City of Gold (28 page)

Cody crept down the long hallway and stopped at the door. It had been left slightly ajar. There was a thud as the crate was released to the ground. Cody risked peeking farther into the room that was empty except for a single, elevated bed. Hanging on the walls by hooks were various contraptions and devices. Many of them had sharp blades and needle-like ends. Cody tried not to imagine their purpose.

The four Dark-Wielders and Foz stood around the crate on the floor. One of the Wielders began muttering. As he did the crate’s lid slowly lifted into the air. With a loud clank it crashed to the ground. The other three Wielders stepped toward the crate and pushed it onto its side.

Cody covered his mouth. Out of the crate rolled a limp body. Cody recognized the distinctive, deep dimples of the young palace servant girl. Her face was pale and her body was lifeless.

They’ve been transporting people in the crates!
Cody shuddered. Foz looked down at the girl indifferently. “Let us begin.” Two of the Wielders lifted the unresponsive girl onto the bed. Foz turned and walked toward the door. Cody pulled his head from sight and looked down the corridor. He didn’t have enough time to run in either direction without being seen. He pressed his back against the wall and braced himself.

With a soft click the door was pressed closed. Cody didn’t waste any time. The next instant he dashed down the narrow corridor, finally reaching the end. The hallway opened out into a massive domed room.

Cody’s gazed over the room in disbelief.

It was horrifying.

66

A Living Sacrifice

IT WAS UTTERLY DARK. She couldn’t even see her own body through the impenetrable shroud. Tiana tried to move but her limbs were locked in place. She felt the firm squeeze of the ropes binding her arms and legs and was light-headed and dizzy. She tried to take a deep breath but couldn’t move her mouth. She tried sticking her tongue out but it pressed against a hard, smooth metal surface.
Oh, no
. She had been gagged by the golden platelet that was now fused into her face.

I’m going to suffocate!
She thrashed at her bindings enough to teeter her body over. Her face pressed against the cold ground.

Where am I?
There was something familiar about the stale air. She relaxed her muscles. Her bindings were so tight that any struggle would deplete her energy. She needed to reserve what strength she could and wait for the proper moment. She couldn’t feel her dagger against her leg, nor did she expect to. She would have to resort to the strategy she’d been using her whole life: play the weak damsel, and once the victim was lured into a false confidence—strike hard and fast. Her head continued to spin. Unless that opportunity came soon she was going to run out of air.

A noise from the dark spiked her senses. Adrenaline began pumping through her veins. Someone’s coming. She strained her ears, trying to pinpoint the direction of the sound.
It sounds like several people.
The ground rumbled against her face.
Or one very large person.

The muffled steps grew louder, the sound pin-balling around the damp room. Tiana braced herself. A strange, potent smell carried toward her. At that moment the horrifying realization hit her and her heart pounded in her chest. It wasn’t a someone approaching—it was a some
thing
. From the other side of the room two red eyes appeared.

They burned with ravenous hunger.

67

Death and Life

THE ROOM WAS AN ENORMOUS FACTORY.

Like the skyline of a haunted city, large devices jutted up toward the ceiling producing a humming noise. Weaving between the unknown structures was a matrix of conveyer belts. Soaring a hundred feet above the workshop large containers sailed along wires that stretched across the room in countless directions like an immense spider web. Bustling around the floor were scores and scores of Dark-Wielders and golden golems. The Wielders danced their arms in the air and chanted, like maestros conducting the droning machines.

Cody dashed down a long set of steep stairs and hid behind one of the conveyor belts.
What is this horrible place?
Cody began to raise his head but quickly ducked back into place as two Wielders marched past. In their hands were large, clear vials full of a dark liquid that looked like blood. Cody gagged.

The moment the Wielders were out of sight Cody crouched and dashed across the room. Despite the loud drone of the machine-like devices, every one of his footsteps seemed to erupt, broadcasting his presence. His head twisted back and forth cautiously.

Turning a corner Cody nearly crashed into the backside of two golems. Skidding to a halt, he dove to the side and rolled behind a conveyor belt. The golems turned and scanned the area before resuming their march.

Cody exhaled.
I need to get out of here
. He braced himself to make another dash. 3…2… A hand fell on his shoulder. Cody flinched, yanking on the hand to free himself. Without any resistance the hand was pulled toward him. Cody looked down to his lap—in it was a detached arm.

“Ahh!” Cody flung the arm away and shook his body in utter disgust. He pushed himself away. Moving slowly along the conveyor belt were dozens of unattached arms.
What kind of revolting place IS this?!

Cody covered his mouth and inched forward. There was something odd about the arms. They were hollow of any bone or muscle and the pale gray skin had a strange plastic-like appearance similar to that of a manikin.

Suddenly, Cody grabbed his ears as a harsh ringing sound pierced through the room. At the sound all the giant devices stopped droning and the area went silent.
That can’t be good.
Cody dropped to the floor and rolled against the conveyor belt, his face stopping directly in sight of the thrown arm. He bit his lip to keep from retching.

Peering up he watched as dozens of Wielders and golems dashed by his location heading away from him. Cody locked every muscle in his body.
They’re all leaving…why?
As the soldiers continued to stream by, none bothered to glance back and see Cody lying in open sight. All at once the parade stopped.
This is my chance!

Cody stood and ran deeper into the factory. He passed by another conveyor belt covered with legs and a barrel full of bare feet, both with the same unnatural appearance. He stopped as he arrived in the center of the plant.

Around the perimeter of the room were five gurneys. In the middle of the circle was a chair. Cody approached one of the cots but jumped back, startled. Occupying the bed was a wraithlike man. Similar beings filled each of the other beds, covered up to their necks in white sheets. Their eyes were hauntingly empty:
The Rephaim
.

Cody knew it was true. The dreaded, hollow men Tat had first discovered in the center of the enemy war camps outside Flore Gub. The demons Levenworth claimed were impervious to pain and fear.

In that moment Dace’s bewilderment aboard
The Igg
came rushing back and everything was clear: El Dorado’s suddenly innumerable fighting force made perfect sense: El Dorado was not enlisting more soldiers…it was
creating
more soldiers. Thousands of them.

There was a rumbling noise and the large devices began to click before settling back into their drone.
Uh-oh.
Then a rattling commotion sounded from behind him. Cody froze. Someone was coming. He searched around desperate for a place to hide. The approaching steps were getting louder.

Lifting the sheet from the bed, he crawled chest-down onto the cot and pulled the covers over him. The next moment two Dark-Wielders appeared in the center of the circle dragging a third man with them.

Cody looked down and his heart jumped. He was lying directly on top of the hollow man. The haunting wraith’s empty eyes gazed lifelessly at him. Cody clamped his jaw to keep from screaming.

He lifted the sheet a sliver and peered out at the scene. The Dark-Wielders pushed their hostage onto the chair in the center of the circle—it was Brodon, the merchant.

He did exist!
Cody squinted his eyes; the merchant was bruised and swollen almost beyond recognition. His mouth was quivering but produced no sound. The two Wielders continued moving around the chair busily, oblivious to the merchant’s unspoken words.

The merchant’s head tilted and rolled to the side. His eye caught Cody’s. His eyebrows lifted and he increased his quiet muttering. Cody’s sightline was broken as the Wielders stepped between them. They placed their arms on the merchant’s chest and began chanting. Their voices were low and too muffled to comprehend.

Suddenly the merchant started thrashing violently. His back arched off the chair as though a powerful electric current bolted through him. His hands reached out and pressed against the Wielders’ faces trying to shove them away, but they continued chanting indifferently. Then, just as it had started—it stopped.

The room reverted to its eerie silence. Then, with a soft wheezing sound, the merchant shriveled like paper in a fireplace. Cody retched. The innards of the depleted skeletal body had been cleanly vacuumed out. His jaw fell open and from his gaping mouth a tiny, glowing light floated out.

The glowing orb elevated toward the ceiling and stopped several feet above the dead man. With a spark there were suddenly five smaller lights in place of the one. The lights began floating across the room and headed directly toward the five beds.

Cody watched helplessly as one of the lights drifted directly toward him. He pressed his body tighter against the lifeless wraith on the bed. The light hovered over the body before dropping and disappearing into the warrior’s mouth beneath him.

There was an almost inaudible moan around the room. Cody watched as the other four beds around the room begin to stir. Then, one-by-one, the hollow warriors rose from their resting place. Cody’s skin went cold. The body beneath him began to twitch as the warrior’s two hands shot out and grabbed him around the neck. Cody squealed.

The moment he did the room was silenced and every eye was pinned directly on him.

68

One Final Task

THE DOOR CLOSED SOFTLY BEHIND HIM. Flickering light from three thousand white candles illuminated the room.

The chamber was as ornately elegant as it was neurotically neat. From the entirely straight angles of the furniture to the perfectly-positioned paintings spaced along the wall, the chamber appeared as though it had never before been tarnished by the irritating clumsiness of human life.

Indeed, he would have believed it true if not for the man standing across the room gazing out the window. The man’s hands were clasped behind his back and his snow white hair hung straight, evidently handled with as much careful precision as the room’s décor.

“You wished to see me, father?” Prince Hansi asked from the entranceway. The Golden King continued to stare intently out over the city as though it held the answer to an unsolvable mystery.

“Sit,” he commanded.

Hansi entered into the room and sat in the chamber’s only chair. “Have the…
imperfections
been removed?”

Hansi nodded. “Yes, father. I have seen to it personally.”

“And, the girl?”

Hansi’s face tightened. “I have done all you’ve asked of me.”

The King turned and glided toward the Prince.

“You have done well, son. You make your father proud,” he whispered, stroking Hansi’s hair. “I believe the time has come to…move forward.” The words slithered from the King’s mouth like a serpent.

Hansi’s back straightened. “Already? Are you sure? Perhaps if you gave me more time it would…”

The Golden King lunged forward, his face pressing close to the Prince’s. “Do you question my judgment? You don’t have
feelings
for the girl, do you? Have you lost sight of your assignment? Have you forgotten why we brought her to El Dorado in the first place?”

Hansi shook his head firmly. “Of course not, father. Your wisdom is impeccable. Your judgment is sound. Tomorrow I will speak to her and….”

“No,” the King interrupted. “Bring her to me
tonight
.”

Jade stared at the mirror suspiciously. For the first time in weeks there was a stranger staring back at her. She wiped her hand across her face, smudging her powdered cheeks.

What am I doing?

She looked ridiculous in the mirror with only one half of her face covered in the thick coating of makeup. And the realization hit her—she was caught awkwardly between an old and a new life.

Jade perked up at the sound of a tap on her door.
Who on earth could that be at this late hour? Cody?
She frantically used her fingers to comb her frizzled hair.

Giving another look in the mirror, she wiped the remaining makeup from her face. She double-checked the mirror—she looked beautiful.

She dashed to the door. Reaching it she took a deep breath to regain her composure. She opened the door. The man standing in the door was not Cody.