The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (25 page)

“
What's
up, Aaron?” Justin asked and turned to look. And felt his own
mouth fall open.

Justin had not really pictured the physical results of
his and Aaron's efforts. He had been too busy trying to get all the
moving parts working together, and worrying about Aaron, to really
think about how the funnel would actually look. Well, now he knew.

His first thought was that it was beautiful. It hadn't
occurred to him that it would be. But the combination of melted spun
glass mixed with streamers of metal and blobs of molten rock,
instantly cooled, had created a wonder.

The structure did actually extend from a massive,
load-bearing base, all the way up to the opening in the far-off
ceiling. The spiraling, twisted funnel wasn't straight up and down
though. It wavered from side to side, as though they had actually
frozen a tornado in place and filled it with liquid glass. A ridge
followed along the outside of the structure to make a ramp that
Justin calculated was wide enough for them to follow one at a time.

But it was the colors that really captivated him. Blues
and greens, with splashes of red and even yellow, reflected off of
the frozen spiral, making it gleam like a gigantic, crystalline
stalagmite reaching for the roof of some enormous cavern. Actually
pretty close to the truth, Justin thought.

“
Yeah,
it really is beautiful, isn't it guys?” Dominic said. He'd
walked over to stand beside them. Then his voice took on its usual
sarcastic tone. “But, here's a thought. What if our friends
from up above find out that you've opened a new path to the upper
levels? Think they might send down another storm to crush this one
too?”

Justin and Aaron shared a look. Then they turned as one
toward the others.

“
Grab
your stuff, guys,” Justin called. “Dominic is right.
Let's get out while we can!”

Meanwhile Aaron ran over and helped everyone to pack
their things and get organized. Maria gestured for Justin to take the
lead and, after making sure that they weren't forgetting anything, he
headed for the pillar, walking as quickly as the sand would allow.

Seen up close, the texture of the pillar wasn't as slick
as its shining surface made it seem, something Justin was grateful
for. He reached the base, found the bottom of the spiraling groove
that led upward and started climbing.

The gritty, stoney floor was easy to walk on, but the
spiral was very steep and there was nothing on Justin's right side
except the open air. He wondered how many of the group were afraid of
heights and just hoped their eagerness to get up and out of this
place outweighed their phobias.

Five minutes of climbing later and Justin was breathing
heavily and sweating. It was still as hot as ever but the air was
still and heavy. Maybe just as well, he thought. A stiff wind could
pull one or more of us right off of this thing. He slowed down for a
moment and looked back to see how everyone was doing.

Julia and Yolanda were right behind him. Both of the
girls were pale and wide-eyed, but they doggedly kept on climbing
anyway. He smiled down at them and they halfheartedly returned his
grin. Beyond them, Justin saw Jason followed by Richard, both
climbing strongly. The rest were hidden by the curve of the path. He
looked ahead and resumed his ascent.

Justin
guessed that they were about halfway up the spiral, when a little
wind flicked past his ear. He enjoyed the brief coolness but kept
walking. A minute later, the breeze flickered by again, a little
stronger. His eyes widened and he felt a cold knot form in his
stomach. He stopped abruptly and looked down at the others.

“
Julia,
Yolanda, go on past me. Hurry up if you can. Hold hands and walk
faster.”

“
What's
going on, Justin?” Julia asked. He could hear the exhaustion in
her voice and while he didn't want to start a panic, he had to
convince them to hurry it up.

“
I
think our friends from earlier, the ones who destroyed the first
staircase, may try to take down this one as well.”

“
Oh,
Justin, that's crazy!” Yolanda scoffed. The others had caught
up now and the ramp was quite crowded.

“
What
makes you say that, Justin?” Maria asked from behind the
others. At that moment, a powerful gust of wind slapped them all
against the inner wall of the spiral and the structure gave a faint
shiver.

“
Call
it a hunch!” Justin said loudly as Julia and Yolanda grabbed
each other and squealed. “Now for God's sake, move!”

“
Guys!”
Maria shouted. “Get your butts in gear and get up the damned
ramp!”

Julia and Yolanda didn't need any more encouragement.
They started climbing again, Julia holding her friend's hand and
moving as quickly as she could. Justin followed after them, watching
them closely in case either one slipped. He heard the rest forming up
behind him.

The wind started battering them in earnest. It was hard
to keep their footing and the group found themselves leaning against
the inner wall to keep as far from the edge as possible.

The pillar began to groan; just a whisper at first but
then as the wind smashed against it, it began moaning like a living
thing. Justin could feel it starting to flex under the strain but he
couldn't force the girls ahead of him to move any faster for fear of
them falling. He just tightened his lips and concentrated on his own
footing.

Suddenly he heard a yell ahead. Barely over the howling
of the wind, he heard Julia's high-pitched voice shouting, “I
can see the top! I can see the top!” He turned his head and
passed the news on to those behind him and kept on going.

Around one last turn and Justin could see it as well.
The hole in the ceiling loomed ahead with the pillar spiraling up and
through it. At the same time he heard earsplitting, snapping sounds
and knew the pillar was beginning to shatter at its base. He could
actually feel the structure beginning to fail and crumble beneath him
and, as he ran up and through the hole above, he pushed the girls
ahead of him to get them up and off of the collapsing pillar.

They reached the floor above them and Justin turned and
grabbed Jason, pulling him up and out of the way. He did the same for
each of the teens as they approached the top.

Maria was the last in line and he saw the fear in her
eyes as she ran the final few yards toward safely. Then with a final
almost musical clash of sound, the pillar dissolved beneath her.

She leaped up as her footing gave way; Justin fell
forward to grab her. Someone, Aaron maybe, held on to his ankles as
he was suddenly hanging over the edge, the mass of the shattered
pillar falling majestically away from the ceiling. He had Maria by
the wrists and she gripped his as well.

“
I've
got you, Maria!” he shouted and added unnecessarily, “Don't
let go!”

She actually rolled her eyes at his lame advice and just
concentrated on hanging on. Justin felt more people grabbing his
ankles and legs and slowly he and Maria were pulled to safety.

Once they were back on solid ground, and their breathing
had returned to a level where they could actually speak, Maria turned
from where she was sitting and looked at Justin in disbelief.

“
Don't
let go? Really, Justin? That's the best you can do as I'm hanging on
for dear life?”

“
Well,
yeah,” he answered a little defensively. “I mean, isn't
that what they always say when this stuff happens in movies?”

“
Oh
for goodness sake. Justin, this is not a movie!”

“
Geez,
Maria, I just saved your life and you're...” As he saw the
mischievous smile on her face, Justin suddenly realized that Maria
was teasing him. The other teens burst out laughing at his
embarrassment and Justin awkwardly returned her grin.

Suddenly serious, Maria got up, walked over to Justin
and hugged him, hard. “Thank you so much, Justin. I mean that,
honestly.”

Justin felt even more awkward and seeing Aaron grinning
at him didn't help.

“
You'd
have done the same for me, Maria. But thanks.”

She nodded then went back and sat with Julia and
Yolanda. Both of the girls wrapped her in massive hugs and she
laughed and hugged them back.

As they all relaxed, Maria started speaking again.

“
You
know, one day I expect I'll get married. When that day comes, I hope
I know all of you and that you are all there with me.” Her tone
became stern. “But if even one of you brings me a wedding gift
made of crystal, I'll hit you; really, really hard!”

Everyone laughed again. This time Justin joined in
wholeheartedly.

He finally looked around at the room they were sitting
in. Round and nondescript as most of the entry rooms were and dusty
from years of disuse, it was almost welcoming after the events of the
last day.

“
Guys,
I think we should take a break. Eat, rest, sleep, whatever. We have
no idea what's next for us, but I think we should face it as rested
and recharged as we can.”

Everyone greeted Justin's idea with enthusiasm. Justin
found himself a spot against the wall, dusted off the ground as best
he could and grabbed some fruit and juice from his pack. Aaron came
over and did the same.

After a few minutes of steady eating, Aaron asked the
question that had been gnawing at the back of Justin's mind since
they had reached safety.

“
How
did the rebels know where we were, Just? And more importantly, how
did they know when you and I had built the pillar?”

Justin chewed his mango slowly, collecting his thoughts.
Then he swallowed and said “I'm not sure, bud. But we don't
know very much at all about Sanctuary and its systems. There might
very well be some sort of tracking sensors all over the place. Or
cameras of some sort. How can we know? The Titans were masters of
technology, as well as geniuses when it came to genetic engineering.
We've barely scratched the surface of their knowledge.”

He turned and stared at Aaron. “I mean, look at
what you and I did today. We're fourteen years old, man! But together
we built a pillar several hundred feet high just by thinking about
it. If that isn't advanced science, with a touch of voodoo thrown in,
I don't know what is.”

Aaron smiled at Justin's comment but said seriously “I
know, Just. And if you and I can do that, what the hell can adult
Titans do? Maybe Hyperion really can kill off the human race or
enslave it or whatever it is that he wants. And how are we supposed
to face that kind of power?”

“
Please
Aaron, one crisis at a time!”

Aaron grinned at Justin's dry tone and then sat back
against the wall, clearly thinking through what they had been talking
about.

Justin lay down on his back and slid his pack under his
head for a pillow. He stared up at the vaulted ceiling about them and
listened idly to the whispered hum of the conversations around him.
It sounded like distant bees and he slowly drifted off to sleep
lulled by the sound, and reflecting on the fact that after the day
they'd had, things couldn't get much worse.

He was awakened by Aaron urgently shaking his shoulder.

“
Come
on, Just. You have to get up! We're in trouble here,” Aaron
exclaimed.

Ah Geez, Justin thought as he opened his eyes and saw
everyone standing around and looking down at him.

“
Now
what?” he asked.

Justin stood up slowly and rubbed the sleep from his
eyes. Considering how groggy he was, he knew he'd slept for a long
stretch. He pushed back his hair, which he suspected was standing
straight up, and looked at the group around him.

“
Well,
what's going on?”

Maria gave Dominic a little push forward and he looked
at Justin with a nervous expression.

“
Hey
Justin. Well, when I woke up earlier, I got to thinking about all the
trouble we've run into lately and I thought it might be a good idea
to maybe know if things on this level were a bit safer.”

Justin was puzzled. “Yeah, okay. And?”

“
Well,
you know how I can hide in shadows now?” At Justin's nod, he
hurried on. “So, I decided to, you know, scout around a bit.”