chapter 8
THE AWAKENING
The hum reverberated, growing louder by the second as vibrations rippled under the feet of Ashley, Walter, and Sapphira. Dust and pebbles drizzled from the ceiling and pecked the floor with loud taps. A white light poured from each of the giants’ alcoves, illuminating the cavern. With a deafening crack, a jagged fault line fractured the chamber wall. One of the giants toppled forward and sprawled on the floor, groaning.
Walter slid Excalibur into its scabbard and leaped up to Karen’s growth chamber. “You two get out of here!” he yelled.
As she stared at the cracking walls, Ashley backed up, grabbing the air behind her in search of the rope. “But we have to”
A stalactite crashed next to her feet, splashing fragments over her legs. Another crack ripped through two alcoves as a second giant tipped out. The first one rose to his knees and looked around. Red beams shot from his eyes and scanned the room like twin neon flashlights.
“For once, don’t argue with me!” Walter shouted. “And get up there now!”
Ashley finally caught the rope and called to Sapphira. “You go first. I’ll be here to catch you if”
The growth chamber wall exploded, spitting out Karen and the remaining giants in a hail of debris. Walter caught her and rolled on top, using his back to shield her from the storm of spewing rocks.
“Walter!” Ashley screamed. She ran through the cloud of dust and knelt at his side, brushing dirt and pebbles from his shoulders and back. “Walter! Say something! Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.” Walter rose to all fours, still shielding Karen, who was lying facedown, motionless. “But Hades is giving me a headache.”
Ashley laid a hand on Karen’s back. “Is she alive?”
“She’s alive.” He hoisted her limp body into his arms. “I could feel her breathing.”
Ashley passed a trembling hand over Karen’s dirty red locks. “She’s so pale!”
With light still emanating from the blown-out wall cavities, Walter scanned the room. “Where’s Sapphira?”
“I’m here!” Just a few feet away, Sapphira pushed up from under a mound of debris and shook the dust from her hair. She crawled over and crouched next to Karen.
“We’d better get going,” Ashley said. “It looks like they’re waking up.” She nodded toward a series of rock piles, each representing one of the giants. Three mounds began to move, revealing massive bodies arising from under the rubble.
Karen blinked and moaned. “Where am I?”
Ashley slid her arm under Karen’s back. “No time to lose.” She clutched Walter’s sleeve with her free hand. “You’d better fire up that sword.”
One of the giants stood upright, his entire body glowing and his red eyes flashing. With a grunt, Ashley lifted Karen and carried her to the rope, then set her down and supported her back. “Can you sit up by yourself?”
Karen rubbed her eyes. “I think so.”
Sapphira marched up to the waking giant and stood with her hands on her hips, her head angled sharply upward. “Chazaq!” She continued speaking to him, but now in an odd language.
As other giants rose to their feet, Chazaq’s beams tipped down and fell upon her. “It has been many years,” he said with a deep voice and perfect English, “but I recognize you, Mara.”
“So, Mardon taught you English.” Sapphira shook her head, laughing. “I should have expected that. He wasn’t one to ignore the details.”
“He taught us many languages, including modern dialects that came about after we began our sleep. Even as we slumbered, he spoke to our minds through a communications device he imbedded at the base of our skulls, enabling us to be completely prepared to carry out his plan.”
Twelve other giants gathered behind Chazaq, each one with his own set of ruby lasers slicing the dusty air.
Walter lit up Excalibur’s glow but kept the destructive beam turned off as he edged toward them.
Sapphira kept her hands on her hips and took another step toward Chazaq. “Do you remember how you used to pull me up and down in the elevator shaft?”
“I remember. You were one of the intelligent ones. I admired that.”
“If you admire intelligence, then why have you allowed yourself to fall prey to Mardon’s trickery? He put you all to sleep, and now it looks like he left you here to die.”
The giant laughed, and those behind him smirked. “I have not fallen prey to trickery. Mardon told us to expect to awaken without him. It is all part of the plan.”
While Ashley shuttled rocks to the rope, piling them in a pyramid next to Karen, Walter skulked toward the giants. Just a few more steps and he would be close enough to strike with either beam or blade.
“Is that why he poisoned the other giants?” Sapphira continued. “Was that part of the plan, too?”
Chazaq reached down and picked up two grapefruit-sized rocks. “Morgan taught me the cold facts of our cruel existence. Nothing matters but power and control.” He smashed the rocks together, pulverizing them over Sapphira’s head. “Getting rid of excess giants was simply a necessary chore.”
Sapphira ran her fingers through her hair, scattering the gravel as she coughed through her words. “And where is Morgan now? Do you know?”
“Because you are obviously baiting me with that question, I assume that she has reaped the hatred she has sown through the years.” Chazaq brushed his hands together, raining more grit on Sapphira. “But her fate is inconsequential. It is Mardon who now guides our destiny, and we are to ascend to Earth’s surface and carry out his orders.”
Sapphira stepped out of Chazaq’s spiteful dust shower. “Mardon might be able to guide you in this realm, but he’s dead, so he can’t go to the land of the living.”
“He told us that we would already be in the living world when we awoke, just thousands of feet below the surface.” Chazaq cast his beams on her again. “Perhaps you noticed a dimensional shift.”
Sapphira stared at him but said nothing. Walter crept closer, also remaining silent. Ashley continued piling rocks, keeping her eye on the giants.
“Your silence proves that you did notice.” Chazaq’s eyebeams swung to Ashley, then to the rope and trapdoor above. “I believe I have found the way out that Mardon promised.”
Sapphira raised her arms. Flames erupted from both hands. She began swirling the fire into a flaming cyclone that expanded toward the Nephilim.
Chazaq wrapped Sapphira around the waist with one arm and pulled her against his chest, binding her and extinguishing the flames. “Traveling to another dimension is not in our plans, Mara.”
Sapphira’s face turned red as she gasped for breath. She looked like a struggling toddler in his massive grip.
“Let her go!” Walter marched toward Chazaq, Excalibur’s beam blazing.
Chazaq laughed. “Here comes another David, thinking he can slay Goliath, but he comes with a shining blade to replace sling and stones.”
“Maybe you need a demonstration of what this sword can do.” Walter angled the beam toward one of the other Nephilim. “I can’t use it on you while you’re holding Sapphira, but I’ll fry your toadies one by one until you let her go.”
Chazaq squeezed Sapphira, making her eyes bulge. “Go ahead and test your feeble blade. This should be entertaining.”
“Then laugh at this!” Walter swiped the beam at the closest Naphil. The light surged into the giant’s body, but instead of disintegrating him, it seemed to infuse him with energy. His skin glowed, and he sent out twin beams in a more vibrant scarlet than ever.
“Walter!” Ashley called. “Sapphira said they have plant genes, so they must be phototrophic. Light gives them energy.”
“Yeah,” Walter said, dousing Excalibur’s beam, “I guessed that.”
Chazaq loosened his hold on Sapphira, allowing her to breathe. “The inhabitants of Earth will learn of our skills soon enough. In the meantime, we will take Mara with us. A little insurance might be beneficial.”
Sapphira slipped an arm free and desperately gulped air. “He can’t … kill me. … If he does … he will die.”
“Is that so?” Walter drew back the sword. “You plant creatures might be immune to the beam, but I haven’t heard of one yet that can withstand an axe.” He charged at the Naphil he had energized and sliced through his leg, cutting it off just above the knee. The giant toppled over and crashed to the ground. As his life fluids poured out, he roared, writhing in pain.
Drawing back the gleaming sword again, Walter scowled at Chazaq. “Want to be next?”
Three of the Nephilim lunged at Walter, but he leaped out of the way, slicing a finger off one giant as he breezed by. The others made a circle around him and closed in slowly. Walter swung Excalibur frantically in every direction, lunging whenever one of the giants came within range.
“Stop!” Chazaq commanded. “We cannot afford any more casualties.”
As the Nephilim backed away, Walter let out a huge sigh, sweat dripping from his chin. The fallen Naphil now lay still in a pool of dark blood, his face ashen.
“Begin the ascent,” Chazaq ordered. “When we are fully energized on the surface, that little sword will not be so effective.” He stomped over to the rope and picked up Karen with his free arm, releasing Sapphira at the same time. As his arm locked Karen close to his body, she gasped and her head lolled forward. “Here is our new insurance. When we are safely out of this hole, I will let her go.”
Lifting his sword once again, Walter charged.
Chazaq squeezed Karen’s throat. “One more step, and she’s dead!”
As Karen gagged, Walter halted, letting the sword’s tip rest on the floor, his face flaming red. “Coward! Hiding behind the skirt of a little girl!”
“Not cowardice. Expediency.” Chazaq released her throat and waited while the other giants made a human ladder to the trapdoor high above. When the fourth giant’s hands reached the door, the others climbed up the bodies. Once the seventh Naphil began his climb, Chazaq transferred Karen to him. “Take her to the top. When we’re all safely away, we will return her.”
Seconds later, only Chazaq and the four giants forming the ladder remained in sight. The top one pulled himself into the air shaft, then reached down for the others. The three remaining linked themselves hand-to-ankle while the giants above hoisted them upward. As the bottom giant rose, Chazaq wrapped an arm around his feet and rode upward with the chain of Nephilim. “Farewell, valiant warrior. I must admit that you have great courage. It’s a shame you’re on the losing side.”
As Chazaq’s feet disappeared through the door, Sapphira stepped underneath and called upward. “How are you going to lower Karen down safely from way up there?”
Walter dropped the sword and rushed to her side, whispering, “Don’t give him any ideas.”
In a flurry of red hair and flailing limbs, Karen dropped from the ceiling. Walter held out his arms, and she crashed into his chest, crumpling his body. Karen rolled to the side and groaned.
Ashley knelt next to them and laid a hand on each of their heads. “Are you two all right?”
Walter blinked at her. “Not exactly a gentleman, is he?” Just then, the rope slid down, collecting in a pile on his leg, and the trapdoor slammed shut.
Laying a hand on her stomach, Karen wheezed. “I … can barely … breathe.”
Sapphira stooped at their feet. “I think Chazaq collapsed her lungs! We have to get her out of here!”
“I was working on building a pile of rocks,” Ashley said, “but those creeps knocked it down. We’ll have to start over.”
Sapphira raced through her words. “There might be an easier way back at the museum room. The portal is gone, but if the dimensional barrier is still thin, I should be able to get us through. Even if we go to an unexpected dimension, at least we’ll be out of this place, and maybe I can figure out what to do from there. But there’s no way Karen can get very far in this state.”
“Sapphira’s right,” Walter said, struggling to his feet. “Ashley, you’d better try to heal Karen right now.”
Ashley pointed at him. “I was just thinking that.” She sat down and pulled Karen up into her arms. “Better stand clear, Sapphira.”
Sapphira backed away a few steps. “I think I’ve seen you do this before. How does it work?”
Walter picked up Excalibur. “Ashley is a healer,” he explained. “When I shoot the sword’s beam through the ground and into her, somehow she uses the energy to heal people. Since I’m an heir to King Arthur, I can make the sword do some pretty cool stuff.” He raised the blade and summoned the beam. “Watch.”
The shaft of light burned into the ceiling above. Walter slowly lowered it to the ground, making it sizzle across the scattered debris as it sent up gray puffs of smoke. Then, guiding it toward Ashley, he called out, “Ready?”
Ashley hugged Karen’s heaving body close. “Ready!”
The streak of energy surged into Ashley, lighting up her whole body. White beams poured from her eyes and into Karen’s chest. As arcs of energy danced around both girls, Karen cried out with a loud moan.
“That’s enough!” Ashley shouted.
Walter jerked the beam to the side and shut it down. The light from Ashley’s eyes blinked off with a tiny popping noise. Then, like a heated coil cooling down, her radiance faded. “Whew!” she said, rubbing her eyes, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
Karen, her face gaunt and dirty, shook her head slowly. “I hope someone wakes me up soon. I don’t like this dream at all.”
Walter put the sword away and hurried over to the two girls, extending a hand to each of them. “I think this nightmare is far from over.”
“Can she walk?” Sapphira asked. “With those Nephilim heading to the surface, we should get going. There’s no telling what they’re planning to do.”
Karen stood and tested her legs. “Yeah. I’m okay.” She squinted at Sapphira. “Who are you?”
“I’ll explain later.” Sapphira marched toward a door at the far end of the room, tongues of white fire emanating from her hands. “Everyone follow me. That includes Gabriel and Roxil. I’ll be our lantern.”
“Wait.” Ashley limped to a pile of rubble and tossed fragments to the side. She pulled out a finely polished, rectangular block and held it up. “Is this one of the gravitational field bricks?”
Sapphira looked back. “Yes, but it’s only one of seven different kinds.”
Ashley spotted the strap from her duffle bag and yanked it out of a pile, then stuffed the brick inside. As she unearthed another brick, a miniature landslide from the top of the pile exposed an enormous bare foot. “Hey!” she called. “One of the giants is still here, and it looks like both legs are intact, so I don’t think it’s the one Walter killed.” She leaned closer. “He has six toes on his foot!”
“They all do. Six fingers on each hand, too.” Sapphira continued her march toward the door. “That giant is Yereq, the one Karen replaced in the growth chamber. I’ll have to figure a way to get his body out of here, but that can wait.”
Walter wrapped his arm around Karen’s back and followed Sapphira. “I wouldn’t bring too many bricks in your bag,” he called back to Ashley. “We might have to haul it pretty far.”
“True.” Ashley dropped the second brick on the floor. “They’re probably all pretty much the same.” She hustled to catch up with Walter and took Karen’s hand.
After following Sapphira for about a minute, Walter looked over at Ashley. “What do you think?” he asked. “Does she know what she’s doing?”
Ashley blinked at the strange girl who left a fiery aura in her wake, literally blazing the path ahead of them. “I don’t know what she’s all about, but when she looks at me, I feel like she sees right through me, like I’m standing naked in front of God himself.”
“I think I know what you mean.” Walter laid a palm on his chest. “Whenever I see those bright blue eyes, my heart beats like a bongo on steroids and tries to jump up into my throat.”
Ashley felt a pang deep inside and swallowed back a sigh. “I guess if I were a guy, I’d feel the same way. She really is pretty.”
“Yeah. She is. But that’s not what causes it. I’ve been around pretty girls ever since we left West Virginia, so I’m used to it.”
A surge of warmth flooded Ashley’s soul. She glanced at Walter, but he kept his eyes focused straight ahead. She opened her mouth to reply, but Karen squeezed her hand, making her pause. Ashley squeezed hers back and kept silent. Walter had given them an honest compliment, and they both basked in its soothing tenderness. Nothing more needed to be said.
With only Sapphira’s bodily glow lighting the wide tunnel, they had to pick up their pace to stay in the oracle’s trailing halo. Karen stumbled, but Ashley caught her and braced her back.
“You going to make it?” Ashley asked.
Karen winced and continued her hobbling steps. “Depends on how far it is. I guess I needed a little more healing.”
“Almost there!” Sapphira called. Her sweet voice echoed, rolling past their ears like a lilting melody.
“I guess she heard you,” Ashley whispered. “We have to be quieter if we want to keep any secrets from her.”
“Secrets?” Karen whispered back. “Don’t you trust her?”
“I’m not sure yet, but it’s best to keep our own counsel for now—you and Walter and me.”
Karen focused on the circle of light surrounding their guide. “Maybe, but like you and Walter said before, there’s something really cool about her. She has so much confidence and life, I want to believe her. She reminds me of Bonnie.”
“Bonnie? Why?”
“Even without all that fire, she just kind of … you know … glows.”
Ashley watched Sapphira’s white hair bouncing in the midst of her full-body halo. As they passed through a darker part of the corridor, the aura strengthened, making the tunnel seem like a moonlit path. “I think I know what you mean,” Ashley said. “I’m trying to be cautious, but it feels wrong not to trust her.”
After a few minutes, Sapphira stopped under an archway at the end of the tunnel and pointed into the darkness ahead. “Ignite,” she called. As if in response, a light flickered somewhere in front of her. Still pointing, she called out, “Ignite,” several more times until the chamber beyond the archway filled with an orange glow.
She waited there, her blue eyes shining to match her radiant smile. When Walter, Ashley, and Karen joined her, they entered a huge cavern.
“I called this the museum room.” Sapphira extended her arm toward an enormous building. “And here is the museum, the first floor of the Tower of Babel.”
Ashley gazed at the magnificent structure, following its ancient architecture upward until it disappeared in the dim upper recesses. Tapering slightly as it rose, the curving wall revealed etchings of human shapes and archaic words, carved deeply into sun-baked bricks. Recessed arches framed tiny windows at precise vertical intervals, perhaps lookout points for guardians of the ancient city or maybe air vents for the tower’s inhabitants to help them find a cooling breeze. Old-fashioned lanterns lined the exterior perimeter, their flames painting the walls with an orange tint.
“It used to be filled with thousands of scrolls,” Sapphira continued, “but I could only keep the most important ones. I needed fuel for heating during the years I couldn’t get out. I usually keep the lanterns off to save oil, but I thought you might like to see the museum.”
Ashley walked slowly toward the massive doorway, still gawking at the amazing sight—one of the oldest artifices in all recorded history, once holding the greatest library the world at that time had ever known and now housing ancient documents of incalculable value.
Although she longed to browse the remains and drink in its educational bounty, her eye caught something of more immediate and practical value. Scattered around the walls she found a few scrolls; piles of old books, magazines, and newspapers; and a glass gallon-sized jug filled with clear liquid. She touched the glass and turned toward Sapphira. “Is this drinking water?”
“Please, help yourself! I collected that stuff during my visits to the land of the living, and the water is from our springs.”
Ashley withdrew her empty water bottle from her bag and filled it from the jug. After taking a long drink, she recapped it and tossed it to Walter, who shared it with Karen. Ashley picked up the jug and raised her eyebrows at Sapphira. “Want some?”
“No, thank you. I need very little to survive.”
“Really? Why is that?”
Sapphira lowered herself to the floor and sat cross-legged. “Maybe this is a good time to tell you the whole story. Now that I think about it, even if I can make a portal, it might take us to the exact spot where the giants will come out, and that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Let’s give them some time to move out of the area.”
Walter, Ashley, and Karen joined her on the floor. With the museum looming like a tall haunted house and Sapphira’s unearthly blue eyes shining, a midnight hush fell over the chamber. Sapphira told her story from her first memory of her slavish life under Morgan’s tyrannical rule, through her adventures with the dragons, all the way to her role in rescuing the great creatures from Dragons’ Rest. When she finally finished, she let out a long sigh. “And now, we, that is, Gabriel and Roxil and I, are hoping to find Makaidos.”
“But now he’s called Timothy,” Walter said, pointing at her. “How in the universe do you find a guy who blew up in a house but didn’t show up in Kingdom Come?”
Ashley tapped his knee. “Walter! This is my father we’re talking about. Get a clue.”
“Sorry.” Walter shrugged his shoulders. “It just seems too weird to be for real.”
Ashley locked her gaze on Sapphira’s blazing eyes. “Like everything else going on around here.”
“So,” Karen said, leaning close to Sapphira, “all the dragons had to do was say Jehovah-Yasha, and they could go through the veil?”
“Yes.” Sapphira took Karen’s hand, and her glow covered the younger girl’s arm. “But for dragons, a confession is much more than just words. To penetrate the veil they had to believe in Jehovah’s Messiah in order to pass on to eternal life, just like humans do.”
Karen nodded slowly, eyeing their clasped hands as the glow spread up to her shoulder. “That makes sense.”
Ashley took a sip from her water bottle and recapped it. “So now that you’ve eaten from the tree of life, do you think you might live forever?”
Sapphira pulled her hand, but Karen hung on, covering it with her other hand. As the glow washed over Karen’s face, Sapphira smiled at her. “I don’t think I would die a natural death, but maybe I could be killed.”
“But if anyone tries to kill you …” Walter slapped his hands together. “Smack! He gets the hammer.” He pushed against the floor and rose to his feet. “That was a cool story, but I’m ready to get out of this creepy place.”
Sapphira drew the clutch of hands to her face and kissed Karen’s ring finger, her lips passing across the rubellite and turning the gem white for a brief moment. Releasing Karen, she got up and walked past a pair of matching sleep mats, stopping at a clear spot on the floor. “The portal used to be right here,” she said, spreading out her arms, “so gather around, and I’ll try to get everyone into the fire.”
Ashley followed her to the open area. “Into the fire?”
“It’s the only way.” Sapphira brushed a hand across the air. The lanterns surrounding the museum winked out one by one until only two remained lit. “Trust me. You won’t feel anything except a tingly sensation.”
Her eyes adjusting to the dimmer room, Ashley edged closer, a new anxiety weakening her legs. “How about Gabriel and Roxil? Will they come with us?”
Sapphira laid her arm around an invisible bystander. “Gabriel’s already right next to me, and Roxil’s behind him, so I think they’ll come along. If not, I’ll try to come back and get whoever is left.”
Bright plumes of fire erupted from Sapphira’s palms. As she waved her arms in a wide circle over her head, a cyclone of flames swirled above, growing in diameter. Walter, Ashley, and Karen huddled underneath, and a fiery wall lowered around them, a cylindrical curtain of dancing orange tendrils.
In spite of the warmth, Ashley shivered. The yellow tongues licked the air as they created a stream of hot, dry wind that slurped the moisture from her eyes. She shut them tightly. A tingle crawled along her skin, like a swarm of centipedes creeping up her back. Then, with a loud whoosh, the hot air swept upward, and damp coolness returned.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” she said, opening her eyes. “In fact, it was kind of”
Ashley gulped. The museum was still there! The old books, dirty scrolls, and sleeping mats were all still there! She swung her head from side to side. Walter, Karen, and Sapphira were gone! Now shivering harder, she hugged herself, rubbing her upper arms. “Walter?” she called, her voice quaking. “Karen?”
No answer.
She took a timid step backwards, but her elbow struck something solid. She wheeled around and came face-to-face with a dragon!
“Aaaugh!” She fell backwards and landed on her seat. “Who are you?” she shouted, pedaling her feet to scoot away.
The dragon, sitting on its haunches, cast twin eyebeams on the floor between them. “I am your sister. At least that is what I am told.”
Ashley eyed the red dots on the floor and followed the beams to the scaly beast. “Roxil?”
“Yes,” the dragon replied, taking a step toward her, “and since you can see me now, we obviously have a problem.”
“Problem?” Ashley slid farther back. “You’d better believe there’s a problem. Sapphira and the others are gone, and we’re trapped here.”
“That is exactly my point.” Roxil swept her tail across the empty space between her and Ashley. “Sapphira is gone and has left us in Hell, so to speak. When I first came out of Dragons’ Rest, Gabriel and I were physically solid. Then, we became merely energy for a short time until the giants and Sapphira departed. Now I am physical again.”
The dragon’s nonthreatening, matter-of-fact tone set Ashley at ease, at least about being trapped with a dragon. The talk about Hell, on the other hand, racked her nerves. She rose slowly to her feet and brushed dirt from her hands. “What do you make of it?”
“This is merely a guess, but it fits all the circumstances. For a short time, this place was transported to the world of the living, so you were able to descend into it, and the giants were able to climb out. During that period, Gabriel and I lost our physical forms. Just now, Sapphira created a new portal that took her and your friends out but sent us back to the land of the dead. Since I actually died in the living world, it makes sense that I would be physical here and something of a ghost there.”
Ashley pointed at herself. “What about me? Does that mean that I’m”
“Dead?” Roxil opened her claws and looked at their sharp points. “Not necessarily. Other living humans have been abandoned here before.”
Ashley tried to hide her tight-throated swallow. “Abandoned?”
“Desolate. Deserted. Forsaken. Choose your own synonym.”
“But why? What did I ever do to Sapphira?”
“Who can tell? She is an odd one to say the least. She destroyed Dragons’ Rest, a perfectly reasonable place for dragons to spend eternity.” Roxil’s eyes glowed with a brighter red. “Long ago, a young man named Elam tagged along with her to Dragons’ Rest. On her most recent visit, she brought Gabriel along to help her demolish our home, and now she has taken your Walter to do who-knows-what. She seems to enjoy collecting young men as she blazes a destructive path.”
Trying not to shake, Ashley glanced at her wristwatch. “Maybe we should give her time. She said she would come back if she left anyone behind. It’s only been a few minutes.”
Roxil snorted. “Put your faith in humans if you wish. But you shouldn’t hold your breath”—the dragon smiled scornfully“—unless you really want to be dead.”
The dragon’s last word sliced into Ashley’s mind. Dead. The very last word she wanted to think about, a state she didn’t want to consider.
Lowering her chin to her chest, she closed her eyes. There had to be an answer. There had to be a way out. Taking a deep breath, she finally settled down and concentrated on the events of the last hour, going backwards in timeSapphira’s story, the journey to the museum chamber, the giants climbing out of the mobility room.
She snapped her fingers. “The mobility room! I can still get up to the staircase and climb out.”
“But the rope is on the floor,” Roxil said. “How do you expect to get up to the ceiling?”
“Can you give me a boost?” Ashley started toward the corridor and called back. “You can get there, can’t you? The corridors between here and there looked big enough.”
Roxil let out a sparks-laden sigh. “I suppose I can, but if you leave, what will I do?”
Ashley halted. “If I find Sapphira, maybe she can come back for you. Maybe it was all a mistake, and she’s trying to figure out how to find us right now.”
Roxil twitched her ears and raised her scaly brow. “Considering that she has played the temptress, usurped your position with your young man, and left you here to rot, I am surprised at your trust in her.”
“Temptress? What are you talking about? Sapphira’s too sweet to do anything like that.”
“Perhaps you didn’t notice the attraction, but my experienced eyes tell me far more than your human vision can detect.” Roxil flicked her tongue out and in. “The evidence is quite convincing. She and your young man are together, and you are here. Why should you trust such a deceiver?”
Averting her eyes, Ashley kicked aside a pebble. Something about this dragon was definitely strange. Why was she so filled with distrust? She couldn’t be right about Sapphira, could she? “If you have a better idea,” Ashley said, “then let’s hear it. Otherwise, Sapphira or no Sapphira, I’m getting out of here, and I’ll do whatever I can to rescue you.”
Roxil lumbered toward the exit. “I still think we are in Hades, so I have my doubts whether or not the staircase remains, but I suppose it is worth a try.”
As cold drizzle pelted his head, Mardon stood at the edge of a highway next to one of his giants. The road to his left climbed a slope and curved around a low grassy rise, disappearing about half a mile away. To his right, the highway descended into a more forested area where tall spruces reached into an elevated fog bank.
Mardon tapped the giant’s hip and pointed at a white Ford Explorer cruising toward them on the rain-slicked road. “That one will do nicely, Bagowd.”
The giant stepped onto the pavement and waved his arms over his head. As the Explorer’s wheels locked, the female driver screamed. Sliding while it decelerated, the SUV came to a halt with a not-so-gentle bump into Bagowd’s legs. The young woman flung open the door and leaped out, but the giant, in three limping strides, snatched her by the coat collar, hauled her back to the Explorer, and threw her behind the steering wheel.
“You will drive,” he bellowed.
Mardon opened the door on the other side and slid into the passenger’s seat. “I apologize for frightening you, Madam, but my need for a vehicle is urgent. When my giant carries me, our progress is much too slow.”
Her arms shaking violently, the short-haired brunette reached for the gear stick on the steering column and shifted to drive. “Where … where do you want to go?”
He nodded at Bagowd, who had bent over to rub his injured legs. “Follow him.”
She settled into her seat, straightening her coat around her. After taking a deep breath, she raised her hands to her temples and said, “Okay, Kaitlyn, you can handle this. Remember your boot camp training.” Now wearing a forced smile, she turned to Mardon. “If your friend’s going on foot, why did you need a ride?”
Mardon raised his eyebrows. “I’m sure you will see very soon.”
The giant loped down the road, increasing his speed with every stride. Kaitlyn stepped on the gas and followed. After a few seconds, she looked down at the speedometer. “Wow! He’s doing forty already! I guess our little collision didn’t bother him at all.”
“Apparently not. This happy outcome is good for both of us.”
She squinted at Mardon. “Is he some kind of circus freak or something?”
“I suggest that you address him by his name, which is Bagowd. Calling him a freak to his face would endanger your health.”
Kaitlyn laughed. “You’re pretty funny, Mister … uh … What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t.” Mardon kept his gaze locked on the giant.
“I’m Kaitlyn Peabody.” She extended a hand, but Mardon just glanced at her and refocused straight ahead. “Are you two actors or something?” she asked. “I mean, your sandals and tunics are great costumes, but I’ll bet you’re cold in them.”
Mardon replied in a firm monotone. “Miss Peabody, I would appreciate silence. I am concentrating on my giant’s form. If he tires too quickly, I will have reason for concern.”
“He could ride on top.” Kaitlyn covered her lips. “Sorry. I’ll be quiet.”
Mardon let out an exasperated sigh. “I appreciate your concern, but I want him to exercise. I must know if he is strong enough for the task ahead.”
Kaitlyn drove on, keeping at least three car lengths behind the sprinting giant. After a few minutes of silence, Bagowd slowed down as he neared a gravel service road on the right.
“Drive in here,” Mardon said.
As the Explorer’s wheels rolled over the popping gravel, a uniformed man walked out of a small gatehouse near a fenced entryway. When he spotted Bagowd, his jaw dropped open.
The giant stalked toward him. With a frantic spin, the guard hustled back to his one-room station and slammed the door.
When Kaitlyn parked, Mardon got out and, turning back to her, bowed low. “I thank you for your service. I am gladdened that my giant didn’t have to kill you.”
She stared back at him through the open door, barely moving her lips. “No problem.”
Bagowd marched to the gatehouse and glared through the door’s window. “Unlock the gate,” he shouted.
The guard pulled a gun from his holster and aimed it shakily. “Get back!”
Bagowd punched through the glass, knocking the gun away with his meaty hand. Then, wrapping his fingers around the man’s throat, he lifted him off the ground.
Mardon turned to Kaitlyn and bowed again. “I’m sorry you had to see this.”
Jerking forward, she shifted into drive. “I didn’t see anything!” With a mad spinning of tires and slinging of gravel, the SUV roared away, its passenger door still hanging open and wagging on its hinges.
Mardon turned back to the gatehouse. The guard now lay facedown, his midsection resting over the broken window as his arms dangled limply.
“Such a shame,” Mardon said as he rejoined Bagowd. “But sacrifice is necessary along the road to Heaven’s gate.” He nodded at the fenced entryway. “Let us proceed.”
Bagowd pushed his fingers through the chain links and ripped the gate from its moorings. With a mighty heave, he tossed it to the side. The gate spun on a corner and landed against a power company truck.
Mardon and the giant marched toward the power plant side by side, the sound of rushing water rising from somewhere in the distance. “I fear,” Mardon said, “that we will encounter more resistance inside, so you must be prepared to offer more sacrifices.”
“What of the driver?” Bagowd asked. “Will she alert the authorities?”
Mardon laughed. “They will be too busy with a greater crisis. Our friend Chazaq will soon make sure of that.”