Passage to Zarahemla by Chris Heimerdinger

Author:Chris Heimerdinger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2015-08-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

The shadow moved through the darkness with infinite patience, like a panther on the scent of something wounded, something dying. He knew how to move, how to creep, with the least resistance from his environment, making hardly a sound. Just a scant breath moving over the leaves and through the branches of the forest. There was no light except the moon, but the Shadow needed nothing more. Wanted nothing more. It was essential that he remain undetected, invisible to all wary eyes. His mission depended upon this, and failure meant the harshest punishments. Even death.

The going had been steady and uneventful. He’d made this journey once before. He’d returned to verify his first report—that only one lookout had been posted in these woods. His orders were to confirm his enemy’s behavior, verify that it was consistent and predictable. This would make it much easier to strike when the time came. They would brush this adversary aside like an irritating gnat, then move on to far greater conquests.

The Shadow knew that he still had some distance to go—at least another three or four minutes through the thickest part of the brush. But all at once something unexpected caught his eye.

What was this?

It was a light. It pierced through the foliage on his right, a strange white light, brighter than any he had ever encountered. It forced the Shadow to alter his course. A light like this had to be investigated.

A short distance farther he stepped out from the final barrier of foliage. The vision unfolded before him. He lingered there in awe. What in the name of the gods? It was a building! A large building and . . . it was awash in mystic lights!

But where had it come from? The Shadow had been here only four days ago, and there had been nothing here then. Nothing even remotely like this. Was it possible that he had wandered so far off course? It was the only explanation. He would be punished for this. It would alter the schedule, set things back several days. Perhaps call for an entirely new plan.

But at the moment the vision held him spellbound. He could see into the building. There were windows covered by a substance as transparent as water or air. He could see figures moving around inside, unaware, unexpecting. The Shadow moved steadily closer, his heart pounding like a drum.

The more he saw, the more mesmerizing it all became. There were so many inexplicable things all about him—large objects with wheels, mind-bending sculptures of metal and wood. A strange, vulgar music emanated from inside a smaller building positioned just south of the larger one. He could also hear an awful grinding sound. The Shadow opted to approach this smaller building first. As he reached the wall, he crept around the edge, pressing his back against the surface, until he could see around the corner.

The interior of the smaller building was entirely open to his view. The Shadow paused to take it in. So many objects of iron and copper.

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