90. The Magic String

        Zara had escaped the anxiety over facing the TLS program but now the threat of being hunted down and caught by the guards cracked her whip, she urged herself to move faster, surely they would notice her empty cell soon? Breathless, she paused to listen once again, but there were no sounds now, not even Sophia's screams could be heard now...
         All she could hear was the drumming of her pounding heart, harmonizing with the drip, drip, drip of a spring somewhere down the passage, assuring her there was water ahead to quench her thirst. Blindly she hurried on again as fast as she could, gradually learning to feel her way like a skilled Panther. Arms outstretched, her hands were numb from bashing into the rocky walls, yet the discomfort couldn't slow her down, not if there was still a chance to see Orien again. Eventually her fingers passed through moisture, she felt her wat along the crevices, listening closely for the source of the drip... At last the found the drip, even just a few drops of water on her tongue would relieve her.

        The tunnel seemed to go on forever, down, and down into the depths of the bedrock, when suddenly she noticed a light ahead, a faint flickering glow, pulsing... She paused for a moment to catch her breath again, pondering the possibility of illusion...  It was real… It couldn't be... It couldn't be daylight unless there was some sort of shaft... Why was it pulsing? Then suddenly, a terrifying realization! She was nearing Hellias!

         Zara's heart was pounding so hard she felt unstable and for a moment fell under the spell of paralysis. She only had two options, which way would she go? Once again, there was only one way: Forward. She had come too far to turn around, the notion of being chased by dogons seemed less scary than being chased by guards who were doing whatever they were doing to poor Sophia! 

        Stricken with fear, and given no choice but to face Hellias, Zara took a deep breath and crept forward as silently as she could, inching towards the flickering glow; it really didn't look like daylight. As she drew closer she could hear noises to go along with the flickering glow... Heavy wheezing and whistling, like the wind through a tunnel, it seemed to whistle and wheeze in time with the flickering glow...

         Her heart pounded so hard now it was threatening to break, her hands were sweating even though they were freezing cold, but she knew she had no option but to keep going. As she drew nearer to Hellias she detected an unusual odor in the air, it was smelling more like animal dander the closer she got... She just knew she was walking into a dogon den...

         When suddenly, sparks scattered across the floor ahead! She gasped in fright, clinging to the shadows, wondering if whatever it was, was aware of her presence or not...

         Once again the sparks scattered across the floor, synchronized with the wheezing, the source of the pulsing glow! Terrified, Zara craned her neck forward for a glimpse of the source, only to look straight into the sightline of an enormous black scaled monster, his huge blue eyeballs were the size of oranges! They locked onto her like anchors, paralyzing her again. Before Zara could gasp, he opened his mouth exposing his huge fangs, only to release a loud snort of sparks, illuminating the cave.

         "AAAAAG-H!" Zara stumbled backwards into the shadows, losing her balance, falling on the ground she landed hard, coiled and rolled into a fetal position, expecting the worst... Knowing now... AQUILLA WAS REAL! 

         Eyes clammed tight, she waited for his breath to incinerate her...
         Again he snorted, sending a shower of sparks across the ground toward her, but she wasn't incinerated... As she waited to be incinerated, she noticed he hadn't moved from his spot... Another snort of sparks cascaded across the floor... And another... She couldn't understand why he wasn't incinerating her... She was sure he saw her... Was he so old he was blind?

         Slowly she dared to uncurl from the ground and steal another glimpse of the terrifying monster in her path... But as she peered around the edge of rock, once again he seemed to stare straight at her. His eyes were crystal clear, surely he could see... She moved a few steps and watched his eyes follow, he didn't seem to be blind at all, he seemed to be very aware of her presence in his cave...

         Another fountain of sparks exploded from his nostrils. Zara jumped back again, terrified, sweating profusely now. Aquilla was real! Was this it? Was this the truth about Hellias? Was she dinner? She was covered in blood! Would the mere scent of blood not trigger a violent attack?

         Terrified, she peered from behind the rock once more, searching for an alternate route... She could make out path she was on ahead of her in the glowing light... The path travelled through his den... There was an opening on the other side...
         Was it a test? She pondered the notion of crossing his cave with dread, the creature that stood between her past and future was much bigger and scarier than the text books made him out to be... The only way out was through, and the trail was well worn, so... Then why wasn't this well known passage through Hellias so well known in the textbooks too?

         It was scary, not knowing the outcome of her adventure into Hellias, but there was no way to know if she would find Orien unless she went there. With a deep breath, she visualized the magic string, took a step forward into his cave, followed by another and another and another...