Chapter 136
With the placement of each relic on its reliquary, the nature of the large chamber shifted in Connor’s new perception. Dimension, temperature, heat—everything he sensed took on a fresh aspect.
The room grew larger and deeper, the ceiling higher.
Coolness crept toward a discomforting chill, then to freezing.
Selen’s fetid reek was circulated out and replaced with a comparatively clean and welcome, sterile aroma.
Anything was better than her poisoned, corrupted stench.
What was probably the most welcome, though, was the pearlescent starshine filling the growing space. That radiance pushed away the malignant presence of the imprisoned alien.
Once the fifth object rested atop its stone dais, the rhythmic thrum of energy filled his head.
Connor glanced at the final reliquary, across the chamber. “Can you feel it, Mosiah?”
The old man clung to the last artifact. He seemed shrunken, drained, but a content smile emanated from him like gold light. “Your heartbeat, I assume?”
“What?” Connor hadn’t realized that the rhythm matched his own. “I…guess.”
“It would appear that you’ve found synchrony with this fountain of power.”
“If that’s what it takes to push this thing back into its cage, then I’m fine with it.”
Mosiah sighed. “Only the urn remains. If you could transport me?”
With the changes to the chamber had come defined steps that rose to the platform the daises were anchored to. Whether those steps were real or just another aspect of Connor’s altered perceptions, he descended those now.
He stopped when Elise stirred.
Her aura took on a brighter, cleaner tint as her head came up. “Connor?”
“Don’t push yourself too hard. We’re nearly done here.”
“What happened to your eyes?” She gasped. “My hand…”
“Selen left a final trap that you triggered when you touched those symbols.”
“But you were walking. Can you see?”
“I have awareness. Maybe that’s better for now.”
“That urn…” She took in the room, her awareness becoming his awareness somehow. Through her own diminished vision, he could see the aesthetic beauty of the alien devices. “It feels like standing next to an unshielded reactor.”
“The power? You can feel it?”
“The hair on my arms is standing.”
So it wasn’t just him. The manifestations were real, not merely a product of whatever the K’luuta technology was doing to him. “I guess that’s a relief.”
“I’m no so sure. Aren’t you concerned about exposure to whatever this is?”
Connor lifted Mosiah a little higher. “He survived decades after coming into this place when it was fully functional. We shouldn’t be much longer.”
Elise coughed—a concerned sound. “Have you seen what he looks like?”
The old man chuckled. “The rigors of exposure to Selen, I’m afraid.”
“Where is she? She didn’t try to stop you?”
Connor paused just before lifting a booted foot to move closer to the final set of steps. “She’s here, but she’s hiding just out of sight. Can you see her?”
“No.”
Through Elise’s eyes, Connor could only see the room that had been a blur when he’d entered. It wasn’t changed. There were no steps. The magnificent brilliance of the artifacts was nothing more than their gloss and sheen.
And Selen was nowhere to be seen.
Except…
He stepped closer to the final dais. “There’s a shadow. In the corner to my left. Do you see it?”
Even as he spoke, the shadow moved.
It was the sort of movement that could be a trick of the light coming from his armor, and in the perception he now relied upon for true sight, the shadow was nothing more than a sliver.
Elise shifted. “You think that’s her?”
“Is there some way for this monster to hide her like that?”
“I suppose. Like a sliver of a gateway into another dimension. You think she’s given up?”
Connor hesitated at the bottom of the steps. “Mosiah? Does this feel like it felt when you arrived?”
“Before we stole these treasures?” The old man grumbled quietly. “Gu Li was the first through the entry; I was the last. What I can tell you is that this feels about right—that sense like static electricity and raw power.”
“But you don’t know if we’re close, if this last artifact is restored, whether it will resolve the threat?”
“You sound almost reluctant.”
“I had hoped Selen would be freed.”
Mosiah laughed. “Those are the words of an idealist. No one is ever free.”
That was a bleak and cynical view, Connor knew. He also understood now what informed that viewpoint. “Your quest for wealth was out of desperation.”
“You come up with a sufficiently informed view of human nature, and there’s no other option but cynicism. What I was taught—what I experienced—was that you either had wealth and power, or you were crushed by it.”
Did the old man see the cost of what he’d acquired? Could he see how his dreams had broken not just his own body but the innocents around him?
Connor took the steps cautiously.
Something felt too easy with returning the relics. Selen should have mounted a final attack, even if she felt it was hopeless. Why allow him to have Mosiah replace the last piece that would secure her master for all eternity?
The old man stretched his arms out. “A little closer, if you would.”
A thought tickled at Connor’s mind. “Just a second.”
“We’re almost done now. Another step closer to freedom.”
“You said Gu Li came in here first?”
“Of course. He’s the one who led the way without err from the very start. He knew of the ruins and the pit. He knew about this chamber, although he did have one incident where his confidence proved unwarranted.”
“What?”
“He managed to get lost in the maze for a while, and it took us a few hours to reconnect with him. Could we please just finish this now?” The old man extended his arms even more. “The weight grows so hard to bear.”
“Why would he know his way through this place perfectly, then get lost?”
“A puzzle for another time.” Mosiah almost fell from Connor’s arms while extending even more and set the urn into place with a slight wobble. “There! Penance has been paid.”
Then the spectacular container settled into place.
And a powerful tremor shook the chamber.