The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (4 page)

Justin stared at Dominic
in disbelief for a moment. Then he shrugged and said “I don't
know how to convince you, Dominic. I really don't. But this,”
he extended his left arm and turned it so that they could all see the
bracelet clearly, “has no seam. It doesn't move and can never
come off. Ever. Find something like that out in the world if you
can.” He hesitated and then opened his right hand, palm up. The
rune on his hand seemed to gleam even brighter in the dull light, the
silver color looking metallic. “And then there's this. It's not
a tattoo or a scar or a birthmark. And I used it to kill that
servitor. Explain that if you can. Explain that machine itself.”

Dominic didn't break his
grumpy silence and Justin simply looked at him silently for a long
moment; long enough for the other boy to start squirming under his
gaze. Justin stood up.

“
If
you can't trust someone after they've saved your life, Dominic,”
he said quietly, “then all I can say is, I pity you.” And
he turned away and stepped to the edge of the pile of rocks.

Justin gazed out unseeing
over the dark, water-covered floor; lost in thought. He felt someone
step up beside him and knew without looking that it was Aaron.

“
You
did all you could, Just,” his friend said under his breath.
“Some people are just too proud, or too stupid to listen to
reason.”

“
Yeah,
I guess,” Justin said absently, still staring at the water. His
mood was broken by a call from Maria.

“
Hey
guys? Guys!”

Aaron and Justin turned
around quickly and saw Maria pointing at the fountain. They followed
her gesture and stared at the structure.

“
It
looks like the waterfall is finally running out of water!”

She was right. The
torrent had slowed to a mere trickle and as they watched, the trickle
petered out to nothing but some steady drops of water; like a shower
of rain from above.

“
I
have a feeling that that is as dry as it's going to get,”
Justin said, and he felt renewed hope. “I think this is our
chance.”

“
Well,
let's go guys,” Maria said with a grin and all of them crawled
off of the pile of rocks and sloshed their way over to the fountain.
The water on the floor was about ankle deep and cold but no one
complained. They were too busy looking toward at the ceiling above
the fountain.

“
You
sure you want to go first again, Justin?” With a bit of a
shock, Justin noticed that it was Yolanda who spoke up for the first
time. She smiled shyly and he grinned at her.

“
Yeah,
I think so. I've been up there already, so at least I know what the
climb is like.” He grew serious and looked at the others, even
Dominic whose face was devoid of expression. “So if everything
is clear, I'll call down. The climb isn't too bad. It's up to Maria,
but I suggest the tallest go first and help the smaller ones. It will
be faster and safer that way.” He looked at Aaron, who nodded
encouragingly and then turned his back and began to climb the
fountain yet again.

The second time wasn't as
bad as the first. Justin knew what to expect and he was eager to see
what lay beyond the portal he had opened. He slipped once or twice
but was back at the top in a few minutes.

The open hatch still had
a small stream of water pouring out of it, but not enough to stop
Justin from standing directly underneath it and staring up through
the hole. Blue sky? he thought. No, not possible. But high above him,
through the opening, it looked like he could see the sky. “Only
one way to find out,” he muttered.

Justin turned around,
looked down at the ground and yelled to the others. “I'm going
in. Start the climb when you're ready!” He saw several of the
teens wave. He turned back, jumped up and grabbed the top edge of the
hatch.

The stone was slippery
but the metal was pitted with age and Justin managed to get a firm
grip. He pulled himself up, pushing and squirming until his knees
rested on the top of the hatch and his head poked up through the
hole. He stretched his neck as far as he could and cautiously looked
around.

“
Whoa,”
he muttered.

Justin could just see
that the hatch had opened at the bottom of a huge bowl or pool, now
empty of water. He pulled himself upright and then clumsily climbed
out of the hole.

The ground was dotted
with puddles and small pools of water and the surface was slimy and
reeked of rotting plants. Justin could see clumps and mounds of what
looked like seaweed or algae lying around, left behind by the sudden
draining of the lake.

And it was definitely a
lake, Justin thought. He could see small islands at least twenty feet
high, hills topped with plants and grass that must have stuck out
above the water when it had filled the large bowl.

The lights high above
mimicked the color of a clear blue sky and the air, except for the
smell of decay from the slimy ground, was fresh and cool. The room
was much bigger than the one below and Justin couldn't see its edge
from where he stood. He wondered if the entire level had been one big
lake. I wonder what for, he thought curiously.

A few minutes later he
heard a call from below.

“
Hey
Justin? Could I get a hand please?”

It was Yolanda. She was
being helped up through the hole by Aaron and Justin knelt down,
grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

“
Thanks!
Whew, I hope we don't have to do any more climbing for a while.”
She smiled at Justin and then stood back and looked around as he bent
down to help the next person up.

The operation went
smoothly and there was only Aaron left below when Maria, who was
standing with the other teens and talking softly, suddenly spoke up.

“
Um,
Justin? I think you'd better hurry it up.”

Justin glanced at her as
he was reaching down for Aaron's hand. His back was sore and he was
feeling a bit hot and irritated.

“
Why?”
he asked shortly.

She nodded to his right.
“Because I think the lake's decided it doesn't want to be empty
anymore.”

Justin was perplexed and
looked toward the direction she had indicated. His mouth dropped open
and he reached down and grabbed Aaron, yanking him up so fast that
his friend yelped.

“
Hey,
easy there, Just. Where's the fire?”

Justin pointed over
Aaron's shoulder and Aaron turned and gaped as what looked like a
wall of water was suddenly bearing down on the little group, coming
from the far side of the emptied lake. He turned to Justin and they
both jumped at the sound of a sudden loud bang. The hatch had slammed
closed at their feet and they stood there in the path of a mountain
of water with no retreat.

Justin looked around
frantically and spotted a large mound maybe fifty yards away that
might get them above the oncoming deluge.

“
Everyone,
let's go!” he shouted and ran off toward the possible safety of
the mound, glancing once over his shoulder to make sure that they
were all following.

The entire group raced
for the hillock. Topped with some grass and a few bushes, it suddenly
looked like a safe haven to them as the sound of the pursuing wall of
water grew louder, until it seemed to be directly at their heels.

The teens hit the hill
running, scrambling up the slippery side of the mound, grasping at
plants, until they were all at the top, wheezing and dizzy from the
run and the fear of drowning. They were just in time.

The water crashed into
what was now a small island, dousing them all with cold water, and
then it moved past and they watched as what had been a large empty
hole was transformed back into a lake. After a few minutes, the
troubled surface of the water grew calm and the group stared at each
other in relief.

Maria finally caught her
breath and said “Well, that was interesting.”

Everyone stared at her
for a moment and then the group burst out laughing; amusement and
relief mixed together.

“
So,
now I guess we should decide what to do next. Any ideas?”
Justin looked around at the group. Several of them shrugged, Dominic
glowered and Aaron shook his head. “Maria?”

She looked around the
newly-filled lake, turning in place and checking all sides.

“
There
seem to be a fair number of these little islets scattered around. I
think we might be able to swim from one to the other until we reach
the shore.” She peered into the distance. “If there is a
shore. This whole place seems to be one big lake, doesn't it?”

Justin felt his heart
sink. Unfortunately, he had had the same thought, and it wasn't
encouraging. “Why don't we take a break and think about it for
a bit,” he suggested and sat down on the thick grass with a
heavy sigh.

“
Sounds
good to me,” Aaron said and flopped down beside him. The others
murmured their agreement and each found a spot to sit or stretch out.
The islet was about twenty feet across and there was room for them
all. It had been an exhausting morning.

Justin lay back, closed
his eyes and just drifted for a while. He was very hungry, as he knew
everyone else had to be, but where or how they were going to find
food was a mystery. The water was fresh and seemed drinkable; at
least he had swallowed enough of it and wasn't sick, so that was
something.

He opened his eyes and
stared up at the blue, sky-like light coming from the far away
ceiling. He felt responsible for these people but he had no answers
and was just stumbling around in the dark. What they really needed
was someone like Mr. Fitzgerald here. Then things would get done
right, he was sure.

For the first time in a
while, he thought about the others up above in the inhabited part of
Sanctuary. Were they okay? He wondered about his friends Norm and
Gerry and what was happening to them. And Mr. Fitzgerald. Mrs.
Mallon, who he also worried about, had told him that the man was
missing. Dead? Hiding and planning a counter-attack? Run off? No,
Justin was sure Mr. Fitzgerald would never do that.

Well, they were on their
own. And somehow, some way, they had to survive and make it to the
top of Sanctuary. Justin sat up and looked around. And the first
thing to do, he thought, is to get off of this damned lake.

At that moment Aaron
nudged him, and when Justin glanced at him, he nodded out over the
lake. “What do you think that is,” he wondered quietly.

Following Aaron's gaze,
Justin saw a far-off ripple on the surface of the water. It was
zigzagging back and forth, across one section of the lake and then
back again. As he watched, Justin saw a second ripple further off
suddenly appear and begin making the same patterns.

“
Think
there are fish in here?” Aaron asked as his eyes followed the
movements of the mysterious ripples.

“
Don't
know, Aaron. Where were they when all the water drained? We didn't
see any fish flopping around when the water was covering the floor
down below.” Justin's head whipped around as one of the girls,
he thought it was Julia, gasped out loud.

The other teens were
looking in an entirely different direction across the water. Justin
stood up and moved over to join them and saw more of the ripples far
out in another part of the lake.

In reply to a murmured
question, Maria answered, “I doubt it's a fish. Where was it
hiding when the lake was empty?”