Maia and the Xifarian Conspiracy (The Lightbound Saga Book 1) (24 page)

“H-hear me out, guys,” Kusha stammered, breathless with excitement. “We’ve been checking the western side because our sun rises in the west.”

“Yes, that’s the idea,” Maia replied.

“But that’s wrong,” Kusha shouted again. “Don’t you see?”

“Say why, Kusha,” Maia yelled.

“I know why.” It was Nafi who shrieked this time. “This temple was built by the Selibs, in the Selib System and—”

“Their planet spun from south to north,” Maia finished. It all made perfect sense now.

“So it’s the north and not the west. Kusha, you’re the best,” Nafi shouted before wheeling her Cylopede away toward the northern side.

“You know what?” Maia said as soon as the three Pedes reached the other side. “Let’s start from the top. Since the land has been sinking over the years, I bet they would have only kept the highest entrances open and sealed off the rest.”

Her assumption paid off almost immediately when she found a shallower reading at one of the topmost openings. After Nafi and Kusha confirmed her findings, they decided to venture inside. Just before they filed into the gaping mouth of the cave, a glitter in the sky caught Maia’s eye. Up amid the gray, a little distance from the temple, was the unmistakable shape of the Ghiamera, its silver body shining in the sun.

“We have company,” whispered Maia. “It’s the Ghiamera. Again. Wonder which Core it belongs to.”

“Core 7,” Miir’s voice buzzed on the communicator.

“Karhann and company,” Nafi was quick to add.

“Yes, and I suggest you get inside the cave before they see you. That Ghiamera has special sensing scopes to see farther than virtually any spacecraft in existence.” The urgency in Miir’s voice was unmistakable.

The trio scrambled into the darkness of the cave and rushed forward into the burnt-out tunnel. With the threat of Core 7 besting them again, the dash to find the door was truly pressing. The bright lights from their Cylopedes illuminated the dark, jagged walls of the endless tunnel, which twisted and turned, growing narrower as they hurtled deeper inside. At one point, the cave became so constricted that the Pedes could barely squeeze through. Right behind that gnarled orifice was the carved gate of the Seliban Temple.

The pungent air, a strange mix of burnt sulfur and a moisture-laden ground, assaulted Maia’s senses as soon as she opened the outer sheath of the Cylopede. Then she felt the heat, harsh and stifling, the sudden change prickling her skin and raising goose bumps. Shaken, but calming down quickly as she remembered that the interior of the temple, as well as the gates, were maintained within limits of breathability, Maia dismounted with caution, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. The gate that stood towering over her was not spectacular. It was squat and thick, and a simple grille of heavy metal bars guarded its entry. The engravings that adorned the chamber, however, were truly astounding, and it drew Maia close with a strange pull. She was vaguely aware of Kusha and Nafi getting off their Pedes. She heard them search for the switch to open the gate and argue intermittently while she stood transfixed in front of the walls, looking at the carvings.

The largest of them depicted a tattooed man on a platform, an orb cradled in his arms. Behind the platform, a thronging mass of people with similar markings on their bodies stood with their hands outstretched, as if to stop the man with the orb. On the other end of the platform was another man; the dress he wore was strikingly similar to the Xifarian Gambrill except for the resplendent collar that rose like a halo around his head. His right arm was extended toward the man with the orb, his lips were smiling, but his eyes shone with a quiet anger. Maia could not explain the overwhelming feeling of sadness that engulfed her. Her steps felt heavy, and her heart ached for something she could not comprehend.

At the ear-piercing sound of metal grating on rock, Maia tore her eyes away from the engraving. The gate had been opened, and Kusha and Nafi steered their Pedes inside the small room beyond the gate. Maia followed, guiding her Pede in, and parking it against the shadowy far side where a flight of stairs led inside.

“We’re in,” Nafi announced, grinning widely.

“Congratulations,” Miir’s voice boomed in the small room, and it sounded joyful and proud. Maia could hear Dani and Ren cheering in the background.

“Now you need to close that gate, and then open the shuttle bay so we can land. Something is wrong with Shadow; it must have been that hit during the crossing. I need to patch it up as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir,” Kusha replied and rushed to push a small lever on the floor inside. As he pressed the square knob, it sunk in. The gate, however, did not move the tiniest bit.

“What’s wrong now?” Nafi cried.

“I don’t know. This lever looks exactly like the one outside, the one we used to open the gate,” Kusha replied.

Maia peeked out, looking for the lever outside, but found nothing. “I don’t see anything outside, Kusha,” she said, perplexed.

“It’s under a block of rock,” Nafi shot back an impatient reply. Kusha and Nafi continued to twist, pull, poke, punch, and kick the knob inside, with no results whatsoever.

“And why is it under a rock?”

“If you had paid a little more attention instead of browsing the local art gallery, you would understand.” Nafi was at her caustic best.

“If you remove the weight, the grille starts falling on its own,” Kusha explained. “We placed that rock on top to keep it open.”

“Why don’t we push that rock off now that we are inside?”

“It’s very heavy, that’s why,” Kusha explained. “Can’t budge it from here with a sword or a stick.”

Maia stood for a while, staring at the rock before she had another idea. “One of us could push it off and then run past the falling gate.”

“It drops far too quickly,” Nafi replied in a spent voice. “You would have to be super fast getting in or you risk getting impaled.”

“I can do it,” Maia declared. Over and over again she had been negligent, Maia thought. She had failed to be the leader they had expected her to be. And now she had just had enough of Nafi’s jibes. She wanted to show Nafi that she could do it. And most of all, she needed to show herself that. Maia raised her voice a notch. “You locate the shuttle bay. I’ll join you soon.”

Nafi and Kusha looked at each other before Nafi spoke.

“I’ll stay with you while he looks for the bay.”

“No. I know what I’m dealing with here. Even with our maps, Kusha has no idea of what lies ahead. He might come across a blockade and need an extra pair of hands. And you need to navigate your way to the bay—two heads will help.”

Nafi did not seem to agree and looked away. Kusha appeared confused.

“Let’s not argue about this. Just go. Miir needs to land Shadow, and we need to give him as much time as we can spare,” Maia said, her voice was as calm as it was firm. “Besides, I have the communicator. I’ll call you back if I need help.”

Kusha and Nafi looked at each other again, and when Kusha nodded, Nafi grudgingly got to her feet. Moments later, they boarded their Pedes and sped down the staircase into the darkness below. Maia turned around and stepped outside the gate, taking a good look at the rock that covered the sunken knob on the stone floor. She kneeled over and ran a nervous hand over the cold, pitted rock.

39: The Relic

Maia studied the speed of the falling gate by lifting the rock a few times, panting a little each time under its weight. As soon as she released the knob, the grille careened down; the greater the pressure, the wider it remained open. It was only a matter of estimating how fast she would have to run to get inside once the weight on the lever was removed.

“Maia.” It was Dani on the communicator. “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” Maia replied. “This looks easy enough. I wonder if they found the shuttle bay.”

“We’re trying,” Nafi informed.

“Guys,” Dani spoke again, “Miir needs to run some diagnostics on
Shadow
. So we’ll have to shut down some peripheral equipment, including the communicators. It’ll be just for a tiny while though. We’ll be back soon.”

Maia felt the first tremor right after the communicator fell silent. It rose from deep below the surface and coursed up her body. It shook and rattled the weight on the knob, and a part of it slipped off the lever. The gate slid down behind her, stopping halfway to the bottom. Maia groaned at the thought of hefting the heavy rock again. The tremors continued, and she decided to wait for it to die down completely before daring to outrun the door. Almost immediately, she realized the graveness of her mistake. Three Cylopedes burst into the cave, blinding her with their blazing white lights. A trio of figures alighted from the crafts.

“We finally caught up with you,” Karhann roared.

“And look . . .” There was no mistaking Loriine’s lazy, pampered voice. “The gate is still open for taking.”

The third person did not speak, but Maia knew it was Yoome. The quiet girl had helped them once, but if anyone could help Maia now, it would have to be herself.

“I hope you’re not going to try to stop us,” Karhann said. “You see, there isn’t much point in you fighting all three of us.”

Maia gripped Bellator tightly by the hilt and pulled it out. She had to keep fighting to protect the entrance until the communicators worked again so she could call for help.

“The midget dares to challenge us,” Loriine sneered.

There was a raspy sound of weapons being drawn and cautious footfalls as her opponents stepped closer.

“Are we allowed to fight three to one?” Yoome spoke, forever the voice of hope.

No one replied. Maia tried hard to recall that code of honorable combat, and then figured that it did not matter anyway. For even if she did remember, this bunch was not going to listen to her when they chose to ignore Yoome’s question. She backed up against the half-closed gate, Bellator firmly clutched in her hands. As she stepped away from the glare of the headlights, she could see them more clearly. Loriine stood to the left holding a whip sword, its tip skimming the stone floor. Karhann stood next to Loriine holding a basket-hilt broadsword. On the right stood Yoome, both hands clasping a long, tapered pole that was studded all over with small spikes.

The first blow came from Loriine, surprising Maia a little. The whip sword lashed out like a dragon’s tongue and danced dangerously close to her left arm. She made a quick mental note of the length and stretch of the whip as she jumped. Karhann charged from the other side. Maia’s arms hurt as she parried his blow, barely managing to push him back a few steps. The boy, she realized, was much stronger than she was. There was no time to breathe before Loriine’s sword came lashing at her once again and flicked at her face. Maia fell sideways to avoid it. She tried to think of a strategy as fast as she could. There was not a chance in this world that she could fight a lengthy battle with these two. It had to be short, it had to be precise, and she had to eliminate one attacker at a time. The opportunity presented itself within the next moment. The tip of Loriine’s sword grazed her right arm, making her wince in pain as it tore through her thick combat jacket. Maia moved sideways and entwined the retreating piece of metal around Bellator’s blade. She yanked Bellator swiftly to the right, and as the tangled whip sword followed Bellator’s motion, Loriine lost her footing and went crashing down to the floor. Karhann stopped for the briefest moment as he waited for Loriine to regain her stance. Yoome had not moved; she simply stood there, watching the fight.

“We’re back.” Dani’s jubilant voice on the communicator was the sweetest thing Maia had ever heard.

“We found the bay. Opening it now,” Kusha declared.

“Wonderful,” Miir said. “And have we closed the gate yet?”

Before Maia could reply, Loriine cackled. Karhann joined her with a gleeful laugh.

“We’ll close the door for you, Miir. Rest at the bay while you can before Amanii kicks you out of there.”

“Shut up, Karhann. You’re not in yet, and you’ll never get past me,” Maia shouted.

“We’re on our way back, Maia,” Kusha yelled. “Just don’t give in.”

Karhann and Loriine charged furiously, closing in on Maia from both sides. The sound of clanging swords filled the tiny chamber as Maia warded off blows and dodged and stepped around. Sparks flew as metal clashed against metal. Strikes rained down on Maia, and she gasped for air while fending off the assaults. She tried to create some space to be able to think and plan, to hold them off until someone came to help. Despite all her efforts, Maia was soon cornered. With her back against the cold stone wall and sweat streaming down her face, she waited as Karhann signaled Loriine to move away. He was coming in for the final blow, Maia realized, and she panted to fill her lungs with air. The rock with the lever below it lay between her feet and the gate, the partially opened grille beckoning her to the safety inside.

As she looked at the stone and the gate and back at the stone again, a plan began to take shape in her mind. Karhann edged closer. Maia’s mind raced. She had to make this work; she could not let the efforts of all her friends go to waste. She had let them down too many times in the last few months, but not anymore and not this time. She would defend the gate at any cost and give it everything it took. Her palms were sweaty, so she gripped Bellator as tightly as she could with both hands. Then she took a few assertive steps toward Karhann, making room between her and the wall, and waited for the strike.

She blocked off Karhann’s swipe, Bellator wedged firmly between her body and the sharp edge of his sword. Her hands shook as he pushed the crossed swords closer to her neck, but she managed to hold. Falling back, she balanced herself on her left leg and swiftly twisted Bellator away. Karhann faltered and took a step back to recover from the sudden move, leaving the right side of his body unprotected for a moment.

Maia had waited for just that chance. She braced her back against the wall behind her, and with all the force she could gather, she lunged forward and kicked him squarely on his shoulder. The boy reeled backward at the strike, bumping into Loriine, and together they fell to the floor in a tangled heap. Not wasting a single moment, Yoome stepped forward.

Maia sheathed Bellator and dove toward the rock that still sat on the lever keeping the gate half open, palm scraping against the weight of the rough stone as she pushed it away. With a jarring noise that bellowed throughout the cave, the grille started to move down. A fierce blow narrowly missed her shoulder as Maia rolled frantically in the direction of the rapidly narrowing gap between the jagged bottom of the grate and the stone floor.

Maia heard the ominous hiss of Yoome’s staff cutting through the air, raining blows around her. She pushed herself to roll, twisting her body, and pulling herself inside and away from the falling grille. The gate was at the verge of closing shut. Maia curled her feet, pulling them inside; her right arm was next.
I am almost safe
.

Then the world turned black. Yoome’s staff crashed just below her right elbow. For a few excruciating moments, all Maia could hear was a wordless scream that rose from deep within her gut and spread through the dark cave in a slow, throbbing flood. In the moment of perfect clarity that followed that agonizing rush of pain, she dragged her shaking arm inside as the gate thudded shut.

It was a while before Maia made a sound again, only a pitiful whimper escaping her throat, pain shooting through her body in unbearable waves. A few more moments passed before she could look at her limp arm and at Yoome who glared at her from beyond the closed gate.

“Maia?” Dani whispered on the communicator. “Are you all right?”

“I’m nearly there, Maia,” Nafi’s reassuring voice floated in.

Everything seemed distant, almost unreal.

Karhann had joined Yoome beyond the gate, his eyes flashing and burning with rage. Loriine still sat where she had fallen, her sulking face dark with anger. They seemed unable to move, clearly not ready to accept their loss. They had been close, Maia had to admit, agonizingly close to winning the challenge before they lost it all.

“The gate is shut, Karhann,” Maia whispered, her breaths labored and short. “You lose.”

The wild cheers on the communicator deafened Maia for a moment before the bright light of a Cylopede swung up through the staircase and filled the chamber. Nafi jumped down from her Pede and kneeled next to Maia, surveying the damage.

“Knew I should have stayed,” Nafi said as she helped Maia up into her Cylopede.

Maia leaned back on the side of the Pede as Nafi carefully turned the craft around. On the other side of the grille, Karhann stood watching. Further behind him, Yoome and Loriine were busy backing off their Pedes.

Nafi fixed an angry stare on Karhann. “What are you looking at?” she yelled. “You lost. It’s over. Go away.”

Maia barely had any recollection of their journey through the narrow, winding staircase, through darkened halls and pitch-black passageways illuminated by the lone headlights of Nafi’s Cylopede. As they zoomed through the shadowy alleyways of the temple-fortress, she wondered how Nafi managed to remember her way through the maze. Figments of conversations on the communicator flitted past like a patchwork of dreams.

“Seems like a broken forearm . . . no wait . . . maybe it’s her wrist.”

“I will keep a splint ready.”

“Is she all right otherwise?”

“She’s a fighter; she’ll be fine.”

Maia forced her eyes open when Nafi zipped into a huge bay, dimly lit by the rays of the sun filtering in through the enormous skylights above.
Shadow
stood at a corner of the cove, patched up and restored, Maia presumed, flanked by four eagerly waiting figures.

As soon as Nafi stopped her Pede, Dani rushed forward and helped Maia disembark.

“Oh, Maia,” Dani hugged her fiercely. “We were so worried about you.”

“You made it,” Kusha grinned as Nafi sat Maia down against a pillar.

“Punched out Karhann and Loriine and dodged Yoome,” Ren whooped.

Maia laughed, softly at first before she chortled giddily, forgetting the pain in the happiness of being with her friends again.

“All right, make some room now. We need to take care of that arm,” Miir said, kneeling next to Maia. He held a metallic arm cast complete from the shoulder to the fingers. It was hinged on one side and fell open like armor, its hollow cushioned insides covered with a maze of circuits and wires.

“This will sting a little, but just briefly,” Miir said as Maia squinted suspiciously at the strange contraption. “Your pain will be gone when you put it on. Trust me.”

Dani and Ren helped put Maia’s limp and bloodied arm inside the cast before Miir zipped it shut. A sharp stinging pain, like a million needles jabbing into her arm, made Maia gasp before a soothing warm wave of relief swept through. She smiled as the pain completely vanished. Before long, she was back on her feet discussing with the team about the final task of finding the relic. Miir stood at a distance, observing. Brief tremors shook the ground every now and then, startling in their intensity.

The countless rooms that ringed the bay were stacked with rows of artifacts, and the team divided up as they carefully scanned every shelf and every display. After a thorough combing that took an exhausting while, the Bale Labyrinth was nowhere to be found. And, as expected, the Saucer of Agentoph turned out to be a gigantic, immovable mechanism that filled an entire room. Just as Maia and Nafi had understood from the
Book of Treasures
, it was not something that could be transported back to the XDA.

“We’re not thinking right,” Kusha said as the five stood listlessly at the bay after the long, fruitless search.

A deep rumble spread slowly under their feet. The tremors were getting more closely spaced than before, Maia noted.

“This place seems so alive,” Dani commented. “It’s like the ground is saying something.”

And once again a vague notion swept through Maia’s mind. Someone had explained it before; if only she could remember what it was, she could solve the riddle. They were missing a clue from the rhyme, something she knew they were reading wrong, but she did not know what. Everyone turned to stare at her as she groaned.

“Oh, it’s just this hazy feeling I have, just cannot pin it down.”

And then it hit her.

“I know!” Maia shouted, slapping her forehead. “We’ve been focusing on the wrong word . . . one that lives among the ruins. It means that the relic is alive . . . maybe a person? Remember what Lady Dae told us? About the Tierremorphes?”