The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 7: Cave of Terrors

The corridor, more a rough-hewn tunnel, was still sloping steeply downward. Sabrina began to suspect she would end up somewhere in Stanos' core at this rate. She wished she'd been more friendly with the two spelunkers who'd been in her comps study group at graduate school, but as it was, she knew little about geology or cave safety.

She passed through another cave, larger than the last, wondering if she'd reached her destination. But no, Lndor's locator beacon was still some ways off, ahead and down. With a sigh, she found the continuation of her path through an opening in the other side of the cave.

The wrist display of her suit flashed at her, showing her the time, as she'd programmed it to do every half hour. She'd been exploring for nearly two. She hoped Varla and Ford were staying very busy in the lab and would not discover her absence. At least the way back should be quicker. She'd gone down several dead ends before locating the right trail downward—the rock beneath the palace was a warren of caves and tunnels. Whether they were natural, or remnants of Stanos' former civilization, she had no idea.

It should have reminded her of the labyrinthine tunnels connecting Giandrah to Palace Royal on Dansestari, but somehow it didn't. There was an altogether different feel to these. The tunnels leading to Giandrah resonated with the presence of the Great Crystal, and they were inhabited by the Conservator of the Crystal Chamber and a small staff. These tunnels, though showing a few signs of relatively recent passage, were not inhabited, and they resonated with something different, heavy and ominous.

It occurred to her that she might be getting close to the psychic creature. It certainly wasn't in the palace somewhere—Ford would have known if it was. But if the creature was here, why was Lndor down here? His locator beacon hadn't changed position since she'd started scanning. Was he incapacitated by the creature somehow? He was Miahn, after all, so that meant he must be sensitive to psychic phenomena, especially if it involved the crystal Ford had spoken of.

Sabrina tried to hurry, but the ground was rough, her flashlight had a limited range, and she knew that if she fell and hurt herself, no help would be forthcoming. It took another half hour, scrambling and sliding over some loose shale part of the way, before the beacon indicator went from red to amber, indicating she was now within a hundred meters of her target. A few more steps and the indicator turned blue, meaning she was on a line of sight with the beacon source.

Frowning, Sabrina turned in a slow circle, shining her flashlight as high as she could. She saw nothing, no walls save the one she'd just passed through. She picked up a rock and dropped it; the sound echoed on and on. She was in a big cavern—a huge cavern. And, she realized, blinking hard, there was a light source ahead, glowing a dim, cold blue against the rock. It was in the same direction her wrist display told her the beacon source was.

Lndor could be doing nothing to make such a glow. There was something, or someone, else there, despite the fact that her scanner picked up only one life form. Sabrina drew her stunner before going forward. She knew the flashlight betrayed her presence and exact position, but she couldn't see anything without it. The best she could do was keep it pointed at her feet, to minimize its range.

About halfway there, she switched the flashlight off and waited for her eyes to adjust. She could make out dim shadows on the ground, barely enough to move by, but she didn't want to risk the flashlight any longer. While she was standing still, she strained to catch any sound that might give her a clue as to what was happening within that glow. She thought she heard water dripping somewhere. And she realized as she looked that the glow was coming from somewhere below the level of the floor.

I don't like this. But she had no choice. She had come here to find out what was going on, and if that meant snatching Lndor from the very jaws, so to speak, of the terrible creature that had been haunting her dreams, then so be it. But she wished she had told Ford where she was going.