Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 15-3

Algae and rocks covered the bottom of the lake. My eyes were clouded at times, tired from being asked to do more than usual. My concentration was at its maximum, and I prayed that one of my friends would send me the alert signal which would indicate that the ruby ​​was discovered. My hands brushed against the undulating flora that inhabited the dark depths. The current in certain places was stronger, which forced me to fight against it in order to be able to advance and not sink to the bottom like a rock. My strength was gradually leaving me, and I had to tap into my mind so as not to give up. There was nothing in these waters of misery, and if I decided to stay longer in this lake, my whole body would end up frozen. Suddenly, Min's voice interrupted my somber thoughts.

"Zoe, look at your transmitter. Lexy and Asarys seem to be waiting for you at nine o'clock."

Indeed, the two dots, one next to the other on my box, showed them at a standstill. Without wasting a moment, I gathered all the energy I had left and went to meet them.

After several minutes of swimming, I found the girls at the entrance to a cave. I was relieved to see that they were fine. Asarys began to communicate with us in sign language, asking us to follow her. Lexy did it first and went before me. I did the same after sending a signal to Min's team. We rushed into this underground labyrinth, which seemed to lead us straight into the bowels of the Earth. The girls and I scrupulously followed the gallery, the walls of which were covered with drawings and objects carved in stone. They apparently represented rituals of human sacrifice, or even the daily lives of an ancient lost civilization.

At the end of this narrow path, we finally arrived at the heart of the dimly lit cave, submerged by the waters. At the time, I had no idea where we were. I had lost all sense of direction in this lake, and when I lowered my eyes to my box, I noticed that the GPS signal didn't work anymore at this place, surely because of the thick walls that surrounded us. I sent a desperate message to the operations team and was relieved to find that the radio contact was still working. In the middle of this unreasonably large cave was a pyramid with a dark facade, perfectly cut, and the height of the architecture was impressive. The three of us seemed so small at the bottom of this heap of stones.

Lexy waved her arms to attract our attention, then pointed at the top of the pyramid, where a large seashell was trapped in the walls of the structure. The shiny shell seemed to contain a precious treasure. We looked at each other, not daring to hope that Kushisake's ruby ​​could be inside. After weeks spent looking for it, it seemed to be offered to us by the universe itself. As I rushed to the top of the pyramid, Lexy and Asarys' hands closed around my wrists. Lexy then made a gesture to my friend, who went immediately to check what the shell could be hiding. I immediately asked for explanations from Lexy and she replied, still in sign language, that there was a promise. I didn't ask more questions, knowing full well who she was talking about. Worried, I followed Asarys' progress up the monument. My friend was now at the height of the shell. The passing minutes seemed to me to be hours, and I guessed that something was wrong. Asarys was taking too long to return. What could she be doing? I couldn't take it anymore. In my turn, I decided to leave to meet her, and Lexy followed me closely.

The three of us were around the giant clam, in front of this closed shellfish which obviously wanted to keep its secret safe from humans. After a long moment of reflection, we decided to extract the shell from the rock to bring it back to dry land.

"No, no, no!" panicked Min in the headset

We instinctively stopped our operation without understanding what was going on.

"They're coming! We can see them on the screens, a large crowd approaching the Lakes of the Sun."

"How many are they?"

I recognized Barthey's distant voice.

"Impossible to determine! A hundred or more."

"Shit!" cried Karl. "Warn Malika and the others. The confrontation seems inevitable."

"Group one, you don't have much oxygen left," Min warned us. "Come back as soon as possible with the stone to be evacuated. Time is running out!"

Lexy started to go after the clam, refusing to go up without it. Asarys and I also threw ourselves on it to help our friend. We put all our strength into it to free it from the walls, aware that we were playing for the future of the world. The rock began to crack all around, and we redoubled our efforts to finally manage to get the shell out of its vice. Exhausted, we hastened to leave the cave to reach the surface as quickly as possible, the oxygen in our bottles at its lowest.