The Key (41 page)

‘I've never been so glad to see anyone!' I call out. ‘How did you know to come here?'

‘Neriah heard your thoughts from the control chambers, dropped everything, and came running. And before you start denying anything, Mr Carter, Neriah also heard enough of your thoughts to convict you at your trial. You were so distracted organising Rochelle's abduction, you forgot to screen them.'

Neriah takes up the explanation. ‘Isabel saw the look on your face just before you disappeared.'

‘Yeah, it was enough to tell me you were in trouble,' Isabel adds. ‘Lord Penbarin helped us follow you. After that it was simple, really. Aysher and Silos picked up your scents and led us here.' Isabel peers down at Mr Carter. ‘You have a lot of explaining to do, but you can save it for your trial.'

‘The same trial that Lady Arabella will have no need to attend now, except to give evidence of your treachery,'
Neriah adds as she hurls down a long rope.

Mr Carter dives for the rope, but I knock him out of the way. He tries to ram me, but I threaten him with my sizzling hands. ‘They're not contained by my side now. And they will kill you. I guarantee it. Now step back, Mr Carter. I'm going to be the first one out of this smelly hole you put us in.'

He peers over his shoulder nervously and I have to wonder if he's heard something else. I can't see anything, but the rest of the tunnel system is in darkness. Mr Carter's head jerks and his eyes go wide again. There
is
something in the tunnel, and by his sudden wild look, it's not something pleasant. ‘Hurry!'

But I have to put my gloves on, or I'll just burn the rope and it will be useless to either of us.

‘Quickly!' Mr Carter screams. ‘Can't you hear it?'

And then I do. Thumping sounds, coming fast.

With one glove on I grab the rope and give it a tug. The girls above start hauling me up. About midway to the top the demon makes an appearance, heaving and grunting. It sees Mr Carter and starts to drool. Mr Carter looks at me, halfway to the surface, and realises he hasn't got a chance. I reach my hand down towards him, but I haven't got my glove on this hand yet, and the other hand is still hanging on to the rope.

The demon scrapes its foot along the ground, a clearly hostile motion. Neriah and Isabel haul me up the rest of the way quickly, yanking me over the edge. I spin around and the girls drop the rope again, urging Mr Carter to grab it. But now the demon is between him and the rope. With one hand, the demon reaches out and grabs the rope, tugging it loose from the girls' hands. They both scream as they try to hold on to it, but
the demon is too strong and they're forced to let go.

Mr Carter gives us a long, pitiful look, then turns around and runs.

We meet in a safe room. King Richard is with Lorian. They show me a holographic blue-print of the Citadel. As we examine it, two guards approach. ‘Get word to the command centre to maintain our position above Angel Falls, but bring us down low,' Lorian orders. The guards acknowledge the command and leave instantly.

Lorian turns and studies me as I continue to examine the holograph of the Citadel. ‘Focus, Matt. I need you to memorise strategic points.' He knows I'm struggling to concentrate. But the girls have been gone so long!

Lord Penbarin arrives and I practically jump at him. ‘Do you have news of the girls?'

Lord Penbarin tries to calm me. ‘Don't worry, Matt. They can handle more than you realise.'

‘But they're alone in the underworld!'

King Richard chuckles. ‘There are three of them, along with two dogs. That's hardly alone. And two of them have been there before. Now calm down, Matt. We can't afford for you to go too.'

He's right. I take a deep breath, but can't shake the feeling that I've let Rochelle down. I heard her call …

‘And you came as soon as you could,' Lorian assures
me. ‘We still have Marduke to deal with. Not to mention my sister.'

A soldier approaches. King Richard asks, ‘What news do you bring us?'

‘The ladies, Neriah, Isabel and Rochelle, have returned safely, and –'

‘Where are they?' I can't help interrupting.

The girls walk in and I go and embrace them all. Dillon is with them, and his eyes too are full of relief. King Richard also greets them, looking relieved. ‘What did you do with our traitor?'

‘Mr Carter didn't make it out of the cavern, my lord,' Isabel explains, and I get the sense there's a lot more to this tale. ‘The cavern of the demons.'

The soldier behind them clears his throat aggressively.

Lord Penbarin realises he hasn't finished delivering his news. ‘What is it, Milon?'

‘It's the demons, my lord. The first one is through.'

Lorian's head freezes, his large violet eyes rounding into huge orbs. ‘Has my sister gone insane? Surely she doesn't want to rule an earth inundated with evil beyond her own?'

Nobody has the answers he's looking for. But then a thought occurs to me. ‘My lord, is it possible that Lathenia has found a way to control these demons?'

‘If so, then she is more powerful than I have given her credit for, and we are in a more desperate situation than we ever thought possible!' He glances at the holographic blue-print. ‘I will need your help, Matt. Between the two of us, we will have the power to destroy the Citadel. It will be a sad and sorry day for the Guard to have failed so miserably. But there is no other option open to us.' He looks at Lord Penbarin and King Richard. ‘Get all our
people out, and do it quickly! The Citadel is about to fall, and everything and everyone within it will be destroyed.'

The Tribunal members exchange a concerned look with each other. ‘How long do we have, my lord?' King Richard asks.

‘Wait, and I will tell you.' Lorian looks directly into my eyes and I feel the tendrils from his brain searching mine, assessing my power. It's not long before he works out how long it is going to take to combine our powers to bring the Citadel down. ‘Seven minutes,' he says.

King Richard exclaims, ‘Only seven minutes!'

‘Seven minutes too long!' Lorian snaps. ‘Do you know how many demons my sister can push through the Citadel in that time?'

Probably hundreds, but the Tribunal members have something else worrying them. ‘My lord,' Lord Penbarin says, ‘Arkarian and Jimmy are in the labyrinths.'

‘My son is a Truthseer. Warn him.'

Lord Penbarin rolls his head around his shoulders, looking uncomfortable. ‘Yes, my lord, but we haven't had contact from him for some time now. It's possible that our thoughts can't penetrate the labyrinth walls.'

Rochelle steps forward, pushing down her gloves. ‘Let me go and get them out.'

Isabel follows. ‘I'm going too!'

Lorian glances at the two girls and a fragment of a smile plays around the corner of his mouth. Finally he nods. ‘So be it, but take this.' He hands them a crystal. Make sure you are out before this timepiece shows zero.' He looks at Neriah, who has just opened her mouth to volunteer. ‘You go back to the control chambers. Ethan is still there. Make sure he gets out and anyone else still
lingering. And you two,' Lorian says to Dillon and Lord Penbarin, ‘spread the word to all. No matter what, they must leave the Citadel now.'

When everyone leaves, Lorian sits down at the table to prepare himself to create the power needed to bring down this incredible structure, when suddenly he sighs.

‘Nephew, it has been a long day and I am weary, but, knowing my sister, the day is far from over.'

The labyrinth is quiet. Strangely so. Where are the creatures from the middle world? Will they be real, or manifestations from our nightmares? If that is so, I wonder what form my nightmares will take. I have so many!

Isabel screams in my ear and jumps practically on top of me. It freaks me out and I scream along with her even though I don't know what the hell she's screaming about.

‘There!' She points to the ground near our feet. ‘The hairiest, ugliest, largest –'

I push her off me so I can breathe. This is so unlike her I just have to take a look. ‘What are you talking about?'

‘The spider! Are you blind? It's the size of a soccer ball!'

I look again, but there's still nothing there except a shadow. ‘Calm down, Isabel. I think I know how we're going to get through this place in one piece.'

‘Yeah?' she practically whimpers. ‘Will you hurry up and tell me? This spider looks hungry.'

‘OK, for starters, there's no spider. That part's in your imagination.' I swing my hand down and run it through the shadow.

‘No way! Don't do that!'

‘It's only as real as Ethan's illusions. Nothing more.'

‘He can bring reality into his illusions, Rochelle.'

‘And he can just as easily dispel the reality with his thoughts. That's what we have to do in here. Got it?'

She climbs down off my leg, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When she opens her eyes and looks down, a relieved smile breaks out on her face.

‘Is it gone?' I check.

She nods, and now that the fear is also gone, her face starts turning from white to hot pink. A hand comes up to tug back her wayward hair. ‘Don't tell anyone, OK? Especially Matt and Ethan. They'll never let me live it down.'

‘As if I would give them ammunition to get all macho on us. Your secret is safe with me.'

‘Good. We'd better hurry.' She glances at the crystal timepiece Lorian gave her. It has started counting down already. ‘We've only got five minutes left.'

We take off at a run and hop on to the first set of moving stairwells that confronts us. On a higher level, we race from room to room. ‘Arkarian! Jimmy!' Isabel calls, while I use my thoughts. But no one answers. We take another set of stairs that leads to a series of empty rooms. Doors open and close as we enter and exit. I get the feeling the Citadel is helping us search, as if it too is worried.

We walk out on to a platform. It quickly starts to disappear. Running down the stairs I start to wonder at the sheer size of this place. While most of it remains concealed to the eye, it is obviously a massive structure. As I understand, time isn't measured here, so we could get caught without realising how fast mortal time is passing.

That must be why Lorian gave us the timepiece.

‘There has to be a quicker way than searching room to room.'

‘Like what?' Isabel asks.

I start to peel off my gloves. ‘Cover your face. I'm going to give my hands a try.'

As the sparks fly I lower my hand to the rail beside me. Images form of timber many thousands of years old – river redgum, preserved in the dark waters of a flood that swept away the bank from which it grew. I try to focus on the images of Arkarian and Jimmy. ‘Help us locate Arkarian and Jimmy.'

‘Anything?' Isabel asks, glancing at the timepiece. ‘We've only got three minutes left, and we still have to get out of here ourselves!'

The stairwell changes direction. I take this as a good sign, and for a moment begin to relax. But beside me Isabel suddenly stiffens. ‘What's that?'

I glance up at the shadow forming at the top of the stairwell. As we draw closer to the platform, the shadow takes the shape of a man. A cold shiver runs through me. There is a ghastly familiar feel to this person. My eyes drift to the arm hanging by his side. Gripped in his hard-working fingers is a black leather belt.

‘Isabel, tell me what you see.'

Isabel shudders. ‘Just a shadow, but it has a very evil feel. It's creeping me out.' Her head turns towards me. ‘Why? What do you see?'

The stairwell takes us right up to the platform where the man is standing. Softly I reply, ‘My father.'

‘Is he dead?'

‘No, he's in jail.'

‘Then he's not real.'

‘He looks real.'

‘Yeah, so did my spider. Remember?'

We get to the platform and the very real image of my father snaps the belt against a railing, jerking me backwards. Isabel cowers – and she's seeing only the essence of my father's evil, while I'm getting the whole picture!

‘Arkarian! Jimmy!' Isabel calls out, trying to pull me along the platform with her.

But my father has other ideas and grabs my other arm. ‘Now, sweetheart, is that any way to greet your old man after all these years?'

‘Don't touch me!' I scream and try to jerk my arm from his hold. But his grip only tightens.

Isabel calls Arkarian and Jimmy again and tries to pull me down the hallway behind her. ‘He isn't really here. He's still in jail. Remember he's not real!'

‘But, Isabel, his grip on my arm feels real enough.'

‘Isabel is right.'

I look up and see Arkarian, his soft violet eyes round and worried. Jimmy comes running out from behind him. ‘What's going on? What are you girls doing here? We've almost finished. Hey, where did that guy come from? I thought we cleared this floor.'

Arkarian shushes him with one look. ‘Rochelle, remember you brought him here through your thoughts. You have the power to dispel him.'

Isabel glances at the timepiece. ‘Hurry! Two minutes and this place is going to explode.'

‘What?'
Jimmy calls out.

Whack! The belt comes down over my shoulder. I scream out and crouch halfway to the ground.

‘You can stop him once and for all,' Arkarian assures me, and the meaning of his words finally sinks in. Here
is my opportunity to do what I should have done long ago, what my mother never could.

‘One minute!' Isabel hisses beside me.

The shadow of my father's arm lifts, and I watch as the belt starts its downward thrust. But this time, instead of cowering, I reach up and grab the belt, tug it towards me, then grab my father's arm and grip him tightly. He screams as my hand burns through his skin. I feel him go slack, then break up and disappear before my eyes.