The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (43 page)

Isaac was slightly worse off.  When he was finally able to
walk, he still couldn’t explain what had happened to him.  The last thing he
remembered was being forced underwater by the crushing current, and then
everything turned black.  The other half of the story came from the watchers
who said they pulled him from the bank of the river, bloodied and unconscious. 
But whatever happened in between was a complete mystery.  Each night Isaac
stayed in the infirmary, Paul would tell everyone he was leaving to go
hunting.  Elijah thought it was amusing that half the time he left without his
crossbow, and he never returned with any food.

The families living in Los Alientos were friendly and
welcoming.  They would smile warmly when they passed by, and some would stop
and greet them.  Even though they couldn’t understand each other, the sentiment
was felt.  There were days when Elijah would wake up and find a basket of food
on the porch of his hut left by one of the families.  They treated them like
they had been there forever.

Elijah begun to feel so at home in Los Alientos that he
almost forgot about his ultimate mission.  That is, until Olivia called for him
and his friends to meet her in her room after dinner one evening in early
February.

Olivia dismissed everyone but Elijah and his friends.  “I
suppose I’ve waited as long as I should to carry on with our mission,” she
began.  “In fact, I’ve waited too long.  I had hoped to accompany you all, but
that may not happen as I had planned.  Has Elijah explained to you all what
we’re after?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Paul answered.

“Good.  Although I’m not surprised,” she said grinning at
Elijah.  Now, there’s going to be a little hitch in our plan.  The Maliphists
are on to us.  And since I’ve arrived, I believe they have been scouring the
area for me still, which is alarming since I haven’t moved in months.  I’m well
enough to make the journey to Orphea, but I am not well enough to stop what’s
sure to be a very strong offensive if they were to spot me.  At this point,
I’ve decided it’s best if you are accompanied by the watchmen.  After that,
you’ll be on your own to find the cube.”  Olivia settled into her bed, wincing
only slightly.  “Are you all ready for this?”

“Absolutely!” Paul immediately said.

Elijah and the others were not quite as quick.  Olivia
looked at them very seriously.  “I don’t know what you’re going to find while
you’re there, but my advice is not to look for the cube in the obvious places. 
Think about where you would hide it if that was your responsibility.  And above
all, be careful.  Who knows what kind of traps you’ll find waiting for you if
you don’t look where you’re going.  I believe young Adam found that out
firsthand.”

Adam blushed.

“Now give me a hug and get some rest,” she said.  Elijah
leaned in to hug her, and as he did, Olivia said, “Return to me, please.”

“We will,” Elijah replied.  He was reminded of Phinneas just
then, when he had hugged him goodbye before their journey to Saint Phillip’s
Academy.

“Very good,” Olivia said, letting go.  Her eyes looked very
tired at that moment.  She seemed uncomfortable.  “Rico!” she called.

Rico appeared seconds after she called.

“Please have the watchmen take the children to Orphea.  They
have an important mission to do there.  And Rico, their safety is more
important to me than anything.  Make sure whatever happens that they return
unharmed.”

“Of course,” Rico said.  He touched her arm gently.  “I will
accompany them as well.”

“Thank you, Rico,” Olivia said.  Then she walked them back
into the infirmary.  “It’s time for my exercises, so I’ll be leaving you all. 
Please be safe.”

“We will,” Elijah again promised.

That night, Elijah couldn’t sleep.  He thought about all he
had to do.  There were so many things that could go wrong and not many things
that could accidentally go right.  Plus, there was no way to prepare for what
he was about to see.  He couldn’t train for his mission.  He could only anticipate
it, which kept him tossing almost the entire night.

Elijah and Paul were packed and ready before sunrise.  Adam
got up with them but was not joining them due to his healing leg.  They met up
with the girls and the watchmen by the entrance bridge just as the sun began to
shine through the mist in the trees.

Rico and eight watchmen accompanied them, and led them
through the forest.  The brush was thick and moist, and they had to move some
of it aside so they could continue walking.  Elijah was wet and cold during the
entire journey.

Then, inexplicably, the lead watchman lifted several large
branches and disappeared.  The next watchmen did the same and disappeared.  As
did the next.  And the next.  Elijah did the same and almost ran directly into
a mass of tree roots, which formed the top of a long, narrow tunnel which he
had to duck to walk through.  The tunnel was filled with moss and branches and
other tree roots that grew from the top and stuck out the sides.

The moment he came out of the tunnel, the entire area opened
up in to a huge valley, looking virtually untouched.  When Paul, Hannah, and
Becca emerged, they looked around at the valley.  It was one of the most
beautiful sights Elijah had seen.  That is, until he looked above him and gazed
upon the ruins of the once magnificent city of Orphea.

Chapter
20:

WIND

“This city must have been absolutely beautiful!” Hannah
exclaimed as she gazed above.  It was hard to argue.  Even in ruins, the
atmosphere was breathtaking.

Elijah, Hannah, Paul, and Becca stood at the base of a
towering mountain range, in a large, mist-covered valley, and craned their
necks to see the massive ruins of Orphea above them.  The mountainside had many
peaks, most of them made of stone with lush green patches—even in the dead of
winter—all the way up the side where the ruins were built.

A long staircase, carved out of the mountain stone, now
covered in moss, zigzagged up the side of the mountain.  Tall trees lined the
sides of the staircase so it gave the effect of walking through a mystical
tunnel.

Directly in the middle of the ruins, spilling over the edge
of a cliff halfway up the mountainside was a tall, thin waterfall, flowing
majestically into a large pond at the base of the valley.  The pond then
created a river that ran across the base of the mountain.  The sunlight hit the
hills, and with it shining on the mist and catching the dew settled on the
greenery, the mountainside sparkled like millions of tiny diamonds.

The old, torn-down buildings were also magical.  The largest
building, in the very middle of all the others and higher than all but one, was
tall and pointed.  It looked like a gray cathedral with many pillars that used
to be archways leading to it.  It was weathered and decaying with stone rubble
from each archway scattered and piled high next to the pillars.

Dozens of other buildings, smaller in size than the
cathedral-looking building, were spread around the mountainside, each uniquely
beautiful.  One building looked like it actually went inside the mountain.  It
had a circular tower made of stone with arched openings for windows all the way
up.  The side was blown out, making it look precariously balanced.  Another
building, with a set of four pillars now growing moss and ivy around it, was
shaped like a cube with the entire back half crumbled to the ground.

At the very top of everything, at the highest point of the
ruins was a very tall stone tower, now completely covered with the moss and ivy
that seemed to be taking over everything else in the area.  It was the one
structure left untouched, but the giant stone staircase and pillars leading up
to it were almost unrecognizable.  Elijah felt like it was sad and beautiful at
the same time.  He wished he could have seen it in its glory.  He tried to keep
a mental picture of the hillside so he could tell Olivia, but he knew there was
a job to be done, and marveling at the beauty of an old city’s ruins was not part
of his mission.

“Let’s go,” Elijah said, breaking the trance of the other three. 
“It looks like a long climb.”

As they began ascending the stone stairs, they noticed that
the watchmen who accompanied them, including Rico, did not follow them.  Elijah
thought this was weird, but maybe they were more worried about guarding the entrance. 
Maybe there was no other way out of this place, which made Elijah uncomfortable
at the thought.

It only took climbing about a hundred stairs to realize the
hike up the mountain was not going to be easy.  Each of them was physically
fit, but they all had to take frequent breaks to tend to the burning in their
calves and thighs.  The higher they climbed, the narrower, slicker, and steeper
the stairs became.  They had to slow down their pace significantly to keep from
slipping, and soon, they were taking the steps one at a time, keeping both feet
on a single step before moving on to the next.  The slightest slip from the
heavy mist caused by the waterfall would most likely cause them to tumble all
the way down the mountainside.  Some of the rocks made it harder as they were
not sturdily attached to the mountain and would crumble when they put any
weight on it.  There were more than a few chunks of stone steps that had
spilled to the bottom.

The steps leveled off halfway to the top where it passed
over the top of the falls.  Oddly, the water seemed to be coming from inside
the mountain.  Elijah was used to seeing waterfalls come from a river or larger
body of water from somewhere else, but this river came from a very thin slit in
the rock.  Elijah quickly forgot about the water as soon as he saw the bridge
they had to cross to continue their climb.  The very middle of it was
completely gone and made a jagged five-foot gap.  The water passed just beneath
the gap and then quickly tumbled over the edge.  The only way across was to
jump.

Paul jumped first.  He took a running start, picked a
sticking point just at the very edge of a stone slab and sailed to the other
side with a good three feet of clearance.  He landed without slipping or even
needing an extra step to catch his momentum.  Becca’s jump was not quite as
graceful, but she too landed with extra space—though not as much as Paul’s. 
She tumbled at the end, and Paul helped her to her feet as soon as she made it
across.  Hannah was lucky she didn’t decide to go first.  Not wanting to pick a
sticking point so close to the edge, she took off a foot short, but as she did
she slipped and landed just inches from the edge on the other side.  With her
balance thrown because of slipping, she had no forward momentum, so after she
landed on the other side, she began to tip backward.  If Paul hadn’t been there
to catch her and pull her back, she would have fallen off the edge of the
bridge and tumbled over the falls.  Seeing this, Elijah decided to follow
Paul’s lead.  He picked a sticking spot at the very edge and launched his body
forward.  He landed hard on a slippery spot on the bridge and slid face first
across the wet stone.

“Easy there, Elijah,” Paul said as he lifted him to his
feet.  “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Elijah answered.  He looked back, his face stinging. 
“The worst part is we’re going to have to do this on the way down.”

“Well, next time, try to land on your feet, not your face,”
Paul said.

The second half of the climb was not as difficult.  The
steps were still steep, but the sides of the hillside returned on both sides. 
It wouldn’t stop them from slipping, but it made them feel better knowing that
if they happened to fall off the edge they wouldn’t fall very far.

As soon as they reached the base of the ruins, they looked
down at the valley below.  It was an incredible sight!  The mist of the
waterfall caught the sunlight, creating a rainbow that appeared to stretch
across the entire valley.  The river flowed farther than they could see from
below and eventually disappeared into the mountainside furthest from them. 
Even though it was the middle of winter, flocks of birds fluttered from tree to
tree.  Elijah had considered Savenridge to be the most beautiful place he’d
seen, but this may have topped it.

“Well, we’re here,” Paul said.  “What now?”

“Olivia said it would be somewhere hidden.  The place we’d
last expect it,” Elijah stated.  He looked around.  “Where would be the last
place we’d expect to find a cube?”

“Right next to Elijah’s feet!” Paul called out loudly.  He
looked down to check.  “Darn.”

Becca was looking around intently.  “I’m not sure I agree
with Olivia,” she said.

“What?!?” Paul said, pretending to be shocked.  “I’m
telling.”

“I’m being serious,” Becca said.  “If the nobles were
planning on hiding the cube where no one would ever find it, maybe so.  But the
cube is supposedly here.  And this was apparently the model city for wind. 
There’s nothing hidden or mysterious about that.  Look around.  This used to be
a powerful city.  If it was me, I would hide it in the hardest place to get to,
heavily guarded by the most skilled soldiers.”

“Where would that be?” Elijah asked.

“I don’t know,” Becca answered.  “Maybe that tower thing at
the very top.  Or the large building there.  It would have to be a place that
the Magi living here wouldn’t be able to easily get to.”

“Then let’s start at the top and work our way down,” Elijah
suggested.  “I agree those are the most impressive buildings.  At least of the
ones that survived.”

They had to walk through the old ruins to get to the stairs
that led to the tower.  A couple of times, Paul or Hannah poked their heads
inside a building on their way by just to check to see what was inside. 
Usually, there wasn’t much of a building left.  Only a handful of walls
overtaken by moss.  After they had passed all of what looked like the dwelling
places of Orphea, they came to another steep staircase leading up to the bigger
buildings.  By now, all of their legs could barely make each step.  They trembled
and twitched from exhaustion.