Shit, did those falling rocks open a new opening on the cliff face?
Maybe I should just go. Because every time I stop in front of one of these, the whole place shakes.
“We bind your power to the bones of the earth, we bind your power to the bones of the earth, we bind your power to the bones of the earth,”
If he didn’t want to commit the whole experience to memory, he’d already be racing for the opening and getting to the beach. But every fiber of his being demanded he finish what he’d started. “Under starlight blood, beneath the heart of the sun, under starlight blood, beneath the heart of the sun, under starlight blood, beneath the heart of the sun.”
He traced his fingers over the first glyph he’d seen and repeated the words he thought it meant. “Behold, son of Cumhaill, true king. Behold, son of Cumhaill, true king. Behold, son of Cumhaill, true king.”
Nobody is ever going to believe this without proof.
He carefully packed the notebook and double checked he hadn’t left the scanner behind, then zipped his Indy-pack closed and froze as a low subsonic vibration hummed through the cave.
Jesus, that feels heartbeat-deep.
The stone wall beside him shivered. Cracks whispered into existence along the ceiling. Pebbles rattled loose. A spray of dust coated his shoulders. Ward bolted for the opening. A large rumbling pulse sent him to his knees, and the temperature dropped a full ten degrees. He was almost there. With about three meters to go, the world exploded in a boom. A howling crack exploded through the tunnel like a stone being ripped open, and somewhere behind him, deep in the mountain’s throat, something collapsed. The wall beside him burst outward in a thunderous echo, spraying shards of basalt and root and dust into the tunnel like a shotgun blast. Ward threw his arms over his head, choking on ash and rock. Heat poured through the opening in front of him. A shockwave of air and heat slammed through the passage like a hurricane from hell as he scrambled to his feet, half-choked, half-staggering.
The outer tunnel had become a furnace. Red light flickered down the corridor as if the world outside had caught fire. Heat poured in, curling the air into waves.
Volcano. Oh my God, the volcano?—
There was another ear-splitting rumble outside, and he raced for the exit. He needed to make it to the ocean, and pray like hell the magma flowed down the other side of the island. He started to run, but before he made it to the opening, a dark shape filled it and slammed into him, knocking him on his ass.
“MOVE.” Ward was hauled to his feet and dragged behind the man who’d bellowed, “Deeper. We have to go deeper if we want any chance against the pyroclastic flow.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The momentthey’d hit the cave entrance, everything went to shit. The tunnel was a fucking furnace. The ground kicked up like it was trying to throw them off the island. The air was laced with volcanic ash, and this guy he’d just run into should be nowhere near a high-risk zone. Viper hadn’t even the time to process who the hell the guy was before instinct kicked in and he’d grabbed him, barked the order to run, and dragged him deeper into the mountain.
Ash and heat chased them like a living thing. Every step felt like an apocalypse was hunting them. The cave twisted, narrowed, and then opened again. He didn’t stop running. His team was behind him—he could hear their boots over the roar. “Move, move, MOVE,” he shouted again, though his voice was mostly for himself. A pyroclastic flow had a speed clocked in triple digits. No human could outrun one, and Viper knew it. But stopping meant dying, so they ran. The guy he’d grabbed wasn’t built for this. He stumbled more than once as they rounded another sharp bend in the cave. But he dragged him after him anyway; the protector in his soul would allow nothing less.
“This is new,” the guy gasped, panic rising in his voice. “This wasn’t—this was a wall before. I—I don’t recognize this passage. Something must have shifted the route?—”
Fantastic. We’re being chased by a fucking wall of fire, and now the nerd is telling me the floor plan’s changed.
Viper ignored him, shoved him ahead of him, and veered toward a narrow crevice on the right where the air was cooler, the draft stronger.
If there’s airflow, it might lead to a way out or a deeper chamber.
It might also lead to a lava tube and kill us all faster.
He ruthlessly shoved his fear aside and refused to slow down. Behind him, the roar of the mountain grew louder. It sounded like the earth was screaming. Dust rained from the ceiling. A glance over his shoulder showed him all his guys were right on his heels.
At least we’ll die together.
Viper stepped around the man he was pushing, ducked under a jut of black rock, and dragged him after him. “You got a name?”
The guy huffed, stumbled, then half-yelled over his shoulder, “Ward. Dr. Ward Sutherland.”
Figures. The type to have doctor in front of his name and still be dumb enough to get caught in a volcano cave with zero backup.
They rounded another bend, this one tighter, the walls closing in. Viper tossed a glow stick forward, the pale green light bouncing off a sheer descent. “It’s a vertical drop.”
“Looks like ten, twelve feet.” Reaper crowded up on his heels to look over his shoulder. “Could be more.”
Viper stepped forward and peered over. He spotted a steeply slanted slope. All he could do at this point was hope like hell it was by some miracle survivable. He could barely make out the glint of rocks below and a faint flicker of red through a natural chimney.
It’ll have to do.
