As soon as Gwen and the others cleared the lower levels, they reached up and turned huge cranks; as they did, it raised a minefield of iron spikes, shooting straight up into the air, covering the lower city like a shield. As the Empire crashed through the fourth and final gate with a cheer, they raced forward through the arched gate, expecting to attack.
But there was nowhere for them to go. The lower city was protected from above by a field of iron spikes. A few soldiers could not stop in time, and they kept charging, and fell through the air, impaling themselves on the spikes, dangling in the air, their blood dripping down.
Finally, the Empire troops stopped, and stood at the very edge of the Canyon, looking down at the spikes below and realizing there was no way down to the lower city without going through them.
Gwendolyn looked up, and saw that finally, the Empire could not proceed. Finally, they were safe.
As Gwen reached the lower levels of the city, she was greeted by dozens of her generals, all anxiously awaiting her. The citizens milled about, an agitated buzz in the air.
"We are safe down here, my lady," Srog said. "There is no way for them to get through.”
"Yes but for how long?" Kendrick asked, as they all convened, surrounded by their troops.
"As long as we need to," he replied.
"As long as we don’t run out of food and supplies," Brom added ominously.
"How long can we survive done here, without provisions?" Kolk asked.
Srog shook his head.
"It has never been tested. Maybe a week. Maybe two.”
"And then what?" asked Kendrick.
Slowly, Srog shook his head.
"At least we are safe from their reach," he said.
"But we are not safe from hunger," Gwendolyn added.
Gwendolyn looked up with the others, saw the faces of the Empire soldiers, looking down, and knew that, sooner or later, they would find a way to get down here. And now, backed into a corner, they had nowhere left to run.
Eventually, they would have to face them—or die.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Thor stood on the boat with the others, the sea monster looming over them, and braced himself to die.
He closed his eyes and prayed to God with all he had.
Please God, give me the power to stop this beast.
Thor thought of Argon's words.
Do not try to overpower nature. Become one with it. Harness nature's power. After all, you, too, are a part of nature.
Thor felt a tremendous heat overwhelm his body, rise up from his feet through his legs, through his torso, through his hands, and into the palms of his hand.
He opened his eyes and raised his palms, aiming them at the beast as it descended with open jaws, about to kill them all.
To Thor’s shock, an orb of light emanated from his palms and shot up through the air, landing inside the beast’s mouth.
The beast went flying back, clear out of the water and onto the shore, a good thirty feet away. It squirmed and flapped on the soil, screaming out, its claws flailing in every direction.
After nearly a minute of thrashing, the beast lay on its side, dead.
The others all turned and looked at Thor in the silence that followed. He wished he had an answer for them; he wished he understood where his powers came from, understood how to harness them perfectly on demand. And most of all he wished he knew who he was.
But he did not.
He was different from everyone else, he knew. But how?
Would he ever know?
*
The slow-moving river tide carried them farther downriver, deeper into the heart of the underworld. They all paddled with all they had, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the monster as the sky grew increasingly dark. Thor still stood there, at the back of the boat, trying to understand what had just happened. It was like another part of himself, one he could not quite reach. It had taken him a while to come back to where he was.
"I know of you,” Indra said, looking over at him with something like fear and awe. “You are the son of the Druid. The Chosen One. I have heard tales about you. Great tales.”
Thor blinked at her, confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "You couldn't have heard anything about me. I'm from a small village inside the Ring. I am just another Legion member.”
Indra shook her head, adamantly.
"We have legends, our people. Ancient legends. They tell of the day the Chosen One will arrive to lead. They say he will carry with him balls of flame and light, a power unlike any we have seen. The son of a Druid. He will come at a time of great calamity in the world, a great battle between light and darkness. A man who stands between two worlds. Our last hope.”
Thor looked at her, not sure if she understood what she was talking about. He assumed she was confused, mistaking him with someone else.
"I believe you have me confused,” he said. “I am not one of your legends," he added, finally sitting back down and paddling with the others.
"I confuse you with no one,” she said defiantly. “I know what the legends say. And I know now who you are.”
The others stopped and turned, staring at Thor, and Thor shook his head.
"I'm just a boy," Thor insisted. "Just like everybody else.”
It was all he wanted. To be just like everybody else. Not to be looked at as different.
Indra shook her head, continuing to stare at him as if he were an alien who had jumped down from the sky. She made a strange sign with her hand over her throat and chest and head, almost as if she were praying to Thor. Or protecting herself from him.
She bowed her head, then turned back towards the water.
Thor felt a chill, and hardly knew what to make of it. It was the first time anyone had looked at him that way. As if he were a God.
The tide grew strong and the night thick, and Thor looked around at the current with a new respect for what creatures might be lurking beneath. Up ahead there came a small mountain, into which the river continued running, its tide flowing into a small, black tunnel in the stone.
"The Cave of Devils," Indra hissed, fear in her voice.
Everyone looked to her now with a new sense of respect.
"That doesn't sound very hospitable," O’Connor said.
Indra shook her head.
"It is a house of bones. Legend says it is where devils go to have their snacks.”
The boys all looked to each other, apprehension etched across their faces.
"Is there another way?" Reece asked, as the tide continued to pull them strongly.