Chapter 446
His answer came from Ward. “The Guardians aren’t jumping out of the portal when it opens because sometimes it’s in outer space. This one, for example, number four, translates basically the same in ancient Gaelic as it does the current language. An toabh an ear de ghiuthas roughly means the east side of Jupiter. I can’t imagine it would be the best idea to step out of a portal into space.”
Ashley was still sniffling. She rubbed a Kleenex across her nose before she asked, “How do we know it just doesn’t mean some spot in alignment with the east side of Jupiter?”
I thought back to the texts I’d gotten earlier. I could still understand the confusion, but maybe Brandon’s message could help us all understand what was going on in there. “Brandon said that Heather told him it really is outer space. The first time the portal opened while they were in there, it was under the ocean, and she refused to go. Besides, they only have a few seconds to get to wherever the opening is, and it’s usually pretty far from where they are. They are trying to figure out a pattern so they can guess which tunnel is going to open next and be there.” I hoped that explanation made sense.
“The ocean?” I could tell my clarification had Ward excited. “So that was likely the eighth place on the list or the twenty-seventh. One says trainnse de dh’uisge domhain, which I believe is Challenger Deep, or the Mariana Trench. The other says beinn fada air falbh bhon tiene. That could be just about any volcano in the ocean. I wouldn’t blame her for not wanting to attempt to swim up from the Mariana Trench or step out into a volcano.”
Cadence was tapping her nails on the table, which meant she was thinking pretty hard. “So you’re saying we need to actually establish for certain what one of these locations is and where it is on the list. If they can figure out which of the two was the first one that opened while they were in there, assuming they know where that was, maybe they can count over and find the right one?” She looked more confused when she was finished talking than when she’d started, and I was right there with her.
Ashley’s tissue was scrunched up in her hand now. She was squeezing it nervously. “Jamie said something about the tunnels shifting. How can we even know for sure if they’d be able to tell which opening is which?” Another legitimate question.
Fortunately, Ward had an answer. “The book says that the key holds the tunnels in place. If they’ve found the key, and it looks like they have, then the tunnels may shift but not dislodge themselves out of order.”
“Do you think that iron bar in the floor is the key?” I asked Cadence but would’ve taken an answer from anyone.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. That seems awfully simple, though.
“I think the key is more like a map key than an actual mechanism.” Christian’s voice grated on my every nerve, even if what he had to say may have been insightful. “If they’re standing in a hub with tunnels shooting off in all directions, and someone managed to pin it down so they don’t shift out of order, I would say the key is actually the hub itself, not the metal holding it in place.”
I wondered what difference it made. If it mattered—I didn’t see how--but there was a chance I was missing something.
Ward pointed to the book. “There is a poem here that might be of use to us, but I’m not sure what I means.” He began to read it to us in Gaelic. “Thig an t-àite is an t-àm ann an òrdugh mura h-eil thu a ’comharrachadh atharrachadh bhon taobh a-muigh.”
Hannah asked the question we were all needing answered. “How does it translate?”
Running his hand through his dark hair, Ward replied, “Essentially, it says they will continue to go in order unless there is a signal from the outside that causes them to shift out of order.”
My immediate thought was that must be how the Vampires got it to open in West Virginia, precisely when and where they wanted it to. Cadence was thinking about the future. She asked, “Does it say how we create such a signal?”
“Not exactly,” Ward replied, still scanning the book.
“With a reflective surface?” I asked.
“Possibly. That’s how one signals the opening during a blood moon.” Ward pointed to a different paragraph on the same page as the poem. So maybe they hadn’t used the poem to open the portal after all.
“The Vampires were thorough with that one,” Ashley noted, folding her arms. I agreed. Using water, a mirror, and a reflective stone guaranteed they’d get some sort of a reflection.
“All right—let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Cadence began, looking around at each of us. “We need to pick a spot from the list that we’re fairly sure we can identify. Go there and hope that that’s where the portal is set to open, considering the Vampires interfering with the blood moon didn’t shift anything out of order. Meanwhile, we need to tell the Guardians where this portal opening is in relation to one they can identify from their side so that they can be ready to get out?” It sounded like a lot. The only thing I thought might be different was the getting the tunnels out of order. I figured if that was going to happen, it had already, and it probably wouldn’t affect how they opened after the event that caused the initial shift, the Vampires summoning the Blood Moon Portal last night.
Ward mulled it over before he said, “I believe so.”
A horrible thought popped into my head. I felt compelled to mention it. “There’s just one more problem with that. In order for them to all get out, someone has to be left inside the portal. Right? Does the book say that, too, Ward? One person must stay behind?” I was still praying there was a chance Heather was wrong.
He flipped the page, running his index finger along as he scanned. My stomach dropped when he nodded. “It does. Feumaidh neach fuireach gus geàrd a chumail.”
Someone was going to have to stay in the portal—the idea made me sick to my stomach. I knew it probably wouldn’t be Brandon, but still, it would be one of our team members, and that meant disaster for the rest of us as well.
