Rogue Angel - Warrior Spirit Part 34

Ken stood in front of the first entrance and closed his eyes. Annja watched at him.

"What are you doing?"

He motioned her over. "Stand here and close your eyes. Remember what we were talking about at the waterfall? Go inside and check yourself against using this as the way in."

Annja closed her eyes and saw herself walking into the cave. Almost immediately, she felt a vague stab of pain in her stomach. "No," she said, almost shouting.

She opened her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

Ken shook his head. "Don't apologize. I got the same feeling. This is not the one to use."

They moved down to the next entrance and repeated the process. Again they both got a bad feeling.

At the entrance to the third, Annja smiled. "Do we even need to do this with this one? It's the only one left."

Ken nodded. "Just to be sure."

Annja closed her eyes again and walked into the entrance in her mind. This time she found it perfectly comfortable. She opened her eyes to tell Ken this was definitely the one to use.

"Ken-hey!"

She was already standing in the cave entrance with her torch. Ken stood next to her smiling.

"Cool, huh?"

"How did that happen?"

Ken shrugged. "The only way I could explain that is that our bodies took over and moved us in there in order to show it was safe. Much of this next stage might be a willingness on our part to almost switch off our conscious minds and let our instincts take over."

Annja frowned. "I wish I could do that easily. But honestly, I don't know if I can turn it off."

Ken put a hand on her shoulder. "The fact that you're standing in the cave with me right now proves that you can. Just relax and pay attention to how you feel physically as we proceed. That will be the best source of answers, I think."

They moved deeper into the cave, walking slowly. The walls closed in as they advanced, forcing them to switch to single file.

"I'll go first," Ken said. "No sense in making you trip any traps. This is my family's relic, after all."

"We'll swap it out every so often," Annja said. "I knew the risks going into this thing. It's not fair for you to take them all."

He nodded and then continued along. The cave walls suddenly opened up, and then in front of them, they saw a huge chasm. Swirling air rushed around them, emanating from somewhere far below and continuing up for hundreds of feet.

"Looks like we've arrived at our first challenge," Annja said.

"Second," Ken said. "The first was getting in here, remember?"

Annja stood near the lip of the chasm. "It's too far to jump to the other side. We'd never make it."

Ken looked at the rim. "Our ledge ends just down there. There's no way to skirt across to the other side. And we don't have climbing gear to attempt the walls."

"They look pretty smooth, anyway," Annja said. "Probably worn that way by the air and water over the years."

Ken crossed his arms. "I guess we'll have to think of something else, then."

"Or not think about it at all," Annja said.

Without hesitating, she walked off the ledge into the chasm.

NEZUMA SQUIRMED his way deeper into the mountain. He was rather surprised that Shuko's death hadn't affected him all that much. He smirked. I must be even more coldhearted than I thought. his way deeper into the mountain. He was rather surprised that Shuko's death hadn't affected him all that much. He smirked. I must be even more coldhearted than I thought.

He heard movement ahead of him. The cave had narrowed significantly as he got farther in, forcing him to keep his arms pinned by his sides and use his torso to do all the work.

But up ahead, he could see flickering lights. Torches, judging by the smell. And he heard people talking, too.

Guards?

He frowned. Taking them out in his current position would prove suicidal if he even attempted it. He'd need to get himself into better position in order to do it and live.

But as he was trying to figure out how to do that, the voices dwindled. Nezuma could hear footsteps and realized he was most likely nearing a corridor of some sort.

All he'd need to do was make sure it was clear before he exited.

Then he could track down the dorje dorje. And kill Kennichi and Annja Creed.

He still wished he had backup with him. Shuko would have easily held her own against either one of them, freeing Nezuma to enjoy himself rather than leave him to do all the work.

Still, he was satisfied with how the events seemed to be unfolding. If the G.o.ds smiled on him, he'd recover the dorje dorje and be back home within the next few hours. and be back home within the next few hours.

And tomorrow, he could go out searching for a suitable candidate to replace Shuko.

Life was about to get good.

"ANNJA!"

Ken ran to the edge of the chasm and looked down, expecting to see nothing but blackness. Instead, he saw Annja staring back up at him.

"Hey," she said, smiling.

He shook his head. "How the h.e.l.l did you know to do that?"

She shrugged. "It was the only thing that made sense. I closed my eyes and just walked forward. It's a rock bridge of some sort, but it's wide enough to allow the air current to come up on either side, helping the overall appearance look like one giant bottomless pit."

Ken hopped down. "You're amazing."

"You taught me how to do it."

Ken looked toward the other side. "You sure this goes all the way across?"

"Nope, but I guess we'll find out."

Ken stopped her. "You're closing your eyes?"

Annja smiled. "It's worked so far." She shut her eyes and started walking. She heard Ken sigh and knew he had done the same thing.

Each step she took made her feel more amazed than the last. Who would believe that her instincts could guide her like this? They were facing certain death if they made the wrong choice, and yet twice her instincts now had saved her.

There's probably more than that, she thought, but I'm only really becoming aware of it now.

She stopped suddenly. Annja opened her eyes. Ken stood beside her in exactly the same position.

"What happened?" she asked.

Ken shook his head. "I don't know. I just stopped suddenly. Like my body didn't want to go on anymore."

Annja knelt and felt the ground in front of her.

She nearly toppled off the edge into the pit.

Ken grabbed her and pulled her back.

Annja breathed out. "So much for the bridge going all the way across. I guess it ends there."

"It's a trap," Ken said. "To lull us into a sense of complacency. If we got to this point, we might not have trusted our instincts to stop us and simply walked over the edge."

Annja nodded. "Incredible. I wonder who built this thing."

"Someone keenly interested in making sure the vajra vajra was well protected, apparently," Ken said. "Maybe a crazy old monk, maybe a samurai, maybe a ninja. Who knows?" was well protected, apparently," Ken said. "Maybe a crazy old monk, maybe a samurai, maybe a ninja. Who knows?"

Annja sat down. "Now what?"

Ken sat down, too. "I wish I knew."

NEZUMA SLID OUT of the narrow duct and dropped to the floor twelve feet below. He immediately brought the UMP out and kept it at the ready. The last thing he wanted was to start a gun battle with anyone. But he couldn't afford to let anyone know he was inside the mountain. of the narrow duct and dropped to the floor twelve feet below. He immediately brought the UMP out and kept it at the ready. The last thing he wanted was to start a gun battle with anyone. But he couldn't afford to let anyone know he was inside the mountain.

Not yet.

He moved quickly down the corridor, making sure his shadow never fell in front of him. This necessitated his moving from one side of the hall to the other in order to keep the torches and their flames from betraying his presence.

At the end of the corridor, he had two options-left or right.

He chose left.

Down at the far end of the corridor, he saw another door.

He headed straight for it.

"HOW FAR AWAY do you think it is?" do you think it is?"

Ken shrugged. "It looks like it's maybe ten feet or so."

"You think we could jump it?" Annja asked.

"Maybe. But what if it's another optical illusion? We run and try to make a ten-foot jump only to find ourselves flying off into the great void. Not exactly how I saw myself going out, you know?"

"I don't know what else to do," Annja said. "I've tried closing my eyes and I'm not getting anything. I don't see any clear indication as to how we're supposed to proceed."

"Neither do I," Ken said. "And for some reason, I can't figure out why it would end like this. There has to be a way across. A way to continue forward. But how? And where?"

Annja frowned. "Wait," she said.

"What?"

"What did you just say? About going forward."

Ken held up his hands. "I said there must be a way to go forward. What else would the point of this be?"

Annja smiled. And turned.

"That's it."

Ken frowned. "What?"

"We don't go forward at all," Annja said.

Ken shook his head. "I'm not walking backward to my death, Annja."

"No. We don't take this bridge at all. We never had to. But this was built to protect the vajra, vajra, and that protection seems to rely on using people's preconceptions against them." and that protection seems to rely on using people's preconceptions against them."

"Explain," Ken said.

"So, you manage to make it into the right cave, maybe by instinct, maybe by blind luck. Then you get to the chasm, and perhaps you find out that there's a cleverly disguised bridge across. You think that's it. You can see the other side and skip right across and fall to your death midway."

"Okay."