Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders) (94 page)

Then Corinne attacked Groddic from behind. The shelled warrior turned to confront her, allowing Jason a moment to recover. Her blade kept him busy.

Jason saw the Wanderer staring at him with a large pair of golden eyes on the back of his head. For the moment his rear was unguarded. And clearly Corinne needed help. Jason lunged forward as a tail sprouted from the center of the Wanderer’s back. Just before the tip of Jason’s sword could reach the Wanderer, the heavy bulge at the end of the tail slammed into Jason’s shoulder like a mace, sending him splashing into the river.

Jason surfaced in time to see the Wanderer thump Corinne with his tail while he had her occupied with his sword. She tumbled into the water as well. Teeth bared, the Wanderer wheeled on Aram.

Crawling forward shakily, Aram grabbed Farfalee’s torivorian sword, as well as the torivorian sword Nia had dropped. With one side of his leather cloak charred and tattered, the half giant rose unsteadily to meet the attack.

The Wanderer lunged and stabbed at Aram’s chest. Raising both swords high, the half giant made no attempt to block the thrust. Instead, he pivoted, so the Wanderer’s sword struck his coat of rings at an angle. The tip scraped across the armor, failing to penetrate.

Aram brought the torivorian swords down viciously, severing both of the Wanderer’s arms at the shoulders, slicing neatly through the chitinous casing. As the Wanderer struggled to recover, Aram paced forward, torivorian blades hacking in rapid sweeps. Chunks of the Wanderer flew free, turning to dust when parted from his central bulk.

Shrinking as he sprouted new arms, the Wanderer tried a punch and lost the new appendage. The other limb broadened into a defensive rectangle of titan-crab shell, but Aram cleaved it in half. As the Wanderer spun to flee, a brutal horizontal slash bisected him at the waist. The bottom half of the Wanderer crumbled, and Aram savagely attacked what remained. A few more swings, and there was nothing left to cut.

The half giant sank to his knees, breathing hard, as Jason and Corinne returned to the island. Jason’s shoulder ached, but he hardly felt the pain through his enormous relief.

“Want to know one of the many things I learned from Drake?” Aram asked without facing them. “With enough force behind them, torivorian blades can tear through the shells of titan crabs. The Wanderer appeared surprised. He had formed a thick shell, and was reinforcing it wherever the blades landed.”

“Are you all right?” Corinne asked.

Aram glanced down at himself. “I’ll live. I lunged away and got low while Nia shielded me from the worst of the blast. You two bought me enough time to recover. Thanks.”

“I shouldn’t have thrown it,” Jason said, his insides writhing.

“You did the right thing,” Aram assured him. “There was no way to anticipate what happened. You aimed low. You did it right. We had to try orantium. The shape-shifter was starting to look unbeatable. He caught the sphere, and Nia paid a price to protect us. That fight could have gone either way, Jason. We got lucky at the end. You two were magnificent. You crossed swords with the Wanderer and will live to tell the tale. I tried to act more stunned than I really was, and the Wanderer took the bait. He expected to finish me quickly. And I suspect he was overconfident about his shell armor. I would wager he has killed many an opponent while they fruitlessly strike at him.”

“Are you all right?” Jason asked Corinne.

“I was using Drake’s breastplate,” she said. “The tail struck me there. How about your shoulder?”

Jason shrugged it, rolled it, and rubbed it. “Sore, but I don’t think he broke anything. It might turn an interesting color.”

“We got off easy,” Aram grunted. “Others paid the price.”

“Farfalee,” Jason remembered. “Jasher thought she might have a chance if we plant her quickly.”

Corinne went and gingerly collected the seed from where the Wanderer had tossed it aside. She held it in her palm while Jason and Aram investigated it. The casing was split on one side. There was no telling how deep the knifepoint had penetrated.

“I’m no expert at growing seedfolk,” Aram announced, “but this island seems to be little more than a rock pile. All of the ledges and other islands have been similar. I have seen nothing growing down here. There is no soil, and infrequent sunlight.”

“You’re right,” Jason said. “It won’t do her any good to bury her seed under barren rocks.”

“Back by the lake,” Corinne said. “On the other side of the caverns there were some fertile areas by the lakeside. At least as fertile as the Fuming Waste gets.”

“I won’t fit through those caves until after dawn,” Aram said.

“I can do it,” Corinne offered. “I was paying attention to the way.”

“I was trying to do the same,” Aram said. “There were some puzzling junctions. You don’t want to get lost in there.”

“There could be fertile ground up ahead,” Jason said.

“Possible,” Aram allowed, “though not likely based on what I’ve seen.”

Corinne had crouched to rifle through Jasher’s pack. “Here is his orantium,” she said, holding up the last of their spheres. Setting the globe aside, she kept searching. “I know Farfalee translated the directions. They must be in here somewhere. Here we go.” She produced the pages of notes. “Thankfully, he kept them dry.”

“I should double-check what I need to do,” Jason said.

Holding a glowing strand of seaweed close, Corinne scanned the writing. “I see nothing they failed to tell us. The entrance is under the waterfall. You should enter alone and unarmed. If you are unworthy, you won’t survive. There are no further details.”

“I hope I’m worthy,” Jason said.

“I’ve been watching all of this closely,” Aram said. “That oracle knew her business. If I harbored any doubts before, they have flown. We would not have made it this far without each person she selected. Drake stopped the duel with the torivor. Corinne got rid of the spying lurker. Jason figured out how to defeat the Maumet. Farfalee translated the scroll. And the Wanderer required a team
effort. Jasher weakened it. Nia shielded us. That same oracle who chose our team wanted you here, Jason. She would not have sent you to perish as an unworthy trespasser. I don’t expect this seer has ever had a more worthy visitor.”

The reasoning brought Jason comfort.

“I should go,” Corinne said. “I want to get Farfalee and Jasher in the ground.”

“It will be dangerous,” Aram said. “You won’t be able to start immediately after an eruption.”

“I would face the same peril whenever I return,” Corinne said.

“Let me study the instructions,” Aram said. “I paid close attention, and I have a reliable sense of direction. Give me a moment to memorize what I need. Then you bring these pages with you and wait for us on the far side.”

“Are you sure you can make it though without them?” Corinne asked.

“I could probably retrace our route even without studying the instructions,” Aram claimed. “As we came through, I looked back often. Give me a moment.”

The half giant sat staring at the writing, one finger sliding across the words, his lips moving occasionally. At times he would close his eyes, move his lips, and then check himself. Finally, he handed the pages back to Corinne. “Keep out of sight on the other side.”

“I’ll be careful,” Corinne promised. She gave Jason a hug. “You be careful too.”

“We’ll see you soon,” Jason said.

CHAPTER
26

I
t was well into the afternoon before superheated water spewed from the mouth of the Scalding Caverns. At first Jason heard a wet hissing, followed by a sloshing that reminded him of Jugard’s cave by the sea. Then foamy water began to drool from the irregular gap along the juncture where the rocky slope straightened into a cliff. The flow of sizzling slaver increased, first gushing, then raging, gusting out in a sideways geyser.

After maybe ten minutes the steamy torrent began to slacken, calming until white froth ceased to bubble from the dark opening. As more minutes passed, the hissing and gurgling diminished until the cave became still. All that remained of the impressive eruption was the moisture glistening on the stony slope, the wetness rather narrow at the cave mouth, then widening until the slope ended at the shore of a sizable lake.

“We’re going in there?” Nia asked incredulously.

“Now is the safest moment,” Farfalee said. “The instructions specified that the best time to enter is immediately following an eruption.”

They had awaited the event for hours. Farfalee and Jasher had
already explained that they had to move through the Scalding Caverns quickly. The directions detailed every twist and turn of their route and emphasized that there were several points along the way where additional eruptions could occur. The timing of when scalding water would flood the caverns was inconstant, so the suggested strategy was to make no wrong turns and keep a brisk pace.

The entrance to the caverns was tucked up against an intimidating wall of cliffs that impeded access to the rugged mountains beyond. If they made it through to the far side of the caverns, they would supposedly exit into a tall, narrow ravine that would lead them to Darian.

They had awaited the eruption off to the side of the opening, so it did not take them long to reach the cave mouth. Jasher led the way, followed by his wife. Del and Heg brought up the rear. Jasher carried glowing seaweed, as did Nia, Jason, and Heg.

The beginning of the cave was steep, snug, and relatively straight. Beads of moisture clung to the warm walls, and the heavy reek of sulfur made Jason wrinkle his nose. As they progressed down the long, winding slope, Jason noticed that, unlike in other caves he had entered, the air was getting warmer the farther they went.

They shuffled forward as hurriedly as the moist slope would permit. In many places Jason had to duck or turn sideways. Where possible he braced his hands against the damp walls to keep from sliding. He could not shake the thought that if the cave erupted anytime soon, they would end up like ants exploring a fire hose.

After what seemed like an endless descent, the cave leveled out a little. Unfortunately, the way forward became more cramped. Before long they were crawling on hands and knees, the walls close on either side. Eventually the confining passage opened into
a low room with a few branching tunnels, all of them smaller than Jason would have preferred.

After a moment of hasty deliberation, Jasher and Farfalee fell flat and slithered into the smallest opening. Jason ended up behind Corinne, watching the soles of her shoes as he scooted forward. He tried not to picture people getting stuck ahead and behind him, trapping him there until the next boiling eruption washed through. He tried not to speculate whether the heat or the lack of air would kill him first.

Jason hated when the low passage twisted. More than once, contorting his body to scoot around a corner left him panicked that he would get stuck. He felt tempted to shed his gear and leave it behind, but knew he would want it once he reached the far side. He kept worming forward, the muggy air smelling so richly of minerals that he could almost taste the grit between his teeth.

After some time they were able to crawl on hands and knees again; then at last they could walk. The way sloped down some more, twisting enough to leave Jason completely disoriented. The cave remained confining, and they often had to advance by turning sideways. If Aram had been big, Jason doubted whether he would have managed to squeeze through some of the tighter spaces.

The air kept getting hotter. It felt like hiking through an earthy sauna. They passed a misshapen cavity that steadily vented scorching steam. The way dipped lower. From down a steeply branching tunnel Jason could hear water hissing and churning. Everyone else seemed to notice the splashing as well, and by silent agreement they started advancing faster.

After a few more twists, turns, and branching corridors, the odor of sulfur became so oppressive that Jason started to gag. The air grew steamier. Even when he clamped a hand over his mouth,
the pungent vapor coated his throat with silty flavors.

Abruptly the way opened into a tremendous cavern. A ledge wrapped around one side of the room. The wide chamber had no floor. Instead, down below, a thick, dark pool churned ominously, belching fat bubbles and noxious fumes.