The Legend Thief (33 page)

Sky inhaled. Dirt rushed into his mouth and lungs, and then out again through his pores. He could feel it spilling from his skin, through his clothes. A rock bashed into his forehead and bounced harmlessly into his wake.

He cranked his head around and saw the rock tumble into a small air pocket directly behind them, and then the rock was lost amidst the dirt streaming through his and Rauschtlot's bodies. He realized he still had his eyes open. He shut them, but that felt worse.

They dropped into a tunnel and sailed through the air.

He caught a brief glimpse of the other Gnomon falling to his sides, and then Rauschtlot plunged into the tunnel floor without slowing. She spun and twirled, charging through the finer sediment and punching through rock, until Sky lost' all sense of direction.

It was horrifying.

Another tunnel, another glimpse of the others, and then through again.

Earth crashed all around him and they moved fast, like an avalanche.

Time passed; how long, Sky couldn't say. Just when he felt like he couldn't stand it anymore, they popped into a tunnel and Rauschtlot came to a sudden halt. She released his hands and Sky slid off, collapsing to the ground. He coughed out dirt and rocks and bits of things he couldn't even identify.

The Gnomon carrying T-Bone, Andrew, and Hands dropped into the tunnel nearly a minute later. Sky stood and brushed himself off, emptying dirt from several unmentionable places.

"Are you guys all right?" Sky croaked.

T-Bone, Andrew, and Hands nodded, still hacking up dirt like cats with stubborn hairballs.

The tunnel sloped down, the heat growing more and more intense as they ran. A green glowing fungus illuminated the walls, and Sky heard running water ahead. After a few minutes they reached a gargantuan tunnel. In several places water fell from the ceiling hundreds of feet up. It crashed into giant pools and raced along an underground river.

Near the river Sky saw Bedlam's body, entombed in the hardened and waxy Chrysalis.

Over three dozen Gossymer riders guarded the Chrysalis, along with two people Sky recognized all too well: Ambrosia the Whisper and Gourmand the Wargarou.

"Rauschtlot, how close can you get to the Chrysalis before the Gossymers know you're there?" Sky asked. "Clossse," Rauschtlot hissed.

Sky glanced around the tunnel, thinking.

"Could you get Paragoth to come here without getting caught?" Sky asked.

Rauschtlot examined him.
"It isss unwissse."

"Probably," said Sky.

Rauschtlot hissed. Then she turned to the other Gnomon and spoke rapidly, telling them to get the Chrysalis while she found Paragoth. The Gnomon looked frightened. They grabbed T-Bone, Andrew, and Hands, and slung them onto their backs.

Rauschtlot began to grab Sky, but he stopped her.
"No, not me.
Get me on the way back.
Paragoth first.
I have a feeling we'll need the distraction."

"Sky, what are you doing?" T-Bone asked.

"Paragoth is our double bogey if things don't work out," said Sky. "She might give us a chance to escape if things go bad." "The double bogey
.. .
that's
the super-high-risk secondary plan, right?" Hands asked.

"Look, get the Chrysalis and leave. Rauschtlot will pick me up on the way out," said Sky. "If anything happens to separate us, I'll meet you up top by the Finger of Erachnus."

"Idiot," said Hands. "You're going to get yourself kill-" The Gnomon dove into the ground, and Hands’ mouth was promptly filled with dirt.

"Be sssafe, Sssky," Rauschtlot hissed. And then she too was gone, leaving Sky alone.

He took a deep breath, waited a minute for them to get into position, and stepped from cover.

"Ambrosia!
Gourmand!"
Sky yelled as he slid down the side of the tunnel and strode toward the river. "Morton didn't tell me I'd find you two down here!"

The Gossymers leaped forward, quickly surrounding him. The ground shook, and something horrible trumpeted far down the tunnel, causing Sky's bones to tremble and making him seriously reconsider the advisability of his plan.

While everyone's attention was diverted, Sky saw Bedlam's Chrysalis disappear into the ground.

Ambrosia narrowed her eyes as Sky approached.
"Sky Weathers.
Most unexpected."
Gourmand growled at him.

"It appears you've upset Gourmand," said Ambrosia. "If he loses control, it'll take me a week to coax him back into that form, so please don't do anything stupid."

Gourmand's eyes flashed red.

"No, I won't. I will only do smart things from now on," said Sky.

"Patience, Gourmand. What is it, precisely, that you want, Sky?" Ambrosia asked.

"Morton sent me down to collect Bedlam's body-I'm his apprentice now," said Sky. "Honestly, you'd think he would've mentioned that you two were in charge, but I suppose he didn't realize that we knew each other."

"I hope you didn't spend too long coming up with that
terrible
story," said Ambrosia.

"Not too long," said Sky. "Would you believe I got lost?
Because I did.
If you two could just point me in the right direction ... Oh, wait-I think I see it way over there. Well ..."Sky yawned and stretched. "I should probably be off, then."

Sky started walking away, but Gourmand was suddenly in front of him, growling,
the
Wargarou's mouth full of pointy teeth.

Sky backed away.

"Now, Sky," Ambrosia chastised, "was that a smart thing?"

The ground trembled and then split apart. The Gnomon burst out, like water from a geyser, and collapsed to the ground, bleeding and battered. Two dozen Gossymer riders poured through next, carrying Bedlam's Chrysalis, as well as T-Bone, Hands, and Andrew, whom they threw to the ground. "You didn't really think I'd be so unprepared, did you?" said Ambrosia.

The ground continued to shake.

"Not really," said Sky. He studied Ambrosia. "Why are you trying to free the Arkhon?"

"Because he's my father," Ambrosia replied tartly. "If I locked up your father unjustly, wouldn't you try to free him?" "But what if he
isn't
your father?" Sky asked.

"You mean because he's Solomon Rose?" Ambrosia retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"You know?"

Ambrosia waved her hand dismissively. "My father has been telling the hunters that lie for years, and it's finally paid off. We've finally found one stupid enough to believe him."

"Morton's not stupid," said Sky. "Solomon stole your father's body. If you open the prison, you will free the hunter who might have killed him."

Ambrosia frowned. "Nice try. But you're not going to win me over that easily."

"I don't need to win you over," said Sky. ''I've got a double bogey."

The rumbling grew louder and louder. Ambrosia glanced up the tunnel. "What have you done, Sky?"

"Something stupid, I think."

The Gnomon climbed to their feet, looking nervous.

Far down the tunnel, where it curved, the glowing fungus began to wink out, the light disappearing.

Just then Rauschtlot shot out of the ground next to the Chrysalis. Sky leaped onto her back, dodging past Gourmand. Rauschtlot snatched the Chrysalis, holding it under one arm.

The strange fungal lights went out.

The injured Gnomon grabbed T-Bone, Andrew, and Hands, and ran for the river.

There was a scream of rage, and then Gourmand shifted into a giant wolf like creature of tusks, swirling fire, and dark ness. The ground rumbled. Paragoth shrieked from somewhere up the cavernous tunnel, and the Wargarou answered with a terrible roar.

With a backward glance, Sky saw Ambrosia jump onto a Gossymer, throwing a Harrow Wight from its back.

Sky darted for the river with Rauschtlot.

Harrow Wights and Gossymers burst into flame.

Sky and Rauschtlot shoved Bedlam's Chrysalis into the river and grabbed hold. The other Gnomon dove in after them, latching on as well. The enormous tunnel curved behind them, hiding Paragoth, but Sky saw wisps of darkness and a horrifying shadow as large as the gargantuan tunnel itself, and then they turned a bend and the river whisked them away.

Gossymer riders rushed along the riverbanks with Ambrosia in the lead.

Sky heard a new type of rumbling.
"Waterfall!"
Andrew screamed.
"Dive!
Now!"
Sky yelled.

The waterfall came into view, and the Gnomon abandoned the Chrysalis and dove just before reaching it.

They found the river bottom and kept diving, burrowing into the earth. Water rushed in behind them. Down they went, and down again, ‘down, down, a hundred yards or more, all the way to the bottom, and when they reached it, they shot under the falls and back into the river.

The earth under the waterfall, weakened by burrowing, slipped away and millions of tons of rock cascaded down into the river, creating a tidal wave.

Far away, Sky heard the Wargarou roaring and the shrieks of Paragoth as they fought, but as the wave crashed
down,
he fixed his eyes on Bedlam's Chrysalis ahead and clung to Rauschtlot.

The tidal wave smashed down on him, yanking him from Rauschtlot's back. He tumbled in the surf, struggling to breathe as water leaked through his earth-breathing pores and filled his mouth.

And then he felt Rauschtlot's four-fingered hand grab his waist. They slammed into the riverbed, through it, and then popped out on the riverbank. Sky coughed and hacked up lungful’s of dirty brown water.

Rauschtlot dove back in, reappearing a moment later with Bedlam's Chrysalis.

There was no sign of T-Bone, Andrew, Hands, or any of the other Gnomon.

"W-w-where
are
they?" Sky gasped. He heard scuttling behind him. The ground trembled. He looked over, hoping to find his friends.

"We mussst go, Changeling," Rauschtlot hissed. "But...”

Without waiting, Rauschtlot grabbed him and threw him on her back. Sky heard a sucking sound as little mouths on Rauschtlot's four-toed feet glommed onto Bedlam's Chrysalis.

Then they plunged into the earth, dragging the Chrysalis behind them just as dozens of Gossymers exploded from the ground.

They rushed through the earth. Rauschtlot spun and twisted. Gossymers darted past, raking at Rauschtlot and Sky with sharp legs.

Sky sensed the waterfall nearby and they raced upward.

But the Chrysalis slowed them, and Rauschtlot only had her arms to dig with. More and more Gossymers circled.

A terrible wailing shook the earth below and Gossymers charged in, slamming down on Sky from above.

Sky caught a brief glimpse of Ambrosia smiling from the back of a Gossymer, and then Rauschtlot dropped and they were falling, falling, falling through the roof of the gigantic tunnel. Water streamed down from the ceiling around them, and into the river far, far below.

A whip of fire and darkness flashed past. Sky glanced right and his mind seized, for there was Paragoth, the earth eater, monstrous, dark, vaguely Gnomon-shaped, bits of rock crack ling from her skin, lava flowing like hair, mouths everywhere, gray skin seeping fire.

They fell past, tendrils of darkness and mouths within mouths shooting out like tongues, crashing through earth, deep, deep, leaving holes where they devoured. Tongue-mouths licking and fretting, slipping past above, below, everywhere Sky looked, just missing as they fell, writhing shapes and flaming outs shooting by.

Fiery whips from the Wargarou tangled with Paragoth's tendrils, lashing and ripping. The two fought, smashing and tearing at each other.