The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [75]
“Please, not now,” I begged. But it was a useless plea, for Maruman’s fits were not his to control.
“Here is darkness, ElspethInnle, but it is not the same darkness you must seek out and end.” He was trembling from head to toe now and I longed to gather him in my arms, but I knew from experience that he would attack me tooth and claw if I did.
I stared at him, wondering how I could look after Maruman and search for Rushton at the same time.
“The flies!” Maruman shrieked suddenly into my mind, then he swooned sideways and lay still. It was almost a relief to be able to wrap his limp form up in my coat. I laid him in a small hollow in a rock, fairly sure he would not wake until I returned. Then I clambered as fast as I could over the bramble-covered rocks, toward the larger hillocks in their midst.
Five minutes later, I was in a narrow flat space between the prickly scree and the mounds of stone. Almost at once, I found the entrance to a cave, though I saw no sign of any tunnel leading back to Obernewtyn.
26
THE CAVE ENTRANCE was hidden behind a rockfall. Its placement was too convenient, concealing the cave perfectly without blocking it off. I had no doubt that it had been purposefully placed, though only the machines of the Beforetimers could have shifted such weight.
Up close, I realized that the rockfall and the hillock itself were not true granite at all but some kind of smooth, hard stone the likes of which I had never seen.
I entered the cave and found that it was a tunnel burrowing into the largest of the mounds. I could see light ahead and approached with trepidation, but it was only a great shimmering cluster of insects gathered on a damp patch of rock. The light they gave out revealed the tunnel for some distance, and then I found a lantern hanging from a peg of wood that had been driven into a crack in the wall. It was the first certain proof that someone was using the cavern.
I continued, moving as swiftly as I could without making any noise, and keeping close to the walls. All at once, the walls and ceiling went from being something like raw stone to being smooth and perfectly squared, as if a stonemason had dressed and polished them. This and the machine Alexi had spoken of indicated that I was inside a Beforetime building—or what remained of one.
I passed another lantern and tried again to farseek Rushton. Now that I was within the mound of stone there was less interference, and for a moment I sensed him clearly. He was in pain.
The tunnel began to slope down slightly, and here and there the smooth surface was broken. In one place, a thick pool of multicolored ooze was coming from a crack running up the wall. I kept well away from the slimy mess in case it was tainted. The tunnel curved, and I blinked at the flood of light ahead. Soon, the path swelled out and curved into an enormous, brightly lit cavern. The light came not from lanterns but from a round white sphere on top of a pole. It hummed faintly, and my skin rose into gooseflesh because this was a Beforetime artifact that someone had brought to life.
There was no one in sight. Entering the chamber warily, I saw that all around were silvery boxes of varying sizes, many higher than my head. Buttons and gleaming jewel-colored lights covered the surfaces of what must surely have been Beforetime machines. One had been forced away from the wall. It was very large, with a flat extension coming out one side and many thin colored strands running hither and thither. I wondered if this was the Zebkrahn machine. But if so, where was Alexi? Or Rushton? I looked closely at the machine, but I could not tell whether it was operating.
There were three open doorways in addition to the one I had come through. One way was smooth and perfectly shaped, but the other two were cracked and crumbling, both angling down. Hearing nothing when I listened at each of them, I decided to go through the undamaged doorway. The