Order of the Golden Dawn (Neophyte Series 2)

CHAPTER 11 : THE LAST OF THE NEPHILIM

        Stepping through the entranceway, the doors closed behind me with a loud, heavy clunk. Jordan and I glanced at one another knowing that there was, more than likely, no turning back and considering the lack of handles in which to pull the doors back open, I feared that it may have been a horrible mistake to proceed when we were so exhausted. As we considered what we may have just gotten ourselves into, we heard the echoes of the raven squawking from deep beneath us.

    'If you and your ruddy bird get me killed—'

    'Yeah, I know you're going to haunt me and blah, blah, blah. Shall we move forward then?'

    Ever the optimistic, she could be rather annoying at times but regardless, we put one foot before the other and proceeded downward. As the stairs began to spiral deeper I worried more and more that we were in way over our heads. Though I was glad to have Jordan by my side I was beginning to consider that she may not know just when to call it quits. Our stomachs were rumbling — which was beginning to put me in a bad mood, and there seemed to be no way out anytime soon. After quite a long while, the spiraling stairs finally came to an end but then we moved onto another set of stairs descending straight down for what felt like forever.

    'I think we may be halfway to Hell by now.' I stated with a note of pessimism.

    Beneath us, the sound of the ravens call echoed louder revealing to us that we were at least making some progress. Slowly, the distinct sound of rushing water filled the narrow stairwell and I could almost feel the moisture in the air as somehow, the remaining rays of the September sun were visible in this abandoned place, and we came to a standstill.

    Before us was the rushing rapids that separated the land and looking upwards; hundreds of feet above our heads, we could see the repaired stone bridge that I now longed for. On the other side of the rapids; embedded in the rock face, was the continuation of the stairwell. It appeared to be a blackened doorway that led further into the earth.

    'Beautiful. Think you can lower some vines and get us the hell out of here?'

    'Probably, but I don't think we should stop.' She was obviously aware of my annoyance with the situation, as she pushed her point when the raven touched down on the other side.

    'I know you're hungry and tired but we've come this far already. I think we should see what's down there.'

    'I think the sun's going down and we have no idea whether or not this stairwell will lead us off the grounds. We may be handing ourselves over to the Unnatural, Jordan. Did that ever cross your mind?' I let known, the concern that had been on my mind since our decent.

    'Yes, but it would be highly unlikely. If you want to go back up then I will get you there, but I'm going to keep going.'

    'Are you mad?'

    'Of course not, but you're really not going to let me do this on my own, are you?' Her eyes took on a charade of endearment, pulling at my heart strings with hope of my company. Looking into her eyes I suddenly hated myself for having such a soft spot for her. She definitely knew how to play it up.

    'How're we going to get across?' I sighed.

    'I suppose I can lower something so we can swing across.'

    'That's quite the distance. There's no way I'm doing that.' Looking deep into the sharp rocks around the base of the ravine my stomach turned from growling to queasy. I was picturing my face smacking against the sharp rocks when my eyes caught the raven stepping one claw at a time toward us; seemingly standing on nothing; perched in mid-air.