Liquid Diamond (30 page)

If Natalia wasn't a believer before, she was now.

“
Hrm!” grunted the spirit while giving Catalyst a snooty look. The smell of dead leaves blasted from her nose as she disappeared into the boulder.

“
Snobby witch,” said Natalia, taken aback by the smell.

“
Maybe. Who knows what any of them were before they died,” replied Catalyst.

“
He knows nothing,”
thought Natalia as she stood smiling at him.

“
Well Natalia, we're here. What do you think?” asked Catalyst.

Looking round the enormous boulder that shielded them, Natalia was not impressed. Everything was so grey and dirty.

“
Catalyst, it looks as though someone painted it with sad,” replied Natalia.

“
I really hope the Clique hid the crystals in there,” said Catalyst hoping to change the subject before it went any further.

Natalia replied, “We won't find all the crystals in there. If we find any it will only be one. Remember what the Elf said: the Clique had them split up until the next phase. And don't forget the diamond ring. So who knows? But one thing I do know, the Clique is in there and they know we're coming for the crystals.”

“
What? How do you know that?” asked Catalyst.

“
The Elf told me yesterday. You were right there when he said so,” replied Natalia.

“
I was watching, not listening, well not really anyway. I just wish you had told me,” said Catalyst in a worried voice.

“
How does it feel when people keep the truth from you when it's something really important for you to know?” asked Natalia as she remembered him doing the same to her.

“
It doesn't hurt to keep you in your place. After all, you’re just a boy and you need to learn,”
thought Natalia.

Embarrassed by his own behaviour, Catalyst could say nothing to Natalia, although she could see that he finally got her point.

“
Let's get that crystal before they do whatever it is they’re trying to do,” said Catalyst, not wanting to stand there red-faced any longer.

“
Okay,” replied Natalia as she followed Catalyst up a small makeshift stairway. It was built into the side of the mountain and led to an entrance that would allow them to ascend the mountain from the inside.

Looking down upon Natalia and Catalyst as they began their climb stood a member of the Clique with his cloak hiding his face. He ground his teeth at the sight of them.

“
Bailey failed!” said the cloaked figure.

“
They’re here then?’ asked a voice from the shadows.

“
Yesss!” replied the cloaked figure, answering the voice from the shadows as a second cloaked figure came out to see Natalia and Catalyst as they made their way up and into the opening.

“
Speaking of failure, here he comes now. Shall I just grab them myself?” asked the first cloaked figure as they watched Bailey hobble and limp as he struggled to catch up to Natalia and Catalyst.

“
No, let Bailey earn his reward one way or the other, but send a fetch to collect our spy and have them meet me in the upper cavern,” replied the second figure.

“
Right away, Sirdis,” replied the first figure as he left to do as he was told even before the echo of their voices had faded.

Standing there watching the bumbling oaf Bailey as he climbed to the opening just made Sirdis even angrier. Not being able to take any more he walked away in disgust, but not before kicking a few rocks toward the vile old Elf.

Seeing the rocks crash down beside him, the Elf couldn't be sure if it was by accident or not. Fearing for his own life should the Clique know he had so far failed them, the Elf did his best to hide as he climbed toward the opening in cripplingly hard jumps.

As Natalia stood looking at the stairs that circled up through the Hollow of the mountain, Catalyst readied his rope dart just in case.

“
Oh no way am I climbing that,” said Natalia, glaring at Catalyst for bringing her to such a dangerous place.

“
Why not?” asked Catalyst, knowing exactly why Natalia didn't want to go anywhere near the steps.

“
Are you nuts? Do I really have to tell you why? Look at these stairs! They stick out six inches from the wall. They’re only four inches wide, maybe. There’s not even a handrail. How would you suggest I climb this?” demanded Natalia.

“
Just follow me. It's not that hard, trust me. I've climbed it before,” replied Catalyst as he took the first step leaning tightly into the wall, chest first, and stepping side-to-side making it look easy.

With sweat running down her forehead, Natalie watched Catalyst climb higher and higher.

“
There's no way I'm going to make this, Catalyst,” yelled Natalia.

“
Just try Natalia. You’re wasting time – remember the Clique know we're here,” shouted Catalyst back.

Stamping her foot hard, Natalia walked to the wall and leaned into it, one step, two step, three step fall, Natalia landed a whole three feet beneath where she had been leaning.

Trying once again, Natalia leaned into the wall harder and in a few simple steps got the hang of it.

“
This is awful, Catalyst,” said Natalia, trying hard not to look down.

“
I believe you, Natalia, but look – you’re doing it anyway, so it can't be that bad. Besides, you’re coming to the wider part of the stairs now,” replied Catalyst from the landing.

Reaching Catalyst, Natalia looked down at the distance they had just climbed. The stairs circling around and down made Natalia feel as though she had climbed them in record time.

“
Why would anyone build such a stupid staircase?” asked Natalia as she looked at Catalyst with squinty eyes and trying to find a way to blame him for it.

“
I can answer that,” replied a spirit as she popped her head out of the wall. She gave Natalia such a fright she almost fell off the landing altogether.

“
I've got you,” said Catalyst grabbing Natalia just in time to save her life.

Still floating halfway out of the wall, the woman waited until Natalia was okay and then continued to explain, making Natalia feel as though she was in class.

“
The staircase was built like that because of the war between the Basajaunak and the Elves. You see the Elves used this place as a midway point when they needed to rest or were wounded or their commanders had to meet. This place was perfect and since the Basajaunak have such big feet, the Elves made the stairs extra small so that when the Basajaunak attacked and tried to climb them, well let's just say this Hollow was rightly named Basafalls,” said the woman.

“
Wait a minute, how come I've never heard of such a war?” asked Catalyst.

“
How old are you?” asked the spirit.

“
I'm two hundred and fourteen years old,” replied Catalyst calmly as he tried to show up the woman and what she was saying.

“
Oh my, you’re just a baby, aren't you?” replied the woman, putting Catalyst in his place.

“
Anyway it all happened so long ago, I'm sure not even the Elves themselves remember it, or even the Basajaunak for that matter. Anyway I hope that answered your question, little girl,” said the spirit as she slipped back into the wall.

As the Elf himself was now in the void of the mountain, he could see Natalia and Catalyst were on the first landing of the stairs. He knew that with his half-foot, damaged hand and poor depth perception, he couldn't climb up the tiny stairs without falling. But having been inside the Hollow many, many times before, the Elf knew things about it that very few others did. With all the dust and rubble, however, finding what he was looking for would not be easy.

Feeling his way along the massive mosaic that covered one of the Hollow’s walls, the Elf searched for a circle so precisely carved that even in the best light and cleanest conditions it would be almost impossible to see it unless you knew exactly what you were looking for.

Catching his finger and ripping it open again, the Elf kicked the wall in pain, only to realize too late he had kicked the wall with his half-foot. Pain surged through his body. The Elf let out a cry so harrowing and so loud it filled the entire void of the mountain, letting Natalia and Catalyst know he was there and that they needed to hurry.

“
Don't worry, he won't make the climb,” echoed Catalyst’s voice.

Finding the circle trip switch, the Elf gave it a gentle push. Sliding it in just a bit, and with a quarter turn to the right, a piece of the wall dropped back. It slipped to one side, revealing a small room no bigger than a closet with a pole that would take the Elf to the first landing of the staircase.

“
Damned stairs,” whimpered the Elf as he wrapped his hands and legs around the pole. He had no choice but to lock his feet into place and start pulling himself up.

As Natalia and Catalyst continued to make their way up the staircase that never seemed to end, Catalyst stopped dead in his tracks. Natalia walked right into his back.

“
You know, Natalia, if you walked any closer we would both be wearing my cloak,” said Catalyst.

“
If you think you’re getting more than three inches from me while we're on this staircase, you’re out of your mind,” replied Natalia, giving Catalyst a small pinch to remind him she needed him.

“
Why are you stopping anyway?” asked Natalia.

“
We're at a hard part now, and you’re going to have to do this by yourself,” replied Catalyst.

Natalia stared straight at him.

“
Okay, here we go,” said Catalyst as he stepped forward and bounced with all his weight. He sank the stone plate he was standing on and wooden poles shot out from the wall. The thirty stairs in front of them tucked themselves silently away.

“
It's a trap, just in case anyone got this far,” said Catalyst.

“
There's no way I'm climbing over those,” said Natalia, and meaning it.

“
I know, you have to run, jump, grab and then swing your way across,” said Catalyst as he left Natalia behind.

“
Come on, Natalia, you can do this. It's not that hard,” laughed Catalyst.

“
Really? Because you make it look really hard,” grumbled Natalia.

With Catalyst on the other side and out of her way, Natalia took her best Olympic pose and with one good run she flew through the air, grabbing the first pole and swinging right around it with ease, then throwing herself to the next one. She filled the air with the most spectacular flips and swings until she reached the other side, finishing off with a solid landing right at Catalyst’s feet.

“
That, Catalyst, is how you do it,” said Natalia proudly.

“
What! Wow! I've never seen anything so good. How did you do that?” asked Catalyst.

“
I told you before, but you don't listen. I'm a gymnast. For me, that stuff is as easy as drinking water, and if this whole place were filled with poles like these, I would have been at the top for so long now that I would be sitting there waiting for you,” replied Natalia, knowing that the last five years of gymnastics had not been wasted.

“
Shall we keep moving?”

“
Yeah, right, let's go,” replied Catalyst, still smiling at what Natalia had done. “Wait, listen, can you hear that?” he whispered as he held Natalia back.

As she listened hard, Natalia could hear a faint whimpering cry coming from somewhere, but where?

“
I hear it, but I don't know where it's coming from,” replied Natalia.

“
It's that rotten, vile Elf. I can't believe he's still here. I thought for sure, with half his foot gone, he would have given up chasing us up this Hollow. Then again I thought he would have given up when I took half his foot off,” said Catalyst.

With her eyes as wide open as they could be, Natalia started to scan everything around them in a panic.

“
It's okay for now. He's not close. Just be extra careful,” said Catalyst, trying to ease Natalia’s mind.

“
Why doesn't he give up and go away? How many times do we have to beat him before he understands that he won't win!” said Natalia in her bravest little Russian girl voice.

“
If the Clique are as awful as I think they are, then they’re going to want him dead if he doesn't succeed in stopping us from getting the crystals,” replied Catalyst.

“
If that's true, then it's a good bet he's not far from catching up to us,” said Natalia as she began to urge Catalyst along.

“
Wait, slow down. We're not out of danger yet, Natalia. This staircase is one trap after another. Stay behind me for now,” said Catalyst as he stepped in front of Natalia.

“
Oooh!” sighed Natalia knowing when to step back and let someone else take the risks.

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