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

“
I
agree. But we've been around this level at least twice, Aaron. If
there was a door or a staircase leading to the next floor, I think
we'd have found it by now.”

Justin walked around the
fountain, studying it from every angle. The tiers of basins that made
up the structure got smaller as the height increased. He couldn't
quite make out the top of the fountain, but it was certainly possible
that it reached the ceiling, or at least came close.

“
I
think I have to try it, Aaron. At least take a look and see if
there's something up there.”

Justin took a step toward
the fountain and Aaron quickly grabbed his arm. “Hang on there,
Mister Daredevil,” he said half jokingly. “I think we'd
better wake up the others and get their opinion first.”

Justin looked at him in
surprise and realized that for a moment, in his rush to check out the
supposed emergency exit, he had forgotten all about the other teens.
He rubbed a hand over his face and realized how tired he was. “Yeah,
I guess they should be told,” he replied in agreement.

He walked back to the
others in the group, Aaron leading the way. None of them had awoken
when the two friends had left and Justin could see that each one was
probably as tired, hungry and worn down as he was.

Aaron knelt down and
gently shook Maria's shoulder. Justin wasn't surprised that his
friend had chosen her first. She was the oldest of the group, and
when he and Aaron had first met them, it was obvious that Maria was
the leader. Even Dominic listened to her.

Maria muttered in her
sleep a moment, then turned her head and looked at Aaron. “Hi
Aaron. Morning already?” she asked with a sleepy grin.

He chuckled. “Who
knows in here, Maria? But we need everyone's opinion on something,
and I thought we'd tell you first and then let you wake them up. They
trust you a lot more than Justin and me.”

She turned her head and
saw Justin standing a few feet away. “Hey Justin.” She
rolled up slowly and got to her feet, brushing off some grit and dust
as she stood up. She shook out her long black mane of hair and ran
her fingers through it. “Ugh, this place is filthy.” She
glanced at Aaron and then walked over to Justin.

Aaron followed and they
huddled together, voices lowered. “So what's up?” Maria
asked.

Justin explained the
situation and Maria's eyes got wider the more he spoke. After he had
finished, she glanced over at the shadowy structure in the distance
and then back at Justin.

“
So
you really think there's an...escape hatch or whatever at the top of
that thing?”

He shrugged. “No
idea. But there's no harm in looking, is there? I may be grasping at
straws,” Aaron snorted and Justin smiled. “Okay, I am
grasping at straws. But if there's a chance that I'm right, I have to
try.” His expression turned grim. “Anything's better than
a slow death by starvation.”

Maria shivered and looked
back at the other sleeping teens. “I agree, Justin. Besides,
you told me that you and Aaron jumped out of a third story window a
few days ago. So if you fall, you should be fine.” She grinned
slyly. “Except for Dominic's guaranteed smart remarks.”

Justin didn't reply but
managed to look amused. Privately, he was quite sure that she was
right, at least about Dominic.

“
Okay,
I'll wake them up and explain all this.” She paused and looked
at Justin again. “I think we should head over to the water pool
first though. It's not breakfast, but I'm sure they will all be as
thirsty as I am, and it will give us all a chance to wake up.”

Justin and Aaron agreed
and Maria proceeded to wake the other teens.

As she was explaining
things to the others, Aaron leaned closer to Justin. “I hate to
be a downer Just, but if you fall when you get to the top of that
thing, be careful where you land,” he said in a whisper.

“
What
are you talking about?” Justin asked in confusion.

“
Well,
in case you hadn't noticed, those Titanian words around the base of
the fountain? They were etched in it with metal. Specifically,
titanium.”

Justin felt his stomach
clench and looked at Aaron incredulously. “Are you serious?”
His friend just nodded. “My God, I hadn't noticed. Well, I saw
them gleaming a bit under the dirt, but titanium? Ouch.”

“
Yeah,
Justin. Ouch. Do not land there! From that height, I seriously think
it could kill you.”

Justin followed the
others as they made their way to the room with the pool of brackish
water. He was deep in thought and hardly heard the murmured
conversation around him.

Once everyone had been
refreshed, and they had separated to use two other rooms they had
designated as 'the boys and girls rooms', the group headed back to
the central area until they were all standing next to the fountain.

“
So,
he's actually going to climb to the top of this thing?” Dominic
asked doubtfully.

“
Well,
let's just say I'm going to try,” Justin said before Aaron had
a chance to reply. He noticed that Aaron's dislike for Dominic seemed
to grow with every comment the other teen made. Justin for the most
part simply ignored Dominic's usual sarcasm.

He looked around at the
others. Maria looked worried but smiled with encouragement. Dominic
had folded his arms and looked skeptical. Aaron appeared nervous.

Of the other two boys,
Jason, the skinny blonde, gave him a thumbs up and Richard, an east
Indian boy a bit younger than Maria, just winked.

The two other girls,
Julia and Yolanda, were behind him and he didn't turn around to see
their reactions. He simply took a deep breath, swallowed and walked
up to the fountain.

Aaron had been right.
Seen close up, the Titanian writing was made of titanium. Justin
surreptitiously ran his fingers over the etching. It was probably his
imagination, but the lettering felt cold and sharp and he shuddered
slightly. Then he ran the same fingers over the bracelet on his left
wrist. Same metal, but it felt warm and comforting. He glanced at the
smooth metal and touched the tiny runes that spelled out his name.
Enough stalling, he told himself sternly and, lifting a leg on to the
low edge of the basin, pushed himself up to the rim.

Once on the edge of the
basin, Justin found the footing to be fairly secure. The soft soles
of his sneakers sank a bit into the sharp rim and he could stretch up
and grab the next rim without too much difficulty. Being taller than
five-four would help right about now, he thought. Then with a grunt,
he pulled his body up to the next tier, hooked an arm over the top
and dragged himself up.

In the echoing quiet of
the large chamber, he heard a snide comment from someone; it sounded
like Dominic. Aaron made a hissing reply that Justin was sure he
wasn't meant to hear but the still air carried the words nonetheless.

“
He's
doing this partly because of your whining, idiot. Now shut the hell
up!”

Justin smiled to himself
as he struggled to balance on the second level of the fountain. For
some reason, Aaron's support gave him a boost of energy and he found
his balance, reached up to grab the third basin's edge and yanked
himself up even higher.

The basins held bits of
rock and mounds of dust but little else. Certainly water hadn't
touched them in centuries. As he pulled himself up to the third tier,
he noted almost absently how lucky it was that the rim of these
higher basins were free of the titanium etching. The stone was quite
sharp and Justin realized that his hands would be cut wide open by
now if it wasn't for his dense Titan body structure.

By the time he had
reached the fifth basin, Justin was sweating and breathing heavily.
Although the structure tilted to the side somewhat, there had been no
shaking or shifting of the fountain as he climbed; at least so far.
But the basins were getting smaller the higher he climbed and his
arms were aching from pulling himself up and over the edge of each
one.

He sat down and dangled
his legs over the rim. Looking down, he could see the group of teens
below. They were indistinct in the darkness of the room but he
spotted the pale faces looking up at him. He waved briefly as he
caught his breath and several of them waved back.

Justin guessed that he
was about forty feet up at this point. The ceiling must be close now,
he thought and carefully stood up and turned around to face the next
basin above him.

He was surprised to see
that he had been correct. The next tier was indeed the last one and
the rough expanse of the cracked and pitted ceiling loomed over it.
The sight gave him renewed strength and he reached up one last time
to grasp the edge of the basin, and slowly pulled himself into the
final bowl.

He lay back for a few
minutes, just looking up at the ceiling that was perhaps five feet
over his head, and then around the inside of the small basin. In the
center of the bowl a round hole, clogged with pebbles and grit,
showed where the water had once flowed up from below to cascade down
to the rest of the fountain.

Justin finally stood up
and examined the ceiling more carefully. Seen close-up, he was
surprised to find layers of mold, gray enough that it blended in with
the stone it was attached to, covering the ceiling and stretching out
for many yards. Why would the ceiling have mold on it? he wondered.

He raised his arm and ran
his fingers over the mold. It was dry and desiccated, but as he
scratched at it, chunks of dried fungus began to break off and rain
down on him, causing him to turn his head away and sneeze violently.
He shook his head, blinked several times and looked up again.

The layers of mold
underneath the dried layer looked darker than the one on top. But
Justin ignored that as he saw something that made him catch his
breath.

There, directly above the
center of the bowl he stood on, was a rune set flush into the
ceiling. He felt a rush of excitement. The rune looked exactly like
the many others he had seen in Sanctuary, the ones that you pushed to
open doors. He'd been right! He shook his head in disbelief. I think
this may be a first for me, he thought. A lucky guess that actually
was lucky!

He was itching to push
the rune, but took a moment to calm down and collect his thoughts. It
occurred to him that he should let the others know what he had found
before he did anything else. That's all he needed, he thought wryly;
for Dominic to make smart ass remarks because he had decided to 'take
charge' again. He rolled his eyes, but turned and knelt at the edge
of the basin and looked down at the group far below.

“
Hey
guys! Can you hear me?” he shouted.

“
Yeah,
Justin. We hear you!” Aaron called back.

“
Listen,
I found a rune in the ceiling. I think it's one of those opening
runes we've seen on doors.” Justin paused a moment to let them
absorb the idea, then continued. “Do you think I should try it
or not?”

He watched the distant
figures mill around for a minute, obviously discussing his
suggestion.

Finally Aaron shouted
back. “Yeah, of course. I mean, we can't think of any reason
not to. Give it a shot.”

“
Okay,
I'm going to try it now.”

Justin turned around,
stood up carefully and reached for the rune. As he touched it, his
hand came in contact with the dark mold that all but covered the
button. It felt a bit...damp? Wait a second, he thought. Why would it
be damp?

He might have stopped to
think things through, but one of his fingers was touching the rune
and apparently that was all that was needed to activate it.

Oh well, he thought, as
the rune glowed brightly for a moment and then sank into the stone.

Justin heard a loud
snapping sound, followed by a shower of mold fragments. He ducked his
head to protect his eyes and then looked up to see a round outline
cut into the rock where the fungus had been, maybe three feet across.
The door or hatchway quivered then dropped slightly. It shook again
and dropped another quarter of an inch.