Chasm of Fire by Michael Wallace

Author:Michael Wallace [Wallace, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Balsalom Publishing
Published: 2019-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Two decades had passed since Carbón had come down here with his adopted father, but the metal walkway descending into the Rift in a series of switchbacks ended in the same place—or appeared to, that was—and he eyed Kessie, curious to see how she would get past the obstacle.

“Someone destroyed it,” Iliana said. “Who would do that?”

“It’s not destroyed, it’s invisible,” Carbón said. The others eyed him. “It’s trying to protect the Rift with illusions.”

Kessie groped her hand along in the air and winced. “Today it’s hot. That one’s the hardest—you gotta let your hands burn all the way down. Try to think about cold water and it helps. Then you’re just fine when you reach the bottom.”

“You’ve only come down alone, haven’t you?” Carbón asked.

The girl looked back at him. “Yes, why?”

“Because the illusions will be different for each one of us. You might fall, you might be attacked by bats. There are spiders sometimes, and a slimy substance that feels like acid. You’ll be compelled to touch your eyes, and when you do, it will feel like they’re melting out of your skull.”

Grosst let out a grunt. “Wonderful. Well, let’s get it over with. It’s still a long way down.”

“Excuse me,” Thiego said, pushing his way forward. He sounded unconcerned. “Let me go first.”

He was wearing a ring on his left middle finger, a heavy brass thing with a curious symbol on the seal like a triangle made of pieces cut from a black circle. He transferred it to his right middle finger and gave it a twist as he put it on.

Suddenly, the walkway appeared, descending all the way to the bottom. Thiego stepped confidently onto it and made his way to the next set of stairs down.

“Well, come on, the lot of you. Unless you want to deal with the fire and the falling and the eye-melting thing.”

Iliana laughed. “Why you smug...” She hurried to catch up with him. “Did you know that all along?”

Kessie was gaping, and Grosst looked annoyed, or maybe she was just in pain from all the hobbling. Carbón brought up the rear, happy to stay within the cone of influence from whatever artifact the cabalist was using to get past the illusions that protected the staircase.

Unlike the rusting metal above them, with bolts rotting out of the stone and segments partially collapsed, the lower walkways were in excellent condition, and the railing seemed to be made not of iron, but a smooth, turtle-shell-like substance that had not corroded over the ages. When the walkway sagged, it was because the cliff face itself had sloughed off chunks of stone, not through any defect in the workmanship of the Elders.

Once or twice Thiego got far enough ahead that the railing seemed to be turning slippery in Carbón’s grasp, and he hurried to keep up with the rest. Down and down they went, until they were below the crowns of the tallest trees.

Iliana fell back from chatting with Thiego when they neared the bottom.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.