Alliance: The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost

Author:Mark Frost [Frost, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Boys & Men, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic, General
ISBN: 9780375980022
Google: AR4UAAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2014-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

PALADINS

While Brooke and Nick saw to Elise, Ajay and Will hurried around the corner to take a look. The gigantic doors had split along that seam down the middle, and the two halves were opening outward, but ever so slowly, inch by inch, accompanied by the grind of immensely heavy gears meshing and turning.

They trained their flashlights on the gap as it widened, but the beams barely dented the deep, forbidding blackness on the other side. Air wafted toward them from within, almost a slight breeze, conveying suggestions of dampness, ruin, and ancient dirt.

“How long do you think it’s been since they last opened?” asked Ajay, blinking rapidly.

Will pointed his flashlight at the ground, where the bottom edge of both doors scraped slightly along the ground as they opened, tracing etched grooves in the dirt along their elliptical path. Will went down on one knee to examine them.

“Doesn’t look like they’ve been opened a lot,” said Will. “Over time they would’ve carved a trench in the floor.”

“Will, have a look at this,” said Ajay.

He was pointing his light at the backs of the opening doors. They were covered with heavy steel plates, at least an inch thick. Random patterns of heavy gouges crisscrossed the face of the steel on both sides.

“What do you think made these?” asked Will, moving closer to study them.

“They don’t look like the work of a tool or machine, do they?”

“No. I’d say that something … organic made these. Maybe Brooke was right.” Ajay stopped in his tracks. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but there’s something—perhaps someone—standing farther down the tunnel.”

Will whirled and joined his light with Ajay’s, but the beams faded into the gloom. “Where? I don’t see anything.”

“Well, I can see everything,” said Ajay. “Wait for your eyes to adjust.”

Will waited. By now the doors had opened enough to create a gap of nearly four feet. Slowly a shape appeared in that opening, floating out of the gloom, at an indeterminate distance from the door. Will found it almost impossible to estimate how far away it was.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s not moving,” said Ajay, still whispering. “It’s too big for a human figure, but it’s shaped like one. And it’s glowing, uniformly, with some kind of phosphorescence. Switch your light off.”

They both did, plunging them into pitch-blackness. The heavy grinding of the doors’ mechanicals continued and sounded even louder in the dark. Will still couldn’t see a thing.

“Do you see better in the dark, too?” asked Will.

“Naturally,” whispered Ajay.

“Important question,” whispered Will. “Can it see us?”

“It’s not moving or appearing to react in any way.”

Lights and voices came from around the corner behind them: Nick, Brooke, and Elise, back on her feet.

“Dudes, what’s happening?”

“Be quiet!” Ajay barked back at them in a harsh whisper. “Turn your lights off. Use one headlamp to light the way. Slowly walk up to where we are and stop.”

The others did as he instructed, joining them. Will’s hand found Elise’s and squeezed. Are you all right? he asked her silently.

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