The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (20 page)

“
How
long is he going to sit there?” Julia whispered. “My butt
would have been numb a hour ago.”

Yolanda
giggled but Maria watched Dominic, looking concerned.

“
If
there's one thing I've learned about him after these last few months,
besides the fact that he has a suspicious mind sometimes, is that
Dominic isn't a quitter. He does not give up when he's determined to
do something. Now, he may be waiting for one of us to tell him to
take a break, but I doubt if he will stop trying on his own.”
She tilted her head, still looking at Dominic. “At least, not
for a while.”

Justin
was beginning to worry. “Should I suggest he grab something to
eat? You know, so he doesn't think I'm trying to give him an order?”

Maria
shook her head and turned to look at him. “Not yet, Justin. Let
him keep trying to...” She looked back at Dominic. “Hey,
wait a second. Did he just give up on his own?”

Everyone
turned to look but Dominic wasn't under the bush anymore. Aaron got
up, walked over and looked around the tall shrub. “Nothing
here,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe he went off to use
the, um, facilities?”

“
If
he did, he ran there,” Richard said, puzzled.

“
I
didn't go yet, but I'm heading there soon,” Dominic said from
behind Julia. She screamed.

“
Dominic!”
Jason gaped at him. “Where'd you come from?”

Dominic
burst out laughing. “From over there, of course. It finally
worked.” He looked both amused and relieved then he stretched
and groaned loudly. “Between my sore back and my sore butt, I'm
not sure which hurts more.”

They all
laughed and congratulated him.

“
Thanks
guys. It was the weirdest feeling though.”

“
What
was it like, Dominic?” Justin asked.

Dominic
thought for a moment. 'It was...like a dream. Kind of unreal, you
know? I looked down and couldn't see myself. Then I heard Maria
wonder where I'd gone and I knew I'd done it. And then,” he
hesitated as if searching for the right words. “Then I noticed
the shadow of that shrub behind Julia and I thought, I wish I was
there and, boom, there I was!”

Justin
looked over at Prometheus who was standing inside the doorway. He
looked pleased by Dominic's success. Pleased and troubled as well.

“
Is
that the way it works, sir?” he asked the Titan. “Moving
from shadow to shadow like that?”

“
Yes,
exactly like that, Justin. And it is a pleasant surprise that Dominic
seems to have grasped that intuitively.” He walked over and put
his hand lightly on Dominic's shoulder and gave him a little shake.
“You are a true son of Crius, my friend. You honor my brother's
memory.”

“
Thank
you, sir” Dominic said with a flush of pride.

“
Now,
my young friends,” Prometheus continued. “Carry on with
your practicing. Eat and drink as much as you can. When you're tired,
get some sleep. After that, you must be on your way.” He looked
gravely at them all. “Sanctuary awaits.”

Following a long sleep, the teens bathed, packed and got
ready to continue their journey up through the depths of Sanctuary.
Daemon scurried around, producing packs containing the robes they had
used earlier and loaded with food and juice. Some fruit was included
but mainly there were bars of dried fruit that the servitor proudly
said were his own invention.

“
Sometimes
those moronic minotaurs forget to bring Prometheus food for days at a
time. I learned early on to make these bars for those intervals. They
will not go bad, so eat all the fresh fruit before you eat the bars,
okay?”

They all told him they understood and thanked the little
machine for all of his help. Maria went further. To the group's
astonishment, she walked up to Daemon, reached down and gave him a
huge hug.

“
Thanks,
my friend,” she said warmly. “You helped me to learn to
use my gift. Maybe I'll be able to help my friends and for that, I'll
remember you, always.”

The servitor's expressive face seem to go blank with
shock; obviously he'd never been hugged before. Then he reached out,
took Maria's hand in both of his and shook it gravely.

“
Make
it through, Maria. And when you do...” Daemon looked around.
Prometheus was in the next room but he lowered his voice anyway.
“Remind them that a true Titan still lives in Sanctuary. My
master deserves better.”

“
I
will,” she whispered back, and stroked his metal cheek.

“
So,
my friends, this is it.”

They all jumped. Prometheus was standing just inside the
door, smiling gently at them.

“
I
hope you are all packed and ready to go?”

“
We
are, Prometheus,” Justin answered. “But the real question
is, how do we get out of here?”

The Titan laughed heartily. “I told you, Justin,
that I had a few secrets. And so, I will show you one more. Follow me
please.”

They grabbed their packs, took a last look at the green
grass and the light reflecting off of the pond and followed the Titan
across the room. On the far wall, there were several pictures made up
of small colored tiles. There was a sea battle, a serene picture of a
countryside and a mosaic made of abstract shapes and colors.
Prometheus gestured at that section of the wall.

“
Daemon
gets notions once in a while. Many years ago, he decided that he
wanted to know if there were other rooms on this level beyond this
one.”

The servitor looked around proudly. “It was my
idea. All mine. He,” Daemon poked a thumb at the Titan, “has
no sense of adventure! None at all.”

“
Yes,
thank you, Daemon,” Prometheus cut him off. “If you would
be so kind?”

“
As
you say, oh mighty one,” came the sarcastic reply. The teens
all grinned.

Daemon walked to the wall, selected a section of the
mosaic and gave it a shove. A portion of the lower half of the
picture opened inward and to the right. It was barely large enough
for the servitor to slip through on his hands and knees. Beyond lay a
dimly lit tunnel.

The little machine stepped back and gestured at the
opening.

“
This
passage should be large enough for you all to wiggle through,”
Prometheus said. “Obviously I would never be able to use it,
even if I was so inclined. It will take you to a ramp that spirals
upward to the next level of the complex. Or so Daemon has informed
me.”

Justin looked at the servitor. “Daemon, do you
know what it's like on the next level?”

“
No
sir, not really.” Justin was a bit startled at being called
sir, but made no comment.

“
I
only peeked through the exit at the top one time, in case there was
something bad that might follow me back to my master's home.”

“
And?
What did you see?” Dominic sounded impatient.

“
Sand,”
Daemon replied simply.

Aaron groaned. “Not more sand!”

“
That's
all you saw, Daemon? Just sand?”

The servitor nodded once. “Just sand. The exit
opens on the edge of the level. As far as I could see, there was only
sand.” He paused and suddenly there was a note of uncertainty
in his voice. “But it wasn't regular sand, exactly. It was more
like...powder? Yes, powdery sand. Very fine and deep. Where it leads,
I do not know.”

Maria stepped forward. “Well, wherever it leads,
it gets us off of this level and closer to our goal, so sand or no
sand, we have to go that way.” She looked up at Prometheus.
“Thank you so much for all you have given us, and taught us. I
know that we won't ever forget you.”

The Titan bowed solemnly and then spoiled it by winking.
Maria grinned, patted Daemon on the head and slipped into the tunnel
on her hands and knees.

Dominic hurried to follow, thanking their host for his
help. One by one, the rest of the teens followed until only Justin
was left.

He stood there hesitating a moment. He looked almost
helplessly at the old Titan.

“
What
troubles you, Justin?” Prometheus asked, concerned.

“
I'm
not sure, sir. I don't know why but I feel responsible for these guys
and it seems that wherever I lead them, trouble soon follows. I just
feel...” He didn't finish his thought.

“
Helpless?”
the Titan asked. Justin nodded mutely and Prometheus shook his head.

“
You
are far from helpless, young man. And less so now than you were when
you arrived. Don't burden yourself with unnecessary worries, Justin.
You are not the only leader of your group; you share that
responsibility with Maria. Trust in her. She is a very strong
person.” The old Titan took his hand and gripped it firmly.
“Even more importantly, you are all Titans. As your abilities
grow, your confidence will increase as well. You have done very well
in your journey so far. Stay together, use your strength in numbers,
rely on each other, and you will succeed.”

“
Thank
you, Prometheus, for that. And for everything. Maria was right; we'll
never forget you.”

“
Nor
I you, Justin. Safe journey.”

Justin turned and extended his had to Daemon.
Tentatively, the servitor reached out and Justin shook his hand
vigorously. “Thank you as well, Daemon. Take care of Prometheus
for us, won't you?'

“
With
my life, young Titan.” The servitor's tone was thick with
emotion. “With my life.”

Justin waved one last time, took a deep breath and
crawled into the tunnel.

A few
feet into the passage, Justin found that Daemon had stuck a small
glowing rune into the ceiling. As he glanced at it in passing, a
scraping sound behind him signaled that the servitor had sealed the
entrance. They were on their own again, he thought. He looked over
his shoulder then turned and began to crawl forward, hurrying to
catch up with the others.

The low
passageway extended a long way. It twisted and turned, rising and
falling randomly as it burrowed through the rock. How long had it
taken for the little servitor to dig this out, Justin wondered.
Months? Years? Then again, Daemon had certainly had the time to
waste, stuck down in that prison for millennia.

Finally
he caught a glimpse through the gloom of someone crawling along ahead
of him. It was Aaron, who slowed down as he heard Justin catching up
with him.

“
Where
were you?” he asked over his shoulder as he continued to crawl
along.

“
Had
a last word with Prometheus and Daemon,” he answered shortly
and concentrated on moving through the tunnel. Aaron grunted and
looked ahead again.

There
were stretches of the passageway that were almost too narrow for even
Justin to crawl through. For one of the few times in his life, he was
grateful for being short and skinny. He was also pleased that the
other teens were small as well. The idea that they might have had to
leave someone behind wasn't something he wanted to even think about.

Justin
had no idea how long they scrambled, crawled and scraped through the
dimly lit tunnel. The small saving grace was that the rough stone
couldn't cut or abrade their skin. Also the passage itself was free
of debris and dirt, so while they got hot and sweaty as they
traveled, they didn't end up covered in filth.

“
I
can see the exit,” Aaron said over his shoulder some time
later.

Justin
sighed with relief. His shoulders and knees were aching and he
couldn't wait to stand up and stretch. Aaron scrambled out ahead of
him and Justin followed.

They had
emerged into the bottom of a wide round chamber dominated by a ramp
that spiraled up and out of sight above them. Looking around, Justin
could see a large pile of debris, rocks and dirt, plugging up an
archway at the bottom of the ramp and realized that even if they had
found the entrance to the room on their own, they never would have
been able to get to the ramp itself. He spared a quick thought of
thanks for Daemon again.

“
What
do you think, Justin?” Maria asked. She and the others were
standing directly at the ramp peering upwards. “Should we just
start up or maybe send someone to scout ahead?”

“
I
can do it,” Dominic said eagerly. Maria laughed and gave him a
pat on the shoulder.

“
There
aren't any shadows here, Dom. I doubt if your ability would work.”

Dominic
scowled as he looked around. Maria was right. The room was brightly
lit by clear light fixtures placed high along the walls and leading
up the ramp. He sighed loudly.

“
Yeah,
good point. So, do we just start climbing?”