World's End (20 page)

T
HEY DESCENDED
roughly fifty feet until they landed in what appeared to be a large, hollow cavern jagged with stalagmites and stalactites. It was completely dark, except for a solitary beam of moonlight coming from the hole above them. The stone floor was covered with dust and the air smelled musty and stale. It was cold as well—not cold enough for ice to form, but cold enough for them to see their breath and to feel the tingle of a cough forming in their chests.

Hill removed his pack and took out a lantern. Misty immediately put a restraining hand on Hill's arm. "Not now, laddy," she warned. "Ya got plentya time later when ya might need that light. No use wastin' it while we still got some above us. Now where's them barrelsa skelter sap that Bilblox was carryin'?"

Bilblox took a barrel out of his oversize backpack and set it on the ground. The barrel was roughly the size of a large watermelon. Misty uncorked the barrel and poured an ounce or so of liquid into her hands. It glowed faintly and smelled like rubbing alcohol.

"Great-uncle Dlugosz swore by this stuff," she said. "Those zwodszay 'ave an especially keen sense-a smell, but the sap covers yer scent near perfect. I'd smear this all o'er yer faces and any other expos' skin—the zwodszay don't like it. Plus it glows a little, so ya can see one another. Don' worry—the zwodszay got terrible eyesight. They'll smell ya miles away but can only see ya if yer within' kissin' distance." She looked at Kõrgu. "The wolf won' like it, but ya better cover 'er as well."

"Wait a minute," said Bilblox. "I though ya said the zwodszay were in the Fault Roads—not in ordinary mines like this one."

"That's right," said Misty. "But with all the collapsin' that's been goin' on down 'ere, it's impossible to say where the zwodszay might be. We're all lucky they ain't found a way up to the surface—otherwise Somnos would 'ave a far worse problem than those ants."

Everyone smeared the sap over their exposed skin. It went on smoothly, so that only a small amount was necessary for each person. Bilblox grabbed Kõrgu and applied the sap to her fur and snout, even though she wriggled and tried to brush it off. This task completed, Misty gestured toward a far corner of the empty cavern, where an iron cage sat almost directly over a dark mine shaft. The door to the cage hung open on one broken hinge. "There's the transportation to the mine below. Took us months to dig the shaft." They walked to the rickety cage, which was large enough to fit the entire group.

"All righty then, git inside, ladies and gents," muttered Misty. "We're not here fer a school trip, and these bonesa mine ain't gettin' any warmer with us standin' 'round and waitin'."

"Are you sure this still works?" asked Hill.

Misty let out a gruff cackle. "Well, ya got no other options, that's fer sure. S'long as the chain still holds, we'll be fine." They reluctantly crowded into the cage and felt the floorboards creak ominously. One or two appeared to be missing altogether. Misty entered last and dragged the lopsided door closed. "Hold on tight," she said. "This 'ere cage is apt to give ya a jolt."

Misty reached up and pulled down a metal rod. It screeched down, and suddenly the cage began to descend into the complete darkness of the mine shaft. At first the descent was quite slow, but after thirty seconds or so, it sped up so quickly that it wasn't clear whether the cage was still attached to its metal chain.

"MISTY?!" yelled Hill.

"Jus hol' on there," shouted Misty. "The ballast balancin' the other side is a bit light. We're goin' faster than we should." They continued their near free fall in the iron cage. Alfonso huddled in a corner of the cage. Both his hands gripped the rusty bars, and his mind whirled round and round, trying to calm his panic.

Brrraaaaacckkk!!!

The cage shuddered and began to slow. Thousands of sparks bloomed above them and rained down like falling fireflies. A loud scraping sound, like fingernails on a chalkboard, reverberated throughout the cage. Misty slapped Hill on the shoulder and shouted in his ear, "Those are the brakes kickin' in! I knew this ol' gal was still workin'! Why, she could prob'ly go fer another hunnert years!"

At that moment, the cage stopped abruptly, and they all fell to the floor. It was completely dark, except for the last sparks dying out on their packs and jackets. Bilblox moaned. "I thought Fort Krasnik was behind on the times," muttered the blind longshoreman. "That elevator's a death trap. Any broken bones out there?"

No one said anything. Slowly, the group stood back up and brushed themselves off. Bilblox reached out toward the cage door to push it open, but found nothing. "Where's the door?" he asked.

Misty lit a candle and let out a surprised whistle. "Good thing we didn't move around in the cage!" she exclaimed. "That cage door musta snapped off. Well, nothin' we can do now. Let's get movin'."

She lit a lantern and walked out of the cage into a small room with a low, hand-dug ceiling. A narrow tunnel led out of the room and a great many rocks lay strewn across the floor.

"Hmm," said Misty. "These rocks've all been moved 'round. This tunnel used to be almost totally blocked."

"Maybe Josephus and Kiril moved them," suggested Alfonso.

"Not by 'emselves," said Misty. "It'd take more'n two men to move these rocks." Misty scrambled into the tunnel, moved aside several smaller boulders with practiced ease, and then motioned for them to follow.

"So you don't think Josephus was here?" asked Hill.

"Impossible to say," said Misty. "Mebbe he was, mebbe he wasn't, who could..."

Just then, their voices were drowned out by an enormous rumble, which sounded unmistakably like an earthquake. The ground shook and small rocks fell from the ceiling.

"What was that?" asked Resuza nervously.

"Oh that's just the ground shiftin'," said Misty. "It's like I told ya's—ground ain't stable anymore after the old Foundin' Tree died." Her voice trailed off in the midst of another rumble.

They walked down a long tunnel lit only by Misty's lantern. After about two hours, they were stopped by what appeared to be a cave-in. The tunnel was completely filled in with smashed wood timbers, cracked chunks of marble, and hundreds of boulders.

"The mines keep goin' past this spot, but that's many years ago," Misty said. She rubbed her chin and looked around, as if she were lost.

"Should be 'round here somewhere," she muttered. Misty set down her lantern and began groping around on the floor. "Yup, 'ere it is. And no rocks or pebbles on it either. Someone mighta been through 'ere recently—quite possible."

Everyone clamored around Misty to see what she had unearthed. On the ground before them was a rusting metal door with a hefty sliding bolt. "I put this 'ere door in after the disaster with Josephus," explained Misty. "Didn't want any trouble clawin' its way up, if ya know what I mean."

"This is the door to the Fault Roads?" asked Bilblox.

"Yup," said Misty. She smiled. "Now, my dear Foreign Minister, ya may want to reconsider whether ya really wanna open this 'ere door. Maybe we all can 'ave a drinka water and ya can mull it over."

Hill nodded somberly.

Misty patted her pockets. "Ah crimminy!"

"What is it?" asked Alfonso nervously.

"I misplaced me satchel with me cigars in em," said Misty. "Oh, I musta put 'em down about five minutes back, when I stopped to 'ave a drink. I'm gonna go grab 'em real quick. You all wait 'ere. Have a good look around, mebbe have a little snack, and then we can formulate a plan. Keep mullin' it over, Mr. Foreign Minister. I'll be back in a jiffy!"

Misty traipsed off into the darkness.

"Lunch, anyone?" asked Bilblox as he groped around in his backpack. "Feels like Misty packed us some beef jerky and ... some more beef jerky."

"I'll have a piece," said Resuza.

"The jerky is excellent," said Bilblox as he chewed loudly. "Must be venison, maybe with a bit of paprika or garlic."

"Okay," said Alfonso. "Give me a piece, I'd like..."

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrunnnn!

There was a deafening rumble. Everyone was knocked off their feet. Dust fell thickly from the ceiling and pebbles flew through the air. Kõrgu started barking ferociously.

About a minute later, Hill managed to light a torch and together they surveyed the damage. There had been a large cave-in and much of the ceiling had crashed down around them. The most obvious and immediate problem was that the way back to the elevator—the passageway that Misty had just walked down moments before—was now completely sealed off with enormous boulders. Alfonso, Hill, Bilblox, and Resuza immediately set to work trying to move the boulders. They worked feverishly for several hours, but it was no use. Even the mighty Bilblox, who was famous for lifting six-hundred-pound containers with ease, couldn't budge the massive rock pile.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Bilblox finally.

"We don't have much of a choice," Resuza said grimly.

"What are you suggestin'?" asked Bilblox. "You wanna open that door and go down into the Fault Roads? Where's that gonna take us?"

No one spoke for a moment.

"It could take us to Jasber," said Alfonso quietly.

"And it could take us straight to hell," retorted Bilblox. "I got a strong feelin'—a very strong feelin'—that we don't want to open that door."

"We're going to have to open it," said Hill wearily. "And it has nothing to do with Jasber, or the zwodszay, or Josephus, or Kiril. The thing is, if we don't open that door, we're going to run out of oxygen."

"He's right," said Resuza. "The air is beginning to feel a little thin in here."

"And what do we do once we're down there?" Bilblox demanded.

No one replied.

***

Hill slid the bolt on the old door and heaved it open. A blast of warm air blew into the cavern, as if they had just opened the door to an oven. "Heaven have mercy on us," muttered Bilblox. "Who's goin' first?"

"I will," said Hill. "Everyone remember their packs with the supplies. And reapply some of that skelter sap, just in case." That done, Hill fastened a rope to the door and lowered himself into the darkened hole below. Alfonso went next, followed by Resuza, and then Bilblox with Kõrgu around his shoulders. They touched down on a cobblestone floor. It appeared to be an ancient storeroom, filled with shards of pottery, several intact plates, and a number of items that glittered in the dim light of Hill's torch. The storeroom opened into a tunnel that glowed with a faint light.

Hill set down his pack, pulled out his Colt .45 revolver, and stuck it into his belt so he could grab it quickly if need be. He then pulled out a sturdy wooden club. "This was in one of Misty's packs," explained Hill as he handed the weapon to Bilblox. "It should work very well in short-range combat, even when wielded by a blind man."

Bilblox nodded appreciatively.

Resuza took out her Enfield rifle and expertly moved her hands around the stock, muzzle, and firing mechanism. She glanced through the sight, and slid a bullet into position. "I'm all set," she said. "Hopefully I won't need it." She slung the rifle across her shoulders, and it hung loosely across her body, at the ready.

Hill turned to Alfonso. "Do you have your blue sphere?"

Alfonso nodded.

"Good," said Hill. "Make sure you can access it quickly."

"What's the plan?" asked Bilblox.

"Well, let's have a look around before making any decisions. All right?" Hill asked.

Everyone nodded.

They followed Hill into the tunnel. It soon ended and they entered a vast expanse. They were aware of space stretching out in all directions, and at first it was unclear where the floor ended and the open space began. Alfonso looked up and at first saw nothing. He waited, and after a few seconds, the whole picture snapped into focus. They were standing on a cobblestone road, about fifteen feet wide, carved into the side of a sheer cliff. Along the outside edge of the road ran a knee-high wall, also made up of cobblestones. It protected the group from a breathtaking chasm that dropped downward into the depths of the earth. The far wall of the chasm was the mirror image of their side minus the road. Above them, the walls of the chasm stretched away from each other, much like the sides of a V, which gave the entire area an astonishingly open perspective. There was no ceiling or roof visible—just gaping blackness above. Alfonso had never been to the Grand Canyon, but he imagined that the scale was probably similar, and he had to remind himself that he was still underground.

All of them spent the next few minutes staring at the Fault Road and the chasm in dumbstruck amazement.

"I don't understand," said Resuza at last. "Why are we able to see?" Alfonso looked around and realized she was right. The light appeared to be coming from the chasm itself. Alfonso peered over the edge and noticed a faint red glow at the bottom. Alfonso felt a pebble under his shoe, picked it up, and threw it over the edge. They all listened in silence, waiting for the sound of the pebble landing. Nothing. The pebble just fell, and fell, and fell—deep into the fiery bowels of the earth.

"No one knows how deep it is," whispered Hill. "Some say whatever's thrown into the chasm keeps going until it reaches the middle of the earth and burns up."

"Which way do we go on this road?" asked Resuza very quietly.

"I don't think we have a choice," whispered Alfonso.

To the left, the road slanted downward, deeper into the earth. To the right, the road climbed upward, back toward Somnos and the surface. The only problem was that the road to the right only stretched for a hundred yards before it tapered off into empty space. Clearly, perhaps long ago, someone had destroyed this road, making it impossible to reach the surface and Somnos.

"Looks like we ain't gonna be surfacin' anytime soon," whispered Bilblox.

The road to the left was passable. Hill said it probably led to the Hub, where the Fault Roads from all eleven cities once converged. This was where the Jasber Gate was located as well.

"What now?" asked Resuza.

"I say we head for the Hub," said Hill. "Either we'll find a way to the surface there or we'll stumble across Josephus and Kiril."