“I put the flashlight here,” Karen said, pointing at a hook. “but I told Billy about it, so he must have taken it.”
The professor reached into his oversized inner coat pocket where he had packed Merlin’s Diary and withdrew a penlight. “Fear not,” he said confidently. He clicked a button on the end and cast a tiny beam into the steep, black entryway. “It’s my American Express flashlight. I never leave home without it.” The professor struggled to the edge of the stairwell and propped his crutches against the wall. “I’ll have to do without these.”
Walter held the sword’s box in both arms. “We can carry them . . . somehow.”
The professor pointed the beam at the walls on each side of the steps. “There’s no handrail, so I’ll need one of you to support me on the way down. Walter, can you carry the sword and the crutches? Excalibur is very heavy in the hands of one who is not meant to use it.”
“You’re telling me! And it’s getting heavier by the minute.” Walter tucked the box under one arm and picked up the crutches with his free hand. “But these are light. I can do it.”
“Very well. You and Karen can take turns if you should tire.”
The professor draped an arm over Karen’s shoulders, and Walter trailed them by a couple of steps. Their progress was slow, and the gray daylight shining through the open entrance faded like the setting of the sun. As darkness folded in, the professor’s flashlight brightened, its laser-like beam illuminating each stair.
“Hey, Prof,” Walter said, his whisper magnified in the cold stillness, “does this remind you of anything?”
“Not exactly, Walter. I am not accustomed to tromping down a dark, endless stairway with a bullet hole in my heel.”
“Not that. I mean, we’ve been out hunting for Billy before. Last time we had a crossbow. This time we have a sword. Don’t you get a feeling like déjà vu?”
“Indeed, the parallels are striking. I do expect, however, that there will be a drastic change. It is time for someone else’s light to grow while mine diminishes.”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
The professor just sighed and said no more. Walter clutched the sword box to his chest and hung back an extra step. Prof had always kept a few secrets, revealing what he thought necessary at appropriate times. Walter knew better than to press his teacher for more information. The earlier tremor had shaken him, and thoughts of disasters and end-of-the-world catastrophes tapped at his brain like a deadly ghost tiptoeing just a few steps behind. Darkness had a way of creating those stealthy phantoms, and Walter peeked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone.
After negotiating at least a hundred stairs, Walter whispered, “Karen, let me know when you think we’re about two-thirds of the way.”
“Okay,” she whispered back. “Why?”
“From there on, we’ll have to keep our mouths shut. We might need the element of surprise.”
The professor kept his face forward while talking. “Walter is correct, Karen. Although Dr. Conner doesn’t seem to be either in front of us or behind us, you told us that there exists another entrance into the laboratory. Silence is advisable in case he is already there.”
“Yeah, it exists, all right. It’s a tunnel that comes out into the valley near Camp Misery. And it leads through a big cave near the lab.”
“A tunnel?” Walter repeated. “Why don’t you use that instead of this crazy stairway? Wouldn’t it be easier?”
Karen looped her arm around the professor’s waist and grunted, adding to the sound of boots clopping on creaking stair boards. She finally muttered, “You wouldn’t believe me.”
The professor stopped and pointed his beam at Karen’s chin. “Karen, you need not fear ridicule. We have seen enough oddities and peculiar phenomena to keep us from doubting almost anything.”
“Right.” Walter propped the crutches against the wall and balanced the sword box on the step behind them. “Anything short of ten-foot bunnies dancing in purple top hats and carrying bazookas, and we’ll probably believe you.”
“No,” Karen deadpanned, “they don’t have bazookas; they carry missile launchers.”
Walter laughed out loud, then clamped his free hand over his mouth. When he regained control, he whispered, “Girl, I like your style!”
Walter retrieved his load, and the three resumed their descent. “Truthfully,” Karen continued, after another twenty steps, “Doc told us there’s a monster in the cave, and I’ve heard it. It sounds like rumbling and growling, and sometimes like an old man with a terrible rattling wheeze, like someone dumped a bag of rocks down a garbage disposal.”
Walter thought about the description. It sounded familiar somehow. He stayed quiet for a moment, hoping the professor would speak up. Apparently his teacher was lost in thought. “So, Prof,” Walter said in a whisper, “now we might have to deal with a monster. Do you want me to take him, or can you handle it by yourself?”
Karen snapped back, her voice sarcastically sweet. “We’re about two-thirds of the way, Walter, dear. I think it’s time for you to shut up.”
The professor stopped and turned around, forcing the other two to halt. He shone the thin beam, first in Walter’s face, then in Karen’s. “Walter, Karen,” the professor began, his voice spiked with agitation, “although it is time for silence, I must make an entreaty.” He took a deep breath before continuing more calmly. “Let us proceed as a team. We may be called upon to sacrifice a great deal for one another. A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Walter and Karen faced each other, neither saying a word for a few seconds until Walter stripped off his glove and extended his hand. “The prof’s right. I shouldn’t tease like that. I believe you heard a monster; I just like to joke around a lot. Still friends?”
Karen pulled off her glove and grasped his hand. “Don’t worry, friend.” She then took Excalibur’s box from him and tucked it under her arm, patting it with her free hand. “If any ten-foot bunnies come hopping around, I’ve got your back.”
After explaining the translumination procedure to Billy, Ashley pointed out a digital display on the control panel with large illuminated numerals. She spoke hurriedly. “The controls will be set on a timer to reverse automatically. Right now it’s showing the time until we transluminate. Then it will reset and count down again. When that counter gets to zero, there’s no choice, we have to come back, with or without Bonnie. I can’t override it, because I’ll be hanging on to you. Understand?”
Billy gave her a quick nod. “Got it.”
“Now there’s one more decision to make,” Ashley said as she smoothed out Billy’s sleeve again. “I assume you want to be the diver.”
Billy drew his arm back and readjusted the cuff. “Well, yeah. Don’t you think so? I mean, I’ve faced Devin before. I know his tricks.”
Ashley walked across the lab to the diver’s dome. “Yes, that’s true. But there’s a problem.” Once at the dome, she sat on the platform, the glass enclosure hanging a few feet above her head. “We never properly restored any of the male chimps we tested, and we don’t know why. It couldn’t be a coincidence. The females all worked fine.”
Billy stepped over to the platform and placed one foot on it. “I overheard Dr. Conner talking about that.” He sat down next to her, glad that the robe was keeping his nausea at bay. He tried to read Ashley’s eyes, shadowy, yet penetrating. Would she understand? “I’m not a chimp. And I’m not worried about what happens to me, as long as I get Bonnie out. I’m not afraid.”
Ashley stood up, holding her hand over her heart. “Well . . . maybe you should be.” She waved toward the candlestone. “I read about your fire breathing, but I don’t think you’ll be able to use it in there.”
Billy checked the cotton belt on his jeans and stepped up to the platform. “I won’t need it.”
Ashley pulled on the loose ends of his sash, tightening it further. “So I can’t talk you out of it? I could be the diver. I know I could do it.”
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Billy slid his ring up and down on his finger, then balled his hand into a fist. The slayer was crafty, brutal. How could he let anyone else face that monster? This was his fight and his fight alone. He had to make up for his failure against Palin.
The last words of one of Merlin’s prophecies drifted back into his mind.
The soul set free must face the beast
And break his chains to fears of earth
To free the faithful heart of love
And prove the seeds of royal birth
Billy clenched his fists. “I’m going.”
Ashley smiled, gazing at him again with her piercing eyes. “You’re just like Bonnie, aren’t you?” She pressed a button on the base of the platform, lowering the glass dome. As the bottom edge passed below Billy’s chest, she called, “Just remember; don’t let go of my hand!”
Billy gave a thumbs-up signal, but his legs shook, and he knew if he hadn’t been clenching his fingers into a tight ball, his hands would be as jittery as a Chihuahua in a tiger’s cage. Only Ashley’s words could bring peace to his mind. You’re just like Bonnie. He closed his eyes and smiled. I’m not exactly like her. We’re both dragons, and she’s taught me a lot, but I know I’m the one who has to defeat Devin.
Walter crept up behind the professor, who had stopped abruptly. “What’s that light up ahead?” he whispered.
The professor shone his beam on the source of light and kept his voice low. “It appears to be a door.”
“It’s the door to the lab,” Karen said. “The Alpha entrance.”
The professor clicked off his light. “Then alpha marks the beginning of our next adventure. I suggest we listen for a few moments to ascertain the possible dangers we might face inside.”
Walter placed the crutches and box next to the wall, then blew softly on his cupped hands. “Good. I need a breather.”
Karen sighed. “We were supposed to take turns. You only let me carry it for two minutes.”
“So I like flower boxes,” Walter quipped. “Can’t a guy show a little culture?”
Karen let out a low groan, and the professor stifled a laugh. “Very well, Walter. Our signal to enter will be your readiness to continue. I see no reason to burst in hastily.”
Karen placed her ear on the door. “I hear something. It may be the equipment engines.” She pulled on Walter’s sleeve. “Rest up quick.”
Walter slid down the wall and plopped on the floor. “I’m resting as fast as I can.”
Ashley quickstepped toward the anchor dome. As she passed the pedestal, she noticed that the candlestone had moved slightly, shaken from its place by the recent tremor. She picked it up gently and held it in the palm of her hand, peering through its input facets. She marveled at the mystery of a hidden world and at the power of a light-absorbing stone. Why does it sap the power of a dragon? Why does it steal Billy’s breath and rob Bonnie’s strength to fly? And yet, it seems to choose its victims. Very strange!
She put the gem back on its spot and jumped up on her dome pedestal, bending over to press the button to lower the glass. She checked the starting timer and signaled to Billy. “Thirty seconds to go.”
Ashley shivered, though it wasn’t that cold. Looking around the circle to her left, she watched Billy, his eyes closed, his face adorned with a peaceful smile. He was courageous, perhaps naively so. Yet, he seemed to exude confidence, the kind of peace that comes from a single-minded purpose. It was a good thing. In just a few seconds they would go on their greatest adventure, hand-in-hand, a thought that encouraged Ashley’s trembling mind.
I think I’ll need to borrow some of his moxie.
A loud slam disrupted the chamber’s peaceful hum. Ashley spun in her dome. Someone was entering the lab area from the Omega entrance. Impossible! No one has the key to that door except—
“Ashley!” Dr. Conner shouted. “Are you in here?”
Ashley’s throat twisted like a tourniquet. They were caught! Would he try to stop them? She couldn’t even squeak a reply. Only twelve seconds to translumination!
Dr. Conner turned on the lights and leaped onto the lab platform, his eyes wild. “Ashley! The cave’s collapsed. I could barely crawl through. I can’t find her anywhere. She’s gone!”
Doc’s clothes were dirty, and blood smudged his face. Ashley glanced at the timer and held up her hand with her fingers splayed. Five seconds!
Dr. Conner spun in a quick circle as if taking in the scene for the first time. “What?” he yelled, almost shrieking. “You’re doing a dive?”
Ashley nodded her head, and as the vibrations shot through her feet and legs, turmoil clenched her face into a knot. As Doc ran toward the control panel, everything in her vision buzzed and blurred, scattering into weird shapes and wild, chaotic shards of light. Even Dr. Conner’s words stirred into the confusing mix as they died away in her new world of dazzling light. She could barely hear him say, “I’ll put a stop to this!”
CHAPTER 18
THE CHASM
Ashley had no choice. Even though Doc might try to stop her, she was already transluminated. She had to continue. But how? Everything felt weird—puzzling and confusing—yet so bright she could hardly take in all her surroundings.
She had to think, pause a second and just think. I have to find the exit point. Where is it? The whole room’s swirling. I’ve got to get a grip!
She tried to move. Her brain’s normal motion signals transformed into light pulses, a new kind of command her transluminated body struggled to understand. After a few tries, she had some success, and the flood of light in her strange world shifted as she inched along in her dome. Finally, she found the exit point and poured her flashing body into the flexible tube, grasping the anchoring spurs as she slid through the glass. Watch out, Billy! Here I come!
A flood of light poured into Billy’s brain, snapping him to attention. Everything was different—altered and distorted. He remembered Ashley’s instructions. The whole procedure was timed, including when he would be sucked into the stone, so he expected her to come through to his cylinder at any second. She had to get through to him and attach or else he’d be slurped down that photon straw without an anchor.
A burst of light erupted from the anchor tube. Ashley!
Somehow she extended her hand and grabbed his, and not too soon. One second later, he was falling, zipping down a gushing waterfall of light. An avalanche of flashing strobes zoomed all around his body. He rocketed downward, free-falling at a million miles per hour, and a tidal wave of agitated light stung his face like a swarm of angry gnats poking with hot needles.
After a few seconds, he slammed into a black, jelly-like membrane, and his body punched right through, leaving the flood of light, gnats and all, behind. The breakneck plunge slowed to a gentle, floating sensation.
Except for Ashley’s pull from above, he floated freely. His body pulsated—a chaotic jumble of white flashes with a circle of red at one edge. He stared at the crimson glow.
My rubellite?
He came to a stop in a chasm of utter darkness, a land of charcoal drawings on a black canvas.
This must be the place. Time to find Bonnie.
Bonnie searched the dark crystal skies for Billy’s entrance.
She could see the entry stream, which had suddenly exploded into a raging river, but she couldn’t tell where a diver might push through to the inner core. As she watched, a glimmer of light appeared in the sky and floated in her direction. Could that be Billy? It has to be!
A voice, soft and sweet, flowed from the light. It wasn’t of the same quality she had been hearing from Devin or her mysterious friend; it sounded faraway and choppy.
“You can come out now,” the voice said.
That sounds like Ashley’s voice!
“I know you’re here. Come on out.”
It is! It is Ashley’s voice! She came in instead of Billy!
The mass of light grew and floated into her presence, extending a ragged arm in her directio
n.
“Come on out. You can trust me.”
Ashley’s voice still sounded far off and strange, but there was no mistaking it. Of course, Ashley had never done a dive, so she hadn’t learned to communicate very well in her new form. And since she had only been in the stone for a few seconds, she had not yet begun to take on her normal shape.
Bonnie put out her hand, and in her willingness to join her rescuer, her shield of light eroded. The two hands inched closer. Bonnie noticed her shield weakening and paused.
The voice spoke again. “Do you sense danger?” The words were still choppy, still faraway, but still Ashley’s.
“No. No, it’s just— ”
“Hold your questions and be patient. . . . Too much information can make your brain choke.”
That has to be Ashley! Bonnie wanted to leave her dark prison and find her mother more than anything, and her friend was there to make it happen. She thrust her hand forward. “C’mon!” Bonnie called, “let’s get out of here!” When the lights touched, the two melded, and the joining burned like an electric shock.
“I’ve got you now, Witch!”
Bonnie screamed and jerked back, but Devin’s grip clamped down like the jaws of a pit bull. “How . . . how did you?” She couldn’t continue; the slayer’s electric vise scorched all her senses, sending shock waves of intense pain throughout her body.
The indistinct form swirled, reshaping into Devin’s persona, returning a sinister smile to his malevolent face. “It was child’s play, my dear. Recording voices is quite simple once you’ve been in here long enough. Our friends outside were kind enough to leave the communication lines open, and I did a bit of eavesdropping.”
Bonnie struggled, twisting and pulling back with all her might. Sparks flew, but she couldn’t shake loose his hold.