In the Panther's Wake

Chapter 17

Garth charges up the tunnel towards the poppy chamber. Markus and I follow, picking up our backpacks off the stone.

"What's he talking about, Markus?"

"I have no idea, but he looks freaked out."

While running I realise my back-pack feels light and I turn to see the contents rolling back down the tunnel. There's a huge split along the bottom of my pack. It must have caught on a rock. I rush back to grab the bottles of water, my sling shot.

Markus calls after me, "Bandi, just leave it!"

I'm panicking and my fingers are trembling. I stuff my sling-shot in the back of my jeans and stick a few flares and the torch into my pocket but have to leave the rest. I scramble up the tunnel slope towards Markus who's waiting for me wide-eyed and looking desperate.

We carry on up the tunnel but again Garth has disappeared. We can hear his muttering resonating and echoing from all directions. We spin around in circles, the tunnel almost totally dark. We choose a passage that leads upwards and I spot Garth ahead, rubbing the stone wall, whispering. He spins around when he hears us approaching and gives us an eerie stare before speeding off again, skulking low, skinny legs stepping at speed.

We do our best to follow but the tunnel air seems murky, something hangs. It grows intense and sweet, a smokey smell pours thicker and stronger. Markus and I start to cough a little and have to slow down, the tunnel only leading one way now, and I recognise the animals on the walls.

The tunnel shrinks and grows and I begin to feel strange and tingly, light on my feet. Every time I take a step it takes longer for my foot to reach the ground. Markus is stumbling strangely beside me. We can see a bright orange light at the end of the tunnel and all of a sudden I hear a scream. It's a piercing sound, horrific and sharp, like the cry of a dying horse.

We reach the poppy filled cavern and find Garth on his knees, weeping and shrieking, surrounded by flames.

The heat rages around us, bursting up like fiery spears as the fire spreads. Markus and I cower, step back into the tunnels. All of the poppies and pods, everything in the open cavern is alight, smoke flowing up through the old volcano's empty peak.

The flames are fierce, and I start to feel weak at the knees, drop to the stone. The fire shimmers and shakes, turns red and dissolves, and I can't understand what I'm seeing. I rub my eyes and it only gets worse. Pockets of darkness appear in my line of sight, black holes clouding my vision.

Markus has one hand cupped over his mouth and nose but he's struggling with it too, desperately trying to keep his focus. With his other arm he's tearing at his sleeve but he can barely grab the fabric. I start to crawl towards him but fall on my side, drag myself the rest of the way. Together we tear off his sleeve and rip it in two, each of us wrapping half around our face to cover our airways. All the while Garth wails, beating the ground, crying out, "They took them all!"

I struggle to my feet and pull Markus onto his.

"What do you think happened?"I shout.

"Our fire, did we leave it lit?"

I can't remember. Markus shrugs and his eyes are pulled tight, tears are streaming down his face from the smoke. The poppies burn crimson into the night sky. The smoke tumbles down the passages and tunnels. And in the fire I see a face, walking out of the flames. It's masked, black; the rubber starting to melt off it. The eyes in the mask are bright red and the form moves in slow motion, a soldier, with a tank strapped across his back and a flamethrower in his hands.