Dagon Rising(55)
“Come on,” Ed shouted over the tumult.
Josel led them around several more twists and turns, ignoring a series of forks and branching tunnels, and sticking to the main corridor. Their descent grew steeper, and Jennifer found herself grasping the wall to keep from slipping. It occurred to her then that the wall was visible. She could see the nooks and crannies that served as hand-holds. Was it getting brighter or had her vision just adjusted to the gloom? As they hurried on, she thought it was probably the former. The subterranean maze seemed to glow with a soft, pale-green light. Jennifer glanced around for the source but couldn’t find it.
Susan stumbled behind her.
“Are you okay?” Jennifer asked.
The anthropologist nodded. “I feel like we’re running down the side of a wall.”
“Is it me,” Wade asked, “or is it getting brighter in here?”
“It’s not you,” Keoni said. “I’ve noticed it, too.”
“What is it?” Ed asked. “What’s the light source?”
Keoni shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been this far beneath the mountain. Nobody has, except Josel and a few others. It is…forbidden.”
They stumbled on, struggling to keep their balance. The sounds of pursuit did not fade. Then, without warning, the ground leveled out again and the tunnel widened.
“Ah.” Smiling, Josel stopped and spread his arms as if in welcome. “We are here.”
Jennifer gasped.
They stood in a huge, cathedral-like chamber. Cracks and fissures lined the walls, and boulders were strewn around the periphery, but the center of the cavern had been cleared of debris. Dozens of statues formed a semicircle in the middle of the room. The craftsmanship was crude, but the thing each carving depicted was even cruder—a tentacle-faced deity with the body of a man that could only be Dagon.
Each statue was approximately twelve feet high, and each had been placed facing outward, as if guarding the room.
Wade pointed. “What the fuck is that?”
Beyond the statues, in the middle of the circle, was a rectangular pool of water. It floated sideways in the air, hovering off the floor like a mirror…or a door. The surface of the water was unbroken and smooth. As Jennifer stared at it, she realized she could see beyond the liquid—or perhaps through it.
That’s an ocean, she thought. That’s an ocean floating on the other side of that thing!
“My God,” Ed muttered.
Keoni whispered something in his own language. Jennifer wondered if it was a prayer.
“What the hell is it?” Wade asked again.
Josel turned to face them. A broad smile cracked his face, revealing his teeth.
Sharks smile like that, Jennifer thought.
“This,” Josel said, gesturing to the gravity-defying pool behind him, “is the entrance to the Great Deep. It is a doorway. Great Dagon sleeps on the other side. He lies in eternal dreaming. But now the stars are right, and he will soon awake. Indeed, he already stirs from his slumber. That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange eons—”
“Never mind that,” Wade interrupted. “The Dark Ones are right behind us.”
Jennifer glanced around. “Is there another way out of here? I don’t see any other tunnels.”
“No,” Josel said, still smiling. “The only way in or out is the way we came—or through the barrier. And that is where you will go.”
“The fuck we will,” Wade said, stepping forward. “Listen, old man. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but if you think we’re going anywhere near—”
“Silence!” Josel snapped. His attention was focused on something behind them. He dropped to his knees and raised his hands high. “My masters have come.”
Slowly, Jennifer and the rest of the group turned around. The entrance to the cavern and the tunnel beyond it were filled with Dark Ones. One-by-one, the creatures filed into the chamber—lizards walking erect on two legs. As always, Jennifer was reminded of Komodo Dragons. All of the creatures carried weapons—tridents, clubs, spears, and nets woven from some sort of metallic material. She’d seen this before, but the sight still filled her with dread. Despite her terror, Jennifer was startled to see a young native boy with them. She guessed his age to be around fifteen or sixteen. He seemed unharmed and unafraid. He stood next to a Dark One. This creature was taller than the others, standing at nearly ten feet high. Its green, scale-covered body was crisscrossed with faded scars of battles fought long ago. Its yellow eyes, unblinking and filled with a malevolent intelligence, seemed somehow old. The creature tilted its large head to one side and studied them.