Empress of the Underworld
Read Empress of the Underworld Online
Authors: Gilbert L. Morris
© 1996 by
GILBERT L. MORRIS
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
ISBN: 0-8024-3686-2
9 10 8
Printed in the United States of America
To Daisy and Rockyâ
two swell cats!
Contents
1
C
ome on, Abbey. You can't sit down!”
The group of teenagers straggling through the depths of the jungle were completely exhausted. One of the young men reached down, seized the blonde girl by the arm, and pulled her to her feet. “They've almost caught up with us!” he gasped. “We've got to keep going!”
“I can't go any farther!”
“You've
got
to, Abbey,” the boy said firmly. “They're only a few minutes behind.”
The speaker was tall and gangly, with auburn hair and blue eyes. His name was Josh Adams, and he was the leader. He looked around quickly and saw that Sarah Collingwood was not in much better shape than Abigail Roberts.
Sarah, however, had her lips drawn up in a determined line. She took Abigail by the other arm. “I'll help you, Abbey,” she said. “We can't stop here.”
The other four members of the group, all young men, looked to be as bad off as these three.
Dave Cooper, at fifteen, was tall, athletic, and handsome, but now his clothes hung on him in rags, and his cheeks were hollow.
Jake Garfield was a slim redhead. His clothes also were ragged, and he was huffing and puffing. “Don't know if we can make it this time!” he gasped.
Another fifteen-year-old, with light blue eyes and pale bleached hair and wearing a cowboy hat, looked in better shape than the others. He was breathing hard, but there
was still a natural strength in him, and he said quickly, “Maybe I should go back and head them off.”
Josh managed to grin at him. The boy's clothes were in tatters, but the hat looked good. “No, let's stick together, Reb,” Josh said. “I know you're ready to fight a sack of wildcats, but we don't have anything to fight with. Let's just get going.”
“Are you all right, Wash?” Reb turned to a small black boy, the youngest of the group at thirteen. He was sitting on the ground, drawing in deep gulps of air.
“Yep, I'm all right,” he said, getting up. “But my feet won't go any faster.” He looked over his shoulder and shivered. “I heard a fellow say once, âIf you hear a footstep behind you, don't look back, 'cause something might be gaining on you.'”
Josh slapped the boy on the arm. “I guess that's right. And it's hard not to look back when something's after you.”
He'd no sooner spoken than Abbey slumped down again and put her head in her arms. She began sobbing without control, and the others looked at her helplessly.
Sarah Collingwood leaned over and patted her shoulder. “We're all right. We've been in worse spots than this, Abbey.”
“No, we haven't! We've been running for days now. Every day we've almost got caught. We're all going to die!”
Her hysteria was almost infectious, Josh saw. Everybody, weak from lack of food and sleep, was in bad shape. He thought,
If I were just a good leader, I'd know what to do. But we've run so hard and long, it looks like the Sanhedrin's going to get us this time.
As he stood there despairing, wondering when the soldiers of the Sanhedrin would come bursting out of the jungle, he thought about how far he and his friends had
come since being brought to this strange place called Nuworld.
All seven of them had been hidden in sleep capsules on planet Earth, just before a nuclear war. Years had rolled by, changing almost everything, including the geography of the earth and the beings that inhabited it. And they came out of the sleep capsules to find that the world was in a struggle between good and evil. The evil was led by a strange being called the Dark Lord. His henchmen were a council called the Sanhedrin. They were a powerful force and were filled with hatred for a good leader called Goél.
At the thought of Goél, Josh said as heartily as he could, “We'll get out of this. Goél won't let us down.” He sincerely hoped this was true.
He knew Goél was gathering his forces in Nuworld for a battle against the Dark Lord and the Sanhedrin. Goél had already sent the Seven Sleepers to several places to help Goél's people. Now, as they were returning from one of their missions, they had been ambushed by the Dark Lord's soldiers. For days they had struggled through this thick jungle, and now it looked as if they were not only lost but doomed.
Wash was watching Josh's face. “It don't look too good, does it?”
Reb slapped Wash on the back. The two had become fast friends, though they had not liked each other at first. “Why, sure, we'll get out of this. I remember the many times General Robert E. Lee got penned up and looked like he'd lose, but he'd come out of it.”
Jake stared at the tall cowboy with a sour expression. “He lost the war though, didn't he?”
Reb didn't like to be reminded that the South had not won the Civil War. He glared at Jake. “Well, we ain't losing this one. I thinkâ”
“Be quiet, Reb! I hear something.” Josh held up a hand with alarm.
Instantly Abbey stopped crying and sat up. As they all listened hard, she said under her breath, “We're going to dieâI just know it!”
“We'll fight 'em with whatever we've got.” Reb pulled a pocketknife out of his tattered trouser pocket, opened it, and looked into the jungle defiantly. “They're getting close, I reckon. I can hear them.”
Someone was indeed coming through the jungle, and it could only be an enemy.
“Get ready,” Josh said. “We'll do the best we can. You girls head on out of here. We'll hold them off. Maybe you can get away.”
“No, we're all staying together.” Sarah's blue eyes flashed as she faced the wall of green jungle. “There,” she whispered. “There they are. They're coming!”
Forms moved out of the greenery, and Josh, who had been ready to see the red cloaks of the soldiers of the Sanhedrin, yelled, “Look! It's Mat and Tam! And Volka too!”
The two approaching in front were shortânot much more than three feet tall. They were fat as sausages. Their bellies gave promise of exploding any minute and were held in by broad, black leather belts with shiny brass buckles. Both had plump red cheeks and small black eyes peering out from under bushy brows. Both had beards that came almost down to their belt buckles. The newcomers looked identical.
“Well, I knew I'd have to come and get you out of a mess sooner or later!” one of them declared crossly.
Grinning, Josh said, “I know you're Mat. Still the eternal pessimist.” He shook the dwarf's hand and turned to his exact replica. “And you're Tam. I know you've got a good word.”
Tam grinned broadly. “Why, we'll get out of this. It's just a piece of cake.”
Mat and Tam had been with the Sleepers on their first adventure. They were Gemini twins, looking exactly alike but the exact opposite in spirit. Whereas Mat was grumpy and always seeing the dark side of things, Tam was jolly and always cheerful.
Tam turned now to the third newcomer and said, “We've got your old friend here. You remember Volka, don't you?”
Volka was no less than a giant. He was enormous, towering over the Sleepers, twice their height. He had huge bulging muscles and a rather simple face. “Ho!” He beamed. “It's me!”
At once he was surrounded by Sleepers pulling at him. They'd always liked Volka.
Sarah said, “Now I feel safe with you around.”
Mat scowled. “Well, you're
not
safe. The Sanhedrin troops will be here in five minutes.”
“What're we going to do?” Abbey wailed. “I just can't go any farther.”
“Why, don't worry about that.” Tam grinned. “Pick her up, Volka.” He watched the giant reach down and do so. “Now,” Tam said, “come this way. We'll show you something you'll like.”
The Gemini twins turned and plunged into the jungle, and the Sleepers followed. Volka brought up the rear, carrying Abigail, speaking to her from time to time, but she appeared too worried to answer.
They made their way down a trail, and though they were exhausted, the Sleepers were so cheered by the sight of old friends that everyone seemed to gain new strength.
“How did you know to come after us?” Jake asked.
Tam looked back and grinned. “Why, Goél sent us to get you.”
“Is he close by?” Wash asked hopefully.
“Not far,” Tam answered.
“Far enough that we need to hurry up. If you'll stop dragging your feet,” Mat complained.
The Sleepers moved as quickly as they could. The rainforest trail was very narrow, and the trees were so tall that little sunlight filtered down below. The jungle floor was almost bare here because small plants could not grow due to the lack of sun.
After they had crossed two small streams, Tam directed them to walk through the trees to their left for a hundred yards. “This probably won't throw them off our trail completely,” he said, “but it's the best I can do. Come along.”
Soon the forest began to grow less dense, and finally when they were all practically falling down, Tam said cheerfully, “Look, there it is!”
Josh, right behind him, looked up to see a house with a steep thatched roof. A half dozen strange-looking figures stood in front of it. His heart leaped up.
“I'm so glad to be away from the Sanhedrin!” Sarah said.
Abbey raised her head from Volka's shoulder and looked. “Why, it's just an old house!” she exclaimed. “Surely Goél won't be
there.
”
“Any port in a storm,” Dave Cooper said. “As long as they've got something to eat and some clothes for us to put on, I'll be happy.”
They walked into the clearing, and indeed the house was very old. It was built of small logs.
One of the odd-looking people came forwardâa shaggy-haired man, his garments made of black fur. “You found them,” he said in a deep voice.
“Yes, Zohar,” Tam said. He turned to the Sleepers and said, “This is Zohar. He is our leader. And Zohar, these are the Seven Sleepers you've heard about.”
