Dearest Mother of Mine (Overworld Chronicles) (7 page)

"We did it!" Elyssa said, clapping her hands together and peering through. She took an ASE, spun it in mid-air, and motioned for it to go through. It proceeded onward, drifting around the room.

I stuck my hand through the arch. When nothing severed it, I poked my head through. The control room looked just like the one at Thunder Rock. I wondered if all of the control rooms with Alabaster Arches had the strange symbol on the world map. I scoured the room with my eyes, looking for any nasties that might be lurking nearby, but the place looked empty. I noticed the exit door was closed, so I couldn't send the ASE outside to be sure we had the right place—at least not without stepping into the room and opening it.

"Should we?" I asked.

Elyssa twisted her lips, giving the room a thorough visual examination. "I think we need more preparation. We need food, water, flashlights, and other survival supplies before we risk setting foot in there."

"But it's already lit," I said. A yellow glow suffused the room, much as it did in the other arch control rooms I'd been to.

"The cavern area in El Dorado wasn't well-lit," she reminded me.

"We could look through the door," I said. "Just a little peek."

"No," she said, setting her arms akimbo. "Not until we're prepared for anything. I'm not willing to take one more step. If you try, I will knock you out and drag you up the cellar stairs by your feet."

I gulped. My girlfriend was a grade-A certified badass with a litany of ways to take down even the biggest supernatural. "Sure thing, honey. Whatever you say."

I heard Shelton snicker behind me.

"Let's call it a day," I said, noticing it was nearly two in the morning. Man, had it been a long day. Kidnapped, returned, and now this.

"First thing in the morning?" Adam said, eyes bright with excitement.

"Make it after eleven," Shelton said with a groan and a stretch. "I gotta get my beauty sleep."

"I'm sure that's all you need," Adam said, winking and looking at Bella.

Bella laughed as Shelton turned a shade of red.

I reluctantly shut down the arch after giving the ASE instructions to record every inch of the room just in case there were hidden dangers. Even though I desperately wanted to go through, I knew Elyssa was right. Tomorrow we would be ready. Tomorrow we would find the secret Lornicus wanted us to find. Tomorrow I would be one step closer to saving my Mom and bringing her and Ivy home.

Chapter 6

Despite my excitement, I slept like a baby and woke up ready to go. Shelton joined me in the large dining area a few minutes after I'd arrived. Elyssa entered, sweat glistening on her body, twin sai swords sheathed across her back. She leaned over the table and pecked me on the lips.

"I just finished morning practice. I'm gonna shower, and I'll be ready." I couldn't take my eyes off her limber form as she jogged up the stairs in her tight-fitting yoga pants and sports bra.

"You're drooling," Shelton said, and took a sip of coffee.

The corners of my mouth twitched up in a smile. "That's a good thing, right?"

He snorted. "Yeah. Guess so."

By ten a.m., everyone was gathered in the den. Adam lugged in a duffel bag full of lighting gear, some of it powered by aether, some of it by battery.

Cinder watched the proceedings with great interest as he usually did from a seat with a view of the entire room. The golem did his best to mimic facial expressions, and even had a room of mirrors upstairs so he could judge his performance.

Maybe I should send him to acting school
.

Once everyone was assembled, we double-checked our supplies, and made sure each person was outfitted with a miner's headlight, a magical glow stick, and a vest with bright LED lights all along it in case of an emergency. I noticed Nightliss sitting at the table, eyes pensive.

"Are you coming?" I asked.

She shook her head sadly. "You told me Daelissa could not go near the cherubs without becoming extremely weak. I'm afraid they will have the same effect on me, and I don't wish to burden you." Her lips twisted. "I am also not quite up to fighting anything yet."

"I understand," I said, giving her an understanding smile. "Unless we all die, we'll be back soon."

"Don't say that," Elyssa said, batting me playfully on the shoulder.

We went downstairs to the omniarch. Using the same precautions as before, I connected the arch to the control room with the weird symbol. The image of what we supposed was the El Dorado control room flickered into view between the columns. Elyssa recalled the ASE from the other side, and told it to show her the activity log. It had nothing to report.

"That's one of those special ASEs the Templars use, right?" Shelton said.

"Yeah," Elyssa replied.

"So, if it even caught a hint of movement, it would have noted it in the activity log."

Elyssa nodded.

"Ain't it kind of strange there's nothing on it? Not even a cockroach?" He took a sip from his travel mug. "I'd expect there to be something living down there."

"Lots and lots of cherubs," I said. "I doubt they all moved out after we captured Vadaemos."

"I don't think even bugs want to be near husks," Adam said. "Insects and animals sense when there's something wrong and flee on instinct."

Shelton didn't look convinced. "Glad I'm wearing my adult diapers today," he muttered darkly.

Elyssa and I stepped through at the same time—that was the deal we'd made the night before. I sniffed the air. Took in a breath. It was a bit musty, but otherwise seemed normal.

The control room looked virtually identical to the others I'd visited, a huge rectangular room carved from the surrounding stone. A dull yellow glow suffused the room, its source as much a mystery as the creators of this place. A world map ran the length and height of the large front wall, a slightly raised platform situated before it. At the front of the platform, a gray sphere sat atop a pedestal. Arch operators—Arcanes who were tasked with the daily operations of Obsidian Arches—called the sphere a modulus. It would rise from the pedestal and allow them to select the destination for the Obsidian Arch. On the right side of the world map was a rather plain-looking metal door which led to the cavernous way station where an Obsidian Arch usually sat, though I didn't remember seeing one the last time I'd been in El Dorado.

We stood in an aisle just behind the control platform and between rows of smaller arches, each one of identical size—roughly ten feet tall by twenty wide. Cyrinthian symbols to the left of the world map corresponded to symbols on the floor in front of these smaller arches, each one presumably linked to a specific location. The main difference between this control room and the ones I'd seen in the Grotto and Queens Gate stood to our right—a large black arch veined with white. An Alabaster Arch. If Daelissa repaired the Grand Nexus, this arch would open to the angel realm.

Elyssa and I waited a moment, ready to retreat through the arch in an instant should anything attack. Elyssa dispatched sentry wisps, little balls of light that would flit around the room and emit alarms if they noticed hostiles. She'd obviously raided the Templar armory for a rainy day.

After touring the room and determining it was safe, we signaled the others to come through. Adam and Shelton, staffs held at the ready, walked over to the exit door and inspected it.

"Many of these arches appear damaged," Cinder said, surveying the room.

I joined his gaze and saw broken structures just as I had in Thunder Rock. Only a handful of the numbered arches remained standing. The row of omniarches to the side of the room seemed mostly intact.

Shelton pulled the lever on the door, and opened it a crack. Beyond lay pitch black. He gulped, and shut the door. "I haven't felt like this since the first time I went to a haunted house," he said.

Adam unpacked a couple of industrial-sized magical glowballs, and activated them. They hovered in the air, casting bright white light in all directions.

"Before we step into the unknown," I said, "maybe we should look at the arches in here. Maybe activate the Alabaster Arch and see if it works."

"Hey, anything to delay going out there," Shelton said, jabbing a finger toward the control room door.

I ran a finger along the surface of the spherical modulus on the pedestal in front of the world map. Stars located all across the map—each one indicating the location of an Obsidian Arch, lit in succession. If I wanted to request a connection to a particular arch, I would flick my finger once the appropriate star lit, and wait for the arch operator on the other end to verify.

"I don't see a star for El Dorado," Shelton said. He pointed to the star indicating Bogota, Colombia where the La Casona way station was located. "I see all the known arches like the Grotto and La Casona, but not El Dorado or Thunder Rock."

I removed my finger from the modulus. "I wonder what would happen if I requested a connection."

"I don't think we want to find out," he said. "We don't want to risk Gloom fractures."

I didn't want to bear responsibility for killing anyone in a freak Gloom rift accident. "Without a star to mark this place on the map, we don't even know if we're in El Dorado or one of the other abandoned way stations like Thunder Rock."

"This appears to be the symbol for the Alabaster Arch," Cinder said, pointing out a large icon consisting of a solid circle with an upside-down "V" in it. In Cyrinthian, it was the symbol for zero. A line of symbols ran down the left side of the map, each one a number corresponding to the rows of small black arches behind me. Touching one of the symbols should light one of the arches, provided the device still worked. Unfortunately, it wouldn't light a corresponding star at this location.

Shelton stared at the symbol for activating the Alabaster Arch. "Should we turn it on and send through an ASE?"

I met eyes with Elyssa. She shrugged. "Sure," I told him. I pressed my hand against the symbol. A deep klaxon bellowed throughout the room. Meghan jumped and shrieked.

Elyssa's arms blurred, reaching for the swords strapped across her back. She stopped with them halfway out. Shoved them back in and gave me a dirty look. "Next time you scare me like that, I might take off one of your fingers."

I smirked. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

The black-and-white-striped arch pulsed with ultraviolet and white energy, jagged bolts arcing from the twisted columns to the silver circle bordering it. The klaxon thrummed again as the arch continued sparking massive amounts of energy into the circle around it. We waited for several minutes, but no destination appeared within.

"Can I have an ASE?" I said, holding out my hand to Elyssa. She deposited one of the marble-like spheres in my hand. I walked to within a few feet of the silver circle, not daring to get another step close to the deadly looking storm of lightning bolts dancing across its surface, spun the ASE, and directed it to go through the arch.

The ASE obediently hovered across the circle and made it to within twenty feet or so of the arch before exploding in a cloud of sparks as a flash of ultraviolet nailed it.

"Holy Zeus on a tricycle," Shelton cried out in surprise. "That thing is broken as hell."

I jogged back to the control button and touched it again. The klaxon wound down as the Alabaster Arch de-energized .

"Perhaps there is another button to access the Grand Nexus," Cinder suggested, looking the rows up and down.

"I ain't going near that thing," Shelton said.

I looked toward the exit and shuddered. "Then I guess it's time to go out there."

Shelton flicked off and on his glow vest a few times. The rest of us took his cue and tested ours to be sure. Now was not the time to rush blindly. The Arcanes took out their staffs, eyes set in concentration for whatever lay outside. Bella brandished a wand in addition to hers. Elyssa retrieved a compact pole from a pocket on her side, and at first I thought she'd brought her own staff. I gave her a puzzled look. She grinned and snapped out a quarterstaff.

"Swords won't do much against cherubs," she said. "But if I can knock 'em across the cavern, that'll keep them out of the way."

"Smart thinking," I said.

She kissed my cheek. "Naturally. I'm a girl."

Shelton and Adam took up positions on either side of the door. I twisted the handle, and pulled it open. The industrial sized glowballs drifted outside, lighting the immediate vicinity outside the control room. I checked the map on my arcphone. The cavern was as large as the way station in the Grotto, which meant the "X" on the map was a couple hundred yards away in the center.

"I don't suppose anyone can cast one of those light burst spells like Curtis did?" I asked, looking at Bella. Curtis had come along on our expedition through El Dorado during our mission to apprehend Vadaemos. He'd scoffed at my suggestion to take along flashlights, and screamed like a little girl when a drain rune sucked us dry of aether and nearly left us helpless against shadow people.

"It's a waste of energy," Bella said. "Curtis is a bit of a showboat."

"Talk about blowing your entire load for one spell," Shelton said with a chuckle. "Amateur."

Adam sent the glowballs drifting higher until we had a clear view in a hundred-foot radius. I led the group forward until the door remained barely visible at the back edge of light, held up my hand for everyone to be quiet, and listened. Elyssa closed her eyes, presumably doing the same thing. I heard shuffling noises. Low groans from giant throats somewhere ahead. And then I heard the sound that sent a pant-wetting chill down my back.

"Dah nah," croaked an infantile voice.

A whistling gurgle answered. Cherubs were ahead of us, but not by far. I assumed the things could see us highlighted in the middle of the light, or maybe they just sensed our delicious, creamy souls.

Shelton's staff burst into a roiling inferno. "Maybe I should do that light spell after all," he said.

Elyssa threw out a handful of tiny glowing orbs which swept through the area around us. The last time we'd been here, cherubs literally carpeted the cavern floor. Elyssa had used them like stepping stones. Light glistened off shiny pitch-colored skin as the orbs drifted along the path toward the center. Each time one spotted a cherub, it took up a position directly over their heads. By the time the path was scanned, wisps of light bobbed above at least twenty cherubs. On the bright side, we had a fairly clear path.