Page 76 of In the Dark

The nickname set her teeth on edge. “I am not your baby.”

“We’ll see.” Eerily intent on their destination, Morgan hastened his footsteps.

The four of them wound their way deeper into the cavern. The floor was limestone and sand, the ceiling craggy and uneven with stalactites and rocky protuberances piercing down toward the floor. The further they walked inside, the colder and damper the air became.

Aisanna winced, her elbow colliding with a solid stone wall. “God, I’ve forgotten how much I hate this.”

“Spelunking not your thing?” Morgan listened to the echo of his voice up ahead and knew they were close. The air became still around him.

“A touch of claustrophobia. Nothing to worry about.” They caught the harried inhale, exhale as Aisanna fought to breathe. “Not to mention the last time we were here, I broke an arm.”

Their backs bent to stoop low several times before the passageway opened up into a large cathedral-like space, with an opening at the very top which let in moonlight. Stalagmites rose in a centuries-old desire to touch the ceiling. Some of them accomplished their goal and stood in sooty white columns reflecting the light from the moon. There, in the center of it all, stood the Telos Amyet. Silvery-white light filtered down through a spherical oculus at the cavern’s apex.

“It’s breathtaking.” Morgan forgot about everything. The cold, their mission, the niggling voice at the back of his mind urging them to turn away.

Astix had frozen. “It’s still here.”

The presence of the stone charged the electromagnetic particles in the atmosphere. Morgan sucked air in through his nostrils, his lungs feeling like he’d let loose a jar of fireflies.

It dominated the area, drew every eye and demanded absolute attention. The bottom half of the structure was made of black obsidian with edges polished to a razor-sharp sheen. The obsidian rose to envelop the top portion of the stone, stopping midway. The top half projected up toward the sky in unbroken white albite crystal.

It was beautiful in its simplicity. Deadly.

Staring at it, Morgan could see why it was the stuff of legends. Why the location changed. No one should have constant access to this kind of energy. He could see how the keepers of the balance thought the stone was their solution, how they’d been drawn here with the temptation.

The stone called to him in unearthly dulcet tones. Not human or god but something more. Something outside both realms of existence. It begged him to touch, to sample the eternity it offered. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be lost. Seduced.

But realizing the temptation didn’t lessen his interest. Approaching the stone cautiously, he muttered under his breath, “This is amazing. What an absolutely perfect specimen.” His voice deepened with excitement. “I never imagined anything of this magnitude. Oh, how I wish I had my scanners, to measure the positive and negative forces generated by the stone itself. You can practically feel it.”

Holding a hand up, Morgan closed his eyes and tuned in to the world around him, his god-like senses flaring outward. Yes, there it was, the siren song in disguise. He recognized the two battling powers, both waiting to read what was in his heart. To determine which side he was worthier of representing. Its power was growing and changing with the approaching lunar eclipse.

He took a deep breath and relief flooded his system in warm, liquid waves. It was a personal dream come true. He was here. His eyes popped open and he retrieved his notebook from his jacket pocket and began a hurried sketch of the mineral.

Fascinated, he continued to mutter to himself, forgetting the others in the cavern. “A second paper, perhaps in conjunction with the tablet translation, detailing the crystalline structure of the stone itself and the ions in the air. Almost an emotion.” He scribbled as fast as his fingers allowed before a cramp took him and forced his pencil to a halt. Morgan shook out his wrist until the feeling dissipated and then continued his preliminary examination. “I can’t believe I’m here,” he murmured. “After all these years.”

A hastily cleared throat caught his attention and he dragged his gaze from the notebook. His eyes came to rest on Karsia, standing exactly where he’d left her and making no move further into the cavern.

She raised her eyebrows. “I’m glad one of us is having fun.”

“Excuse me?”

“Please, continue with your examination. All of you, go.” She motioned them forward before hiking a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m leaving.”

“Huh? What?” Morgan looked back to Karsia and blinked, forgetting for a moment exactly what they had come to accomplish. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes.” Karsia bestowed him a beatific smile. It would have stopped his heart had malice not filled her gaze. When she spoke again, the words came out of her mouth of their own malicious volition. “I’m done wasting my time. This…isn’t going to work. You’re all fools for thinking it will.”

“Are you kidding me?” Astix dropped the bag and turned on Karsia, careful to keep a large distance between herself and the stone. “You can’t walk away when we’re here to help you.”

“Oh, I absolutely can. And I will.” Karsia watched the three react to her statement and barely stifled a giggle.

It was more fun than she’d expected. She’d had them utterly fooled through the whole trip, she saw, and relished the opportunity to break a heart or two before she took off.

“I’m keeping this power whether you like it or not. Mom deserves someone to avenge her, and looking at you three, I see I’m the only one with enough balls to do it.”

Morgan’s gaze hardened. He tucked his notepad back into his pocket and straightened his shoulders. “Stop talking like that. You aren’t thinking straight.”

She clucked her tongue at him. “My mind is clear for the first time. I finally understand what it is I need to do. This darkness inside of me, it’s not a curse. It’s a blessing!” Karsia emphasized the words. “A blessing.”

---