The Seventh Mountain (39 page)

“This is true, Young Warrior. The gods have
shown me the way out. They have told me that to use that way brings
death and failure. This is the way that I will send you.”

“Your gods are false gods. There is only the
One True God. You serve Benrah, the Son of Evil!”

“I do not know this Benrah, Young One. I
serve Quetzalcoatl.”

“They’re the same thing. Ask yourself, would
a true god condemn a warrior to a fate like this?”

“It takes a true warrior for a task of this
importance.”

Mark still had his hand on his sword. He was
beginning to realize that he was going to have to fight his way
out.

“What are you worried about? No one has the
key to the sunstone; your brother stole it.”

“My concern is not with the key. My task is
to guard the stone.”

Mark felt himself being turned upside down.
In a flash he realized that he was tied to the sunstone.

“I will push this stone into the water.
There it will stay for all time. That is the way out. You will die
for all time.”

The ancient warrior was rolling the stone
that Mark was tied to. Mark withdrew his sword. The stone splashed
into the water. He felt himself sinking. The sword was awkward
against the thick ropes. A terrible smell invaded his mind. A deep
resounding thud coursed through the water. The stench was getting
stronger. Mark struggled with the ropes. Two more thuds sounded. He
was sinking ever deeper. An uncontrollable urge to breath clawed at
his chest. He remembered something, something that he had almost
forgotten.

He reached into Aaron’s Grasp. It was still
there, the oxy-cap. He put it under his tongue, and it started
releasing oxygen. Several more loud thuds reverberated through the
water. Something was trying to get to him. He remembered the smell
from when he was in the moat. It was the same. Leviathans were
breaking through the wall to get to him. The sunstone struck
bottom. More thuds sounded. The wall cracked and started to fall
away.

The stone slipped. He felt himself sinking
again. Dim light filtered through the water. He worked the sword
through the last of the ropes.

A huge shadow swam past. Profound drowsiness
grabbed his consciousness. Another shadow. He felt the huge beast
at his side. Suddenly, he was rushing through the water.

 
* *
* 

Mark watched an odd sight, from over head.
He knew immediately that he was dreaming. A man, with long, dark
hair, carrying something, was running from a mob. They were chasing
him across an open plain. The dream was peculiar. It was taking
place sometime in the very distant past. The fleeing warrior
stopped and turned. The mob got closer to him. He dodged rocks and
clubs and anything else they could throw. He charged the hostile
pack. The sword flashed streaks of blue-white light, like an
electric arc. He wielded it like a sword, but it wasn’t a sword,
not really. It was like a long, copper-colored, metallic, pointed
baton. Soon, the attacking mob lay motionless, looking like they
were dead.

Mark awoke. He was in a hospital bed, again.
He remembered what had happened. He slid out of bed and started
looking for his clothes. He had to get his friends out of there.
They could have been in there for months, their time.

“Hello! Is anyone here?”

A moment later the curtain was pulled back.
An older, oversized lady peered from beneath a white hood. Her eyes
were dull and normal looking, not like a Magi’s eyes.

“Hello, there. You need to get back in bed
until Mrs. Shadowitz says otherwise.”

“You’re not a nurse.”

“No, I’m just standing in for Mary while
she’s on her lunch break. I help out when I can. Things have been
pretty hectic in here.”

“Where are my clothes? I have to get back in
there.”

“You’re not going anywhere until Mrs.
Shadowitz says so.”

“We’ll see about that.” Mark pulled the
other curtain back and went around the lady. Two rather large
fellows in white tunics blocked the door.

“Now, see here, young man! I said that
you’re not going anywhere until Mrs. Shadowitz says so.”

“Well, go get her then. I have to get back
into the labyrinth. The expedition is still trapped in there.”

“I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout that. Now, you
haul your butt back into that bed, and I’ll tell you what I do
know.”

Mark checked to see if he still had the
staff. It was there. He climbed back onto the bed.

“Mr. Thorpe found you by the moat. I’m
telling you what’s the truth. That man is always on the prowl,
looking for trouble, if you ask me. He figured it out pretty quick
that you must have come up out of the moat. Real genius he is, to
figure that out… That was almost a week ago. They sent down a
submarine and found the hole. Didn’t take much, after that, to
figure out how you got out.

“Um-um, Mrs. Shadowitz is some kind of mad
at Mr. Thorpe. He left you lying out there by the moat. Didn’t tell
anyone that you were still there. Went off to tell the submarine
crew to start looking. Reckon he was more worried ‘bout what was
still in the moat. That’s how you got that nasty sunburn on your
face and neck. It’s ‘bout healed up now. Been putting aloe salve on
it. Fresh aloe works wonders on sunburn. Got to be fresh,
though.”

“How is everybody? The rest of the
expedition, how are they doing?”

“What expedition? What are you talking
about?”

“There were about thirty people left down in
there. Are you saying that they haven’t made it out yet?”

“I don’t know anything about no thirty
people.”

“Get my clothes. I’m going back in. Those
people are still in there.”

“You ain’t going nowhere ‘til Mrs. Shadowitz
says so.”

“You send for Mrs. Shadowitz, right
now!”

The lady shook her head and turned to the
guards. “Go get Mrs. Shadowitz.”

One of the guards turned and left. He
returned a few minutes later. “Mrs. Shadowitz said to let him
go.”

The lady went to a cabinet against the wall.
She returned with Mark’s clothes. Mark closed the curtains and got
dressed.

 
* *
* 

Several instructors were standing watch at
the door in the museum. Mark ignored them. He laid the staff
against the wall and stepped through, onto the ladder. Lanterns lit
the cavern below.

“Ready to get out!”

Loud cheers rang out from below. Mark held
the door open. A procession of people climbed up and out. Notably
missing were Mr. Diefenderfer, Joseph Young and Gerod. They were
waiting for Mark to join them.

Gerod grabbed Mark by the shoulders. “Mrs.
Shadowitz tossed in a note that said you were found unconscious, by
the moat. What happened?”

“That guy guarding the sunstone hit me with
something. I was tied to the sunstone when I woke up. He pushed me
and the sunstone into the water, on the ledge, I think. He said
that he had to keep anybody from seeing the sunstone. I woke up in
the healing ward.”

“That has to mean that the sunstone is in
the moat. We were going to go back in for it. I guess we don’t have
to now.”

“Yeah, I guess so. We still need to get that
guy out of there.”

“It doesn’t sound like he’s too
friendly.”

Joseph Young put his hand on Mark’s
shoulder. “He’s not. Stays to himself unless someone gets too close
to the sunstone.”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to leave anybody in
there that I don’t have to.”

Gerod said, “Well then, let’s do it.”

Mark led the way. Once they were in the
grotto, Gerod asked, “Did he tell you his name?”

“No. He kept calling me Young Warrior or
Young One and stuff like that.”

Gerod called out. “Warrior! Speak with
us.”

Deep from the darkness, a voice boomed.
“Speak.”

“You have nothing left to guard. Will you
come out with us?”

“No!”

“Why stay?”

Silence.

“A slave that loves his chains cannot be
freed.” Mr. Diefenderfer’s voice was absolutely normal sounding.
“Mark, you will go through the door, first. Hold it open, if you
will, from the other side.”

Gerod was the last to come through the door.
His foot had just passed the threshold, and the ancient warrior
tackled him. He lunged forward, falling face first onto the floor.
Cold steel rang from scabbards as Joseph Young and Mr. Diefenderfer
drew, simultaneously.

“Brave Warrior. You cannot win this
fight.”

The warrior delivered a blow to Gerod’s
head. In a dash, he was hidden in the shadows, again.

“Mark, he is after you, primarily. Climb the
ladder, to the top. Hold the door open for us.”

Gerod sat up. “Use this on him. It will put
him to sleep.” He fished in his pocket and removed a small vial. It
looked like the same vial that he had used on Mark’s mother when he
had rescued them after the storm. Gerod got to his feet.

Joseph Young took the bottle from him. “Are
you all right? Can you fight?”

“I’ll be all right in a few minutes. That
guy packs a real wallop. He knows what he’s doing.” Gerod drew his
sword.

Mark called down. “The door’s open.”

The trio inched toward the ladder. Gerod
started up. A flash of motion shot from the shadows. Mr.
Diefenderfer spun himself into the warrior’s path and they
collided. Both fell to the floor like a dead oak. The warrior
started to regain his feet. Mr. Young stepped up and touched his
forehead. The warrior wobbled and fell over.

 
* *
* 

Mark awoke. “Hello…” A few minutes passed
before the curtain around his bed was pulled back.

“Hi there. Welcome back to the world of the
living. You’ve been asleep for a week again and we don’t understand
why since you were only in the labyrinth for a few minutes this
time.” It was the blond lady whom he had seen the first time that
he was in there.

“Who is that screaming?”

“It’s that warrior fellow, from the
labyrinth. He’s mad because we have him strapped to the bed and
won’t let him get up.”

“Why not?”

“Well, he is a tad violent. Keeps insisting
that he has to kill anyone who has seen that sunstone.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“I don’t see why not. I have to let Mrs.
Shadowitz know, first.”

“Okay. I’d like to get something to eat,
too.”

“You feel up to seeing your friends? They
wanted to see you when you woke up. They said that they would bring
up something from The Oasis. Got any requests?”

“Yes, ma’am. Breakfast would be nice. Tell
them I’d like breakfast.”

The young lady left. A short while later
Nick, Jamal and Chenoa came into the room. They pulled over a table
from next to the wall and laid out the food.

“Hi. I missed you guys.”

Chenoa said, “We missed you, too.”

They all sat down and began to eat.

Nick asked the question that was on
everybody’s mind. “What happened?”

“At first, when we entered the labyrinth
this time, we thought that we would have to go through all the
rooms. Mr. Diefenderfer suggested that we look for other doors.
That’s when we found the other door that led directly to the last
room. Everything else was like, okay, I guess. Except for that
warrior guy. I suppose that you have already heard about that.
What’s been going on out here?”

Chenoa became excited at that question.
“Well, we just about lost a flags match. LeOmi saved the day. She
got the bonus flag all by herself. You should have seen her. She
was awesome. Tigers, there had to have been fifty of them on The
Island. That girl is good with ropes. She’s like an acrobat or a
trapeze artist or something. She was just awesome.”

“Sounds like I missed something worth
seeing.”

Jamal said, “Yeah, you did. That girl is
something special. Hey, get this. Tim has been teaching Mr.
Diefenderfer’s class. Not an instructor, but the teacher. You
should see him. He’s happier than a bear with a backscratcher.”

“I bet he is.”

Nick asked, “How are you doing?”

“Actually, I’m doing pretty good. I’m not
anxious to go back in there anytime soon.”

“What was it like?”

“Well, I’m not going to offer to give you a
tour. I can honestly say that it is the worst place that I have
ever been. I hope that I never have to go back.”

A voice from the side startled them,
slightly. It was Mr. Diefenderfer. “I agree with Mark. Although,
the place did have its benefits.”

They stared at him. They couldn’t believe
their eyes or ears.

Mark said, “I thought your voice sounded
more normal than usual when we were in the cavern.”

“Indeed. I have also regained my physical
eyesight and physical hearing. As well, my headaches are gone. I
will tell you this. If I didn’t feel it necessary to rescue those
people, and I had it to do all over again, with what I know now
about the experience, I would not have gone. Even with the
knowledge of its healing characteristics.”

“Will you join us for some breakfast?
There’s plenty of food.”

“I don’t mind if I do. Tell me, Mark, how
did you survive long enough to make it out of the moat? That
opening that you came through was more than a quarter of a mile
deep.”

Everyone looked at Mark. A voice sounded
from the side. It was Mrs. Shadowitz. “Ah… I think I know. It was
the oxy-cap that Rajah gave you when were in the life sciences
section, wasn’t it?”

Mark grinned. “Yes, ma’am. I had almost
forgotten that I had it. If it hadn’t been for that, I probably
would have drowned.”

“You know that you weren’t supposed to learn
about those until next year. I’m glad that we had our little
rides.”

“Me, too. Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome.”

“Would you care to have some breakfast with
us?”

“I’ll join you, but I’m not hungry. What can
you tell me about this warrior fellow? He won’t tell us anything
except that he has to kill anyone that has seen the sunstone.”