monster back long enough to reach that stalactite and knock it over with the sword.”
She snorted again. “Shall I push over a few skyscrapers while I’m at it?”
“We’ll try that later if we get out of this. Now, go.”
“How am I supposed to—”
“You have to hurry—it’ll be underwater in a second,” I said. “Just try. The sword is... I don’t know what to call it. It’s a magic sword, okay?” I felt stupid saying that, but Simon was nodding. Apparently we’d stepped out of the science fiction movie and into the Shire.
“Whatever you say,” Temi muttered. “Just don’t let me get sucked in there—I can’t swim like you do.”
“I know. We’ve got you.” Somewhat at odds with the words, I waved for Simon to let go of her shirt.
Temi dog-paddled out—she hadn’t been joking when she’d said she couldn’t swim well—and I wished I could take her spot. If she couldn’t make it to the stalactite or if the creature attacked while she was trying...
The dark head did swoop in, but she grabbed the sword with both hands and swept it toward that inky black face. The creature disappeared underwater, retreating, I hoped, though it might simply be planning to come in from another angle.
“Watch down by your feet,” I called.
Temi was too busy swimming and fighting to answer. Water was pouring in from the ceiling in three or four places now, and I worried the whole chamber would disappear beneath rubble soon. Temi was almost swept past the stalactite, and I thought we’d have to pull her back and try again, but she jabbed toward it with the sword. She might have been trying to hook it to keep herself from flowing past, but the tip sank into the stone.
“She better not get it stuck,” Simon said, his head rotating, searching for signs of the creature. It hadn’t resurfaced yet.
Temi used the sword to pull herself to the stalactite. Her head jerked downward, and she yanked the blade out and plunged it into the water beside her.
A barrage of bubbles rose to the surface around her.
“Hah, it does hold air in its lungs,” Simon said.
The attack must have convinced it to leave her for the moment, for Temi wrapped her legs around the stalactite and hewed at its base near the ceiling, like a lumberjack at some upside down tree. The stone reacted like wood, too, with shards being cleaved off.
“Amazing,” I said.
“It is a magic sword,” Simon said.
I didn’t care at that moment. I just wanted the tunnel blocked and to assure nothing would chase us as we tried to escape. Though I wasn’t sure the stalactite would do the job, if it didn’t fall just right...
“Try to angle it to collapse in this direction,” I called.
Busy hewing at the stone, Temi didn’t react. Maybe she didn’t hear.
Abruptly, she screamed in pain. She cursed and whipped the blade down, stabbing beneath her again.
I lunged forward, but there was nothing I could do to help. I had no idea what had happened to my bow, but it wouldn’t do any good anyway.
“Should we pull her back?” Simon asked.
“I don’t know. She’s close with the stalactite, and she’s still fighting it...”
A heartbeat later, Temi disappeared beneath the water. I didn’t know if she’d lunged down to attack or had been yanked under.
“I’m pulling her back,” Simon said.
I grabbed the rope to help him.
A crack rent the air, and the stalactite fell free, plunging straight downward. Piles of debris dropped with it, but the massive column tilted toward the alcoves and didn’t come anywhere near our entrance.
I cursed again and hauled on the rope. Stupid idea. What a waste of—
“She’s stuck.” Simon leaned back, pulling as hard as he could. “Or resisting. I can’t—” His foot slipped, and his head went under.
I grabbed him, catching his collar before he could be swept out of the tunnel. I wanted to help both of my friends, but it was all I could do to keep from being pulled out myself. I hauled on the rope, hoping that eyelet could hold all of our weights, and yanked on Simon.
He came up with a sputter. “I’m fine. Temi. Get her.”
We were farther up the tunnel now, with the water at my ribcage. I leaned back, preparing to yank hard, but this time the rope came back without resistance. My stomach sank. Had she cut herself free? Or had the monster swiped a claw across the rope?
I pulled faster. Water, or maybe tears, made my vision blurry.
By then, I was expecting a frayed rope end to come out of the water. I gasped with surprise and delight when Temi’s head popped up. She still had the sword too. Great splashes broke the water behind her. At first I thought it was the monster following her, but those were her kicks. No wonder there hadn’t been any tension on the rope—she’d been motoring like crazy back there.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said as soon as she had her feet beneath her.
“The monster?” I asked.
“I don’t know if it’s dead, but I hope so.” Temi flashed a grin, her teeth glinting with the reflection of the sword. “It got caught beneath the rocks, and I cut a lot of holes in it.”
“Nice,” Simon crooned.
We took long enough to untie our rope in case we needed it again, but that was it. We raced back through the chambers, all of which were filling with water, and headed for the tunnels the others had burrowed. My calf screamed with pain, thanks to the fresh holes punctured in it, but it supported my weight, and I didn’t let it slow me down.
I glanced about when we entered the lake cavern, shining my flashlight beam into the darkness, hoping to see Alektryon or Jakatra and Eleriss, Alektryon in particular. I had no way of knowing if he’d survived, but if he had, it would be fascinating to figure out how to talk to him. If he’d truly been alive back then... he could tell us so much about that time period. More than that, I hoped he’d survived because... I don’t know why, but I felt protective of him. If he made it out of the caves, which was no certain thing, he’d be lost in Twenty-first Century America.
As for the others, I should be relieved those pointy-eared crazies were missing, but I longed to know more about their people and their role in our history. If they’d been plucking warriors out of humanity’s past, what else might they have done? And why? A part of me wanted to rush to the Internet and start sifting throug
h history, trying to tie their people to some of the mysteries of the past, mysteries that fringe researchers tried to link to aliens. Another part of me wanted to wash my hands of the whole week. How much easier it would have been if these caves had held nice normal relics from nice normal peoples who’d once lived in the area. Stories like that I could have written up and submitted to magazines and academic journals. But this? If I couldn’t bring teams down and show them proof, I’d go from being shunned to being mocked if I tried to explain what we’d seen tonight.
A great crack sounded behind us, followed by a boom that reminded me of a wrecking ball at a demolition site. Simon, Temi, and I exchanged wide-eyed looks and picked up our pace. No, I wasn’t going to get my proof. The alcoves with the dead men and their artifacts were all underwater by now, and the entire place would collapse soon, leaving everything buried beneath the lake for all eternity.
• • •
Darkness had long since fallen, though the sky full of stars seemed gloriously bright after the lightless confines of the cave. In Temi’s hands, the sword had made short work of the boulder blocking the tunnel exit, but it wasn’t until we were walking alongside the lake that some of the tension ebbed from my neck and shoulders. Partially because of the darkness and partially because Simon had lost one of his sandals in the chaos, we’d decided to forgo midnight rock climbing and leave the kayaks to be found by daylight. The going was still rough, since we were following the shoreline and avoiding the trail, lest booby traps remained, but it was navigable by the starlight—and the silvery glow of the sword. The glow wasn’t as profound as it had been when Jakatra had held the weapon, but it was more significant than when the Spartan had gripped it. I wondered if magic swords were offended when people used them as canes. Judging by the sweat bathing Temi’s face, she’d tortured her leg far more tonight than she had in a long time. My own throbbing leg wouldn’t mind a cane of its own. Dry clothing would have been nice too. And a jacket. The crisp air promised frost.