Billy nodded. Elam had never failed to begin every trial run with prayer. He wasn’t about to take the real plunge without it.
Reaching over, Billy took Ashley’s hand. She gripped it tightly and tapped Walter’s. Soon, all four joined hands.
Taking in a deep breath, Billy prayed silently—for their dangerous mission; for his mother, whom he hadn’t seen in four years; for Bonnie, wherever she was, that God would watch over her and bring them together someday; and even for Flint, that somehow he would realize how his actions had brought them to the brink of all-out war, that he would have a change of heart, and when the wall of fire faded, that he would come out with an olive branch instead of a spear.
Soon, Elam pulled his hands back and pointed at Billy. That was the signal. It was time to fly.
Billy untied the anchor. The raft shot forward. Elam splayed his hands and counted down the seconds.
Four fingers. The light inside the raft grew brighter.
Three. The raft jerked and kicked.
Two. The temperature shot up.
One. A sizzle erupted—water striking fire.
Elam closed his fist. Ashley squeezed Billy’s hand. A whoosh sounded. Crackles, pops, and sizzles beat against their ears as steam warmed the floor of the raft and lifted them into the air. The wall was thick here, an impossible scenario to duplicate in tests. They would just have to ride it out.
Sweat dampened Billy’s armpits and trickled down his back. Soon he would be soaked, and facing the frigid wind during their upcoming plunge would be torture. Yet, they had trained for that as well by spending several weeks sleeping outdoors with minimal clothing and covering.
Finally, they dropped back to the river with a splash. Their raft bounced twice before settling into a gentle rocking motion. Staring through the parachute’s material, Billy listened. Had anyone out there heard the commotion? During their planning, no one had talked about the steam’s elevating surge. But now it was too late to worry about it. They would just have to ride it out.
As they rushed away from the wall, the light faded. The sizzles died away. Coolness filtered in. For the next minute or so, they would wait in silence. It would do no good to peek out and watch for the upcoming drop. It was just too dark. And this section was uncharted. No one knew the exact distance between the boundary and the waterfall. Only a brief sense of flying and a sudden drop would signal their arrival.
During their tests in complete darkness, Billy had tried to use his danger sensing gift to guess when the fall would come. But it seemed that darkness and constant danger somehow blunted his ability to sense a coming peak. Knowing exactly when the moment would arrive seemed impossible.
Billy slipped out of Ashley’s grasp and reached for the left rear guideline. She, Walter, and Elam held their lines, as well. They had practiced this in the dark before. They could do it again, four parasailing pilots flying an overloaded raft into a valley of death. No problem.
Every bump felt like “the” bump. Every sudden jerk made them flinch. Finally, it seemed that the river fell away. Then, they dropped.
Elam and Walter threw their lines out first. The parachute flew upward, billowed out, and grabbed the air. Billy and Ashley cast out theirs. The entire canopy beat above them, sounding like a dragon trying to hover in place.
As their descent slowed, falling water splashed in from behind. Gusts of wind blew the spray all around. Without a visible target, they had to use dead reckoning, listening to the roar of water and constantly adjusting to stay at the center of it while gliding away from the waterfall itself.
At this point, they had decided that necessary commands could be given. The background noise would have to drown them out.
“Left five degrees,” Elam grunted. “There. Keep it there.”
“Tilting right,” Ashley called. “Billy. A few inches slack. … Perfect.”
Soon, they slid back into the river with a barely perceptible splash. Billy gave Ashley a silent high five, almost missing her hand in the darkness.
As the chute began to droop behind them, Billy and Ashley reeled it in and folded it into a wad at the center of the raft. With the masking noise dying away, it was time for silence again.
Darkness enveloped them like a heavy blanket. Billy searched for Ashley’s eyes. Nothing. Total darkness.
Her hand touched his. He slid his fingers under her palm and rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. The touch felt good. Reassurance. Comfort. In spite of the darkness, they were all in this together.
Billy kept his ears trained on the water’s flow. It had died down to a consistent, low-level rush. Now he had to listen for another rise in volume, their only signal that the next waterfall, the exit from the Valley of Shadows, was fast approaching.
He pulled Excalibur from his back scabbard, taking care not to make it glow. Because of his four years of training and physical maturing, he had become one of the best, if not the best swordsman in their army. So, taking into account Billy’s expertise with Excalibur, Elam appointed him the mission’s strong-arm man. Everyone else would work while he stood guard.
After a few minutes, the water’s percussion began to increase. Elam tapped Billy’s knee. Billy tapped Ashley’s. He tried to watch Ashley pass the signal to Walter and Walter back to Elam, completing the cycle, but it was too dark. Of course, there was no doubt. They passed it along, and now everyone knew the first water-ride phase was coming to an end.
Seconds later, the front side of the raft lifted. Elam had slid into the river, as planned. The raft turned to the left, lifted again, and, with a sliding noise at its floor, came to a stop.
Billy lifted his leg over the side and felt for solid ground—beach sand. Although the valley had likely received as much snow as any other place, the rise and fall of the river probably scoured any snow from its beach.
When he had steadied himself, he helped Ashley step out. As they had practiced many times in the darkness, Walter handed the packs to Elam and Ashley while Billy walked a few steps away from the river, listening.
No unusual noises. In order to prepare his ears, the younger villagers had tried to imitate the sounds the shadow people made. Candle had sent a chunk of ice sliding across a table, but he admitted that the shadow people were quieter. In reality, the dark creatures crawled along the ground with more of a hush. Windor poured oil on the table and tried again. That was closer, they decided, but still too loud.
Finally, Valiant offered a hint that all agreed was the best. “Hear them?” he had said. “Yes, you can hear them, but once you do, that will be too late. By the time the first breath reaches your ears, they will have you in their clutches. You feel them first. The hair on the back of your neck rises, and a tingle on your skin tells you that a dark hand is stretching out to drag you into their swarm of devouring black oil.”
Billy shook off a shiver. It was time to concentrate. He reached out with his danger-sensing “radar” and tried to feel for the signals. After a few seconds, he shook his head. Nothing. And no sound, either. Even the expected noises of his fellow spies didn’t rise over the river’s din. Maybe the shadow people had no clue that intruders were present, and the months of training had paid off. But maybe their silence wouldn’t be enough. Valiant had said that those creatures could smell a human a mile away.
Billy sniffed the air. Wood smoke. Something burned somewhere close by. Maybe that would mask their presence, too.
As he let his thumb rub across a gemstone embedded in Excalibur’s hilt, a memory rose in his mind, the event that birthed the plans for this mission in the first place. Stout had found this rubellite on a tiny raft floating through the southern wall boundary. It had been tied down by wire, and a resin-coated note had been attached, obviously prepared by someone who wanted to keep it safe through the fire.
In an almost illegible scrawl, the note read, “Found in valley cave. Roxil.”
A note on the other side, written in beautifully familiar penmanship, said, “Billy, if by some mira
cle you get this, here is an update. We have finally rebuilt Apollo. We found a portal near the mines that, according to Larry, emits signals that are not of our world. I attached his note to the missing stone from Excalibur’s hilt. If it goes through the portal, we will begin working on strengthening Apollo to the point where we can make a hole big enough for Gabriel to go through. Then, if he is successful in finding Second Eden, we will send the other dragons. We are praying for you. Please tell your father that I love him.”
Billy imagined Roxil tying the gem and note to the little raft. If only he could have replied! But now, months later, his mother had no idea that they had received it. He couldn’t tell her that they had worked every waking minute since that time to get safely to the cave. And did anything happen in the meantime? Did she manage to open a bigger hole? Did Gabriel try to come through? If so, he would have been trapped. With no way out of enemy territory, he would have been taken prisoner … or worse.
Yet, most of the note’s news had brightened their outlook. Mom was working hard to get the dragons into Second Eden, and putting the rubellite in its proper place had given Excalibur more power than ever before.
A hand touched his shoulder. Billy jumped but quickly settled down when Walter whispered, “We’re ready.”
Billy raised his arms and allowed Walter to tie a rope around his waist. The others would hang on to the lead rope and tag along with Elam at the back, guiding the raft along the shallows, as planned. He had to let it drag a bit on the sand to keep it from taking off in the current, but the noise wasn’t discernible above the water’s constant rush.
Billy drew a map in the darkness in front of him. Candle and Listener had created a nearly life-sized copy of the cave’s surroundings, including a man-made stream with precise bends; rocks that protruded from each side of the river, signaling the exit waterfall; and the most important landmark, a head-high boulder embedded in the beach sand. Once they reached it, they would be even with the cave. They would then turn left, walk through the forest about fifty paces, and search for the opening in the mountain face.
Unfortunately, the boulder sat an unknown distance away from the river’s edge, so they had to fan out, Billy on the left, then Walter and Ashley, and Elam on the right. Depending on the river’s current level, it could be anywhere from one to ten paces from the edge.
Billy crept along, keeping his left hand out in front as he tried to feel for anything solid. At the same time, he kept his danger radar going. Using every sense but sight had been hard to learn, but the training was paying off again.
Finally, he touched a rock. With a quick tug on the rope, he brought everyone to a halt. He groped higher until his hand moved over the top. Yes, it was just about head high.
After giving Elam a moment to pull the raft fully on shore, he led the way toward the forest. With every step, he lowered his boot carefully. The terrain underneath would provide important clues that might reveal his location. The beach sand ended abruptly, giving way to soft turf of some kind. After tugging the rope again, he stooped and felt the ground. A thin layer of snow covered long, stiff leaves that crumbled as he pinched them.
Billy brought a sample to his nose and sniffed. Musky. Candle had said that the callow ferns couldn’t have survived the weather. They always died back during the season of death, and with this season lasting four years, they would all be dead. He also warned that walking on them would raise a crackling racket as well as a musky odor that would alert the shadow people to their presence. Their only hope would be a deep enough layer of snow to mask both.
The river, however, had kept this section relatively free of a protective snow layer. Deeper snow, and safer ground, likely lay farther away, but how far?
Billy gave the rope two more tugs, letting everyone know that it was time for Ashley’s magic. As soon as he returned Excalibur to his scabbard, he felt her hand touch his. She put Walter’s MP3 player in one hand and a spray bottle in the other. Only days ago, she had captured the river’s distinctive rush using the airplane’s radio transmitter, which she had modified into a digital recorder. Now, they hoped, replaying the recording at this point would wash away the crackling noise.
After turning on the player and setting it on the snow, Billy began spraying the bottle’s contents on the ground as he walked gingerly forward. The liquid emitted a strangely sweet fragrance that quickly vanished. Since the same species of ferns once grew near the village, Ashley had been able to formulate a counter odor that would, as Walter loved to put it, “mask the musk.” Fortunately, no one had to reinvent an Earth spray bottle. They had found a bottle of window cleaner in the airplane.
When he reached deeper snow, Billy stopped spraying and passed the bottle back through the line. He withdrew Excalibur again and marched on. The snow under his feet made almost no sound at all, but he still had to be careful. With trees ahead, protruding roots could trip him up, and their mission would be over.
Keeping the sword in front, he waved the blade back and forth in a wide arc. Soon, it brushed against something. A low branch? Probably.
He signaled with another yank on the rope. They had arrived at the forest. Since Candle had reported that most of the trees were not evergreens, they likely had no leaves and had allowed the snow to fall through. The march could continue in silence.
A slight tingle crawled along Billy’s skin. It wasn’t much, but it was very real, definitely danger. The shadow people were in the forest, but where? Since they couldn’t live in sunlight, wouldn’t they take refuge in the evergreens where the boughs would give them shelter?
Billy drew in a long breath through his nose. The smell of pine was pretty strong. If it got any stronger, they would have to find a new path. After another minute or so of dodging roots, evergreen scents, and danger signals, the blade touched something solid that felt like stone.
Pulling the rope, he gathered the other three into a huddle. “We veered right,” he whispered. Then, setting his hand on the cliff, he turned left and followed the mountain’s stony face, his fingers feeling the crags for any hint of a recess.
The scent of pine grew stronger. The danger alarm heightened, but now was no time to find another route. He had to go on. Should he allow just a bit of glow? He could slice a few attacking shadow people with Excalibur’s newly restored beam, but could he handle the storm of darkness that thousands of those creatures would bring? It wasn’t worth the risk, at least not yet.
After a few seconds, the cliff fell away from his guide hand. He leaned and reached farther. Still nothing. This had to be the cave. Now it was time to plunge into the depths of another mysterious darkness.
Chapter 2
The Portal Home
With three tugs, Billy signaled the others. It was time for the next step. While he stood with Excalibur at the cave’s entrance, Elam would start the new march inside. He had been in this cave before, and since the shadow people feared it, or at least everyone hoped they still feared it, they would not be likely to venture into its depths.
As Ashley passed by, she touched his hand again, prompting him to smile. What a comfort she had been during the four-plus years he had been separated from Bonnie. Now that he was twenty and his tough training had molded him into a man, he longed to fulfill the prophecy and marry Bonnie. Surely she would be ready, too. She was always far more mature than anyone else her age.
He turned and followed the pull of the rope. He could sense Ashley in front of him, and she likely sensed him as well. She always did before. Over the years his emotions had let her know that he needed a woman’s support. Of course others had wanted to help. Several fathers of village girls had inquired about his availability, which explained the friendliness of some of the twentysomething females and the giggles rising from teenaged girls as he walked by. But there was no way he could offer them hope. He and Bonnie would eventually get together. Even if it took a hundred years, he would wait for her.
For the time being, Ashley had been able to tell when he n
eeded a boost. A kind gaze, a caring smile, a soft touch—she gave each one at the right time, never hinting that her gestures suggested anything beyond a sister’s love. She was salve for a Bonnie-sized wound.
After nearly a minute, the rope’s steady pull slackened. Elam had stopped. Billy turned and set his feet, taking his stance as rear guard while Walter unfastened everyone from the line and let it drop to the ground.
With the rush of water now a distant whisper, every footstep and every popping joint sounded like thunderclaps. Ashley ventured a whisper of her own. “I’m going to let you know what I’m doing step by step. Right now I’m examining the cave’s back wall with a photometer. It’s definitely showing readings that are consistent with what I have seen at other portal locations. The key is in finding the strongest signal.” A few quiet seconds passed before her whisper continued. “Ah! I think I have it.”
After a rustling sound crackled in the motionless air, her volume rose a notch. “I’m setting my flash unit on the ground at the focal point, and I’m about to turn it on. There’s no way to stop the noise.” A click sounded, and a low hum reverberated in the cave. “Billy, I’ll let you know when it’s ready. The last time I tested it, the light-bending ions took twenty-three seconds to charge. We’ll assume the same now. Elam will give us a five-second warning, and we’ll all stand back.”
As Billy faced the cave entrance, the tingle returned. Its level of intensity grew quickly, and his danger alarm spiked. Something was coming, something deadly.
He turned on Excalibur’s glow to maximum and searched the nearby floor. Nothing.
“Billy,” Ashley said, “it’s not time yet.”
“I know, but we have company.” He turned on the beam. It shot into the cave’s ceiling and bored into the rock. The brilliant light cast a wave of energy out onto the cave floor. A skittering mass of black halted about ten paces away, then began a slow retreat.