Circles of Seven (14 page)

“And we’re part of the stew,” Walter added.

Ashley tilted her head upward. “Karen? Are you listening in?”

Karen’s voice came through the computer’s speaker, sounding weak and far away. “You bet. You guys are the best show in town.”

“How about Larry? You got him patched in to us?”

“Yeah. He’s been reading Apollo’s data ever since you turned it on.”

Ashley gazed down at her computer again. “Larry, what do you make of it? Can you analyze this mess, or is Apollo ready to croak?”

“Apollo is not malfunctioning. It is simply showing that your illustration of a mixing pot was strikingly accurate. The data stream is consistent, but there is also an influx of extraneous light data. I will separate what is natural from what has been artificially added.”

“Well, thank you, Larry. A compliment without a smart aleck remark. I’m impressed.”

Walter kicked at a rock on the ground. “Just tell him to hurry up. We have a cross-dimensional party to crash before it’s too late.”

“I heard that, Walter. Here’s your smart aleck remark.” A rude “raspberry” sound blasted through the speaker.

“Larry!” Ashley scolded. “Behave yourself. Just give us the data.”

“Your wish is my command, Ashley dear. I’ll turn off your raw input and stream filtered data to you.”

Ashley studied the tiny screen again. “That worked, Larry. Good job.” She pulled the computer closer to her face. “There’s a radiation signal here. It’s not real strong, but it’s significant.”

Walter grabbed a leg-length stick from the ground and tried his weight on it. “Let’s get going. I’ll bet it’s stronger where the New Table creep’s waiting.” He held Apollo in front of his body and marched into the woods, using his new walking stick and kicking through the dense undergrowth. “Just let me know if I’m going in the right direction. I have a feeling that we don’t have a second to lose.”

Chapter 10

The Second Circle

Billy stopped and sniffed the air. “You smell that?”

Bonnie raised her head and took in a long breath, closing her eyes, then exhaling slowly. “Onions?”

“That’s what I thought, but how could onions grow in a cave?”

Bonnie’s shadowy form looked like an eerie phantom in Excalibur’s glow. She tapped Billy on the shoulder. “I hope you don’t get tired of me asking, but do you feel any danger?”

“No,” he replied, lowering his voice to a whisper, “but I don’t know if I’d recognize danger here even if it stepped on my toes.”

“That smell’s getting strong,” Bonnie said. “It might be some kind of natural gas. Maybe if we just keep going, we’ll get past it.”

Billy took two steps forward and halted abruptly. A sudden surge of fear buzzed up and down his spine like an electric shock. “I . . . I can hardly budge.”

“Same here,” Bonnie replied, her voice weak and trembling. “It’s like my legs are made of clay.”

Billy moved his sword from side to side, casting its glow all around. Wet gravel littered the flat stone floor at the sides, but the two-foot-wide path down the center seemed clear and dry, as though regularly swept for passing travelers. He tried to hold his breath, both to avoid the odor and to listen for sounds deeper in the cave.

What was that? Crunching gravel? Footsteps? He forced his weakened legs to take a long stride backwards so he could stand in front of Bonnie, his sword ready to strike. A boiling rage churned within, worse than his usual danger sensation, but it didn’t come from the fire in his belly. The fury seemed to radiate from every pore in his skin. “Who’s there?” he yelled. “Identify yourself, or I’ll cut your head off and gut you like a dead fish!”

“Billy!” Bonnie whispered hoarsely. “Why are you talking like that? It might be Joseph.”

Billy detected a spike of anger in Bonnie’s voice, maybe a rebuke, but he couldn’t help what he felt. The rage burned so hot, his legs shook like toothpicks holding up an elephant.

A new voice oozed out of the darkness. “He’s talking like that, Bonnie, because he’s in over his head.” A woman stepped into the light, but she kept her distance. Excalibur’s glow washed over a tall, broad-shouldered body that tapered to a narrow waist. A shadow obscured her facial features, but the outline seemed thin and concave, her hair, blonde and shoulder-length. “He’s trying to prove himself king,” she continued, “but he’s just a child.”

Billy strangled Excalibur’s hilt and gritted his teeth. Over his head? Just a child? The fire in his belly grew hotter by the second. “Who are you?” he shouted.

The woman smiled, her teeth eerily white in the darkness. “Calm down, child. I mean you no harm. I’m just here to tell you the truth. As you can see, you are too volatile to be a leader of the people. Your heart is filled with rage.”

As she stepped closer, Billy raised his sword, his teeth grinding. “Get . . . back!”

The woman shook her head and kept walking. “Will the rage that murdered Palin in cold blood strike down an unarmed woman?” She stood toe-to-toe with Billy and let out a low laugh. “You think your faith purged your anger, but you were wrong. Anger is still your life’s blood.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Bonnie called. “I feel the anger, too. It’s some kind of trick. We have to fight it!”

“Oh, yes,” the woman said, chucking Bonnie under her chin, “the faithful princess never doubts her prince.” She patted Billy on the head. “Why don’t you both just turn around and go home? Joseph will show you the way out. Marry this lovely girl, Billy. Have a dozen children, and live happily ever after. Why risk what lies ahead? Why endanger this loyal young lady? Is your prideful pursuit of royalty worth risking her life? Is a tin crown really worth the price of her blood?”

Billy felt a catch in his chest. He tried to gulp air, but the taste of onions coated his tongue with every breath. His thoughts swirled.
Could she be right? Am I risking Bonnie’s life just to get a crown?
He shook his head, trying to scatter the boiling cloud of anger and confusion.

“Billy,” Bonnie said, “I made the choice myself. No one forced me to come with you.” She pulled on his sleeve and whispered in his ear. “This is a place of darkness. Remember what you learned in the light!”

While the stranger stood with her arms folded over her chest, a smirk of satisfaction spreading across her face, Billy let Bonnie’s words seep into his brain.
Remember what you learned in the light.
His heart beat wildly as he fought against the unearthly, burning rage that threw every thought into turmoil.

An image of his earlier battle with the young knight of the New Table flashed across his mind, and then the professor pulling the melted candle from his pocket . . . the scentser that had lulled him to sleep with its gentle fragrance. He remembered the professor’s words.
When you recognize an enemy’s weapons, they are easier to battle.

The rage slowly subsided. His mind cleared. He relaxed his biceps and lowered his sword. “We’re going on.” He reached back for Bonnie’s hand and pulled her forward, allowing Excalibur to light their way. He wondered what the stranger might be doing, but he resisted the temptation to look back. The odor of onions died away, and all he could hear was the clopping of their shoes on the stone floor. He felt Bonnie’s hand squeeze his three times. A silent congratulations? Maybe. Whatever it was, it surged through his body, chased out any remnant of anger, and flooded his mind with peace.

An echo reverberated throughout the cave, the voice of the stranger. “You think you’ve won, Dragon Boy, but the second circle makes the first seem like a picnic . . . if you can find it.” A beam of light flashed from behind them. Billy spun around. For a brief second he could see the outline of the stranger, now completely shrouded in a black cloak and hood. In a brilliant explosion of sparks, she disappeared.

As if awakened by a blaring trumpet, thousands of bats erupted from the cave walls with furious wings and enraged, piercing screams. Billy and Bonnie swatted at them, Billy with his sword and Bonnie with her flailing arms and wings. Billy grabbed Bonnie’s hand again. They plunged deeper into the cave, away from the madhouse of wings and razor teeth, then skidded to a stop. A wall of solid stone blocked their path.

Billy slapped his hand against the cold, dark barrier. “There’s no way out!”

Bonnie backed up to the wall as far as she could. “The bats are coming closer!”

The shifting shadow of fluttering, shrieking bats began to envelop Excalibur’s light. In seconds the black predators would be on them again.

Ashley held the computer at arm’s length, trying to walk while studying the data. “We must be getting close. We’re reading some of the same frequencies we had in Patrick’s house.”

“Good. Finally.” Walter slowed his march through the forest thicket and turned around. “Did you hear something?”

Ashley aimed her penlight at Walter’s face while looking down at her handheld computer. “Yeah. It sounded like Barlow.” She pulled the computer up to her ear. “What did you say, Sir Barlow?”

The scratchy voice squeaked from the speaker. “William has met a tall woman, an unsavory wench if you want my opinion.”

Walter leaned close to the computer. “Barlow, is she armed?”

“Not that I can tell. They seem to have conversed, and now William has left her behind and moved on.”

“Can you see—” Ashley began.

“Wait!” Barlow interrupted. “A flash of light!”

“What? What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Barlow replied. “It happened so fast. The cave is dark again. I can see only the sword . . . and now I see Bonnie. She looks quite well.”

A blinding flash of light filled the woods. Walter pulled Ashley behind a wide tree trunk, and they peeked around opposite sides. A tall, feminine figure seemed to step out of nothingness next to a gorse bush. The stranger jerked off her hood, and blonde hair streamed down to her shoulders. She skulked away, disappearing into the dark forest.

Ashley whispered hoarsely. “Larry, did you pick up that flash of light?”

“Yes. A very strange anomaly.”

“It’s not an anomaly. I think it opens the cross-dimensional window. Can Apollo duplicate it?”

“Of course it’s an anomaly, Ashley. Have you already forgotten the definition? Anomaly–noun; deviation or departure from the normal.”

“Miss Stalworth!” Barlow yelled through the computer. “Bats! There are bats in the cave! They are attacking William and Bonnie!”

Ashley’s eyes flamed. “Stuff the dictionary, Larry, and analyze the flash! Can you duplicate it?”

“Perhaps. It seems that you were physically displaced from the flash locus, and I can’t determine the distance in order to establish the strength. You will have to provide an estimate of the relative coordinates between you and the center of the light source.”

Ashley punched a few keys on her computer. “How’s that? Can you deliver a flash now?”

“One millisecond, please. Okay, Apollo is now programmed to release a similar flash in thirty seconds. Have a nice trip. Send me an electromagnetic postcard from the other world.”

“Walter, let’s get the cloaks on! Hurry!” She turned her back to Walter, and he yanked the cloaks from her backpack. She then spun around and helped Walter pull the black robe over his head. “Larry, we’ll need another flash to come back to our world, so you’d better program Apollo for another flash two minutes after the first. Got it?”

“Two minutes. Got it. You now have twenty seconds before the first one.”

Ashley dropped the backpack and grabbed her own cloak. “Walter, my turn.” She threw the robe over her head and stuffed her arms through the sleeves while Walter pulled the hem down to her ankles.

“Ten seconds.”

Ashley scrambled to the gorse bush while pushing her head into the black hood. Walter followed with Apollo in one hand, trying to put on his hood with the other.

“Five seconds.”

Ashley set the computer on a log and yanked Walter’s hood down over his face. As they stood side by side, a brilliant flash of light exploded from Apollo’s center. The light collected in a radiant stream and rushed to a point a couple of feet in front of Walter. It spread out in midair like an oil slick on water as though it had splashed against a transparent shield. The light barrier grew into a ragged-edged, vertical rectangle, hovering at least six inches off the ground and extending to a height of eight feet or more.

Ashley grabbed Walter’s hand and lunged headfirst toward the pulsing light. “Jump!”

Keeping a tight grip on Apollo, Walter leaped with her through the portal. Tumbling to the ground, he banged his shoulder against a bowling-ball-sized rock and sprawled to his side.

“Ouch!”

He sat up. The light faded and shrank to a dim, buzzing square about the size of a cereal box. Ashley sat in front of him, massaging the top of her hooded head. “Remind me not to dive headfirst through any more interdimensional portals.”

Walter yanked off his hood and rotated his throbbing shoulder. “I’ll make a note of it.” He spread his fingers in front of his face. “My hands feel like they’re on fire!”

Ashley blew on her hands. “Mine too. They weren’t protected by the cloaks.”

In the fading light of the portal, a strange, undulating darkness flittered all around. “It’s the bats,” Walter whispered.

Ashley pulled off her hood and shook out her hair. “I see them, but I don’t feel them.”

“Yeah. It’s weird. Too weird.” He pointed at a glow in the distance and took a step toward it. “I’ll bet that’s Excalibur.” Still holding Apollo, he stuffed the hood into his cloak pocket and reached for Ashley’s hand. “Come on!”

The two stepped as quickly across the dim floor as they dared, glancing all around at the furious bats, neither feeling their wings nor hearing their squeals. Within seconds they found Billy and Bonnie backed up against the stone wall. Billy waved his sword, whacking at the bats as they approached, while breathing blasts of fire and making fluttering torches out of a few of the bigger ones.

Walter ran up to him, dodging the sword. “Billy!” He tried to grab his friend’s shoulder, but his fingers clutched nothing but air. “Billy! Can you hear me?”

There was no response. Billy just swung Excalibur and smacked a gray bat with the side of the blade, sending it hurtling against the wall.

Ashley looked all around. “Why can we feel the floor and rocks but not Billy or Bonnie?”

“Or the bats,” Walter added.

Ashley rubbed her thumb on the band of her ring. “I must have guessed our distance from the original flash incorrectly. The dimensional portal brought us only part way into this one. But we still have to figure out how to get them out of here.”

“What about Billy’s mission? If we take him out, won’t it be a failure?”

Ashley swatted at a bat, but her hand passed through its snapping jaws. “Would you rather leave them here as bat bait? With the New Table knights running around messing things up, the mission’s as good as over already.”

Walter shook his head. “I guess you’re right, but how can we get them through the portal? Aren’t we pretty far from it now?”

“Yeah. Probably at least fifty feet, straight through the bats.”

Walter lifted Apollo to his chest level. “We only have one shot at getting back ourselves. Can Larry adjust the flash somehow to stretch it this way?”

Ashley pressed her jaw. “Larry? Can you hear me?” She waited a few seconds. “Nothing. I guess I can’t communicate by voice across the dimensional barrier.”

“We’re almost out of time. I’d better put Apollo back at the portal. Maybe when the window opens, Billy and Bonnie will see it and make a run for it.”

Ashley shone the penlight beam into the flurry of bats. “Are you sure you can find the place we came in?”

Walter took the pen and leaned over, trying to direct the beam under the mass of beating wings. “Yeah. I’ll remember that rock I landed on.”

Billy swung his sword again, and Walter instinctively ducked, but not quite far enough. The blade sliced harmlessly through his neck. Billy then blasted a breath of fire into Walter’s chest, and the stream surged through his back, engulfing a bat in flames.