Destined (14 page)

At least this time, she would be able to see. Taking another deep breath, she ducked beneath the wooden barrier and entered the mine.

~The Inner Path~

Inside, rocks and boulders made up the wal s and ceiling. But the wal s were spread wide from one another, and the ceiling was high up. Surprisingly, it felt more spacious to be in here than in the narrow cleft between the cliffs.

There was a single path in front of her leading deeper into the mountain. She set down the supplies she had carried beside the entrance, and started down the path. The ground, even after al these years, was fairly even, and provided surprisingly good footing. Feeling sure of herself, she picked up her pace to a light jog, then a run.

She ran, picking up speed, until she met an unexpected structural arrangement. The path she was going down forked in front of her, and split into three different tunnels. Strange. Selaine hadn’t mentioned this. Laura wondered which way she should go.

From where she stood, the inside of each path looked exactly the same. Rock wal s and a hard floor gave her little indication of where to turn first. But standing around and not moving was wasting time. Picking at random, Laura turned towards the rightmost entrance and began down its path. But not even 200 meters further along, she came across an enormous rubble of rocks that blocked the way. Laura looked up – and saw a crater in the high ceiling from where they had probably had fal en. She came up to the pile of rubble, and tried pushing against some of the rocks with her shoulder. They wouldn’t budge. She tried again, harder this time, but ended up losing her footing and slipping backwards. Her ears picked up a light grating noise, and she looked up just in time to jump out of the way of a sharp fal ing rock. Had she triggered that?

She backed away, wondering to herself how stable the mine stil was after al these years. She had seen firsthand what happens when large quantities of heavy boulders col apse on top of a vampire, and had no inclination to al ow that to happen to her.

She turned back, careful to step lightly lest she trigger another col apse. A tiny bit of frustration started to creep in for finding the way blocked, but she forced it down. If one of the paths were obstructed, wel , that meant that she stil had two more to explore. Two more in which she may be able to find the cure for Alexander’s il ness.

She emerged back at the fork, and this time took the path directly in front of her – the path leading left. This one curved deeply before straightening out again, and Laura moved quickly to make her way again, and Laura moved quickly to make her way down. So quickly, in fact, that she nearly overlooked the giant chasm in the rock directly in front of her. Recognizing the drop just in time, she skidded to a halt. If she had taken one more step… she gulped. There, right in front of her, the earth just gave away. She took one cautious step to the edge, and looked down careful y. Even with her eyesight, she couldn’t see to the bottom.

She looked across to the other side. With regret, she realized it was too far for her to jump. There was no way she could make it. There was just not enough room to run up to it, and with the way the ceiling sloped downwards, it would be impossible to get enough air to get to the other side. The feeling of frustration in the pit of her stomach intensified, and she pushed it down again.

She turned around. Two paths were blocked, with only one left. What would she do if that one was also in the same condition?
No
. She did not want to let her mind start playing those games with her, not until she had been down the final path. Been down the final path, and seen herself where it led. She prayed it would be unobstructed.

Backtracking to the fork, she started down the third, final path. She walked slowly, at first, as a feeling of dread over what she might find crept up in the back of her mind. But she passed the first hundred meters without finding anything. Then the next hundred. Then the next. The dread slowly evaporated, and she started to run. This way was not blocked! She ran faster.

Al of a sudden, an uneasy feeling washed over her. She stopped abruptly and stood completely stil , listening. She heard nothing. She began taking another step forward, but right then felt a… a type of resonance. Pushing weakly against her. Pushing her backwards. It was a strange feeling, sort of like the resistance one might feel when pushing two magnets of the same polarities together.

She took a step forward, expecting the

resonance to increase in strength, but instead, it stayed the same. She looked around careful y, wondering what might be causing it. But al she could see was the outer layer of rock. She took another step forward, and again, the resonance stayed the same.

She continued on, more cautiously this time, tuning her body to feel for any shifts in the resonance. She didn’t know what she would do if it got stronger, but she knew she at least needed to be aware of it. Thankful y – or perhaps not, she didn’t know – the resonance remained the same.

She walked straight ahead. Unlike the last path that twisted and turned, this one was cut like a straight line right into the stone. She continued on, walking line right into the stone. She continued on, walking deeper and deeper into the mines. Al of a sudden, her eyes picked up a massive shape in the distance, and she instinctively she dropped down, flat on her stomach.

She watched alertly, and waited for her eyes to adjust. The shape didn’t move. It was more of a shadow, real y, although it was real y big.
Massively
big. Big enough to take up the whole circumference of the tunnel.

She crept forward slowly… and instantly felt the fool when she realized it was just another pile of rocks. Another pile of rocks? She leapt forward, panicking. If it was another pile of rocks, it meant the way was blocked, which meant…

She ran up to them, scanning the entire pile from bottom to top – and relaxed. Luckily for her, not enough had fal en to block the path completely. There, at the very top, was a smal space. It was tight, but she thought she could push herself through. Laura scrambled up the pile of rocks. Some shifted uneasily under her weight, but she ignored that. She had eyes and mind only on one objective: getting to the other side.

She reached the top fairly quickly, pushing herself up against the rocks. And she saw her estimate had been right. The hole at the top was just big enough to make it through. Lying down on her stomach again, she squeezed into the slit between the top of the pile and the ceiling. When she came up to the other side, her jaw dropped.

~An Unexpected Finding~

Built into the far rock wal was an enormous circular stone structure. A giant doorway. It looked like one of those entrances to a bank vault, except two, maybe three times larger. It was made of smooth stone, and was decorated with thousands of intricate little carvings, like an ancient Mayan calendar. But that wasn’t what shocked her so. No; instead, it was that she recognized some of the symbols on the door.

Inscriptions ran along the outer edge, and glowed faintly in a fluorescent blue despite there not being any source of light that Laura could see. Their lettering was the same as she’d seen on that white tower with Logan – the same strange script. She wondered what it was. But more importantly, she wondered if the mines extended past this vault door far enough to reach the mushrooms she was searching for.

She walked up to it cautiously. The resonance was stil there, and while it wasn’t growing stronger, Laura felt like she could point to its source. And it was coming from the middle of the stone doorway. Or maybe from the
other side
.

Laura ran her fingers against the round stone. To her surprise, she realized that the surface was not only smooth, but it was slick, also.

She walked to the left edge of the circular door, and then to the right. On this side of the rubble,
through
the vault door was the only way to go. Either the doorway opened – or she had found another dead end.

Laura inspected the door closely. Looking at the symbols running on the outer edge, she noticed there was a slight… pattern… to their shapes. Of course, it wasn’t enough to tel her anything, without being able to read the script, but it was interesting to note. Suddenly, Laura noticed a tiny gap – the smal est of crevices – running straight down the middle of the stone. She doubted she would have ever noticed it were it not for her augmented vision. But it told her the stone was actual y two separate halves; two semicircles put together. Which meant that it could likely be opened.

But the problem was, she had no idea how. She doubted it would be as easy as pushing the right way against a protruding rock, as she’d so often seen in movies. No mechanism behind the great stone could have lasted this long to make it so easy.

The backed away, taking the whole thing in again. The vault just stood there, chal enging her to go through. Except that she did not know how. On a whim, she came up to it and jammed her fingers in the middle crack, trying to pul it apart. It wouldn’t budge. Taking a steadying breath, she tried again, grunting with effort. Again, the thing wouldn’t move.

There had to be some way to get past it; Laura just
knew
it. But how? The question clawed at her mind, and she could see no solution.

In a last ditch effort, she moved from one side of the wal to the other, quickly pressing against every rock that jutted out. Every rock that she could discern. Nothing happened.

She came to the middle, and put her hands against the smooth, slippery stone. She pushed against it, wil ing it to open. It didn’t budge. Determinedly, she turned around, putting her back into it and squatting down to gain more leverage. But try as she could, even with her newfound strength, even with the blood of another vampire running through her veins, there was nothing she could do to move the structure.

No!
Desperation crashed through her mind.
I
have failed him
. There was nowhere else to go, and if she couldn’t get through, there was no way to find the fungus that would heal Alexander. She pushed herself up, stepped back, and slammed her shoulder against the stone. Nothing happened. She did it again, and again, and again, each time increasing the distance she took to run up to it, increasing the strength with which she slammed her body against it. Nothing happened. Angrily, she hit it once with her fist, with as much force as she could muster.
Open,
damn you!
Nothing happened.

Laura fel back down, feely uneasily defeated. She could not get through. And Alexander’s life
depended
on her getting through. She felt tears start to swel up in her eyes. He had
depended
on her, and she had failed him. She felt hopeless, and pathetic. It was one easy task – retrieve a simple mushroom –

that could save his life, and she could not do it. Despite having al the new powers endowed upon her, despite having superhuman speed and extraordinary strength, despite being able to see in the dark, she could not do the task that was assigned to an ordinary girl.

She had so much hope, so much desire to see it al work out, and now it al amounted to… nothing. One way was blocked with fal en rock, the other had a gap she could not jump, and this… this had the great stone entrance. An entrance that, if she knew how, she could be able to open. But she did not, and so she slumped against it, feeling only shame and defeat.

If this is what it had al come down to, her inability to go deep enough in the mines to find the vital ingredient… wel , she may as wel stay down here. She felt completely despondent and total y lost. She couldn’t get through, and Alexander would die because of it.

Suddenly she realized something. Selaine had sent her here – surely that meant she might know about the structure. Maybe she didn’t expect for Laura to find it, or didn’t think it would be the only way of going deeper with the other paths blocked off. But if anybody knew about it, it would be the old woman. It was a smal sliver of hope in an uncertain time. Laura wiped her face angrily, feeling a new resolve. She shouldn’t let her emotions overcome her like that. Pushing herself up, she started to run. She scaled over the pile of rocks, pushed herself through the opening at the top roughly, and slid down the other side. She ran at breakneck speed back up the tunnel, bursting through the rotting planks covering the entrance. She blazed by the belongings she’d brought with her – they didn’t matter. Al that mattered was getting back as quickly as she could. She ran for al she was worth. Back to the vil age, back to Selaine, back to Alexander. Where – if she ran hard enough – she may yet have enough time.

She ran al the way to Nakusp. While she ran, her mind worked. Where would Selaine be? Could she have already tended to Alexander? Perhaps. she have already tended to Alexander? Perhaps. But the first place to check, no matter what, would be her shop.

Laura raced down the now-empty streets through the darkness. Lights lit up a few windows, but most of the homes around her stood empty. Turning a familiar corner, she found herself staring right at Selaine’s shop. And a light, however pale, appeared from the upper window.

Laura burst through the side door, running right into the shop. She consciously slowed her movement, but stil took the stairs three at a time, and ran into the upper room, swinging the door open violently. There, she found Selaine sitting behind her desk, eyeing Laura calmly.

“You came back fast, girl.”

“I hitched a ride,” Laura lied.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“No,” Laura said. “But I found something else. Something you did not tel me of.”

“Everybody finds what they need underground,”

Selaine answered cryptical y.

“What does that mean?” Laura demanded.

Then, realizing the most obvious question, added,

“Have you seen to Alexander yet?”

“In such a wild rush,” Selaine said smoothly.

“Strange, for a girl to be so out of breath if she
hitched a ride
to town.”

Laura didn’t have time for the riddles. Why couldn’t Selaine just give a straight answer? “I want to know about Alexander. Have you tended to him?”

Selaine smiled. “Always so independent, as wel . No regard for her elders. Not even a simple

‘hel o’, or ‘how are you.’”

Laura walked up to the desk. “Look,” she said heatedly, “you promised you would take care of him while I was away. Have you had time to prepare the herbs, or not?”

Selaine reached under her desk, and pul ed out a smal glass flask. Inside was a smal amount of a thick dark brown liquid. The flask was held closed by a cork stopper. “I have what you need, Laura,”

Selaine said. “The question is, do
you
?”

Laura sighed with relief. At least the herbs had been prepared. She ignored Selaine’s question.

“Have you given it to him?”

Selaine smiled again, and waved the flask in front of Laura’s face. “This is what I have, girl. It is up to you to administer it to your friend. He is in luck, it seems. It was getting late, and I had thought to wait until morning, but with you here, you can give it to him tonight.”

“You thought to
wait
?” Laura asked incredulously.

“You said he was dying! You said without it he
would
die!”

“I said that, yes,” Selaine mused. “But while you were gone, I also took the liberty of visiting your friend once. He is strong, like I said, and has been fighting the poison with al he’s worth. So wel , in fact, that I think he may have gained a slight edge. I do not know what did it, but I know that while he was in grave condition before, he is more stable now.”

“Oh.” Laura relaxed. A bit. “That’s… good.”

She reached out to take the flask from Selaine’s hands, but Selaine pul ed back.

“Nuh-uh,” she said provocatively. “I won’t give this to you until you give me what you went to search for. The mushrooms?”

“Oh. No, I…” she cleared her throat, and continued with a stronger resolve. “I did not find them. But like I said, I found something else. A doorway. Or… something. It was carved with various designs and strange letterings. I tried getting past it, open it, but I couldn’t. I was hoping you might know of it.”

“A doorway?” Selaine asked, raising and

eyebrow. Although she did not sound surprised. “Tel me, was it made of grey stone? Did the surface feel like lacquered tile?”

“Yes,” Laura nodded. “You
do
know of it!”

“It is written in the histories of our tribe that such a place exists. Although… I was not aware it had been discovered in the mines. Foreigners, those who know nothing of the history of the native peoples, were the workers there. They would not have recognized it for what it is.”

“And what is that?” Laura asked.

“An ancient archive,” Selaine replied smoothly.

“Protected by the spirits of earth and fire. It was put in the care of our ancestors long ago. It is said, in the legends, that powerful beings entrusted the people of this region with the safeguarding of the archive. Entrusted it to the native tribes that cal ed this place home, before the westerners came. But knowledge of it has faded as generations passed. Save for the circle of chiefs of the Inuksuk people, I believe I am the only who would recognize it today. But tel me, child, how did you come across it?”

“The pathway split,” Laura explained. “There were three tunnels. Down two of them, the way was blocked. I could not get past. It was only once I went down the third, in search of the mushrooms, did I come across it.”

“The paths were blocked?” Selaine replied, the corners of her eyes tightening.

“Yes,” Laura said. “The roof had col apsed, in one. And a… a wide fissure developed, in the other. There was no way through.”

“And the third way… it led to the doorway?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Selaine leaned back and exhaled deeply. “An unfortunate finding. Without the mushrooms, your friend… he wil not survive the week.”