The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (28 page)

He strained to make out any details. Was the shadow
getting bigger? It seemed to be; extending slowly from the end of the
hallway toward him. At first, Justin thought it might simply be his
eyes playing tricks on him. The lights weren't that bright in here.
But the shadow was growing, extending, moving. And the hiss of the
wind was getting louder as well. Why? The breeze that blew by him was
quite gentle.

And then he realized that the hissing was coming from
the far end of the hallway. From the shadows that were still moving,
only now he could see that they were roiling and twisting and
writhing.

My God, he thought. Snakes! Hundreds of snakes. He took
one last look at the slowly moving mass, turned and bolted back up
the hall toward the others.

He ran as fast as he could, but tried his best to land
lightly and not make any noise. He couldn't tell if it worked because
the pounding of his heart was too loud in his ears. He saw the others
still standing in the doorway and somehow he managed to hurtle
through them without knocking anyone down.

Justin came to a skidding stop once he'd made it through
the doorway. A quick look told him that Richard still hadn't moved.
We can't disturb him, he thought wildly. He turned and looked at the
others, who were all staring at him looking surprised.

“
What's
going on, Justin?” Maria asked quickly.

“
Yeah
bud, what is it?” Aaron added, sounding concerned.

Justin tried to slow his breathing down so he could
explain.

“
Snakes,”
he managed to gasp. “Bunch of snakes! Heading this way.”
He took a deep breath. “Right now!”

Maria's
eyes widened and she looked over at Dominic. “So he
was
bitten by a snake.”

Everyone started speaking at once. Julia burst into
tears.

“
I
hate snakes,” she moaned. “More than anything. I hate
'em.”

“
What
do we do, Justin?” Aaron asked, seemingly confident that Justin
would have the answer.

“
Do?
How should I know?” Justin had finally caught his breath and he
glared at Aaron. “There's like a thousand snakes, Aaron. Coming
this way. And there's no door on this room. So how do we stop them?
No idea.” Seeing Aaron's expression of bewilderment, Justin
relented. “Look, bud. I don't have all the answers. Sorry.”
Suddenly, it occurred to him. “Maybe you and I could kill them
using fire and earth.”

Aaron suddenly looked excited. “Hey, yeah!”
he exclaimed. And then, realizing something else, Justin shook his
head.

“
If
we do that, then the gorgons will know that someone is here, in their
territory. I'm guessing the snakes are like guard dogs. One of them
bit Dominic and now the whole pack is coming to finish him off. The
gorgons probably don't know about it yet, or they'd be with their
pets.” He tried to think logically through his fear. “If
only there was some way to block this door. If they can't get in,
they may lose interest. They are only snakes, after all.”

“
Well,
there's your solution, Justin,” Maria chimed in. He stared at
her in confusion.

“
Excuse
me?” he said.

Maria smiled a bit. “Block the door.” She
pointed to the hole in the floor where the stairs had once been.
Scattered around its edges were small piles are rocks, stones and
pebbles broken off when the stairs had collapsed. “You have
building material right there. It should be a lot easier to fill in
the doorway than it was to erect that pillar.”

Justin stared at Maria for a long moment. “Maria,
you are a genius!” he finally said.

“
Nope,
not a genius. But thanks for the compliment,” she said with an
impish grin.

“
Justin,”
Jason called from the hallway. “I think I see movement at the
end of the corridor.”

“
Right,
filling in a doorway,” Justin muttered to himself. He glanced
through the exit at Jason. “Get back in here, Jason. And stay
away from the opening.” He looked around. “Everyone get
back against the walls, just in case.”

The group moved quickly to clear the room for Justin.
All except for Richard and Dominic. Justin shrugged. Can't be helped,
he thought and he knelt down and put both palms firmly on the floor.

He closed his eyes and felt his way through the ground.
He noticed in passing that it was easier each time to get a feel for
things around him. Where are the stones? Ah, there they are. Okay,
pebbles, dust, dirt. Pile it all together. Is it enough? Let's see.
Move it over, around Richard and Dominic. Not too close! Okay, good.

He moved all of the debris into the doorway. The sound
of the rocks and stones scraping on the floor echoed loudly in the
closed quarters of the room, but Justin ignored it. He tried to mold
the pile of rubble into a plug that would block the entire space of
the doorway. He pushed it up and in. But would it hold?

Keeping his eyes close, he said “Aaron, could you
add some heat please? Just enough to melt the grit in between the
stones?”

“
You
bet, Just. Give me a second to concentrate.”

Justin held the plug steady. Compared to the pillar,
this amount of stones was easy to control. Suddenly he 'felt' the
heat being applied to the plug and, after a moment, he felt the mass
stiffen and bind together.

“
Okay
Aaron, that's good. Pull the heat out quickly to cool it down fast.”

“
You
got it,” Aaron replied and Justin heard a loud 'whoosh' as his
friend cut off the heat.

One more minute to be sure that the plug was holding and
Justin sat back and opened his eyes.

The doorway was now covered by a rough, gravelly-looking
mass of hardened rocks and stone. The floor was clean in all
directions and Justin thought whimsically that he'd just found a
practical and useful way to tidy up. Mindful of Richard's
concentration, the other teens quietly congratulated him and Aaron.

Maria
spoke up in a low voice. “Now, if only we could tell when those
snakes go by. I'd hate to guess and be wrong when you open that door
again, Justin.”

“
Shh!”
It was Jason. He had moved over to stand next to the doorway. “I
think I can hear them.”

Wide-eyed, the whole group quietly slipped over to the
doorway and listened intently.

Again, Justin heard a wind-like hissing sound, this time
vibrating through the plug in the doorway. It grew louder and was
soon accompanied by a scraping sound; the sound of scales rubbing
against stone. Everyone was barely breathing. The sound was so loud
and close now that Justin was sure that the multitude of snakes was
directly outside of the room. And then the sound of movement stopped.
The hissing grew in volume. Justin was sure that the creatures could
hear his heart beating, considering how hard it was pounding.

He looked over at the others. Maria and Jason were
listening intently. Yolanda looked afraid but in control. Aaron
returned Justin's look and mouthed the words 'They're testing the
plug.' Justin nodded mutely.

As he looked at Julia, Justin was shocked to see that
she was rigid with fear. Her mouth was wide open in a silent scream
and her hair seemed to be literally standing on end. Before she began
shrieking, or passed out, Justin crossed over to her and took her
hands tightly in his own.

Julia's eyes fixed on Justin's face and he leaned in and
whispered “We're all here for you, Julia. You're not alone. And
they can't get in. You understand?”

He watched her as she blinked rapidly and took a deep
breath. He raised his eyebrows and waited for her to nod. “Well
done,” he whispered. “Hang tough. It will be over soon.”

Again, Julia nodded and swallowed as she gripped his
hands even tighter.

Maria slipped in beside Julia and put her arm around her
shoulders. Julia turned, let go of Justin and buried her head against
Maria. Justin looked a question at Maria who blinked once and slowly
pulled Julia away from the door toward the far side of the room.
Justin breathed a sigh of relief and went back to stand at the door
and listen.

The hissing continued for what seemed like forever, but
finally they heard the sound of scales on stone again and the snakes
moved on, continuing down the hallway. A few minutes later the sound
faded and was gone.

Aaron collapsed back against the wall and wiped the
sweat from his face. “Phew!” he said in relief. “That
was the scariest thing I've been through in, like, forever.” He
wiped his chin with the back of his hand and then stared at it as it
shook. “Huh. Didn't even know I could shake this badly.”

Everyone breathed easier. Justin thought they should
wait a while before unsealing the room; in case the reptiles retraced
their path. Everybody agreed.

Julia looked calmer. She finally let go of Maria and
walked over to sit next to Yolanda, who patted her hand in sympathy.
Maria got some water from her pack and sat against the wall, sipping
it while she sat there, deep in thought.

Justin went over and sat next to Richard. The teen
looked much the same but when Justin checked on Dominic, he was sure
the injured boy had more color in his face and he seemed to be
breathing easier. Justin hoped that it was not just wishful thinking
on his part.

Aaron sat down beside him. “Any change?” he
asked as he offered a fruit bar to Justin.

“
No
thanks, bud. Not hungry after that little scene.” He looked
down at Dominic. “I think he looks a bit better. I just wish we
knew how long a healing session lasted. If we were in a fight and
someone got hurt, this kind of healing would be useless. It takes too
long.”

Aaron agreed. “Maybe it's because Richard is so
new at it?” he wondered.

“
Yeah,
I hope so. And I hope that when he comes to, Dom can tell us what
happened to him. Can those snakes see him when he's scouting or did
he make a mistake or what? We really need to know.”

“
Absolutely,
Just. If snakes or those gorgons, or both, can see him in shadow, his
scouting days, at least on this level, are over.”

Justin simply nodded, then found a spot against the wall
and sat back, his legs stretched out in front of him. He watched bits
of dust whirling around in the air over the hole in the center of the
floor. His mind drifted for a bit and he was starting to nod off when
a loud sigh, followed by a groan, made him jerk upright and look
around.

It was Richard. He was slowly leaning back, away from
Dominic. He grimaced and rubbed his lower back.

“
Ouch!
That hurt. How long was I sitting in that position? I feel like I'm a
hundred years old.”

Justin got up and hurried over. So did everyone else.

“
Give
the man some room to breathe, guys,” Maria said firmly and
everyone stepped back a bit. She crouched down beside Richard and
took his hands. They were covered in dried blood and she asked Julia
to get a water flask.

“
Richard,
are you okay?” Maria asked as she washed the blood off of him.

He smiled weakly. “Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit
creaky from being hunched over like that. How long was I...occupied?”

“
Maybe
an hour or so,” Maria replied. He looked surprised. “That
doesn't matter right now,” she continued. “What's
important is that you're okay. A lot has happened in the last little
while. First though, how's Dominic doing?”

“
Don't
talk over me, Maria. Just ask me yourself.”

“
Dominic!”
Maria looked down to see him grinning up at her. He had dark circles
under his eyes and looked tired, but he seemed to be all right.

“”
How
are you feeling?” Maria asked as she gently pulled him upright.
He grunted a bit but managed to stay sitting up on his own. Maria
passed him her flask and he drank some water.

“
Sore,
tired, stupid. Pick one.” He sounded irritated and embarrassed
at the same time. “But I'm okay.” He looked around the
room. “Well, it's good to see that I made it back. Wish I could
remember how.” Then he noticed the plug of solid stone in the
doorway. “Whoa! How did that happen?”

“
I
was just about to ask the same thing,” Richard added. He was
eating a fruit bar voraciously and Dominic asked for one as well. As
he began eating, he turned his arm around to look at the bite mark
behind the bicep. The bite was gone; all that was left were two pale
scars where the holes had been.