Earth Guardian (Deities Series Book 2) Read online

  That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Possibly more interesting than Ash’s fire abilities. Maybe. Now, I’m wondering how far I can take my powers. Have they worked with Dr. Mara long?

  We all test the strength of the rope, pulling as hard as we can, seeing if it will pull away from the wall. By the time I put my weight onto it, the rope slips a little bit. Then more with Torrent pulling, and slightly more when Dr. Mara pulls.

  She sighs. “This won’t work. The ice is too slippery. Probably because of the damp walls and temperature.”

  “What about you, Pamin?” Torrent asks. “Can you somehow seal the rope into the rock?” I look at him, surprised. Is that possible?

  Torrent melts the ice away and I touch the rock, here and there. Holding the top of the thin rope, I close my eyes and press against the rock, willing the rope to go in. I press and press, holding it still, concentrating with all my might.

  Chapter Four

  Nothing happens. I want to punch the rock. Instead, I lay both palms flat on the wall and lower my head, breathing. What good is this power if it can’t help us? Lord Jesus, please show me what to do …

  “Fuck it.” Ash raises her hands and shoots a powerful stream of bright fire directly down the shaft. The light blinds us and the roar echoes so loud we all jump. She lets it go out, then shoots another stream, thinner, not quite so bright. We lean over to look. The stream of flame shoots down, down, to nothing. It goes farther than she can extend it. “Damn.” She lets the fire go out. It’s darker than ever with just her little palm light.

  Everyone shifts nervously, like they’re all waiting for me to do something.

  These guys have been at this longer—why is it up to me? Is Maow really dead; Matta and Virina? Where are they? What about Uncle Rasheeb? What about all my uncles, friends, cousins? I have to get back!

  Shouting echoes through the tunnels; we all hear it now.

  “Damn it, they heard us,” Torrent says.

  “I’m sorry, but we had to do something.” Ash is no longer being quiet.

  “Maybe I can make steps.” I have to try. I kneel and put my hands onto the edge of the cliff. Closing my eyes, I visualize stairs in the rock. I push my energy through; the ground trembles. Stones and pieces of rock fall away under my hands. Opening my eyes, I see a crude, small ledge has crumbled away from the edge. I put my hands down onto it and force my energy into it, visualizing another step, farther down to the right.

  My arms lurch forward and I’m grabbed from behind; I’d almost fallen again. Some rocks have tumbled away, but they don’t really look like stairs at all. Nothing anyone would want to try to go down, anyway.

  “Pamin, can you collapse a rock wall between us and them?” Smoke asks.

  “No,” Dr. Mara warns. “The rocks would rush down this slope and throw us right off the edge, if they didn’t crush us first. Plus, we don’t know if this structure will hold and not collapse on us.”

  “Fuck it, I’ll just go set them on fire,” Ash says. “That’s what I can do.”

  Torrent grabs her hands. “They’d shoot you, Ash. You’re not immune to bullets.” Ash shoves his grip off but stays put. “Besides, we need your light. We can’t see shit without it.”

  “So that’s all I am now, a fuckin’ light bulb?”

  “We need you here, Ash,” Dr. Mara says. “Everyone, we must stick together, no matter what happens. We’re more powerful together—remember that. Pamin, touch the rock and see if you can tell how much time we have exactly.”

  I’m already kneeling, my palms on the ground. Pounding feet, rushing, getting closer, closer …

  I’m barely aware of Torrent kneeling next to me. I can sense his water energy without breaking my concentration. I feel his force moving down into the rock like mine. I stand. “I’d guess about a few minutes at most.”

  Torrent also gets up. “I sensed the water. Pamin’s right, we’re near the Nile. I could also sense water deep below us. I think this shaft goes right into it. But what I don’t know is if there’s any rocks below.”

  “You think? That’s not good enough,” Ash’s light is flaring.

  “Pamin, can you confirm this?” Dr. Mara asks. I put my hands back on the rock and close my eyes, though my heart is pounding in my ears.

  Feet pounding, running, echoing louder, louder …

  Focus, Pamin.

  “That’s it, son, breathe. Concentrate.”

  Deep flowing energy … deep below …

  “Yes, I believe I feel water. It’s far below, so this shaft probably goes into it. The water’s deep below us, like Torrent said.”

  “There’s no way I’m jumping down that shaft,” Tage says. “Smoke can’t do it anyway, he’d hit the water and reopen his wound on his leg, if we don’t all die first. We’ll stay here.” She pulls out her handgun, readying it.

  “We’re staying together, soldiers.”

  “Maybe I can bring the water up, so it’s not such a long fall.” Torrent stands and points his arms down the shaft, focusing, still as a statue. “Hopefully there’s nothing in the way. I’m going to try and get the water up here as fast as I can.”

  Lights flash far above the tunnel behind us. “Down here! Watch your step—move.”

  “Hold them off me while I concentrate.”

  We all look down the shaft again, Ash brightening her light. We can’t see anything. Can Torrent actually move that much water this far up? The shouts above echo to us.

  “Don’t move, soldiers,” a man’s voice shouts. “We see your light, we know you’re there. Don’t move, our orders are to retrieve you, dead or alive.”

  Their footsteps get louder.

  “Torrent, are you moving the water up?” Dr. Mara whispers.

  His voice comes out strained. “Yes, it’s coming up, I can feel it. I’m trying …”

  “Should I shoot?” Tage asks, aiming her weapon.

  “No, we jump. Now, team, go! Lead the way, Ash.” She taps Ashley on the shoulder. The girl brightens her flame then jumps, feet first. We see it streak down as she yells.

  “Woo-hoo!”

  “Tage and Pamin, on either side of Smoke, now.”

  “No, I can’t do it, I can’t,” Tage says as Smoke forces her to the edge.

  “I’ve got you,” Smoke says as he cradles an arm around her waist.

  A tap and a light push move us forward and we plummet, feet first.

  Down, down, down into nothingness.

  Chapter Five

  “Ahh!” The scream tears violently from my throat. Tage is shouting at the top of her lungs, too.

  On instinct we let go of each other and flail as we three free fall. I try to think of something I can do with my power, to slow us, but my mind is blank—I know nothing but blinding terror. The air rushes by me so fast I can’t breathe. Dizziness blackens my vision.

  Before I know what’s happening, I hit cold water feet first, and shoot down into pitch-blackness. I’m numb, I can’t feel anything, I just sink farther and farther.

  I slow to a stop, then my body starts rising. No current pushes me one way or another. We must be in a lake. My senses come back, my legs are screaming, my lungs are bursting and I’m about to black out.

  A faint, wavering yellow light beckons from above. I move my arms, kicking, trying to get to the surface.

  My head breaks free and I gasp in life-giving air before I bob back underwater. Emerging back, I try to calm myself, though my heart is racing ninety kilometers a second. I take in my surroundings.

  Ash’s head is bobbing while she holds up her palm light. Within seconds Smoke and Tage surface. Tage and I swim to Smoke, who’s struggling to stay afloat. He grasps at us, pulling us both underwater with him. I splutter and try to get air any chance I get, but we’re going to drown with him. Inky blood is swirling around us in the black water.

  He pulls us down again, and we sink farther than before. Just when my lungs are about to explode, a ripple passes over us, and we’re inside
a big, giant bubble of air, floating beneath the surface.

  “Everybody calm your breathing, relax.” Torrent’s voice sounds like it’s coming from beneath a mound of blankets. It’s weird and echo-ey in this giant bubble.

  I look around me—this is wild! I calm my pounding heart, but it takes a while. Smoke is collapsed at the bottom of the bubble, blood pooling beneath him. Tage stays by his side. We’re all squished in such tight quarters. It’s a good thing we’re floating inside the bubble.

  “Still your bodies as much as you can.” Torrent motions with his hands, as if molding dough into ball. “This is the most amount of people I’ve had to use my bubble around. I need to keep it tight and solid to hold our weight.”

  Ash puts out her light and we plunge into total blackness. I’m used to this in the caves, but Tage is whimpering.

  Will we stay in this bubble? For how long? When will we run out of air? I can’t see a thing—we’ll have no warning if it breaks.

  The bubble slowly sinks down, down, down. It’s terrifying, not being able to see anything, feeling the black pressure of the water right outside this film that’s supposed to keep us alive. One wrong move and we all drown. I try to keep my breathing calm.

  What if we run out of air?

  I hear a bleep, bleep, soft and gurgely as bubbles escape from our mouths.

  “I’ll add more air as we need, I can extract it from the water,” Torrent’s strange voice echoes.

  We go down, down, down. I think it will never end, when suddenly we bump gently into the ground. We remain there, sitting.

  “Pamin, can you tell where the tunnel goes?” Torrent asks. I close my eyes, concentrating, trying to put my hands onto the ground without popping the thin air bubble.

  “That way,” I say, my voice coming out all strange. I point to the right. The rock is cavernous that direction, I could feel it.

  The bubble bumps and moves gently in the direction I point. Torrent creates waves to push us along, controlling where we go.

  This is so surreal. I can’t see a thing.

  Once in a while a couple of burbles pop, as Torrent creates more air for us. We’re all silent, awaiting certain death.

  How can he even do that? He must be manipulating the atoms themselves. I try to distract myself, to keep from thinking about drowning any second. “Hey, Torrent,” I ask. “How are you doing all of this?” I can’t hold my tongue any longer. His abilities fascinate me.

  “It’s something I’ve learned since being with Ash and Dr. Mara. I see the molecular level of the water and force it to do what I want. Learning to control the force of it was the trick. At first, I blasted things but as I grew to understand how it worked, then I could use gentle streams of liquid, bubbles, and even drops to do my bidding.”

  As we bump along, I concentrate on the rock walls we’re passing, trying to keep track of where the passage goes, when it will end or veer. “Up-up-up,” I try to shout, and Torrent acts quickly, floating us up. We just barely miss slamming into a solid rock wall. I sensed it, almost too late.

  Rising, so slowly I can hardly stand it. This must be what Hell is like. At this rate we’ll never reach safety.

  My head is faint, I’m getting dizzy again. Just then, I sense openness, and our giant bubble bobs to the surface. It breaks and we all sink back into the inky water.

  Chapter Six

  “Smoke!” Tage screams. “Guys helps me!”

  Smoke hasn’t reached the surface. Torrent dives under. The rest of us scramble out. After a forever long time, he finally ascends with Ash’s brother, gasping for air. Torrent’s breathing is calm and smooth. We help them onto the dry, rocky ledge. Thank God, Ash has her light shining brightly. Soon we’re all sitting there, exhausted, shivering. Dr. Mara and Tage re-bandage Smoke’s leg. His eyes are barely open. Ash sits in the middle of us, and shines her fire so bright it’s like she herself is a bonfire.

  “Don’t you dare leave me, Smoke.” Ash nudges his shoulder.

  Whoa, that fire Ash controls is amazing.

  The heat of her tall flames dry and warm us. She’s sitting zen style, legs crossed. Her palms are turned up, the flame coming out of her hands. I can just see a slight smile on her face. She’s loving this, being in the fire—becoming fire.

  “Wow, she’s expanding her gift.” Even Dr. Mara is impressed, and Smoke gives a grateful smile at the life-giving warmth.

  “I would never purposely leave you, Sis.”

  I look around. I can tell we’re deep underground, but I would guess we’re on the other side of the Nile. I sense massive structures and spaces to the West.

  Something in my brain tells me it’s the pyramids! I’ve never felt them like this before. I feel them, almost pulsing in my blood—smooth, calming, powerful. And how did I know that way is West? I stare about in wonder.

  This tunnel is a natural rock again, leading off into darkness in varying degrees of size.

  We’re exhausted. Dr. Mara suggests we take a break, and within a few seconds we’re all sprawled on the floor and falling asleep.

  As if the air is thin down here.

  Solid, steady rock encloses me, bringing safety and comfort. Like being in the womb again.

  I slowly open my eyes. I can’t tell if I’ve really opened them; it’s pitch-black. I can’t see a thing. I hear the others stirring, however. Thank God, I’m not alone.

  A bright light flares, blinding us all for a moment. Ash is standing, holding her palm high. Dr. Mara tries to get her head-strap light working, but the water damaged it. She discards it with a curse.

  Dr. Mara and Tage both have some granola bars in their uniforms. We split them, getting half a bar each. My stomach growls in anger—I’m so hungry I could eat a camel. We share what water they have left in their canteens, too. We’ll have to find water soon. Maybe Torrent can find it, clean enough to drink.

  Finally, we gather ourselves and head down another rough tunnel that takes us away from the lake we emerged from. Ash leads with her light, and I follow, trying to predict where the tunnel leads. Tage and Torrent help Smoke, who looks pale even in this dim light. The good doctor brings up the rear, directing us from behind.

  The tunnel goes a long ways, with turn-offs to the left and right, but the massive pyramids are calling me ever forward. It’s like there’s an electric cord attached to me from them, bringing me forward automatically. My skin prickles.

  The passage narrows to a tiny space. We crawl through, helping Smoke. I feel the walls closing in on me.

  “Damn it, it’s a dead end,” Ash’s voice echoes in front of me. We’re all on our hands and knees.

  “That can’t be, I can sense a chamber, and … another room of sorts.” I’m sure I sensed it correctly.

  “There’s water, up ahead,” Torrent says.

  “Well have at it, earth dude, good luck.” I squeeze myself past Ash, who flattens against the wall, keeping her flame away from my head. “Please don’t set me on fire.”

  I mean it as a joke, but the irony of what happened to my family settles on us immediately. I try to forget the sudden grief about to crush me. She’s right, there’s a wall in front of us, the tunnel ends here.

  I place my palm against the wall and focus. Yes, there’s an open space, not large, and there could be water on the other side. Not too thick, this wall …

  Placing both hands on the rough stone, I push with my energy and my arms. Nothing happens. I keep trying, and the wall seems to tremble under my fingers.

  The passage shakes as the wall crumbles into stones and dust. Ash and I cough while pebbles plink into the water beyond the hole I’ve made. Cool air greets us and rushes to the others.

  Ash goes first with a spike of light.

  “Yup, there’s water here. Torrent was right. And we’re going to have to walk through it.” She lowers herself into the liquid. “It’s about chest deep. It’s clear, you can see all the way to the bottom.”

  We each crawl out of the small opening
and slide a foot below right into the cold water. In the shadows, the water looks like ink, but I can make out what seems to be a thin film on top, like how oil skims a puddle on the street. We’re in a natural tunnel, leading several meters to a chamber. A low roughly hewn arched ceiling rises right over our heads.

  The ground is uneven, there are large square rocks and debris at the bottom, so we swim into the chamber.

  The ceiling is higher in the squarish room, about nine meters long. There’s an old wooden pier on the end to the right, not far from where we’ve come in. It leads to a dry passageway. We head toward it—slow going, with giant broken pieces of square columns and worn stones lying in the water.

  “This is so gross, so gross,” Tage says. The cold water revives Smoke, who swims with her. They must be a couple. They’re always helping each other.

  “Shit, there’s a tomb down there.” Ash points into the center of the pool. We can see the top of a large sarcophagus, a few feet below the surface in the center of this dark, clear reservoir. “This stuff looks so cool in the movies, but here in the dark, it’s fucking creepy. All I can think of are mummies rising from the dead.”

  “Stop it, Fireball,” Smoke chides her. “You’re scaring Tage.”

  “Hardly. She can handle it. Can’t you, Tage?”

  “Um … yes?” Tage shrugs.

  “It’s okay, there’s nothing in this water, just rock and some wooden debris,” Torrent says.

  “But the water has to come from somewhere, right?” Tage sounds worried. “Like an underground spring.”

  “How can there be any wooden objects,” Smoke asks. “Wood should have rotted away centuries ago. It’s either been placed here a few years ago during an excavation or …”

  “Focus, Team. This dock is our way out.”

  We help each other onto the rickety dock that miraculously hasn’t rotted away over time. Smoke is right. Wood would have rotted away by now. Ash and I go into the dark passageway. She brightens her light.