Torrent

CHAPTER 28

When claws bit through my soggy jeans and into my calf, I screeched like a dying hog. I hung onto Simon’s hand and foisted the sword at Temi.

“Stab it,” I sputtered. “Get it off.”

The tunnel had filled almost as quickly as the chamber, and only their heads and shoulders were above the water. But Temi managed to clasp the sword. I grabbed the ceiling with my other hand and kicked with my free leg. I connected with something, but it didn’t let go. I couldn’t see anything-the creature was submerged-but it was impossible to miss those claws. My kicks only made them sink deeper. Pain blasted from my leg to my brain as I twisted and writhed, struggling to shake the paw free. Simon was trying to pull me away at the same time as the monster tried to pull me deeper.

“I don’t have the sword any more, you stupid- Gah!” I kicked harder and was surprised when my blow worked-the grip released, and I had my leg back.

I stroked away so quickly I almost mowed over Simon. I grabbed him and tried to push him ahead of me, up the tunnel away from that creature.

“Temi,” I called, “come on. We have to get away while…” I trailed off, confused as I twisted my neck to check on her. The tunnel had grown oddly brighter, especially given that I couldn’t see anyone’s flashlights.

It was the sword. Glowing.

“Go ahead, I’ll give you time,” Temi called over her shoulder. She was standing in the tunnel, the blade thrust before her, holding the creature at bay. Only the iridescent eyes of the smooth black head were visible between the ceiling of the lower chamber and the surface, but it was enough to see the murderous intent there.

“We’re not leaving you,” I said.

“Then figure out a way to kill it,” Temi said without looking back.

The creature advanced and she swiped at it again, almost losing her footing. Simon grabbed her by the back of the shirt. The monster howled and drew back. Why it was glowing for Temi, I couldn’t guess, but that was a question we could worry about later.

“Maybe we can drown it in there,” I said.

“What if it doesn’t need air?” Simon asked. “It’s been holding its breath forever.”

“Then what if we trap it? That stalactite-if we could knock it down and it fell across the tunnel entrance…” That was a big if. It was just as likely to fall in the other direction. Not to mention we’d be trapping it in there with Jakatra and Eleriss-if they were still alive.

“With what?” Simon asked. “The TNT’s back in Phoenix, remember?”

The creature lunged for Temi. Again, she swiped with the blade, the silvery reflection bouncing on the gleaming walls with its movement, like candlelight in a draft. The sword clacked against stone, and shards flew free.

“I should have taken fencing classes when I was in Europe,” she yelled. “At least I’m keeping it at bay.”

I barely heard her. I was staring at the rock that sword had cut. “Did you see that?” I jostled Simon’s shoulder. “Maybe we don’t need dynamite. The sword can cut stone.”

“Uh, that stalactite is thick,” Simon said.

I wasn’t sure he’d seen the blow. He was still holding onto Temi’s shirt to keep her from being pulled away. At the same time, he was holding onto a bump in the wall to keep himself from being pulled away.

“Do you have any more of that rope?” I asked. “Did it ever come free after I cut it?”

“Yeah, we finally yanked it out, figuring we were yanking you out. It’s tied around my waist.”

He didn’t look like he was in a position to untie it, so I patted him down until I found it. Without waiting for questions as to what I was trying, I swam up the tunnel, searching for something promising to tie the rope to. The uneven walls had numerous bumps and divots. If I could find one that formed something close to a hook…

“There you are,” I said, spotting a formation similar to an eyelet. “Even better.”

I tied the rope through the hole and gave it a good yank to make sure it would hold, then let the current sweep me back toward my friends.

Temi cried out in pain at the same time as Simon shouted, “Look out!”

By the time I reached them, she’d batted the monster back again, but had switched the sword to her left hand. She was shaking her right hand. Blood streamed down it and into the water.

“Are you all right?” I swam in close and tied the other end of the rope around Temi’s waist.

“Yes, though I think it’s figuring out I’m not as dangerous with this thing as Jakatra. Do you want to try, Del? You always did more of the martial arts stuff.”

“Sorry, but it doesn’t glow for me.”

“It’s coming again,” Simon warned. “Can you hit it with your left hand?”

Temi lunged out to meet the attack. She might not be experienced, but she had good reflexes and instincts. With most of the battle taking place underwater, it was hard to tell where the blow landed, but the monster lurched backward and yowled again.

“I’m a six-oh as a leftie,” Temi said.

“A what?” Simon asked.

“It’s a tennis rating,” I said. “It means she’d kick most people’s butts even playing left-handed, blindfolded, and in a wheelchair.”

Temi snorted. “Not quite.”

“Okay, Temi, we’ve got the rope around you. I want you to try and force the monster back long enough to reach that stalactite and knock it over with the sword.”

She snorted again. “Shall I push over a few skyscrapers while I’m at it?”

“We’ll try that later if we get out of this. Now, go.”

“How am I supposed to-”

“You have to hurry-it’ll be underwater in a second,” I said. “Just try. The sword is… I don’t know what to call it. It’s a magic sword, okay?” I felt stupid saying that, but Simon was nodding. Apparently we’d stepped out of the science fiction movie and into the Shire.

“Whatever you say,” Temi muttered. “Just don’t let me get sucked in there-I can’t swim like you do.”

“I know. We’ve got you.” Somewhat at odds with the words, I waved for Simon to let go of her shirt.

Temi dog-paddled out-she hadn’t been joking when she’d said she couldn’t swim well-and I wished I could take her spot. If she couldn’t make it to the stalactite or if the creature attacked while she was trying…

The dark head did swoop in, but she grabbed the sword with both hands and swept it toward that inky black face. The creature disappeared underwater, retreating, I hoped, though it might simply be planning to come in from another angle.

“Watch down by your feet,” I called.

Temi was too busy swimming and fighting to answer. Water was pouring in from the ceiling in three or four places now, and I worried the whole chamber would disappear beneath rubble soon. Temi was almost swept past the stalactite, and I thought we’d have to pull her back and try again, but she jabbed toward it with the sword. She might have been trying to hook it to keep herself from flowing past, but the tip sank into the stone.

“She better not get it stuck,” Simon said, his head rotating, searching for signs of the creature. It hadn’t resurfaced yet.

Temi used the sword to pull herself to the stalactite. Her head jerked downward, and she yanked the blade out and plunged it into the water beside her.

A barrage of bubbles rose to the surface around her.

“Hah, it does hold air in its lungs,” Simon said.

The attack must have convinced it to leave her for the moment, for Temi wrapped her legs around the stalactite and hewed at its base near the ceiling, like a lumberjack at some upside down tree. The stone reacted like wood, too, with shards being cleaved off.

“Amazing,” I said.

“It is a magic sword,” Simon said.

I didn’t care at that moment. I just wanted the tunnel blocked and to assure nothing would chase us as we tried to escape. Though I wasn’t sure the stalactite would do the job, if it didn’t fall just right…

“Try to angle it to collapse in this direction,” I called.

Busy hewing at the stone, Temi didn’t react. Maybe she didn’t hear.

Abruptly, she screamed in pain. She cursed and whipped the blade down, stabbing beneath her again.

I lunged forward, but there was nothing I could do to help. I had no idea what had happened to my bow, but it wouldn’t do any good anyway.

“Should we pull her back?” Simon asked.

“I don’t know. She’s close with the stalactite, and she’s still fighting it…”

A heartbeat later, Temi disappeared beneath the water. I didn’t know if she’d lunged down to attack or had been yanked under.

“I’m pulling her back,” Simon said.

I grabbed the rope to help him.

A crack rent the air, and the stalactite fell free, plunging straight downward. Piles of debris dropped with it, but the massive column tilted toward the alcoves and didn’t come anywhere near our entrance.

I cursed again and hauled on the rope. Stupid idea. What a waste of-

“She’s stuck.” Simon leaned back, pulling as hard as he could. “Or resisting. I can’t-” His foot slipped, and his head went under.

I grabbed him, catching his collar before he could be swept out of the tunnel. I wanted to help both of my friends, but it was all I could do to keep from being pulled out myself. I hauled on the rope, hoping that eyelet could hold all of our weights, and yanked on Simon.

He came up with a sputter. “I’m fine. Temi. Get her.”

We were farther up the tunnel now, with the water at my ribcage. I leaned back, preparing to yank hard, but this time the rope came back without resistance. My stomach sank. Had she cut herself free? Or had the monster swiped a claw across the rope?

I pulled faster. Water, or maybe tears, made my vision blurry.

By then, I was expecting a frayed rope end to come out of the water. I gasped with surprise and delight when Temi’s head popped up. She still had the sword too. Great splashes broke the water behind her. At first I thought it was the monster following her, but those were her kicks. No wonder there hadn’t been any tension on the rope-she’d been motoring like crazy back there.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said as soon as she had her feet beneath her.

“The monster?” I asked.

“I don’t know if it’s dead, but I hope so.” Temi flashed a grin, her teeth glinting with the reflection of the sword. “It got caught beneath the rocks, and I cut a lot of holes in it.”

“Nice,” Simon crooned.

We took long enough to untie our rope in case we needed it again, but that was it. We raced back through the chambers, all of which were filling with water, and headed for the tunnels the others had burrowed. My calf screamed with pain, thanks to the fresh holes punctured in it, but it supported my weight, and I didn’t let it slow me down.

I glanced about when we entered the lake cavern, shining my flashlight beam into the darkness, hoping to see Alektryon or Jakatra and Eleriss, Alektryon in particular. I had no way of knowing if he’d survived, but if he had, it would be fascinating to figure out how to talk to him. If he’d truly been alive back then… he could tell us so much about that time period. More than that, I hoped he’d survived because… I don’t know why, but I felt protective of him. If he made it out of the caves, which was no certain thing, he’d be lost in Twenty-first Century America.

As for the others, I should be relieved those pointy-eared crazies were missing, but I longed to know more about their people and their role in our history. If they’d been plucking warriors out of humanity’s past, what else might they have done? And why? A part of me wanted to rush to the Internet and start sifting through history, trying to tie their people to some of the mysteries of the past, mysteries that fringe researchers tried to link to aliens. Another part of me wanted to wash my hands of the whole week. How much easier it would have been if these caves had held nice normal relics from nice normal peoples who’d once lived in the area. Stories like that I could have written up and submitted to magazines and academic journals. But this? If I couldn’t bring teams down and show them proof, I’d go from being shunned to being mocked if I tried to explain what we’d seen tonight.

A great crack sounded behind us, followed by a boom that reminded me of a wrecking ball at a demolition site. Simon, Temi, and I exchanged wide-eyed looks and picked up our pace. No, I wasn’t going to get my proof. The alcoves with the dead men and their artifacts were all underwater by now, and the entire place would collapse soon, leaving everything buried beneath the lake for all eternity.

• • •

Darkness had long since fallen, though the sky full of stars seemed gloriously bright after the lightless confines of the cave. In Temi’s hands, the sword had made short work of the boulder blocking the tunnel exit, but it wasn’t until we were walking alongside the lake that some of the tension ebbed from my neck and shoulders. Partially because of the darkness and partially because Simon had lost one of his sandals in the chaos, we’d decided to forgo midnight rock climbing and leave the kayaks to be found by daylight. The going was still rough, since we were following the shoreline and avoiding the trail, lest booby traps remained, but it was navigable by the starlight-and the silvery glow of the sword. The glow wasn’t as profound as it had been when Jakatra had held the weapon, but it was more significant than when the Spartan had gripped it. I wondered if magic swords were offended when people used them as canes. Judging by the sweat bathing Temi’s face, she’d tortured her leg far more tonight than she had in a long time. My own throbbing leg wouldn’t mind a cane of its own. Dry clothing would have been nice too. And a jacket. The crisp air promised frost.

The hoots of an owl drifted across the lake from the wetlands. I hoped that meant the monster was indeed drowned and buried, even if Simon would doubtlessly complain that he hadn’t had an opportunity to prop a foot on the body and have his picture taken with it.

“It’s so peaceful out here,” Temi said. “It’s hard to believe…” She waved at the granite formations behind us, their lumpy contours black against the starry horizon.

“Except for the fact that even in the dark you can tell the water level has dropped a good foot.” I nodded toward the gently lapping waves. “I bet those caverns have been completely filled in already. We’re lucky we got out, given how much someone delayed us.” I cleared my throat and pinned Simon with a stare.

“What?” he asked innocently. “Don’t act like I’m the only one in the world who would stop to scrape gold flakes out of a lucrative vein, especially when someone in the group is carrying a sword that cuts through rock slicker than a fork chops Jell-O.”

“It wasn’t quite that easy,” Temi murmured.

“That is city land. You know the rules about excavations,” I told Simon, though I was just giving him a hard time. After all, I’d been the one to suggest digging a few ounces out earlier.

“Hey, we need to recoup our expenses. That Greek beefcake swiped my tablet, and you and Temi are going to need stitches. And let’s not forget the van repairs I put on my credit card. I think the city owes us a few ounces of gold for our trouble, especially if that creature ends up being dead and doesn’t eat any other tourists. Besides, it wasn’t like we were going to be able to come back later. Did you hear that final boom?”

Temi smiled at me. “It’s hard to argue with that logic, isn’t it?”

“That logic will either get my debt paid off or it’ll land me in jail. I haven’t figured out which yet.”

“It’ll be interesting to follow along and see which of the two it is,” she said.

“You say that now, but he’s perfectly capable of landing you in jail too.”

“You ladies need to have more faith in me,” Simon said. “I practically saved your lives down there.”

“You saved our lives?” I stopped in the middle of a swath of waist-high grass. “Temi, did you notice him doing that?”

“I suppose he helped with the rope for both of us.”

“Hm, from my point of view, his role seemed more… decorative.”

“Decorative?” Simon lifted his chin. “No, no, I’m the mastermind, you see. I assigned the grunt work to you two ladies, since you’re so capable of doing it.”

“Uh huh. Tell me this, Simon.” I pointed at his feet. “Is it difficult to be a mastermind when you’re only wearing one sandal?”

“Not at all. Masterminds don’t use their feet very often. Though I do wonder when it fell off. I kept it all through that swimming jag. Think the monster ate it?”

“Those of us who are clad in appropriate footwear can only imagine,” I said.

“Indeed,” Temi murmured.

“Oh, well. I’ll buy better sandals next time. Perhaps something with leather instead of rubber.”

“Careful,” I said. “I’m not sure our business can afford such largess yet.”

It took us an hour and a detour through the wetlands around the end of the lake before we drew close to the parking lot, a parking lot unexpectedly bright with headlights and flashlights. I couldn’t tell who they belonged to, but the Jaguar was in the middle of things.

“Is that the police?” Temi asked.

“Not the police.” Simon pointed. “Those are Humvees.”

“Uh.” I stopped on the trail. “Who wants to go tell those nice National Guard folks that the fun is over and they can go back to their units?”

Simon bumped Temi’s arm. “Put out the sword, or they’ll see us.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Drop it,” Simon said at the same time as I grabbed it from her.

The glow disappeared as soon as it left her hand, but a flashlight from the parking lot swept across me, then came back, shining in my eyes. An urge to flee filled my legs, but that would make us look guilty, and those fit men in boots and camouflage could surely outrun a guy in socks and two girls with injured legs.

“You out there,” a man with a deep voice called. “Come here. Slowly. And keep your hands up.”

Simon and Temi lifted their hands. I couldn’t do that without lifting the sword too. How were we going to explain it? Worse, if they searched us, how were we going to explain the gold in Simon’s pocket? It didn’t look like much in its ore form, but I couldn’t count on them not knowing what it was. They’d think we’d stolen it or mugged someone out here, or who knew what?

“You too, lady,” the man growled. “Hands up.” Several more men and a couple of women had joined him at the edge of the parking lot. At least nobody was pointing guns at us yet, though they all had them…

I thought about tossing the sword in the lake, but there were too many flashlights shining on us. Everyone would see it. Sighing, I lifted the weapon along with my hands.

Temi went first down the trail. Maybe they’d see her limp and feel some sympathy for us. I was doing a pretty good limp of my own right now, though I couldn’t imagine these guys giving us the friendly treatment and escorting us to the hospital.

“…that a sword?” someone asked.

“Yes, do we…”

“Just some dumb kids.”

Yes, dumb kids, that was us. And it seemed like a promising angle to play up. These people were out here searching for monsters, so maybe they’d wave us away…

“What are you guys doing out here?” the original speaker asked when we were standing on the pavement a few paces from them. It was too dark to read his nametag, with all the lights being shone on us instead of the other way around, but I figured he was a sergeant, since he was older than the ones holding the flashlights and seemed to be in charge.

“We were going to camp,” I said, “but it got too cold, so we’re going home.”

“Yes, I imagine it’s quite cold when you’re soaking wet,” the sergeant said, lifting bushy black eyebrows.

A shame that jeans didn’t dry very fast…

“Yeah,” I said when neither Simon or Temi spoke. “We fell in.” That might have been a plausible excuse if we were ten, but I doubted they’d buy it. Maybe if they knew we’d been in kayaks, but considering how we’d illegally obtained them-and then left them on the other side of the lake-I wasn’t going to bring them up.

“You kids know there’s a curfew in Prescott?”

“No, we just got here. We’ve been on a road trip.” I pointed to the Jag. “From New Mexico.” At least the plates backed up the out-of-state claim. “We heard there’s nice camping in the mountains around here.”

The men exchanged looks. Maybe I shouldn’t have added that, not when the White Spar had been so recently devastated.

“You brought a sword?” the sergeant asked. “And a whip.”

“You guys have guns,” Simon pointed out.

Leave it to him to stay silent until he could say something lippy. I would have elbowed him if I wasn’t still holding my hands up.

“The woods are dangerous,” I said. “There are badgers and rattlesnakes and things.”

One of the younger men was squinting at Temi, and I had a feeling she was about to be recognized. I wasn’t sure whether it’d help us or not.

“Should we take them to the police, Sergeant?” someone asked from one of the Humvees.

“I know that kid.” The younger man pointed, not at Temi but at Simon. “He’s the one with the blog.”

Oh, hell.

Other men started nodding and saying, “Oh, them,” to each other. I tried to decide if that tone of voice suggested we wouldn’t be taken to the police or that they were more likely than ever to drop us in Lieutenant Gutierrez’s lap tonight.

The sergeant and the young man who’d identified Simon stepped away and shared a quick conversation of whispers. I caught Temi eyeing her car. At some point, she’d lowered her hands and slipped out her keys. We’d have a much better chance of outrunning soldiers in a Jag than on foot, but someone would get the license number, if they hadn’t already. When she met my eyes, I gave a quick head shake. I wasn’t ready to start a life of fleeing from the law. Chances were it wouldn’t be nearly as glamorous as it was in the movies, and even if I was on the lam in Bolivia, I’d probably still be expected to pay my student loans.

The sergeant returned and waved for his men to stand back. He drew Simon and me aside. Actually, he drew Simon aside, and I tagged along to keep him from sticking his foot in his mouth.

“You see anything out there?” he asked.

I blinked. He wanted intel from us?

“Yup.” Simon started to reach for his phone, but one of the privates with rifles tensed, and he only pointed at his pocket. “If I can get my phone out, I can show you some new pictures.”

The sergeant nodded. “Go ahead.”

“We were over in those rocks.” Simon pulled out the phone, but it didn’t respond when he punched the button. A few drops of water dripped from the corner of the case. “Ugh. Forgot. It fell in too. Damn, I had a couple of blurry ones from when the monster was chasing us into that-” he glanced at me, “-hole.”

Broken phone or not, the sergeant’s eyes were riveted to Simon. “You saw it in the Dells, you said? So far, the people we’ve talked to… nobody’s leads have panned out. But you actually had some pictures up on your site.”

“Yeah, we’ve seen it a couple of times.” Simon stood a little taller. “Today, it was definitely over there, between the rail trail and the lake. It sort of… cornered us for a bit. We hid in the hole until it left, but it might still be out there.”

Or under 50,000 tons of rocks. I wasn’t about to say it though, not if these guys might leave us alone to go investigate.

“Got it,” the sergeant said. “Look, you kids leave this to us. You’re going to get yourselves killed running around out here with-” he frowned at the sword, “-toys. Curfew’s at ten. If we catch you out again, we’ll have to detain you.”

“We understand,” I said as contritely as I could manage and dragged Simon toward the car. He was staring and sputtering at the “toy” comment. Temi took it in stride, merely unlocking the trunk and waving for me to toss our gear, toy included, into it. I was all too happy to set the sword in the back.

My calf had redoubled its throbbing, so I was glad when nobody rushed to claim the shotgun seat. I plopped down, stretching my legs out as far as I could. My foot nudged something, but I didn’t think anything of it.

“Uhm, Temi?” Simon asked. “Wo-would you like m-me to drive? If your leg hurts, I mean.”

“Thank you, but my knee would prefer the greater leg room up here.”

“You could have Del’s seat,” he offered.

“Hey,” I said.

“I’ll drive for now,” Temi said. “But thank you for the offer.” Something about the look she gave me implied she wasn’t sure Simon should be trusted with her car. I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t take the opportunity to break a few speed limits myself, but I thought he’d genuinely wanted to help with her discomfort if he could.

I shifted again as we drove out of the parking lot, trying to find a comfortable spot for my leg. It must have swollen quite a bit, because my sock felt too tight. My foot bumped something again. Figuring it was Temi’s purse, I reached down to move it-and halted as soon as my fingers brushed the leather cover.

“Simon? I think I found your tablet.”

“What?” Simon leaned forward. “How?”

“I don’t know,” I said, though my heart beat faster. Was it possible Alektryon had escaped with it, chanced across the Jag, and returned the tablet when he saw the opportunity? But how would he have known the car belonged to us? Or what a car was for that matter?

Simon reached for the tablet, but I batted his hand away, and flipped the cover open. The drawing app was still up. My breath caught. His words from before were still there, the ones claiming he wouldn’t be anyone’s slave again, but there were a couple of new words in careful script.

“Is it still working?” Simon asked. “Did it get wet? Or, oh, what’s that?” He’d seen the drawing app.

“A new message,” I said.

We were speeding along the highway back into town, but the roads were empty, and Temi took a long look over.

“In Greek?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“What’s it say?” Simon asked.

“Roughly… Be wary. They are the enemies of humanity.”

“Similar to what the Roman said, right?” Temi asked.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway,” Simon said. “I don’t think we’re going to see those guys again.”

“Probably not.” I’d barely made it out of that chamber alive; it was hard to imagine someone else going in deeper and surviving.

I couldn’t say that I’d miss Jakatra and Eleriss exactly, but I missed not solving any of the mysteries surrounding them. Would we ever learn who they were and where they’d come from? Not to mention who had created that monster, why it’d crawled out of the ocean in L.A., and why it’d killed all those people… Eleriss’s warning that there would be more monsters made me uneasy, and I wondered if we should have tossed the sword in the lake when we’d had a chance. Only time would tell.