The Hammer - Cor Series Book I

Chapter 25

Corvan ran up the passage, but Kate was nowhere to be seen.

The toes of the scarecrow's shoes had separated from the soles, and they gaped at him as if they had something important to say. Just behind the runners was an empty bread bag. He picked it up, and the aroma of oatmeal cookies wafted out, along with a trace of lilac perfume.

His head came up, and he looked intently down the passage. Kate must have just been here. It had been her voice calling out to him when he saw her in the glass.

"Kate!" he shouted, but the only answer was his echo reverberating from the tunnel leading down. Covering the end of the hammer, he stared into the darkness. The rocks along the right side of the passage were reflecting a glow from around the next corner. His first thought was Kate's flashlight, but the light was a cold, blue color.

Corvan holstered the hammer and crept along the side of the tunnel to keep the larger boulders between himself and the growing light. Feeling his way along the inside wall, he moved slowly past the corner and then approached a lighted gap between two columns of rock. He snuck up behind the right pillar and peered around it. A short distance ahead, a shaft of pale blue light was streaming into the tunnel. Moonlight! He had found another way back to the surface. He had escaped the labyrinth into the buraks cave and had now emerged at the bottom of the river valley.

Corvan's heart soared as he ran down the path toward the light. Kate was out as well, and they were both safe.

Through the opening, he caught sight of a full moon and a few bright stars. He blinked. What had the fire stick done to his eyes? The moon was completely blue, and the stars in the sky pierced the black night with a pink light.

His pace slowed as he approached the exit. His feet dragged on the sandy floor. This was not an entry to a natural river bottom cave. Just ahead, a uniform arch had been cut into a rock wall. A thick stone door, supported by heavy hinges, hung open to one side.

His eyes fixed passed the opening, Corvan tripped on the threshold of the doorway, caught himself on the door, and pushed it wider. A wave of despair crashed down upon Corvan. Two rows of the strange script from his grandfather's book were carved across the middle of the door. The vast cave in front of him was more of Tsarek's Cor. He would have to go through yet another door and follow Kate deeper into the darkness ahead.

He was about to move on when angry voices approached. Somewhere in the darkness, two men were arguing about who had last checked the door. Ducking in behind the thick slab, Corvan wedged his body along the wall. His pack caught on the curved ceiling, crowding his head forward and pushing his face in below the upper hinge. He was looking directly through wide crack. It would be easy for anyone who came close to see him hiding in the shadows.

A short, wiry man entered his field of vision, his face hidden in the hood of his green cloak. Clutched in the man's hand was a shoulder high staff. At its top was a carved globe with a dark center. He stopped before the door, his head shaking in amazement. "You're right. The door is open."

An even shorter, stocky man appeared. A deep voice responded from the depths of his red hood. "I can see that, Tarran, but why is it open? The priests hold the only key, and you are the only priest I know who bothers to come up here." He folded his arms over his chest.

Tarran threw back his hood revealing the sharp features of a young man with thick black hair and keen gray eyes. "What are you insinuating, Harmon?"

The heavyset man didn't reply.

Corvan held his breath as Tarran turned away and examined the far side of the door. The very person he was to meet was just a foot away but so was the palace guard Tsarek had warned him about.