Six Sacred Stones Part 37

Lily noticed that Zoe was already awake-she'd been keeping watch. They hissed to Wizard and the others on the other platform, waking them.

They all observed the warlock break away the larger group and stride out onto the sacred triangular island in the center of the lake, via a stone bridge that rose from beneath the rippling surface. There the Delphic Orb and the Second Pillar sat proudly on their stone pedestal.

With great reverence, the warlock lifted the Delphic Orb from its pedestal and handed it to one of his monks, who dashed off to rejoin the procession.

The warlock stayed on the island, where he was joined by the two monks bearing the Philosopher's Stone and the Firestone.

Lily and the others then watched in awe as, with great solemnity, the warlock placed his people's Pillar-the Second Pillar-inside the Philosopher's Stone.

When the Firestone was set atop it, a familiar white flash flared from within the Philosopher's Stone, and when the warlock removed the Neetha's Pillar from it, the Pillar was no longer hazy and cloudy. Its rectangular gla.s.s body was perfectly clear.

Cleansed.

The warlock looked like a man who had seen his G.o.d.

The ceremony complete, he replaced the Second Pillar on its pedestal. As for the Firestone and the Philosopher's Stone, he handed them to his monks and while he remained on the sacred island, they took them-along with the First Pillar-into the maze.

About twenty minutes later, the warriormonks with the Firestone, the Philosopher's Stone, and the First Pillar emerged on the narrow flight of stone steps that rose out of the center of the maze.

"They know how to get through...?" Lily said, confused.

"Mazes like this were common in the ancient world," Wizard said. "The labyrinth of Egypt the palace at Knossos. But such mazes are not designed to be impenetrable. Each possesses a secret solution and so long as you know the solution, you can pa.s.s through a given maze quite quickly."

Zoe said, "Most often, only royalty or royal priests knew the solution. It's a cunning way to keep your treasures safely hidden from the commoners."

The monks climbed the great staircase and then disappeared inside the trapezoidal doorway at its summit, entering some kind of inner sanctum where the two stones-the Firestone and the Philosopher's Stone-and the First Pillar would be kept safe and secure.

Low chanting followed. The fires of their torches danced.

Then, a few minutes later, a speck of firelight appeared in the sky through a carefully cut gap in the tree canopy that covered the ravine-it appeared at a spot directly above the inner sanctum. One of the monks must have climbed up an internal shaft and emerged at the very summit of the volcano 650 feet aloft.

Suddenly-whap!-the speck of firelight was replaced by a completely otherworldy purple glow.

"It's the Orb," Wizard whispered. "They must have taken the Firestone up to the summit, too. They've placed the Orb atop the Firestone and unleashedits special power."

"And what is that?" Solomon asked.

"The ability to see the Dark Star," Alby answered solemnly. "Look."

He pointed over at the warlock, still standing on the triangular island-only now the gnarled old man was bent over the inclinometer there, peering through an eyepiece on it, an eyepiece that was angled straight up at...the purple glow of the Delphic Orb high up on the volcano's summit.

"It's atelescope ," Alby said. "A tubeless telescope like the kind Hooke built in the 1600s.

A telescope doesn't necessarily need a tube, only two lenses, one at the bottom and another at the top, set at the right focal length. Only this tubeless telescope is huge, the size of that volcano."

"A telescope designed for one purpose," Wizard said. "To see the Dark Star."

As if on cue, the warlock howled with delight, his eye locked to the eyepiece.

"Nepthys!"he cried. "Nepthys! Nepthys!"

Then he intoned something in his own language.

Lily listened, then translated."'Great Nepthys. Your loyal servants are ready for your arrival. Come, bathe us in your deadly light. Rescue us from this earthly existence.'"

"This is bad..." Zoe said.

"Why?"

"Because this warlock has no intention of saving the world from the Dark Star. Hewants it to come. Hewants it to unleash its zeropoint field on the Earth. More than anything, this manwants to die at the hands of his G.o.d."

LILY AGAIN fell asleep, but just before dawn, something else happened.

It was many hours after the warlock and his monks had concluded their nocturnal activities by returning their people's sacred objects to their usual places: the Delphic Orb and the (now cleansed) Second Pillar were returned to the pedestal on the triangular island, alongside the ancient inclinometer. After that, the priests had retired to their templefortress and the village was still-a stillness that had prevailed until Lily was woken by a series of small objects pelting her body.

"Huh?" she looked up with bleary eyes......to see a young Neetha man tossing pebbles at her.

She sat up.

He was perhaps twenty years old and short, and if you could have removed the growth on his left temple, he would have qualified as a freshfaced youth.

"h.e.l.lo?" he said tentatively.

"You speak our language?" Lily asked, stunned.

He nodded. "Some. I am student of Chief's Eighth Wife," he said slowly, articulating each word carefully. "She and I both oppressed in tribe, so speak much. I have many asks for you. Many asks."

"Such as?"

"What is your world like?"

Lily c.o.c.ked her head, looking at this Neetha youth more closely, and she softened. Amid all the fierce trappings of this ancient warrior tribe was the most universal kind of individual, a gentle and curious young man.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"I am Ono, seventh son of High Chief Rano."

"My name is Lily. You speak my language very well."

Ono beamed with pride. "I am keen student. I enjoy to learn."

"Me, too," Lily said. "I'm good with languages. Yours is a very old one, you know."

"This I know."

Ono, it turned out, was avery curious young man who had many questions about the outside world.

The concept of flight, for example, intrigued him. As a younger man he had helped disable a seaplane down at the carved forest. After the unfortunate people in the plane had been taken away and eventually killed and eaten, he had examined the plane for hours.

But try as he might, he hadn't been able to figure out how such a heavy object could fly like a bird.

Likewise, he had a radio-Zoe's radio, taken from their belongings-and he asked Lily how such a device could enable two people to speak over great distances.

Lily did her best to answer his questions, and the more she talked with him, the more she found Ono to be not only curious but sweet and kind.

"Can you tell me about your tribe?" she asked.

He sighed. "Neetha have long history. Power in tribe rests on, how you say, balance between royal family and priests of Holy Stone.

"My father chief because family strong for many years. Strong chief respected by Neetha.

But I think my father brute. My brothers brutes, too. Large of body but small of mind. But here, strong get all they desire-healthy women, first food, so strong continue to rule.

They beat the weak and take from them: animals, fruit, daughters.

"But warrior priestsalso have power because they guard maze. Inside their fortress, from very young age, them study and learn spells and also fighting arts so when come of age, emerge as killers."

Lily eyed the dark templefortress nearby. With its high battlements, tusks, and folding drawbridges, it looked fearsome.

She asked, "Is their fortress the only way to get to the maze and the sacred island?"

Ono nodded. "Yes. Over centuries, ruling clan and priest cla.s.s find it...beneficial...to honor each other's power. Royal family orders people to honor priesthood, while priests approve royal marriages and support ruling clan by punishing any person who attacks royal."

"What's the punishment for attacking a royal?" Lily asked.

"One is sentenced to the maze," Ono said, looking out at the ma.s.sive circular structure across the lake. "Animals lurk in it. Sometimes accused is hunted in there by priests sometimes by dogs other times, condemned man is left to roam maze until starve or take own life in despair. No man ever escape maze."

Ono looked off sadly into the distance.

"Sweet Lily. I am not strong. I small, but have keen mind. But keen mind mean nothing here. Disputes settled on Fighting Stone." He nodded at a large square stone platform that sat between Lily's slab and the triangular island on the lake. "I could not hope to defeat my brothers in fight, so I reduced to shadow life. Life in my tribe is not happy life, Lily, even when you chief's seventh son."

Ono bowed his head, and Lily looked kindly at him.

But then abruptly something clinked somewhere and Ono stood.

"Dawn comes. Village awakes. I must go. Thank you for talk, sweet Lily. I sorry for you, for day ahead of you."

Lily sat upright.

"The day ahead of me? What do you mean?"

But Ono had already dashed away, disappearing into the shadows.

"What about the day ahead of me?" she said again.

MORNING CAME.

Shafts of sunshine lanced down through the tree canopy above the Neetha gorges as a large crowd gathered around the two prisoner platforms.

The enormous warrior who had previously a.s.sessed Lily and Zoe now stood before the a.s.sembled crowd. Beside him stood the fat Neetha chief, looking proud and approving of what was to come.

The big warrior addressed the crowd in a loud booming voice that Lily translated quietly: "Subjects of the High Chief Rano, our great and n.o.ble king, champion of the maze, conqueror of white men and owner of a white woman, listen to my words! As the firstborn son of our glorious chief, I, Warano, seeking to follow in my ill.u.s.trious father's footsteps, claim this white woman!"

Lily's eyes boggled.What?

This ugly Neetha man was claiming Zoe.

"Unless another among you dares challenge me for her, I will, now and at this moment, take her to my bed and consider her my wife!"

The crowd remained silent.

No one, it seemed, dared to challenge this mountain of a man.

Lily spotted Ono in the back of the crowd, saw him bow his head sadly. She also spied Diane Ca.s.sidy, and saw her turn away in horror, covering her mouth.

Then Lily turned to Zoe-only to see that Zoe's face was as white as a sheet.

Lily frowned, confused.

She spun again and this time saw that all the Neetha women in the crowd were pointing ather, looking her up and down and nodding approvingly.

And then it hit her.

This man wasn't claiming Zoe.

He was claiming her.

Lily's blood froze.

The crowd was still silent. The chief's eldest son eyed her l.u.s.tfully, his mouth opening slightly to reveal foul yellow teeth.

His wife? But I'm only twelve!her mind screamed.

"I will fight you for her," a voice said evenly, in English, invading Lily's thoughts.

She turned.

To see Solomon standing up on his platform, tall, thin, and gangly, yet firm and n.o.ble in his stance.

"I will resist your claim," he said.

The chief's first son-Warano-turned slowly to face Solomon. Clearly, he had not expected any challengers. He a.s.sessed Solomon from head to toe before snorting derisively and shouting something loudly.

Ca.s.sidy translated. "Warano says, 'So be it. To the Fighting Stone!'"

PLANKS were laid out and Warano and Solomon strode across them, out onto the Fighting Stone-the wide square platform at the edge of the central lake.

This platform was lower than the prisoner slabs, barely a foot above the surface of the water. Several large crocodiles lay at its edges, ever watchful.