Stone turned to Alex and Moses. “Wait here. I’ll get Trinity, and then I’ll come back for you and we’ll find the way out together.”
“We’re going with you,” Moses said.
Alex nodded in agreement. “Whether we go with you now or after you find Trinity, we’re going to have to pass through the arena in order to find the beach Akente described. We might as well go along now and try to be of some help. After all, we are in this together.”
Stone didn’t like it, but it made sense. He turned and peered over the edge of the waterfall down into the mist. “How do we get down there?”
“You stand in the water at the edge of the cliff,” Akente said. “And you jump.”
Stone nodded. “I probably won’t see you again,” he said to Akente. “Thank you for your help, Uncle.”
“I wish you well, Nephew.” Without further word, Akente turned and walked away.
“No time like the present. Let’s get on with it.” Stone turned and leapt out over the edge.
He did not experience the familiar, tingling sensation associated with falling. Instead, the mist that shrouded the arena seemed to bear him gently down until he hit the water.
He scarcely felt the impact, and his body made no splash, as far as he could tell, and the water felt strangely warm. He slid beneath the surface and immediately began swimming as fast as he could. He expected Alex and Moses to follow any second, and he didn’t want to be underneath one or both of them when they hit the water.
Surfacing, he found himself in a large pond, or tiny lake, depending on one’s perspective. The mist hung like a thick blanket about fifteen feet overhead. Here and there, pillars of mist whirled like tiny tornadoes, putting him to mind of marble columns supporting a low roof. Rocky paths wound through the sparse trees and tropical foliage, but despite the terrain, the place felt artificial, like an odd sort of temple. The shore, a rocky, gray ledge, lay about thirty feet away, and he struck out for it, ignoring the uneasy feeling with which this place filled him.
On the shore, he scanned the ground and quickly found scuff marks that he took to be tracks left by Trinity. He had no doubt Samman could have moved through this landscape without leaving a sign, but Trinity was a city girl and was probably fighting her captor all the way. Now that he had a trail, he waited with rising impatience until he saw his friends plunge into the water. He quietly called out to them and they swam over. After hauling them out of the water with ease, he led them into the arena.
He ran as fast as he could while still watching for signs. Trinity had left regular scuff marks along the way, and in a few spots it was obvious she had dug in her heels and forced Samman to drag her. He smiled at the thought, and then wondered why Samman had not merely thrown her over his shoulder and carried her. Perhaps he wanted to leave a trail? Of course he did. The arena was his home field, as the ballplayers might say, and Stone was a rookie. Here, Samman had all the advantages. Or so he believed, which could work to Stone’s advantage.
Off to their left, one of the columns of mist began to whirl faster, then broke off and spun toward them. Having already plunged through the thick mist during his descent, Stone doubted it would do them any harm, but he saw no reason to take a chance.
“Look out on the left,” he called back to his friends and quickened his pace. He heard the sound of rapid footfalls behind him, and then Alex cried out in alarm.
Stone looked back to see his friend sprawled face-down. A rope of mist wrapped around Alex’s ankle like a snare, and tendrils of mist sprang forth and began creeping up his leg.
Moses drew his machete and slashed at the mist, but it re-formed as soon as it parted.
Not knowing what else to do, Stone grabbed Alex by the wrists and pulled. The mist held on, stretching like rubber as Stone hauled Alex farther away. The mist now reached halfway up Alex’s body and his eyes suddenly went wide. He opened his mouth as if to scream, but made no sound.
Desperate, Stone lifted his friend bodily off the ground, and the mist released him.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said to Moses. “I’ll carry Alex until he can run again.”
“I…can…manage…” Alex shuddered with each syllable, like a man coming in from the cold.
“Are you injured?”
“No.” Alex would say no more.
Stone put him down and eyed him doubtfully, but Alex immediately set off at a slow jog. Stone again moved to the fore and was relieved to find they had not lost the trail.
As they ran, they narrowly avoided several more attacks from the columns of mist. Soon, Stone realized that the path they followed gradually spiraled inward.
“I think this path will lead us to the center of the arena,” he said.
“How…can you be…sure?” Moses panted. Though Moses was in good physical condition, the exertion was taking its toll on him.
“I’m not completely certain, but we’ve already circled the arena once. It appears to be taking us ever closer to the center as we go. We might be better off…”
He didn’t see the coil of mist that whipped out across the path like a tripwire, snaring him and Moses, and sending him plunging to the ground.
28- The Mist
A bitter cold enveloped him like had plunged into a frozen lake. This was nothing like the warmth he’d felt when he descended through the mist. It had been an illusion — a trap baited by an otherworldly predator. He struggled to regain his feet, but his limbs were numb. And he was drifting…
A ghostly figure approached. Unable to move, Stone watched as it broke through a column of mist, and gained form. It was his grandfather!
Despite his years, Samuel Stone stood tall, his posture rigid, his eyes brimming with vitality, and his face twisted in a disapproving frown.
“I needed you and you weren’t there.”
“What?” Stone battled the confused thoughts that whirled in his mind. He had to get back to his feet and find Trinity. She was somewhere in the…
Where was she? At the newspaper, he supposed, working on another story. He’d see her earlier this evening. His grandfather paced back and forth across his study, while Stone sat rigidly upright in an uncomfortable chair.
“I thought you were the one person I could count on,” Samuel continued, “but you left, and you didn’t come back.”
“I’m sorry, Grandfather. I had things to do.” But what were those things, exactly? Stone found he couldn’t recall exactly where he’d gone and what he’d done since leaving the army. Why hadn’t he come home sooner? He’d had a reason, of that he was certain, but what was that reason?
“I hope they were important things.” Samuel shook his fist in Stone’s face. “Because now I’m dead!”
“What are you talking about?” Stone asked. But, as he spoke, his grandfather fell to the floor. “Grandfather!” Stone shouted. He dropped to the floor at Samuel’s side and felt for a pulse, but if it was there, it was too faint to detect. “I’ll get you to a hospital.” He doubted his grandfather could hear him, or that he was even alive, but he swept the surprisingly light old man up in his arms and sprinted to the front door.
As he stepped out into the damp, cool air, he felt his burden suddenly grown lighter. He looked down and gasped. Samuel’s body withered before his eyes, and then crumbled to dust. Before Stone could comprehend what had happened, a loud shriek of tires split the air, followed by a resounding crash.