SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Thirty-Six
“So, the plan is to follow these guys?” Dorian, the bottom head of a three-headed totem questioned the other two heads looking down a long dark hallway.
“I wouldn’t say we are following them as much as I would say that we are headed in the same direction,” Gary responded.
“There isn’t any other way to go,” Cadence confirmed.
“We’ll continue doing what we’re doing. I’ll go first, make sure that it’s clear, and then you two will follow. Is that okay with everyone?”
“Sure,” Dorian and Cadence nodded.
Gary darted ahead into one of the alcoves containing a roll-up door, appraised the situation, and then signaled for the others to follow. This slinky-like action continued a half dozen times.
“Why are there dozens of these doors down here? Seriously, what needs to be secured behind so many doors?” Dorian questioned out loud.
“Considering all the weird stuff we’ve already seen in this place; do you really want to know?” Cadence replied.
“I remember this movie where the villain kept…”
“Dory…” Cadence glared over her shoulder.
“Okay. I’ll stop.”
“The hallway lights end here,” Gary pointed up and then forward. “It also splits up ahead.” Gary focused through the darkness at the fork. There was a faint bouncing light moving away from them down the left corridor.
“There are signs of movement to the left. I say we go left.”
“So, now we’re following them?” Dorian poked.
Gary paused for a moment.
“I think it may be time for you two to leave. I need to find Leslie. You two barely know either of us. It was one thing when I thought Dorian and I could sneak down here and somehow lead Leslie to safety. Now it looks like I may be leading you into a situation that could get you killed.”
“Why would you say that? Why would you think we might get killed?” Cadence probed.
“When I hear the word ‘ritual’ I typically don’t think fluffy pillows and puppies,” Gary replied.
“There might be pixies,” Dorian suggested.
“Pyxis!” The others countered.
“I know! I was just trying to lighten the mood!” Dorian exhaled. “Listen, Gary, I’m going with you. Don’t even try to dissuade me.”
“I’m going, too!” Cadence stiffened her posture and moved closer to Dorian. “Don’t waste any more of your precious transformation time trying to convince us otherwise! Remember, daybreak is only a few hours away. You need all the time and help you can get.”
“Alright, already, I give! I won’t push back anymore,” Gary accepted. “I appreciate this more than I can ever express.”
The corridor became less of a hallway and more of a tunnel the farther the trio traveled. The bobbing light had disappeared making it hard to navigate, even for Gary. Their eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness when an orange glow flickered against the edges of the rock formations ahead that defined the end of the passageway.
A break in the tunnel wall opened to a cavern on their right. A narrow torch-lit walkway had been carved into the ridged cave wall that alternated between long ramps and stair-like switchbacks that traversed their way down to the chamber at the bottom. The bickering book-toters were halfway through their descent.
“You would think with all the money DeLeon has dropped into this place he could have sprung for a couple of nice wall sconces. Flip a switch and, wah-lah, light. “
“And who, do you suppose, would have to change those bulbs? No thanks. I’ve got enough to take care of.”
“So, you would rather come down here and light all these friggin’ torches each time we do a ritual?”
“What are you complaining about? I’m the one that has to do the torch lighting.”
“Are you taking a shot at my height again? Are you insinuating that I’m not tall enough to light the torches?
“Fine! You light the torches next time!”
“Like I want to drag a step stool all the way down here!”
“Then shut up about the torches already!”
The pair walked in a quiet huff down the next ramp.
“I hate it when we argue.”
“Me, too.”
“Besides, how often do we do a ritual? Once, maybe twice a decade?”
“Electric lights would ruin the ambiance.”
The pair of vertically mismatched henchmen reached the final landing. The glow of the last torch illuminated them, but not much else. The short one struggled to reach it.
“Would you like me to get that for you?” Lanky offered.
“Yes, please.”
Shorty accepted the torch as graciously as he could, considering their most recent tête-à-tête. He took the lead and lit the way to a hollow podium deeper into the darkness of the cavern. The tall one un-bagged the tome and set it on top of the angled ledge of the lectern. The torch was dropped into the podium’s base and disappeared with the same sucking sound as the vacuum tube at a drive-thru banking terminal. An orange glow continued to illuminate the interior of the lectern.
At first, there was a quiet hiss. The hiss was soon followed by a crackle that accelerated and intensified into a roar that swelled under the dais holding the two henchmen.
VOOOM! Flames rippled outward from beneath the podium, crashing against the carved stones that defined the trench that surrounded the altar. Flares splashed back like a wave hitting a seawall. The fire washed across the edges of the trench as it poured into ducts that dotted its perimeter. Pylons of light emerged from the darkness as the flames filled crystalline stalagmites that populated the cavern floor.
“Ooh! I forgot just how pretty the cavern is when the crystals are ignited!”
“That’s way better than floodlights, wouldn’t you say?” the tall one agreed.
The cavern was now fully visible to the trio viewing from above. The podium at which the henchmen stood acted as a staging area from which the ritual was to be conducted. The rest of the space was occupied by an ancient Greek stone gazebo that had been pillaged from its rightful home and reassembled deep beneath the mansion. From above the gazebo mimicked a wagon wheel. Five waist-high spokes radiated from a circular hub that was about six feet in diameter. At the end of each spoke was a pillar about the size of a trash can topped by an ornate bronze stanchion that supported a gimbaled set of brass rings. The golden bands pivoted within each other as the air was warmed by the glowing crystals. The concave tops of the spoke half-walls dipped as they converged on a circular well in the center of the hub. The dome of the temple was segmented by spokes as well. Each segment supported a polished metal disc that hung vertically in the center on an axel.
“That’s one hell of a hot tub,” Dorian whispered.
Cadence nudged him and held her index finger across her lips.
Back down below Lanky checked his watch. “We’ve still got a lot to do within the next two hours. Why do these things have to happen at midnight or dawn? Why not late morning followed by a nice brunch?”
“I could go for a mimosa,” Shorty concurred.
“Absolutely! As soon as we get through with this thing it’s mimosa time! My treat.”
The short one made a grateful puppy face.
“But before ‘Mimosa Time’ it’s got to be ‘Pandora Time’.” Lanky left the dais and disappeared. A combination of dragging and rumbling noises preceded the tall one’s re-emergence into the cave.