Revelations (17 page)

She turned back, careful to step lightly lest she cause another collapse. A tiny bit of frustration started to creep in, but she forced it down. If one of the paths were obstructed, she still had two more to explore.

She emerged back at the fork, and this time, took the path directly in front of her – the path leading left. This one curved deeply before straightening out again, and Nora ran quickly to make her way down. So quickly, in fact, that she nearly overlooked the giant chasm in the rock directly in front of her.

Recognizing the drop just in time, she skidded to a halt. If she had taken one more step… she gulped. There, right in front of her, the earth just gave way. She took one cautious step to the edge and peered down carefully. Even with her improved eyesight, she couldn’t see to the bottom.

She looked across to the other side. With regret, she realized it was too far for her to jump. There was no way she could make it. There was just not enough room to run up to it, and with the way the ceiling sloped downward, it would be impossible to get enough air to make it to the other side. The feeling of frustration in the pit of her stomach intensified, and she pushed it down again.

She turned around. Two paths were blocked, with only one left. What would she do if that one was also in the same condition?
No
. She wouldn’t let her mind start playing those games with her, not until she had been down the final path. She prayed it would be unobstructed.

Backtracking to the fork, she started down the third, final path. She walked slowly, at first, as a feeling of dread over what she might find crept up in the back of her mind. But she passed the first hundred meters without finding anything. Then the next hundred. Then the next. The dread slowly evaporated, and she started to run. This way wasn’t blocked! She ran faster.

All of a sudden, an uneasy feeling washed over her. She stopped abruptly and stood completely still, listening. She heard nothing. She began taking another step forward, but right then felt a…a type of resonance. Pushing weakly against her. Pushing her backward. It was a strange feeling, sort of like the resistance one might feel when pushing two magnets of the same polarities together.

She took a step forward, expecting the resonance to increase in strength, but instead, it stayed the same. She looked around carefully, wondering what might be causing it. But all she could see was the outer layer of rock. She took another step forward, and the resonance stayed the same.

She continued on, more cautiously this time, tuning her body to feel for any shifts in the resonance.

She walked straight ahead. Unlike the last path that twisted and turned, this one was cut like a straight line right into the stone. She continued on, walking deeper and deeper into the mines. All of a sudden, her eyes picked up a massive shape in the distance, and she instinctively dropped down, flat on her stomach.

She watched alertly and waited for her eyes to adjust. The shape didn’t move. It was more of a shadow, really, although it was really big.
Massively
big. Big enough to take up the whole circumference of the tunnel.

She crept forward slowly…and instantly felt the fool when she realized it was just another pile of rocks.

Wait.
Another pile of rocks? She leapt forward, panicking. If it was another pile of rocks, it meant the way was blocked, which meant…

She ran up to them, scanning the entire pile from bottom to top – and relaxed. Luckily for her, not enough had fallen to block the path completely. There, at the very top, was a small space. It was tight, but she thought she could push herself through.

Nora scrambled up the rocks. Some shifted uneasily under her weight, but she ignored that. She had her eyes and mind on only one objective: getting to the other side.

She reached the top fairly quickly, pushing herself up against the rocks. And she saw her estimate had been right. The hole at the top was just big enough to make it through. Lying down on her stomach again, she squeezed into the slit between the top of the pile and the ceiling. When she made it through to the other side, her jaw dropped.

Chapter Twenty

~An Unexpected Finding~

Built into the far rock wall was an enormous circular stone structure. A giant doorway. It looked like the entrance to a bank vault, except two, maybe three times larger. It was made of smooth stone and was decorated with thousands of intricate little carvings, like an ancient Mayan calendar. But that didn’t shock her. The symbols on the door did. Inscriptions ran along the outer edge and glowed faintly in a fluorescent blue, despite there not being any source of light that Nora could see. Their lettering was the same strange script she’d seen on the white tower with Hunter

She walked up to it cautiously. The resonance was still there, and while it wasn’t growing stronger, Nora felt like she could point to its source. It was coming from the middle of the stone doorway. Or maybe from the
other side
.

Nora ran her fingers against the round stone. To her surprise, the surface was not only smooth, but it was slick, also.

She walked to the left edge of the circular door and then to the right. On this side of the rubble,
through
the vault door was the only way to go. Either the doorway opened – or she had found another dead end.

Nora inspected the door closely. Looking at the symbols running on the outer edge, she noticed there was a slight…pattern…to their shapes. It wasn’t enough to tell her anything without being able to read the script, but it was interesting to note.

Suddenly, Nora noticed a tiny gap – the smallest of crevices – running straight down the middle of the stone. She doubted she would ever have noticed it were it not for her augmented vision. But it told her the stone was actually two separate halves, two semicircles put together, which meant it could likely be opened.

The problem was, she had no idea how. She doubted it would be as easy as pushing the right way against a protruding rock, as she’d so often seen in movies.

She backed away, taking the whole thing in again. The vault just stood there, challenging her to go through. Except that she didn’t know how.

On a whim, she stepped up to it and jammed her fingers in the middle crack, trying to pull it apart. It wouldn’t budge. Taking a steadying breath, she tried again, grunting with effort. Again, the thing wouldn’t move.

There had to be some way to get past it. But how? The question clawed at her mind.

In a last ditch effort, she moved from one side of the wall to the other, quickly pressing against every rock that jutted out. Every rock that she could discern.

Nothing happened.

She came to the middle and put her hands against the smooth, slippery stone. She pushed against it, willing it to open. It didn’t budge. Determinedly, she turned around, putting her back into it and squatting down to gain more leverage. But try as she might, even with her newfound strength, even with the blood of another Vassiz running through her veins, there was nothing she could do to move the structure.

No!
Desperation crashed through her mind. There was nowhere else to go, and if she couldn’t get through, there was no way to find the fungus that would heal Alexander. She pushed herself up, stepped back, and slammed her shoulder against the stone. Nothing happened. She did it again, and again, and again, each time increasing the distance she took to run up to it, increasing the strength with which she slammed her body against it. Nothing happened. Angrily, she hit it once with her fist, with as much force as she could muster.
Open, damn you!

Nothing happened.

Nora fell back down, defeated. She could not get through. And Alexander’s life
depended
on her getting through. Tears started to well up in her eyes. He had
depended
on her, and she had failed him. She felt hopeless, and pathetic. It was one easy task – retrieve a simple mushroom – that could save his life, and she couldn’t do it. Despite having all the new powers endowed upon her, despite having superhuman speed and extraordinary strength, despite being able to see in the dark, she could not accomplish the task Selaine had assigned to an ordinary girl.

Wait.
Selaine
! A small sliver of hope surfaced. Selaine had sent her there – surely that meant she might know about the structure. Maybe she didn’t expect the other paths to be blocked off. Maybe she didn’t think Nora would need to know how to get through it. But if anybody knew about it, it would be the old woman.

Nora wiped her face angrily, feeling a new resolve. She pushed herself up and started to run.

She scaled over the pile of rocks, pushed herself roughly through the opening at the top, and slid down the other side. She ran at breakneck speed back up the tunnel, bursting through the rotting planks covering the entrance. She blazed by the belongings she’d brought with her – they didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting back as quickly as she could. She ran for all she was worth. Back to the village, back to Selaine, back to Alexander. If she ran hard enough – she might still have enough time.

Nora raced down the now-empty streets through the darkness. Lights lit up a few windows, but most of the homes around her stood empty. Turning a familiar corner, she found herself staring at Selaine’s shop. A pale light appeared from the upper window.

Nora burst through the side door. She consciously slowed her movement, but still took the stairs three at a time and ran into the upper room, swinging the door open violently. There, she found Selaine sitting behind her desk, eyeing Nora calmly.

“You came back fast, girl.”

“I hitched a ride,” Nora lied.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“No,” Nora said. “But I found something else. Something you did not tell me of.”

“Everybody finds what they need underground,” Selaine answered cryptically.

“What does that mean?” Nora demanded. Then, realizing the most obvious question, added, “Have you seen to Alexander yet?”

“In such a wild rush,” Selaine said smoothly. “Strange, for a girl to be so out of breath if she
hitched a ride
to town.”

Nora didn’t have time for the riddles. Why couldn’t Selaine just give a straight answer? “I want to know about Alexander. Have you tended to him?”

Selaine smiled. “Always so independent, as well. No regard for her elders. Not even a simple ‘hello’, or ‘how are you.’”

Nora walked up to the desk. “Look,” she said heatedly, “you promised you would take care of him while I was away. Have you had time to prepare the herbs, or not?”

Selaine reached under her desk, and pulled out a small glass flask. Inside was a small amount of a thick, dark brown liquid. The flask was held closed by a cork stopper. “I have what you need, Nora,” Selaine said. “The question is, do
you
?”

Nora sighed with relief. At least the herbs had been prepared. She ignored Selaine’s question. “Have you given it to him?”

Selaine smiled again and waved the flask in front of Nora’s face. “This is what I have, girl. It is up to you to administer it to your friend. He is in luck, it seems. It was getting late, and I had thought to wait until morning, but with you here, you can give it to him tonight.”

“You thought to
wait
?” Nora asked incredulously. “You said he was dying! You said without it he
would
die!”

“I said that, yes,” Selaine mused. “But while you were gone, I also took the liberty of visiting your friend once. He is strong, like I said, and has been fighting the poison with all he’s worth. So well, in fact, that I think he may have gained a slight edge. I do not know what did it, but I know that while he was in grave condition before, he is more stable now.”

“Oh.” Nora relaxed. A bit. “That’s…good.” She reached out to take the flask from Selaine’s hands, but Selaine pulled back.

“Nuh-uh,” she said provocatively. “I won’t give this to you until you give me what you went to search for. The mushrooms?”

“Oh. No, I…” she cleared her throat, and continued with a stronger resolve. “I didn’t find them. But like I said, I found something else. A doorway. Or…something. It was carved with various designs and strange letterings. I tried to get past it, to open it, but I couldn’t. I was hoping you might know of it.”

“A doorway?” Selaine asked, raising an eyebrow. Although she did not sound surprised. “Tell me, was it made of grey stone? Did the surface feel like lacquered tile?”

“Yes,” Nora nodded. “You
do
know of it!”

“It is written in the histories of our tribe that such a place exists. Although… I was not aware it had been discovered in the mines. Foreigners, those who know nothing of the history of the native peoples, were the workers there. They would not have recognized it for what it is.”

“And what is that?” Nora asked.

“An ancient archive,” Selaine replied smoothly, “protected by the spirits of earth and fire. It was put in the care of our ancestors long ago. It is said, in the legends, that powerful beings entrusted the people of this region with the safeguarding of the archive. Entrusted it to the native tribes that called this place home, before the westerners came. But knowledge of it has faded as generations passed. Save for the circle of chiefs of the Inuksuk people, I believe I am the only who would recognize it today. But tell me, child, how did you come across it?”