Authors: Sebastien Blue
#
With the rope in one hand and Natalia in the other, Catalyst stepped off the drop and swung out twice as far as he had tied off the rope dart.
“
Grab the rung and climb Natalia,” said Catalyst as he left her hanging there all by herself.
Swinging back, Catalyst landed on the ledge, grabbed the rung and pulled himself up. He started crawling back across, stopping only to untie his rope dart and take it with him.
“
It’s gone, sir. The crystal, it’s gone!” came a cry from the Hollow.
“
Climb, Natalia, climb,” yelled Catalyst, as he hurried to catch up to her.
#
Running into the room where Sirdis, Ompst and Bailey were, the guard repeated his news to Sirdis.
“
It's gone sir, the crystal – it's gone!” said the guard in great fear.
“
I'm sure it is, but so is he,” said Sirdis grinding his teeth as he pointed to the lifeless body of Bailey.
“
Let this be a lesson to you, Ompst. Don't ever fail the Clique,” continued Sirdis as he stepped out of the old Elf’s room and looked around.
“
Well they couldn't have gone far. Send out the guards and go with them, Ompst,” said Sirdis.
“
Yes, sir,” replied Ompst.
“
And bring back that crystal,” demanded Sirdis.
#
Struggling hard to cross the rungs, Natalia could hear the sound of footsteps from the other side of the bridge as the guards gathered at Ompst’s call.
“
Oh no, Catalyst! They’re coming,” said Natalia as the drop into the endless void began to spin. Seeing what Sirdis had done to the old Elf, the image of his blood running from the drill worm echoed in her mind, a thought never to be forgotten. It drowned out Catalyst’s voice.
“
We're almost there, Natalia. Just little further,” said Catalyst as he gave her a little shake to snap her out of her trance.
Thirty seconds and a lifetime later, Natalia found herself standing under the bridge on the ledge where they had crossed. Beginning to shake with fear at the sound of all the footsteps coming towards them, she turned to look at Catalyst.
“
What are you doing?” she asked, as she watched him pulling on the rope he had tied off on his way back.
“
I'm trying with no help from you to pull...down...this...bridge!” grunted Catalyst as he pulled with all his Krusnik strength.
Grabbing the rope and pulling as hard as she could, Natalia could see they were not pulling anything down. Panicking, she looked for another route of escape, and with her mind racing, she remembered that sound can be just as powerful as any hammer, if it's loud enough.
Reaching into the fitsall, Natalia grabbed the jar with the Atropos Styx and shook it as hard as she could, then taking off the lid, she pointed the screaming Death Head Moth at the rung Catalyst had been pulling on. Even though it missed by at least fifteen feet it didn’t matter. Catalyst was still pulling as hard as he could when the rung gave way, sending the dart flying straight for him. He jumped out of the way just in time because the dart slammed into the very spot where he'd been standing.
“
Shake the jar again!” yelled Catalyst.
Natalia shook the jar one more time and screaming as loud as it could, the Atropos Styx brought down a massive piece of the bridge along with the guards that had been coming after them. Ompst narrowly escaped back to the other side.
Standing beside Sirdis and enraged by their escape, Ompst picked up a large rock and threw it at Natalia and Catalyst, only to watch it fall silently into the empty darkness of the void before it even made it halfway across the divide.
“
Let's see them cross that!” said Catalyst, looking at the gap that had to be at least one hundred and fifty feet wide.
“
I'd rather not,” replied Natalia, smiling with relief.
“
Come on, we've got to get out of here,” said Catalyst pulling himself then Natalia up and over the lip of the cliff.
#
“
You idiot!” said Sirdis as he looked at Ompst with contempt for his failed attempt to hit them with the rock.
“
Go upstairs and get the dart cannons,” ordered Sirdis, pointing to the archway.
Ompst did as he was told, fuming.
#
“
How are we going to get back through the barrier, Catalyst?” asked Natalia, knowing she hadn’t seen even so much as a switch after crossing through.
“
I don't know. I've never got this far before,” replied Catalyst as they made their way towards their exit.
They reached the barrier and remembering landing on her butt, Natalia softly poked it into a wave that rippled across its face.
“
It's up, Catalyst,” said Natalia as she looked to him for direction.
Catalyst stepped back to see if he could find a power source for the barrier. He turned to Natalia and said, “Well you could help me look.”
“
Look? Look for what? All I've done is help. So far I've done almost everything!” replied Natalia jokingly, forcing Catalyst to smile.
“
A switch, a lever, a hidden panel maybe, I don't know. But I do know this – that new Elf and the trader Ompst are not going to give up. We need to get out of here,” said Catalyst.
Natalia walked up to the wall that surrounded the archway and started dragging her hand across its surface. She pushed on its face as she swept her hand from one side to the other, searching for anything that would open the barrier.
“
Well, I've found nothing,” said Natalia turning to Catalyst just as a clump of dirt landed on her shoe.
“
Oh yes you have!” said Catalyst. He smiled as he stepped in for a closer look and brushed off the remaining clumps of built-up dirt, revealing a set of push blocks with chiselled carvings.
“
What are those?” asked Natalia. She had never seen markings quite like them before.
“
They’re letters,” replied Catalyst.
“
An alphabet! Then all we have to do is figure out the code and we're through,” said Natalia smiling with relief once again.
“
Yeah, but what is it?” mumbled Catalyst as he stood looking for a clue in the face of the blocks.
“
Catalyst, wait. Don't touch anything, just give me a minute to think,” said Natalia as she stepped back to look.
“
You had better think of something quickly, Natalia – the Clique are still after us,” replied Catalyst.
#
“
Where is that lazy Basajaunak? Must I do everything myself?” grumbled Sirdis as he started up the stairs.
“
What are you doing?” asked Sirdis, finding Ompst fumbling with two dart cannons as he struggled to pick them and the rope darts up at the same time.
“
Come on, before they get away,” demanded Sirdis as he grabbed one cannon and rope dart for himself.
#
“
Okay, Catalyst, try pushing on the letters and listen for grinding – the ones that have been used the most will make a weaker sound, and those will be the blocks that will spell out the code,” said Natalia, feeling proud of herself.
“
I would never have thought of that, Natalia! You just rock,” said Catalyst, pointing to the stone blocks with a smile.
“
Oh no, not me – you. Your hearing's better. You push and listen,” said Natalia trying to ignore the compliment.
Pushing the blocks gently and listening hard for the weaker sounds of grinding, Catalyst could also hear the sounds of dart cannons being dropped and then loaded and knew they were running out of time.
“
Okay, Natalia. The softer sounds are coming from these three blocks here,” said Catalyst as he pointed them out to her.
“
Which letters are they?” asked Natalia.
“
Sorry, I forgot you don't know our letterings. This is an N and this is an 0 and this is a W,” replied Catalyst as he pushed on the blocks to spell out NOW, and then touched the barrier, sending another ripple across its face.
“
No, it’s still up,” he said, looking at Natalia with a shrug that asked,
“Now what?”
“
Stand in front of the barrier and when I tell you to, poke it for a ripple,” said Natalia, frustrated with his not thinking before acting.
“
Better hurry up, Natalia. Just a few minutes ago I heard them load two dart cannons,” said Catalyst as he strained to listen to the echoes in the Hollow.
“
N,W,O...O,W,N...hmm...ah! This is so simple! This barrier was built by the Illuminati, or with their help at the very least, so the code should be, New World Order, NWO, said Natalia as she pushed the blocks in that order.
“
Okay, Catalyst, try it now,” said Natalia hopefully.
With that, Catalyst poked straight through the barrier.
“
You did it, Natalia,” said Catalyst, smiling proudly at her.
“
Of course I did. I'm a girl. We can do anything!” said Natalia with her head held high.
Swish! rang the sound of a dart throughout the Hollow as it was shot into the air, piercing the ceiling and locking into place.
“
Well that's one dart launched,” said Catalyst, grabbing Natalia by the hand and dragging her through the barrier.
“
One?” yelled Natalia.
“
They have two,” replied Catalyst.
Swish!
“
That's the second one. Run, Natalia, run! They’re coming!” yelled Catalyst, and in the blink of an eye Natalia was five steps in front of him.
Sirdis grabbed the rope and ran, leaping off the edge of the bridge and swinging into the divide. He let go of the rope at the peak of the swing and flew through the air to land on the other half of the bridge with only an inch to spare.
Turning to see that Ompst had yet to follow, Natalia and Catalyst could hear the yell from Sirdis as it echoed throughout the Hollow.
“
Ompst, get over here now!” demanded Sirdis.
Hearing the sound of Ompst’s huge feet landing, Natalia and Catalyst hurried down the stairs and straight for the pillared landing.
“
Look, that dirty old Elf left us a path,” said Catalyst, smiling.
“
Yes he did, and he also left one for those chasing us,” replied Natalia.
“
It's always something with you, isn't it?” said Catalyst.
“
What? What do you mean always something with me? Catalyst they’re going to follow us straight across this thing!” replied Natalia.
“
No they won't. Go on – get across. I'll be right behind you,” said Catalyst as he started gathering rocks.
“
What are you going to do? Throw those at them?” asked Natalia smartly returning Catalyst’s rudeness.
“
Trust me, okay? Now go,” said Catalyst, feeling more agitated than worried.
SSSSS...
“
Do you hear that, Natalia?” asked Catalyst before she could take a step. He looked for the source of the hissing.
“
No, but I see it,” replied Natalia and she pointed to a light mist being shot out from the wall.
“
That has to be why we're fighting because right now I feel angry,” said Catalyst, covering his mouth with his sleeve.
“
Another one of their traps,” said Natalia as she quickly turned to cross the landing and get away from the mist.
#
Anastasia was fast approaching Ghost Mountain. Driven by the lingering feeling of Catalyst’s fear she would be there in just a few minutes.
#
With Natalia safely across the landing, Catalyst began making his way across. His cloak was full of the rocks he had gathered and he threw them at the floor with all his might, smashing out the cobbles and leaving only the pillars.
“
See, I told you. Trust me. Now if they want to come after us, they’re going to have to do it the hard way,” said Catalyst, smiling as he pointed to the sharp jagged tops of the pillars.
#
Sirdis and Ompst entered the code for the barrier and ran down the stairs to the landing. They stood astonished on the other side of the missing cobbled floor.
“
You think that will stop me?” yelled Sirdis as he backed up and took a running leap off the edge to land on the third pillar out.
“
I want that crystal back!” screamed Sirdis as he looked for his next step. Without another word, Sirdis jumped to the next pillar and fought for his balance.
“
Quickly, Natalia,” said Catalyst as he pulled her down the stairs with him. Not wanting to be left behind, Natalia hurried along.
They reached the handholds that were still stuck in the same position by the old Elf’s grimy fingertips. Natalia started across the walls as Catalyst followed behind her.
Standing on the other side of the handholds, Natalia looked up and watched Sirdis standing on a pillar searching for his next jump as Ompst leapt to the third pillar out.