Venom and Song (44 page)

The others peeked out from under their hands and gazed up. Above them was open space, filled with a soft glow from something in the distance.

Autumn gave Jett a hug. “You did it, Jett. Thank you.” The others gathered around to thank him, too.

“Now let's get out of here,” Tommy said, looking up. “Kiri Lee, care to take a look around?”

“Gladly,” she smiled and took to the air. Four steps later and she was out of the hole, standing on the upper edge of the room.

“What do you see?” asked Tommy.

“Better see for yourself.” She disappeared, and a moment later a thin rope dropped onto the floor in a coil. “Tommy, do your thing.”

“Seems like someone knew we'd be coming,” replied Tommy. He removed his bow, tied one end of the rope around the shaft, and triple looped it creating a cinching hitch—a trick he'd learned from Grimwarden. Then he nocked the arrow and let it fly, driving it deep into the rock ceiling somewhere above. With a few strong tugs to make sure it would hold his weight, he looked to Kat. “After you.”

The remaining lords followed until they were all standing above the circular room. One by one they turned to see what Kiri Lee had found: a luminous shaft of silvery light at the far end of a wide chamber. It was moonlight, pouring down from an unseen opening far above and illuminating an ornate, stone well that stood about waist high. The Seven walked through the mechanical ruins of the now-destroyed ceiling trap and neared the shimmering pool of water.

“What is it?” Johnny asked.

“The cistern Migmar was talkin' about,” Jimmy replied.

“I don't even know what a cistern is,” added Tommy.

“It's an old word for a water hold, or a well of sorts,” explained Jimmy.

Kat held up her hand. “Wait. The Keeper of the Cistern.” She thumbed behind them. “Migmar warned us of the Keeper of the Cistern.”

“Right,” said Jimmy. “That's why I said
the
cistern. Bad news.”

“And the Keystone?” added Kiri Lee. “How will we know it?”

“When we see it,” said Tommy. “If the cistern is worth guarding, perhaps it's in there.”

“Well, only one way to find out.” Jimmy walked forward, taking the lead once again.

“Careful, Jimmy,” called Kat. The words had no sooner left her mouth than Jimmy stopped and jumped back.

Everyone froze. “What is it?”

“Listen,” Jimmy said, trembling ever so slightly. As if on command, the sound he'd heard a moment before in his mind's eye now blared out at them. A blood-curdling howl pealed through the air, making the hair on the backs of their necks stand up.

When at last the haunting wail subsided, the Seven stood deathly still. “Not cool,” was all Jett could think to say.

“Hold yur ground,” Jimmy warned, his powers returning. “There be a great beast comin'.”

Wandering into the moonlight, a massive wolfish hound appeared between the Seven and the cistern beyond. Standing nearly ten feet tall at its shoulders, the creature arched its back and blocked most of the moonlight from view. Johnny responded by lighting up the room with a fireball to the ceiling.

Saliva dripped from its jaws, and the thing's breaths were so deep and heavy, the Seven could feel them across the room. Pale eyes glistening with mucus, the creature looked upward and winced at the bright light. True in form to a wolf—only enormous—the beast was mangy with thick hackles of black and gray hair standing on its back. It growled at the flames now licking the rock over its head, and then leveled its yellowish gaze on the Seven.

“It's got fur,” Johnny whispered. “That means it'll burn.”

“Not yet,” said Tommy.

“Maybe it just wants to make sure we are of noble blood,” Kat said, remembering the scarlet raptor. “You know, to trust us with its secret.”

“But how's it going to test our blood?” asked Jett. “By eating us?”

It was then Jimmy dove at all of them, shoving them to the side. “
Get down!”
They all tumbled into a heap on the ground to the right just as the wolfhound snapped its fangs in the air where the bulk of them had stood.

“Move! Move! Move!” Tommy ordered. The beast turned its head to find the lords struggling to their feet. It snarled and lunged again. But this time Johnny blasted it in the snout with a shot from his hands. Stunned, the beast shut its mouth and flinched, jumping back. It shook its head frantically, pawing at its face. By the time the flames were extinguished and it could see again, the Seven had scattered.

Tommy started giving orders. “Kat, you get to the cistern and see if you can pick up anything from those rocks. Johnny, that overgrown dog gets near anyone and you blast him good, but don't kill it just yet; not sure if it's friend or foe. Jimmy, give him a heads-up. Autumn and Kiri Lee, use your speed, use the air, keep it distracted. Jett, come with me.”

The Seven split up just as Tommy had ordered. Autumn began giving the wolf the worst run-around it had ever experienced, and Kiri Lee simply leaped up over its snout, walked right over its back, and down the other side. Jimmy gave instructions moments before the beast made a move, and Johnny kept it from seeing the other three lords making for the cistern, firing fire blasts in front of its head.

Tommy and Jett caught up with Kat, who now stared into the pool of water. Even with all the commotion, the water looked as smooth as glass. The moonlight streaming down from above cast a dazzling light on Kat's face as she examined the pool. Her bluish skin glistened like a map of stars. Tommy was awestruck.
She is absolutely beautiful,
he thought.

At that moment, Kiri Lee yelled, “Here, boy, catch me if you can!”

Kat had been trying hard to pick up something from the cistern, but she'd heard the ending of Tommy's thoughts instead. Only when Kat looked at Tommy, he was looking at Kiri Lee.
I should have known,
Kat thought.
Everyone always goes for the pretty girl
.

“Kat? Anything?” Tommy asked.

She shook her head. “No. Nothing helpful anyway.”

Tommy and Jett looked at each other, then back to the commotion around the wolf; so far, the others were keeping the beastie quite entertained.

“I'm going to try something,” she said. “Here goes nothing.” Then she slowly submerged her hand into the pool. The water was extremely cold, tingles shooting up the nerves in the bottom of her wrist. Her fingers grew numb within seconds. She closed her eyes, lowering her head. And then it came.

Sing me your song
.

Kat's eyes shot open, and she went to pull her hand from the water. But it wouldn't budge.

“Kat?” asked Tommy. “What is it?” Jett also eyed her, worried.

“It's stuck,” she yelled, trying to pull her hand free. But it remained submerged, as if the water in the cistern had frozen solid around her wrist. The cold was creeping up her forearm now, her hand devoid of feeling.

“Here, let me help,” said Jett, tugging on her forearm. But to his amazement her hand wouldn't budge. Not an inch.

“We will get you out of this, Kat,” said Tommy. He placed his arm around her shoulder. “You heard something, didn't you?” Kat glanced at him. “What did you hear?”

For a split second, Kat forgot all her problems. “I—uh—” She was shivering.

“What was it, Kat?” asked Jett.

She looked to him. “I'm not sure. It was absurd. Probably just—”

“Kat!” prodded Tommy.

“‘
Sing me your song
.' ”

“Uh,” Jett stuttered. “My song?”

“No, the pool. It said,
‘Sing me your song
'.”

“Oh.” Jett looked at Tommy.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. “Beats me.”

Tommy suddenly noticed Kat's lips turning purple. “We've got to figure this one out fast, Jett.”

“Yeah.” Jett turned around and looked at the others. The wolf seemed to be tiring of the circus, and then caught sight of the three Elves standing by the cistern.

“He's going for the well!” Jimmy yelled.

Johnny looked to Tommy, Kat, and Jett and saw the threat. He clapped his hands and arms together and began releasing fire. Then he opened his arms like the jaws of a gator spreading a wall of fire on the ground between the wolf and the cistern. The beast yelped and jumped back. Kiri Lee ran through the air just above its head to distract it.

Tommy watched as Kiri Lee walked through the air. “That's it!”

“What?” said Kat, her teeth now chattering.

“Kiri Lee! Her music!”

“Of course,” said Jett.

“Kiri Lee!” cried Tommy. “Come quick!”

She turned in midair to look at them, took a few steps over the wall of fire, and descended to the cistern. “What is it?”

Kat looked up, her body was shaking. “S-s-sing your s-s-s-song.”

“My song?”

“You must have a song in you,” said Jett. “You're the musical one. Isn't there something in that pretty head of yours?”

“Well, yes, but—”
He thinks I'm pretty?

“
NOW!
Kiri Lee,” urged Tommy.

“All right!” Kiri Lee stood next to Kat and shut her eyes, searching the recesses of her mind. She began journeying to the hidden places of her heart where she knew the songs dwelled. And not just any song . . .
the
song. The one she had first heard at the Medici Fountain in Paris, and then so many times after. The song taught to her by the Great Composer.

Kiri Lee relaxed her mind and slowly shut out all the other noises around her. The howling of the wolf . . . the
whoosh
of fire . . . the machine gun of Autumn's feet on the stone floor—it all faded. And soon Kiri Lee was left alone, floating through the inner world of her heart. Traveling. Looking. Dark, ominous clouds rolled in over her, glowing occasionally from sudden flashes of lightning within. This was it. The song had arrived.

Kiri Lee opened her mouth. At first, silence. But then, a sound. Faint. But rising like a clarion call, the whisper became a note and the note became a sword, driving deep into the subconscious, dividing—

“N-n-n-not to me!”

Kiri Lee snapped out of her trancelike state. “What?”

“Don't s-s-s-sing it to m-m-me,” Kat shook her head, her face nearly purple. “S-s-s-sing it to
it
.”

“It?”

“It?” asked Tommy and Jett, as perplexed as Kiri Lee was.

“S-sing to the wolf!” said Kat, as all at once her knees gave way to the extreme cold. Jett was behind her in an instant, hands under her shoulders.

Kiri Lee looked back at the wolf, now running in circles and growing more aggressive in its attacks. “Here goes nothing.” She closed her eyes again, the song ready and waiting. She took a deep breath and out came the song, only this time more confident . . . more meaningful. There were no words exactly, more tones strung out by vowels and consonants . . . but a song nonetheless. And it was both beautiful and haunting. Dark, and yet somehow sweet and lofty.

And it was then that Jimmy first noticed a shift in the wolf's stance. “Guys, look!” Everyone turned and eyed the massive animal as its ears perked up and its attention turned toward Kiri Lee.

“Johnny!” said Tommy.

“I'm ready!” he replied. “Just give the word, Jimmy!”

But Jimmy shook his head. “Nope. He's just going to walk toward her. Curious, I think.” Johnny put flames in his own hands nevertheless, ready should things go wrong.

Kiri Lee continued to sing, the melody working its wonders, mesmerizing even the lords with its beauty. Astonishingly, the wolfhound approached the diminishing wall of fire and stepped over it, moving slowly toward the cistern and the lords gathered near.

“I don't like this,” said Jett. “Johnny!”

“No, wait!” demanded Kat. “Look!” The others gazed up at the wolf as it approached, its head lowered, its hackles flattened down. No, it was moving toward the song. Listening. It tilted its head.

“Whatever you do”—Tommy whispered to Kiri Lee—“don't stop.” She nodded slowly and kept up the momentum of the melody. The rest of the lords followed after the wolf and watched, hoping for the best. Tommy and Kiri Lee both stepped aside as the large animal drew close and placed its head directly over the cistern. Jett tensed, but Kat held up her free hand, warding off his concern. As if completely disengaged from anything else that was going on around it, the wolf placed the tip of its snout in the pool and began to drink. Jett, Tommy, and the others who neared peered into the pool as the water receded. It slipped past Kat's hand until she was free, at which point Jett pulled her away. But she refused and struggled out of his grip, pressing back toward the cistern. All Seven now stood around the well, watching the wolf drink its fill. And then the unimaginable happened.

There, seated on a stone pillar in the middle of the cistern two feet down, was an unusual geometric object about the size of a basketball. Hewn from what looked to be a single piece of quartz, the pale white sculpture shimmered in the moonlight as the wolf pulled its head away and then looked down at the Seven.

“I could be wrong,” said Tommy. “But I think our friend here just handed us the Keystone.”

To which Johnny looked up at the beast and said, “Sorry about the whole fire thing.”

29
Lyrics of Light

UNSURE IF the absence of her song would cause the giant wolf to return to its mad ravings, Tommy motioned for Kiri Lee to keep singing as he leaned into the cistern and grabbed the Keystone. He kept one eye on the wolf's snout as he wrapped his arms around the sculpture. But the mass turned out to be far heavier than he had first believed. That or it was attached to the pillar somehow.

“No way,” Tommy shook his head. “Give it a shot, Jett.”

Jett passed Kat—who felt all the better for Jett's healing touch— off to Jimmy, and then moved in to the cistern. He, too, cast the wolf a passing glance and then tried the object. But it wouldn't budge.