Stolen Dreams (41 page)

 

Eve handed Gabriel a cup of
cider and he automatically took a large swallow of it as Daniel
continued to explain.

 

"The
Ruling Tribunal of Norona sent three representatives to Terra to
analyze the progress of the exiled rebels about two hundred years ago.
They promised that help would be sent. We have been waiting a very long
time and are most anxious to learn of your plans to deal with Jupiter."

 

Gabriel
rubbed his chin as he correlated Daniel's tale with the various
theories he'd been considering. "Are you certain no one else from
Norona is on Atlantis at this time?"

 

"Absolutely. Any stranger
to our land would be brought to my attention immediately."

 

"Jarad
mentioned that God was talking to Noe— warning him that the end was
coming. I assume Poseidon is not really sending messages from the other
side, and if we are truly the first Noronians visiting Atlantis in two
centuries, then who is giving Noe instructions?"

 

Daniel
furrowed his
brow. "I suppose it could be the Supreme Being, just as Noe has
insisted for many moons. However, whether the warnings are real or
imaginary, the ground quakings have worsened and the grumblings coming
from inside the mountains grow louder with each rising sun. We had
begun to fear that you would not arrive in time to put a stop to this
upheaval of nature."

 

Gabriel swayed in place and blinked at
Daniel.

 

He
wanted to correct him about who he really was, but his mind and voice
no longer seemed connected. He could see Daniel giving instructions to
his servants and he knew Eva was taking him somewhere, but everything
had taken on a dreamlike quality.

 

Though there was something
important he had to tell them and someone he needed to find, he
couldn't seem to remember the specific details. His body was being
cooled and soothed. For a time he was aware of the gentle ministrations
without being fully awake, then sleep stole even that awareness.

 

The
cups and bowls rattled as the serving table shook so violently, it
threatened to tip over. Shara helped the other slaves in their efforts
to prevent everything from crashing to the floor. The quaking went on
for several minutes and everyone agreed it was the worst they had ever
felt inside the temple.

 

Gabriel? Shara reached out to him for
the
hundredth time in the last hour. As long as he had been blocking her,
she knew he was all right, but this blank wall she was touching was
exactly like what she had felt earlier when he had been knocked
unconscious. She was furious with herself and him for separating their
minds even for a short time. Something had happened to him and she had
no idea how to help.

 

If that wasn't enough, it was beginning
to look
as though the end of Atlantis was coming closer by the hour. Time was
definitely not on her side.

 

She had been working in the
cookery all
day without any chance of sneaking away or getting close to the
nobility. When she was finally ordered to go upstairs and help with the
afternoon service, the quaking began. It would be just her luck to
spill a tray of food on a nobleman and get her throat cut for not
being able to keep her balance during an earthquake.

 

Gabriel?
Nothing. She told herself that he might be hurt, but at least he was
alive. Somehow she would know if his life had been ended. He was a part
of her now, and if he was gone, she would no longer be whole.

 

She
was handed a tray of sweets and directed down the stairs toward the
central court, where Jupiter and his princes were meeting. In spite of
so much going wrong, she still had a mission to do. Concealing the tiny
scissors in the palm of her hand, she headed for her targets.

 

Careful
to stay behind the princes, she carried the tray from one to another as
inconspicuously as possible, but the treats had been anticipated, so
her presence was noted by all present. As she had been instructed,
after each man had taken a sweet, she stood behind a column and waited
to see if any of them wanted seconds. When the signal came, she went to
that man first, then proceeded around the court with her tray.

 

The
fourth prince she approached was sitting on a bench, engrossed in
etching something on a golden table. Quickly she glanced around to make
sure no one was observing her too closely. Pretending to be rearranging
the few items left on her tray, she brought the scissors to the mans
hair and took a snip.

 

"What are you doing there?" the prince
exclaimed, jumping up and whirling around to her so fast he knocked the
tray and the scissors out of her hand. "Clumsy oaf! Why were you
breathing down my neck?"

 

                 
 

 

With
her heart pounding against her rib cage, Shara dropped to her knees and
scrambled to pick up everything that had fallen. Just as her fingers
reached out for the scissors, the prince's sandaled foot came down on
them.

 

Slowly he moved his foot and picked up the implement.
His
fingertip tested the sharp tip and his eyes took on a wild look. With a
powerful swipe, he backhanded Shara, sending her sprawling on the
floor. "The slave tried to harm me!" he shouted toward Jupiter, and
held up the weapon for everyone to see.

 

Shara saw Jupiter nod
to one
of his personal guards. She tried to get up and run, but her head was
swimming from the blow and the serving robe got caught beneath her
feet. As the soldier strode toward her, he poised his spear over his
shoulder and aimed.

 

She hesitated long enough to see the spear
leave
his hand, then she rolled away. Her defensive action was so unexpected
that no one moved for several heartbeats—long enough for her to get to
her feet and head for the narrow flight of stairs up to the serving
area. Midway up she stopped and waited for the first soldier to come
into view. Forcing herself to concentrate in spite of her panic, she
hurled a suggestion at the man the moment he appeared. Instantly he
froze in place and blocked the others from getting past him.

 

Shara
flew up the remaining stairs, pulling off the bulky serving robe as she
went. Just as she crossed the landing and began her descent toward the
cookery, a tremendous explosion sounded outside of the temple, followed
by the strongest earthquake yet. Too frightened to stop and brace
herself, she stumbled
down the steps, falling against one wall and then the other. Another
explosion sounded, and in her mind's eye Shara saw the top of a
mountain spewing fire.

 

This was it! Their time was up.
Gabriel! We
have to get out of here! Shara staggered into the cookery to find total
chaos. Tables were overturned. Pots and crockery were all over the
floor. Slaves tripped over each other in an effort to find a safe haven.

 

Suddenly
Shara pictured little Rebekah, trapped in her cell below the temple.
Her gaze darted around the cookery and found a large cleaver that could
be heavy enough to break the lock on the cell door. Grabbing it, she
took off for the slaves' quarters.

 

Shara?

 

Gabriel's
mental voice
was weak, but she heard it. Thank the heavens! The volcano has erupted
and the ground hasn't stopped shaking. Are you still at the monument?
Can you get away? She felt his mind straining to understand, but there
was something wrong with him. Gabriel, please, wake up! She turned down
the corridor she thought should have taken her to Rebekah, but found
herself in an unfamiliar area. Reversing her steps, she tried to figure
out where she went wrong.

 

I'm in a nobleman's house inside the
royal city. I'll explain later. Where are you? Gabriel asked a little
more clearly.

 

In the temple. Beneath it, actually. She
breathed a sigh of relief as she found herself back on the right path.

 

Get
out of there right now. Keep your mind open so that I can see where you
are.

 

As Shara complied, she felt him turn his attention away
from her to speak to someone else. With her thoughts focused on
releasing Rebekah, she couldn't manage to listen to his conversation as
well. Just as she neared the slaves' quarters, another horrendous quake
shook the temple. Crashing sounds overhead alerted Shara to the
possibility that parts of the structure were collapsing.

 

Picking
up speed, she rounded the last corner, only to collide into someone
else.

 

"Rebekah!" she exclaimed, holding the girl still. "I was
coming to free you."

 

Rebekah
was crying and trembling uncontrollably. "When all the noise started, I
kept pounding on the door, but nobody came. Then all of a sudden there
was one terrible shake and the door fell down."

 

Holding the
cleaver
in one hand, Shara clasped Rebekah's hand with the other. "Come. Let's
get you to your parents!" Before they could take off, though, a
menacing figure in a red robe stepped around the corner in front of
them.

 

"You will not take the virgin anywhere but my chamber."

 

Shara
yanked Rebekah behind her and raised the cleaver over her head. "Get
out of our way or I'll split you in two!"

 

Jupiter
blinked and the cleaver flew out of Shara's hand and down the corridor.
She threw a suggestion at him to go to sleep, but he caught it and
tossed it back at her. His hand raised to strike, and she instantly
paralyzed his arm. Their minds met on a battlefield of wills, pulling
and pushing, each straining to overpower the other, but they were too
evenly matched for either to be victorious.

 

"The virgin must
be sacrificed," he demanded. "It is the only way to appease the gods and put a stop
to the destruction."

 

Shara
stared into eyes of pure madness. His black pupils were dilated to
their fullest as he struggled harder to force her to bend to him. She
felt her mind weakening and saw his deranged smile of satisfaction.

 

Hold
on, sweetling. I'm coming. Suddenly Gabriel's mind melded with hers and
her defensive position changed to an unexpected attack on the king's
consciousness. The next instant, Jupiter's eyes rolled back in his head
and he fell to the ground.

 

Gabriel appeared a moment later.
"Let's go!" he ordered, grabbing Shara's hand and pulling her over
Jupiter's body.

 

"Wait,"
she said as she reached down and plucked a hair from Jupiter's head.
She took another second to slip it into her pouch. Then taking
Rebekah's hand, the three of them ran for the stairs.

 

Shara
noted the cloths wrapped around Gabriel's hands and upper body like
bandages.

 

I'll explain everything later, he promised.

 

The
closer they got to the surface, the louder the sounds of destruction
were. But nothing prepared them for the sight of it.

 

As
they exited through the side door where they had first entered, they
heard the screams and shouts of a panicked population. Throughout the
courtyard, statues and columns had smashed to the ground. A portion of
Poseidon's temple had already collapsed and all around the citadel,
buildings were crumbling. The earthquake alone was capable of leveling
the entire city, but a more lethal destroyer was on its way.

 

Bright
orange fire was bursting from the tops of three
mountains that could be seen from the citadel mound—one only a few
kilometers away. The burning lava appeared to be creeping down the
mountainsides, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it would
not be long before it was flowing into the city.

 

Shara,
Gabriel, and
Rebekah were swept along with the hysterical crowd, all heading for the
beaches in hopes of finding a way to escape the inevitable.

 

"Mama
and Papa have a boat hidden," Rebekah shouted to Shara as they ran
toward the first bridge. "If they have not left already, I am sure they
will take the two of you with us."

 

"Thank you," Shara replied
sincerely. "But we have a boat also. And don't worry, they won't leave
without you."

 

The
gates were already opened before the flood of terrified people arrived,
but the narrowed bridge created a bottleneck. Some people climbed the
walls and dove into the canal to swim across while others pushed and
shoved their way onto the bridge, not caring who they trampled to get
ahead.

 

Gabriel picked up Rebekah to keep her from getting
squashed
in the stampede. Shara's fear mounted with each minute that passed. The
throng kept moving forward, but the fiery lava appeared to be coming
faster. She had no idea how they would ever make it all the way back to
where the raft was hidden before they were overrun by either the lava
or the people.

 

Remember the vision we shared about the
volcano, Gabriel reminded her. We'll make it. Just have faith.

 

Shara's
efforts to think positively received a tremendous boost as they crossed
the second bridge. Salvation, in the form of one enormous elephant, was trudging toward them against the massive flow
of refugees.

 

"Elo!" Rebekah cried, waving her arm in the air.
"Mama! Papa! Here I am."

 

Elo
trumpeted a warning and fanned his ears, and a path was cleared for
him. His sheer size and tusks were enough to keep most people away, but
a few dared to hitch a ride. The elephant knocked them out of the way
with his trunk arid continued on to his little friend. In a flash,
Gabriel handed Rebekah to Jarad, climbing up Elo's side himself, and
pulled Shara up in front of him.

 

"Turn, Elo!" Jarad commanded.
"Home. Fast."

 

Men
and women grasped at the riders' feet and begged to be taken along, but
Elo moved too quickly for them. In no time he was carrying his
passengers through the last gate of the royal city ahead of most of the
fleeing population. He never slowed his pace until he reached Jarad and
Ester's shelter.