The Legend of the Firewalker (28 page)

Nathan could hear grumbles from some of the campers. He overheard Hugo and Andy being obnoxious about having to leave early.

“Hey,” he said assertively, “you guys knock it off or you’re likely to get in trouble.”

“It hasn’t started raining yet,” protested Hugo.

Andy moaned. “Ugh, why do we have to leave early?” he asked. He started to sit back down. “What if we don’t want to leave?”

“What?” asked Nathan. “Are you guys drunk, or something?” He paused to look in LaDonda’s direction. “You keep this up and LaDonda’s going to kill you.”

Hugo flippantly waved his hand in LaDonda’s direction. “Whatever,” he said. “She isn’t the boss of me.”

“Hey, settle down!” LaDonda demanded, arms flapping in the air. “I’m not going to say it again. Now everyone get your donkeys moving, or you will be sorry!”

Andy and Hugo quickly stood up at attention.

Nathan snickered heartily. “See, I told you,” he said.

“Hey,” said Malick. “LaDonda wants us to quickly put out the fires before the storm hits.”

Nathan tried not to frown. After today, being stuck with Malick again was the last thing he wanted. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. “Try to be appreciative,” he told himself. “Even though he’s acting like Fort Knox or the CIA when it comes to certain information, I would be completely clueless if it weren’t for Malick.”

“Nathan!” called Jonas, approaching on his left. “Can we chat for a second?”

Nathan had a pretty good idea what Jonas wanted to talk about, but he really didn’t know what to tell him. Nathan wanted to keep Jonas safe at any cost, even if that meant keeping him in the dark a little while longer.

“Yeah, sure,” he responded with hesitation. “But right now really isn’t a good time.”

Jonas suddenly looked glum.

“But let’s chat later tonight,” Nathan continued. “After I get back to Lawrence Hall.”

“Come on, guys,” said Samantha. “Let’s get going so Malick and Nathan can put out these fires before they get rained on.”

Nathan smiled.

She held the end of the folded-up table. “Can anybody help a lady carry a table?”

“I’ll help you,” responded Andy quickly.

Hugo’s large forehead formed frown lines. “No, I’ll do it,” he said. “Look, I can carry it all by myself.”

“Good,” said Samantha, before Andy could get a word in. “Then Andy can carry the garbage bag, and you can carry this one” she told Jonas as she handed him the m
aroon bag.

“No problem,” responded Andy cheerfully, with saucer eyes.

She smiled. “See you at the banquet tomorrow, Nathan,” she said. “Good night, Malick.” 

Nathan smiled. “Good night, Sam.”

Malick nodded. 

“Don’t forget to pack, guys!” shouted Nathan after them. “I want to see some packing going on when I get upstairs.”

“Yeah, yeah!” yelled back Hugo.

“I’m serious, guys,” he said. “Your parents aren’t going to like it if you’re not packed tomorrow.”

“We got it!” shouted Andy, before stepping into the forest.

Malick stared at Nathan and grinned.

“What?” Nathan asked defensively.

Malick smiled. “Nothing.”

“She’s only sixteen,” protested Nathan.

Malick laughed. “Uh-huh,” he murmured playfully.

Nathan rolled his eyes. A loud crack filled the air followed by a deep, long rumble. “Whatever,” he said. “Let’s get going before we’re rained on, or worse, electrocuted.

Just a few fires remained. Nathan kneeled down and filled the bucket again. The surface of the lake was co
mpletely black now, and he could hardly see his reflection. The pit sizzled as he filled it with water.

“So, how did you and LaDonda end up with Argus?” he asked.

Malick tossed more water into the pit. “I don’t know,” he said. “They were in the lobby together after I took Drew upstairs. They were having a conversation about something, but stopped after they saw me.”

Nathan turned around. A light was on at the Hiking and Camping Center. “Has he said anything to you since
…”

“Nope, not a word.” Malick had a grin on his face. “Just our usual communication
— a bottle of lighter fluid and some matches left inside a wheelbarrow.”

Nathan looked down. His phone was vibrating in his pocket. He saw that it was Lafonda and decided to just let it
go to voicemail. “What about a pendant?” he asked abruptly. “Have you found a way to cloak my powers yet?”

Malick paused. “Not yet,” he said. “But I’m working on it. There’s a guy I heard of in London. He specializes in this sort of thing
— protective enchantments and stuff.”

“London?” Nathan asked. He had a surprised look on his face.

“Yes, London,” responded Malick. He suddenly looked serious, and there was panic in his voice. “Have you been using your powers? Did you have another dream? What about Jonas?”

“No,” responded Nathan. “I haven’t used my powers and I haven’t dream-walked either.” A raindrop landed on his neck. “And I don’t think Jonas has either,” he said. “I mean, at least I don’t think he has. He would have told me.” 

Malick had a look of relief on his face. “Thank God! You almost gave me a panic attack.” He ran his hand backwards through his hair. “I’m waiting to hear from a good friend of mine to talk to her about what has happened here at camp,” he said. “You know, about the Shadow Creatures, your friend Leah, Jonas, Grimm Cemetery, and everything else. She has a better handle on this stuff than I do. I really think there is a connection here. We just haven’t seen it yet.”

Nathan stood behind Malick as he filled his bucket with more water.

“I think there is a connection too,” Nathan said. He reached into his pocket and saw he had missed another call from Lafonda. “Maybe this would be a good time to tell you what else I saw in the dream.”

Malick quickly stood up, causing the water to swoosh around the sides of the bucket. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Were there others?” 

Nathan stood there for a moment. A cold chill went up his spine while remembering each detail that led up to Lafonda’s death. “Yes,” he stuttered, remembering the silver double-edged sword. “There definitely were others.” Nathan swallowed hard as Malick looked on intently. “There were these black-robed figures with swords — they were hooded, so I guess they were dressed in cloaks,” he continued slowly. “And then, there were their red-hooded counterparts. It looked like they were performing some kind of ritual.”

“The guys with the swords are called Shadow Guards,” Malick interrupted. Nathan noticed he had that serious look on his face again. “And the red-hooded fi
gures are called Scarlet Priests.”

Malick walked over to one of the remaining fires that now flickered in the wind.

“There also was this woman dressed in white,” said Nathan.

“A woman?”

“Yeah. And one of those red-cloaked guys — I mean, one of those Scarlet Priests — he had a medallion around his neck.”

Malick tossed the water into the pit and froze. “What kind of medallion? I mean, what did it look like?”

“It was a gold-and-silver crescent-shaped medallion.”

Malick stood still.

Nathan could have sworn for a second he saw fear in Malick’s eyes, but it faded quickly when he smiled. Nathan looked down; the phone in his pocket was vibrating again. “It’s Lafonda. It’s the third time she’s called. I probably should call her back.”

Malick blinked a few times and nodded. It was as if he was slowly coming back to life. “Yeah,” he murmured. “Go ahead and call her back.”

A gust of wind pushed through the trees, followed by a low rumble. Nathan felt a few drops of rain on his neck. “I can’t get through,” he said. “I’ve never had this problem out here before.”

“It’s probably the storm,” said Malick. He had a reassu
ring look on his face. “Go ahead and head back. And see if you can get a signal. I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure?” asked Nathan.

Malick tossed a bucket of water into the last remaining pit. “Yeah,” he said. “We’re done here. I just want to walk through and make sure all the fires are completely out. I’ll be right behind you.”

Nathan paused. A bolt of purple lightning sprawled across the sky, revealing a swirl of dark grey clouds above the lake. “Okay,” he said. “But hurry. It’s getting bad out here.”

Nathan entered the trail back to Lawrence Hall and nearly stumbled. The dark clouds circling above blocked any moonlight from entering the forest. The wind had picked up, causing the leaves and branches of the trees to sway back and forth like currents in a storm-wracked ocean. He stopped to try his cell phone again.

“Still no signal.” He squinted, trying to adjust his eyes to the dark forest. “Why didn’t I bring a flashlight?”

He continued up the path, hearing the sound of rain drops all around him. A cold trickle of water slowly made its way down his back. “Ugh,” he uttered. “I’m going to get wet.” The trail in front of him seemed to gradually get wider, so he assumed he was nearing the split in the trail that led eastward to the Cahokia Museum. “Almost halfway there. If I can just make it before the downpour.”

Just then, the sound of raindrops increased, making i
ntermittent sputtering sounds. Nathan tried to make a run for it, but soon he couldn’t see anything. His eyes blinked profusely under the pouring rain. “If I can just make it under a tree,” he mumbled. Through fluttering eyelashes, he tried to make it to a large oak tree, but slipped on a protruding tree root and went headfirst towards the ground. The rain had stopped, and he wiped the water from his eyes. Nathan sat up to inspect the damage. He had used his right hand to shield himself from the ground and it throbbed.

Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he could hear the intermittent sound again.
Great, it’s about to rain again
, he thought. He attempted to stand up, but froze instead; it looked like there was movement along the trail. The intermittent sound drew closer, and he quickly realized it wasn’t rain, but something coming towards him.

Nathan crouched down and tried to conceal himself b
ehind the large oak tree. He hoped it wasn’t those things — those Shadow Creatures. Malick had said those Necrocritters hate natural light, and there was definitely no light there.

Soon the approaching sound slowed and then stopped a
ltogether. There was the silhouette of someone standing on the trail a few feet in front of him.
Who is that? Who would be out on the trail this late at night and in a thunderstorm?

Nathan’s eyes strained as he attempted to make out the face of the dark figure. A small green light pierced the dar
kness, revealing a pair of square-rimmed glasses.  “Jonathan!” he blurted out. He didn’t know why Jonathan wasn’t at Lawrence Hall with Erin and the others.

Jonathan appeared to be distracted and didn’t hear N
athan say his name. The green glow from his cell phone continued to illuminate his face. Nathan stood up as Jonathan took the path to the Northern Cahokia Tribal Museum. “Where is he going?” he said softly.

Nathan attempted to wipe the dirt from his pants and quickly went after Jonathan. His eyes squinted as he tried to catch up to the green light. The trail seemed to get darker and darker the farther they went; he could barely make out the shape of Jonathan anymore.
I should have caught up to him by now. Is he running?

He picked up his pace, following the green light as it bounced sporadically around the trees. The light seemed to grow as Nathan got closer and then it seemed to rest in one spot.
He must have stopped.

Nathan stopped running; he could make out the shape of Jonathan again. “For a guy that spends all of his time r
esearching, he sure can run fast,” he gasped. He was out of breath. “Jonathan!”

Jonathan continued to look into his phone. It appeared that he still didn’t hear Nathan. Nathan paced forward. “Jo
nathan!” he called again, but with a labored voice.

Jonathan frantically closed his phone, almost dropping it, and the green light disappeared. Nathan could still make out his silhouette in the darkness. Jonathan appeared to look quickly around, and then a haze of blue and white lights ci
rcled him, illuminating him again. Nathan’s eyes grew wide at the display of brilliant light, but the light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and so did Jonathan. Nathan took a few steps forward, but suddenly froze. He thought his eyes must be deceiving him. He peered into the darkness, trying to make out the new shape that was forming. Where Jonathan once stood was the silhouette of a small animal.

19

SOMEONE TO COME

Nathan couldn’t believe what he had just seen. Jonathan Black had changed into what looked like a small animal right in front of him. He tried to make out the silhouette of the animal in the darkness. A bri
lliant bolt of lightning struck above, revealing in a split second the surrounding trees and the shaggy black face with piercing blue eyes staring back at him.

“The disheveled black dog,” Nathan mumbled. “The day we left for camp
— that dog in the forest — it was you?”

Nathan inched forward and a loud and long rumble of thunder filled the air. A moment later, the forest lit up again and Jonathan took off.

“Wait!” shouted Nathan, taking off after him.

His heart beat rapidly as he tried to keep up. He was breathing hard by the time he exited the trail. He looked up just in time to see Jonathan dash across the well-lit museum parking lot and into the trail leading to the top of the cliffs. 

The trees on both sides of the parking lot swayed with the wind and dark gray clouds were gathering above. Nathan paused to wipe the raindrops from his forehead and the beads of sweat from his nose, and then continued after Jonathan, wondering if he was headed to the caves.

Nathan entered the trail, and it was soon dark again. He could barely see in front of him and couldn’t tell if Jonathan was far away or near. Lightning from above lit up the forest, revealing two yellow-ribboned trees.
He has to have gone to the Cahokia Caves
.

A thick silver chain ran across the entrance to the trail and Nathan stepped over it. “So much for the Warning: Do Not Enter sign,” he murmured.

He carefully continued down the trail that led to the series of caves behind the cliffs. This trail wasn’t as well maintained as the others, and mud accumulated at the bottom of Nathan’s shoes. The path to the caves opened up to an enclosed meadow surrounded by tall trees on one side and the cliff wall on the other. The meadow stretched downward several feet before leveling out and meeting the cave wall. Nathan carefully maneuvered past squared sections of dig sites that were marked by ropes and yellow flags.

He caught a glimpse of flickering light from within one of the caves and pressed forward thinking it was probably a safe bet that Jonathan was inside that one.

Nathan stood outside of the cave. He could now see a torch attached to the right side of the cave wall. He peered inside, but suddenly flinched back at the sound of scuffling. There was a woman’s scream followed by a growl and then a low whimpering sound. “That has to be Jonathan,” Nathan said, charging in. “But who else is there?”

He ran towards the sounds echoing from within the cave. Every few feet a torch burned, illuminating the smooth, light-brown limestone walls. Every so often the torches cr
eated unusual shadows from the large stalactites that sprung out of the ceiling.

Nathan heard what sounded like huge rocks hitting the ground. A few rock pieces flew towards him, barely mis
sing his head. He dove behind two large boulders. Near the back of the cave were the black dog and a slender woman dressed in all black. Jonathan the dog growled; it looked like he was blocking her entrance into another chamber. On the ground, slumped against a pile of rubble, was an older woman with glasses.
That must be Dr. Helmsley,
thought Nathan.

The woman in black folded her arms across her chest and sneered. “You really need to move out of my way,” she said. “I know you’re just a simple Spirit Walker, but if you keep getting in my way you’ll be going back to the Spirit Realm
— permanently.” 

Jonathan growled, this time showing his sharp teeth. 

She sighed and threw several energy balls, missing Jonathan by a second because he had disappeared. Jonathan reappeared behind her and tried to bite her in the leg. Before he could sink his teeth in, she spun around and attempted to kick him in the head, but Jonathan was gone again.

Nathan’s mouth fell open. He was surprised by the speed with which Jonathan was here, but not here.
He’s moving like a Shadow Creature.

Jonathan reappeared on top of a boulder and leaped at the woman with claws and teeth aiming at her throat. She quic
kly ducked, but he was still able to rip a hole into her long, black, leather trench coat. Still bent over, she retaliated by hitting him with a blue energy ball, sending him forcibly into the air and making him crash into the cave wall.

Jonathan let out a slight whimper and tried to get to his feet. She adjusted her coat over her shoulders and walked towards him. She grinned and raised her right eyebrow co
nfidently over her silver-rimmed sunglasses. “I gave you a chance,” she said. “Now it’s time to meet your fate, like your friend over there.”

Nathan took a deep breath. His hands trembled uncontro
llably. “It’s now or never,” he whispered, before springing to his feet. 

She stretched her arm out towards Jonathan and his bright blue eyes winced under his black furry face.

“Ciao,” she said. 

“Not if I can help it,” Nathan shouted, sending a bright blue energy ball straight into her back.

The woman fell down so hard that he paused to look down at his hands. “Wow,” he said, “that’s impressive.”

“I’ll say,” she commented, while slowly getting to her feet. “Who are you? And who invited you to the party?”

Nathan frowned. “Hmm,” he said, “I would like to ask you the same questions, but something tells me you’re not in the mood to tango.”

“Nope,” she said.

But before she could move, Nathan quickly sent another energy ball at her.

Instantly, she launched herself into the air performing a forward summersault, missing the energy ball entirely, and kicking Nathan hard in the chest.

Nathan smashed violently against the ground of the other cave room. “No one told me agility was an ability of Pneuma Novo,” he groaned, while clutching his chest.

She tossed back her long blond hair and laughed. “That’s because it isn’t,” she said.

He tried to get up, but couldn’t. He stumbled backwards until finally resting against the wall of the back chamber. She slowly continued forward, one eyebrow cocked over her sunglasses, and one hand stretched out towards him. 

Nathan jumped when Jonathan materialized next to him
— now back in his human shape.

“Jonathan. Nice to see you again.”

Jonathan held his side and tried to smile. “Hello, Nathan,” he said in a whisper. “You have an impressive talent.”

Nathan glanced up at the approaching blond woman and struggled to help Jonathan to his feet.

“Sort of,” Nathan said. “But that’s a nice dog show you have there. Why don’t you perform that disappearing trick and get us out of here?”

Jonathan winced. “I would if I could,” he said. “But I don’t think my ability works that way. Besides, I’ve only been able to move between realms when I am in animal form, and currently I am all out of juice. I can’t change back.”

“Why didn’t you just leave?” asked Nathan.

Jonathan’s forehead was drenched with sweat and his glasses slid down his nose. “I wasn’t going to leave you alone to fend for yourself.”

“Okay,” snarled the woman. “I hate to break up this heart-to-heart session, but this little college town is cramping my style. And frankly, I would like to get back home in time for tea.”

Nathan attempted to balance himself while holding Jon
athan to free his hand. “Well, I’m sorry to inconvenience you,” he retorted. 

She smirked. “Ciao, boys!” She raised both hands and fired a stream of energy balls directly at them.

Nathan and Jonathan dove forward with pieces of rock falling behind them. Nathan placed his hands over his head and stayed close to the ground. After a few moments of silence, he slowly opened his eyes. The small chamber swirled in a cloud of dust and pieces of rubble lay in clumps all around him. “Jonathan!” he called out.

“I’m right here,” responded Jonathan, through coughs. 

Nathan turned around to find Jonathan slowly getting to his feet. He quickly surveyed the room, searching for their mysterious visitor, but he couldn’t see her. He then hobbled over to the chamber entrance. “I think she’s gone,” he said.

“Are you sure?” asked Jonathan, caressing his side. His face suddenly went white. “Dr. Helmsley!”

Dr. Helmsley’s body still lay slumped over outside the chamber against a pile of rubble. Jonathan kneeled down beside her and checked her pulse. He gasped. “Thank goodness!” he shouted. “She’s alive, and I think she may be all right. I think she’s just unconscious.”

Nathan stood over Jonathan as he examined Dr. Helmsley. He was looking around the cave when a shiny object caught his eye. He picked up the gold necklace he spotted and headed to the small chamber. The torch to the room was still lit so he held up the necklace. The charm a
ttached to it cast a shadow next to the symbol on the wall.

“It’s the symbol for the Firewalker,” said Jonathan, while standing beside him. “It’s the same symbol used
—”

“As the crest for the Order,” finished Nathan.

Jonathan nodded. “Yes, you are correct.” He stood closer to the wall with the symbol and inspected the damage. There was a sad look on his face as he traced his fingers across the remaining symbols. “What I don’t understand,” he said, “is why our nefarious visitor was trying to kill us.”

Nathan walked over to the wall and wiped the dust from the hieroglyphs. He then stood back. “I don’t think she was trying to kill us,” he said. “Dr. Helmsley maybe, but not us.”

Jonathan raised his eyebrows and then surveyed the rubble and damage in the room. “And how do you surmise that?” he asked.

“Because she had us,” he said. “She could have killed us if she wanted to, but she didn’t.” Nathan placed the gold necklace into his pocket. “I don’t even think she was aiming at us,” he said. “From the looks of it, I would say she was trying to destroy the wall.”

“That is quite plausible,” said Jonathan. “Tonight I received a text from Dr. Helmsley saying that she felt like someone was following her, and that’s why I came here. About a week ago, she told me that after she contacted Dr. Colvers about her discovery, she felt like someone was after her; that her life was in danger.”

“But it’s just a symbol,” said Nathan. “I mean, what could be so threatening about it that you would want to kill someone over it? What exactly did Dr. Helmsley di
scover?”

Jonathan pushed his glasses farther up on his nose and pointed to the symbols. “See, it’s not just about the one sy
mbol,” he said. “I mean, it is a very important one, but it’s what all the symbols together say about the Firewalker that makes it so special.”

Jonathan ran his index finger across the wall. “See these symbols,” he started to say, but paused as more pieces of the wall crumbled beneath his finger. “Well, what’s left of them, they tell a story, a new legend to add to Cahokia mythology. Together, these symbols tell us the Legend of the Firewal
ker.”

“All this craziness for just another story?”

“No, not just any story. This one is different; this one is prophetic in nature. It talks about someone to come.”

Nathan looked confused.

Jonathan sighed. “Look,” he pointed. “Based on what we were able to decipher, the legend says …” He paused, attempting to read the symbols and to fill in the parts that were now missing. “In the time before the last battle, he will emerge, igniting the spirit from within, bringing down the veil that separates Spirit and Earth, restoring balance back to the spirit of man. And he will wield the power of the three; Earth —”

Jonathan paused.

“What is it?” asked Nathan.

Jonathan pointed again. “That’s strange,” he said. “Dr. Helmsley didn’t record it like this in her notes, but the sy
mbols for Earth and Spirit appear on top of one another, as if it should be read as Earth and Spirit and Fire.” 

“So what does that mean?”

“I’m not sure,” Jonathan said. “Probably nothing.” He took a step back from the wall and repositioned his glasses. “There are still parts to the legend that we haven’t figured out yet, and that’s where Dr. Colvers comes in. We were hoping he could help us decipher the rest.”

“It doesn’t look like it matters now,” said Nathan, poin
ting to the damaged wall. “There are parts missing and the bottom part is completely gone.”

“That’s not entirely accurate. While I deeply regret we couldn’t preserve such a rare find, all is not lost.” Jon
athan smiled. “The first time we entered the chamber I took pictures of the entire wall with my cell phone.” 

Nathan shrugged. “Well, I still don’t understand why a person would be willing to murder someone over this,” he said. “Regardless of it being a never-heard-of Cahokia prophecy. It’s just a story
…”

“That’s exactly it, Nathan,” Jonathan said. “What if it’s not just a story?” Behind his glasses, Jonathan’s eyes were as large as saucers. “What if what Dr. Helmsley was close to discovering was something bigger, something that could pr
ofoundly affect all of us?” His voice lowered. “Someone was willing to go to great lengths to keep that something hidden. And whatever that was, was on that wall.”