The PureLights of Ohm Totem (33 page)

“What news do you have?” asked Crepus.

Maldwyn reached the bottom stair and stood beside the dark reptile. The other apes took watch a few lengths away.

The spy stepped forward, holding his head high. “The Skylark has shown her true colors. She is who you say she is.”

Crepus rolled his eyes, “Yes, yes. I saw the display in the sky.” He rolled his head from one side to the other. “How amusing it was,” he droned, closing his eyes, doing his best to control his anger. “Now, do you have anything important to tell me?”

“Yes,” replied the spy. “Nova is being more protective over them.”

“I'd do the same if I were her. I wouldn't let them out of my sight. Anything else?”

The spy searched his memory. “They changed the meeting of the Circle of Elders to tomorrow. It's not at full moon like usual and…”

“And,” interrupted Crepus, “it's customary to have new students join them.” Cruelty dribbled from his smile. “That means the skylark and panther will be there. Good. That's the best information you've given me thus far, Skint.”

Skint bowed. “Thank you, my Lord.”

“And Skint, we can't converse through thought patterns anymore,” added Crepus. “I felt the black panther listening before you left the other night.” Crepus paused, closing his eyes as if sensing something. Opening his eyes, he snapped his head toward the squirrel, hissing, “Were you followed?”

Wide-eyed in protest, Skint shook his head. “I made sure I wasn't.”

Crepus narrowed his eyes and slinked away, walking with short strides down the underground tunnel, making sure each step was silent. “I feel several beating PureLight hearts.” He sniffed the air. “They're not here yet, but they'll soon arrive.”

Zoey and Coda stared into the black hole. Zoey's eyes adjusted to the darkness, allowing her to faintly see steep stairs leading down into a tunnel. She knew Coda had keen eyesight in the dark, but he didn't see San either. Then a small glow of light suddenly appeared, revealing that the steps were marble leading to a dirt floor.

Coda pointed with his paw. “Zytes just turned on.”

“San?” called Zoey.

Silence.

Zoey looked at Coda. Both were terrified. The worst went through Zoey's mind.
Did San get hurt? Why did she fall into the hole like that?

Coda poked his head farther into the hole. “San!”

A crunching sound echoed in the tunnel. It sounded like someone stepping on rocky soil.

“I'm down here.”

“Why did you scare us like that?” Coda scowled.

San came into view at the base of the staircase. She shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know. I wanted to get down here, I guess. I wasn't trying to scare you.”

Zoey puffed up in indignation. “Well, don't do that again. You scared me—” she glanced at Coda, “and you scared Coda, too.”

“Okay,” San pouted. “I won't do that again.”

Coda slowly crept down the stairs, being careful with every step. “It seems alright down here,” he said, giving Zoey the OK to follow.

“Okay,” replied Zoey. She flapped her wings and landed next to San. A light, chilly breeze blew against her and she shivered from the sudden change in temperature.

“Where are we?” asked Coda.

They were in a large tunnel that went on for what seemed to be miles. In front of them and behind them, the tunnel went as far as the eye could see. San pointed to the zytes that lined the walls. “There are zytes everywhere, so for sure spirit animals have been down here before.”

Zoey noticed a large round boulder. It was red in color and looked too smooth to be a rock, but nonetheless, it was a rock. Coda saw it as well, walked over to it, and touched it with his paw. Peering around it, Zoey saw another one by its side.

San leaned forward, inspecting the ground. “Over here,” she called out quietly.

Zoey flew next to San and Coda bounded to their side. They were looking at an indentation in the ground. “So,” said Coda, “what's so neat about that?”

San straightened, explaining, “I find it curious that there are two boulders to our left, but an empty space here with an concave shape in the ground. The shape is the size of a boulder.”

Zoey looked at the other boulders. They seemed to be heavier than a house, but they were perfectly round, as if carved out of a mountain.
You'd need a tractor to move one of those, or something even bigger.
She stared back at San blankly. “What's so curious about that? There couldn't have been a boulder there. No one, except a VioletLight, could move it. Especially not someone as small as Skint.”

“Oh yeah,” replied San. She looked away, lost in thought, and then confided, “There are stories about tunnels that were created long before the PureLights came to Ohm Totem. If I remember correctly, when the PureLights found them they learned how to use them. The tunnels were part of a system of travel that involved these boulders here!” She pointed at the closest boulder with her wing, “They're called Zolts. PureLights used to travel from tribe to tribe in them. Instead of taking ten moons to get somewhere, it'd take half a moon, or even less.”

Coda and Zoey still didn't quite understand what she was getting at. And for some reason, San suddenly sounded much smarter than normal. Pushing this thought away, Zoey glanced at the Zolts.

Coda was standing on his hind legs next to one, touching it again with his paws. “I bet a VioletLight could make one of these and they could probably get it down here by moving it with their minds.”

San shook her head. “Like I said, they were here before the PureLights arrived.”

How does San know all of this?
Zoey wondered.

Before Zoey could ask, San spread her wings, jumped and flew to the closest Zolt. She paced around it and blew on it. Instantly, the side of the boulder pressed inward, then a piece of it rolled open. To Zoey's surprise, the Zolt had a door.

“Whoa! How did you know to do that?” asked Coda.

“I thought it, so I did it,” replied San as she peered around the inside.

Zoey flew over to Coda, who whispered in her ear, “She's been in that boulder before.”

“How do you know?” Zoey whispered back.

“Because you have to blow twice if—”

“Check this out!” interrupted San.

Zoey walked toward her, hopping onto the edge of the opening.

Inside the boulder was a large empty space, surrounded and lined by a perfectly smooth and concaved rock. It could easily fit all three of them inside and, to Zoey's surprise, that's precisely what San had in mind. She beckoned them to join her, and they complied.

The floor was nice and warm, but there wasn't much else to the Zolt. Just smooth, rounded rock above, below, and all around them.

“What exactly is this thing?” asked Coda.

San ignored him, then blew again. The door to the Zolt closed, and everything became pitch black.

“Hey,” said Zoey, “what's going on?”

A loud clunk startled them. The boulder started to move, or at least it felt as if it did. An instant later, a screen blinked on in front of them, flooding the darkness with new light. The screen was like a window, allowing them to see right through the rock. And, they were indeed moving!

“Destination?” asked an indistinct male voice coming from the Zolt.

“We're moving!” exclaimed Zoey.

“That's not a destination I recognize,” replied the Zolt.

Coda shrugged at Zoey, trying not to grin too widely. He was rather enjoying this. If he was alone, Zoey pictured him putting his paws up in the air, joyfully screaming, “Yeehaw!”

“Zolt, please respond,” said San. “Where was the last Zolt's destination?”

“Yes,” retorted the boulder. “Please be more specific. Do you want this Zolt's last destination or the Zolt that left prior?”

“The Zolt that left prior,” responded San.

“Yes,” replied the boulder. There was a brief pause and a thousand thoughts went through Zoey's mind. One of her thoughts was the summary of them all—
how does San know what to do?

“It traveled course one-one-seven. Would you like the same route?” asked the Zolt.

San gazed ahead, narrowing her eyes. She was determined. “Yes, I would like the same route. Thank you.”

The Zolt shuttered for a moment, and rolled forward at a slightly faster pace. Zoey realized that although it rolled, the cabin of the Zolt remained stationary. How it did that, Zoey didn't know.

They passed well-lit zytes reminding Zoey of the lights on the freeway that flashed passed their car at night. Though, in Ohm Totem, the zytes gave off a soft white-bluish, pleasant glow, while the freeway lights seemed glaring.

Coming to a fork in the tunnel, the boulder veered to another tunnel on the left.

San leaned back, pressing her feet against the floor, bracing herself for something. She warned Zoey and Coda, “You better get ready. We're about to change speeds.”

Zoey and Coda copied San, and an instant later the Zolt shuttered again, zipping off at an alarming pace. The force slightly pushed them backward for a second, then let up a moment later. Zoey saw that the zytes weren't glowing anymore. The boulder was going so fast that the zytes were now a thick, hazy white-blueish line against the rock tunnel wall.

Coda’s tail lashed back and forth with nervous energy. “Wow! This is crazy!”

Zoey, on the other hand, wanted to know how it was that San knew how to work one of these things. San acted as if she'd never been down to the tunnel before, then somehow was able to control and command a Zolt? Her actions told Zoey that San wasn't telling them the whole truth. But why?

Zoey eyed San, watching her confidence as she kept her eyes on what was ahead.

Up ahead stood a Zolt on the left next to the tunnel wall. They were coming up to it at break neck speed.

“That's got to be Skint's Zolt,” announced San.

“Destination reached,” said the Zolt as it slowed quickly then came to a halt.

“Open,” said San.

The door opened and Coda jumped out. Zoey didn't move, blocking San from leaving. Zoey asked suspiciously, “How did you know how to do all of that?”

San put her wing to her beak. “Shhh. Quiet.”

Zoey scrunched her face up with annoyance, then turned and hopped out. San followed her.

“This way,” whispered San. This portion of the tunnel was dark. The zytes came to an end a few yards back and unlit torches took their place.

Why would someone take the zytes away?
thought Zoey.

San nudged Zoey, gesturing for her to get against the tunnel wall. Coda was by San's side and crept low, being as silent as he could.

A hiss shot against the dark and one by one, the torches flamed on. Zoey about jumped out of her feathers with fright, then ducked lower and tightly hugged the wall. Coda merely flinched, but ducked down as well. For some reason, San didn't budge at all.

They crept forward until they came to a change in the tunnel. It forked again and San tilted her head to the right, indicating they'd go that way. A sound picked up and San put her wing up signaling for them to stop. Being as quiet as they could, they listened intently. A conversation was taking place around the corner and pinged against the walls. It wasn't loud, but they could make out words here and there. San poked her head around the corner, doing her best not to be seen. She looked back and whispered, “Skint's talking to someone.”

“Do you know who?” whispered Coda.

San shook her head.

They stood there for many moments. Then Zoey looked to the left in thought. She whispered to Coda, “Doesn't Skint have a stutter?”

Coda nodded a yes.

They listened a bit longer and Coda whispered back, “Apparently he doesn't.”

Coda silently trod forward, nicely nudging San out of the way. He gave San a look that asked if he could look as well. San looked alarmed and frantically shook her head no. “I shouldn't have taken you guys here.” Appealing to Zoey she declared, “Let's leave.”

Coda peered around the corner, then abruptly hid back behind the wall.

“Show yourselves!” ordered a voice.

Frightened beyond fright, Zoey slowly retreated backward toward the Zolt. Coda hadn’t moved an inch.
Why isn't he coming?

Zoey saw San pull Coda's tail with her beak, trying to get him to move. Coda wiggled his tail free, then realized himself that he needed to get going. The realization was a moment too late.

Around the corner came a loud hiss.

Crepus!

Zoey felt pure panic run up her spine. They had to get out of there and they had to get out now! She knew how dangerous Crepus was and didn't want to see her brother or San get hurt. She ran toward Coda, pulling on his fur with her beak. “Let's go!”

Up ahead, Crepus poked his head around the corner, glaring at them. Zoey froze. His eyes burned with rage. He growled as he stepped around the corner, exposing his entire body. Zoey looked back at the Zolt. They were about fifty yards away. “Come on!” she yelled to San and her brother.