The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (12 page)

The
next junction was a three-way split. Justin stood there and looked
down each corridor. Anything? Nothing to the left or straight ahead.
Wait! He thought he spotted a tiny splash of color in the middle of
the right side hallway. He ran toward it, dropped to his knees and
dug into the sand. It was the slippery pit of a mango! The bright
color contrasted with the dark brown sand and Justin had only seen
the tiniest bit sticking out of the dirt. He was right! They were
dropping whatever they could like a trail of breadcrumbs.

Justin
stood up and for a moment, inexplicably, he felt tears rise in his
eyes. They're alive, he thought. And thinking and still fighting.
Don't give up, guys. I'm coming!

Justin
resisted the urge to race down the corridor looking for the next
sign. You're in enemy territory, Justin. Careful. You won't help them
if you get caught as well.

He
took a deep breath, wiped his eyes impatiently and started walking.

Only
a left and right turn this time, and again a spot of color, this time
to the left. One section of a banana peel was the breadcrumb this
time. He grinned in spite of the situation. May as well call them
breadcrumbs, he thought a bit whimsically and continued on.

In stops and starts, sometimes
frantically searching in the sand for false leads, Justin found three
more bits of fruit. He found the last bit, another banana peel, in a
long, curved hallway unlike any he had seen so far. The curved wall
to his left didn't allow him to see very far ahead and so it was a
shock that when the end of the hallway came into view, he was facing
a doorway for the first time in his frantic search to find the
others.

Justin stopped dead and stared in
disbelief. It was a high, arching doorway maybe fifty yards ahead,
leading into a room that was lit with a warm golden light; much
warmer and almost friendly looking after the harsh glare of the white
lights on this level. He couldn't see any details beyond the doorway,
but he was sure that there was someone talking in there. The words
were indistinct and he didn't recognize the voice.

He wasn't sure whether to proceed or
not. Is this where his friends were? Maybe it was a guard room or
some sort of storage area. Heck, it could be a torture chamber for
all he knew. But after all of the surprises he had faced in the last
day, he wasn't about to rush in and take his chances. Unfortunately,
his choice to retreat or go forward was taken out of his hands.

From behind him came a bellow of
rage. Justin whipped around and just stood there, gaping in shock. It
was a minotaur!

For a split second, he felt a thrill
of recognition as he remembered the minotaur Sentinel from the top
level of Sanctuary. It had been his favorite and had responded to his
plea for help when the complex had been invaded by the rebel Titans
the first time.

But he realized that this was no
Sentinel, It was a living, breathing, sweating minotaur. The stench
of its body almost made him gag. It was twice his height and covered
in matted, patchy black fur. Its horns curved around its face and
stuck straight out in front of its eyes. And, for some reason, it had
a bronze metal ring dangling from its nostrils.

Justin froze for a moment, caught in
the glare of its enormous, red-rimmed eyes. It bellowed again, then
lowered its head and charged!

With no choice in the matter, Justin
turned and ran for the doorway. He could hear the pounding of the
minotaur's hooves behind him, closing fast. He ran, slipping in the
sand, gasping for breath and feeling panic overwhelming him. The
doorway was close. Twenty yards, fifteen, but the monster sounded
even closer.

Justin didn't look back. He reached
deep inside himself as he neared the doorway, stretched out and flung
himself through and to the side, rolling over and over again until he
slammed into a wall. And then he lay there, waiting for the creature
to barrel through the entrance and smash him into mush.

“
I must say, I like a
grand entrance as much as the next person, but was that really
necessary?”

Justin sat up with a jerk and looked
around for whomever had just spoken. Before he could spot him, it had
definitely been a man's voice, someone grabbed him and said “Hey
Just! You okay? You're as white as a sheet.” It was Aaron.

“
Aaron?” Justin
stared at his friend in disbelief. “What are you, I mean how
did you, um what's going on?”

His friend grinned at him. Over
Aaron's shoulder, Justin could see the rest of the teens gathered
around him, looking concerned. They all seemed to have a few bumps
and bruises and Dominic's hair was sticking out in all directions,
but they looked okay.

“
Come on, Aaron. Give him
a minute to catch his breath,” Maria said. She reached down and
patted Justin lightly. “I'm glad you followed our trail of
clues, Justin. Until we got here, we were sure that those monsters
out there were dragging us to a dungeon...or to make us their
dinner.”

Justin was still trying to clear his
head. He took a deep breath and slowly got to his feet, with a little
help from Aaron. The others stood back a bit and gave him a chance to
look around.

The room, like all rooms in
Sanctuary, was large, with many heavy leather-covered chairs
scattered about and two large wooden tables laden with bowls of fruit
and glass pitchers of juice. Shelves covered the walls,containing
hundreds of scrolls and books. The floor was not sand but rather dark
stone almost completely hidden by colorful rugs. The parts of the
walls that weren't covered with shelving were instead decorated in
the Titan style that Justin had become familiar with; scenes of
battles, landscapes and mythic monsters all beautifully painted.

At one table sat a man, certainly the
one who had originally spoken. Justin focused on him as the man stood
up, and his eyes widened. It wasn't a man, he thought wildly. It was
a Titan.

The stranger stood at least nine feet
tall, although he was hunched over with age and his hair and beard
were almost completely white. He wore a long robe of deep blue, with
geometric patterns sewn into it with metallic thread, that Justin was
sure by the color was titanium. His face was not lined though, but
the weight of years seemed stamped on it and his deep-set eyes, blue
and expressive, carried a look of both intelligence and sorrow.

“
Welcome, young one,”
the man said. “I'm pleased that you made it here in one piece
and relatively unharmed. Your friends were just recounting your
extraordinary journey here.” He didn't walk over to Justin.
Instead, he held tightly to the table next to him and extended his
hand. Justin hurried over and shook it, the man's massive hand
engulfing his own.

“
Pleased to meet you,
sir,” Justin said, still shaken and a bit overwhelmed.

“
As am I, Justin McLeod,
as am I. Oh yes,” he said sounding amused, “I know who
you are. I knew before your friends arrived. And yes, I speak your
language. It's not important, really.” He sat down heavily
again. “My name is Prometheus. You may have heard of me.”

Justin stared. “Prometheus,
sir? The Prometheus?”

The man chuckled. “Well, I
don't know about 'the Prometheus'. But I am the only one that I've
ever heard of, if that's what you mean.” He waved Justin into a
chair and the teen sat down gratefully. “Please have some
juice, young man. It's a dry environment out there and it's important
to keep hydrated when you can.”

Justin handed Aaron his jacket. Then
he thanked the man, poured a glass of mango juice and drank it down
in great gulps. He poured himself another and looked at the man
again.

“
Sorry sir,” he
said. “But the legends mention Prometheus as the Titan who
taught mankind how to make fire, among other things. That's what I
meant when I said 'the Prometheus'.”

“
Yes, of course,”
Prometheus replied with a heavy sigh, “That old story. Strange
how tales change in the telling. But after so many millennia, it
should not be surprising.” He sat back and closed his eyes.

Justin looked at Aaron who just
shrugged. Maria was watching intently and gave him a nod of
encouragement.

“
Millennia, sir? You mean
you've been down here that long?” He tried not to sound too
skeptical. Prometheus just smiled gently.

“
Of course. While the
legends aren't quite accurate as to the reason for my punishment, I
was indeed punished for aiding humanity.” He glanced up at the
ceiling. “Such a long time ago,” he murmured.

Justin followed his glance and was
momentarily stunned. The ceiling was painted with some sort of
glowing material but the amazing thing was that it was a
representation of the entire solar system. The sun in the center was
giving the room its warm, inviting glow and around it were nine
plants. Stars glittered in the background and the entire thing looked
remarkably three dimensional. But the most awesome part was that the
planets were actually moving!

How is that even possible, Justin
wondered. He watched the small Earth spinning in space and slowly
orbiting the Sun, the tiny Moon circling around it. Justin looked
back at Prometheus and found the old man watching him.

“
What do you think?”
Prometheus asked, with a wave toward the ceiling.

“
It's incredible, sir,”
Justin replied fervently. “I've never seen anything like it.”

“
Yes, that true. I've
lived here for so long that it's long ago lost its appeal. But seen
through new eyes, it is remarkable.”

After a long moment, Justin ventured
a question. “Sir, I was wondering, um, about those minotaurs.
And why you're a prisoner here. And...” He thought a moment and
added “And why you aren't on the wall in the Hall of Ancestors
up in the top level of Sanctuary. No one ever mentioned your name to
us. I remember reading about you when I was researching Titans back
before we even got into Sanctuary, but you're not talked about at
all.”

Prometheus chuckled. “No, I
don't suppose I am.” He sat back and shook his head wearily.
Then he looked over at the other teens. “Why don't you all have
a seat? I'll tell you some of my history. It will explain my presence
here and perhaps answer Justin's questions as well.”

Everyone found a chair. Aaron sat
down beside Justin and Maria sat near Prometheus. Dominic found a
seat next to her and the others sat as close as they could to the
table.

“
Now, you've obviously
heard the story of my crime against the Titans, of how I stole the
secret of making fire and gave it to mankind. That, like so many
myths, is not exactly the truth.” He suddenly reached out and
lifted Justin's left arm off of the table. He pointed to the bracelet
around Justin's wrist.

“
I see you and Aaron are
initiates,” Prometheus said.

“
Initiates?” Aaron
spoke up, sounding confused. “I'm not sure what you mean, sir.
All of our group up in Sanctuary got a bracelet.” He stroked
his gently. “Unfortunately, we never had a chance to get any
runes inscribed on them, except our names, so they're basically
useless.” His tone was bitter.

“
Yes, yes, I see that,”
The man said as he released Justin's arm. “Did you know that it
was Cronus who originally created titanium? And that he also
discovered how to use runes to channel our mental powers?” He
glanced around at the group. “Oh yes, it's quite true.”
He looked closely at Justin. “Your ancestor was a great man, my
boy, a great man.” He smiled. “I use the term 'man'
because we are, after all, a mutated strain of homo sapien.”

“
How do you know that I'm
descended from Cronus, sir?” Justin asked quickly.

This time, Prometheus lifted Justin's
right hand, palm up. “Don't you think I recognize my brother's
symbol? Only one of his bloodline would have this stamped on his
flesh. I do not know how a descendant of Cronus came to be, here in
this time, but his descendant you definitely are.”

“
Fat lot of good it's
done me,” Justin muttered. Prometheus patted his hand lightly.

“
You truly have no
comprehension of the power that you will one day wield, my boy. That
bracelet you wear, while it is a necessary conduit for most Titans to
employ runes, is merely a pretty bauble on your arm.”

Justin stared at the old man in
confusion. “I don't understand,” he said.

“
It's unnecessary,
Justin! Totally useless to you. That mark on your palm is all the
conduit you will ever need to use runes.” He stared at Justin's
baffled expression and then at the equally confused expressions of
the others. “Don't tell me none of you knew this?”

“
We didn't get a lot of
chances to find out about runes, sir,” Aaron said while Justin
sat there and fiddled with his bracelet, lost in thought. “We
left Sanctuary soon after we received these things,” he said,
indicating his own bracelet. “When we returned, with our new
friends here, it was to find Sanctuary in the hands of the renegade
Titans and the Gates locked down, or turned off, whatever.”

“
Renegade Titans are in
control of Sanctuary?” Prometheus looked concerned. “Explain
this, please.”

Justin told the Titan about Aaron and
himself trying to save Justin's mom, fighting the doppelganger
servitor that was impersonating her and rescuing the six teens who
had been held by the government forces. Maria added a few comments
about their months of imprisonment and the experiments conducted on
them.

Finally, Justin told Prometheus what
Mrs. Mallon had told him when they had talked to her on the comm pad
upon reaching the bottom level of the complex. When he had finished,
the Titan sat back and rested his chin on his fist, apparently
digesting the information they had given him.