Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,61

is large enough to march six or seven abreast,” Lucifer said. “It’s more of a slope than steps. The horses should be fine.”

The city of Alexandria was busy, and people gave us a wide berth, although Remy got his fair share of pointing from those we passed. For the most part, he reacted to this with finger guns and winking and, the two times someone said something less than pleasant, his middle fingers and some expletives about their mother.

The seven of us made good time through the city and reached the entrance to the well before nightfall, although it made little difference to the roasting heat that we’d felt since we’d arrived. It didn’t help that we were all wearing rune-scribed dark leather armor. Shorts and T-shirts would have been cooler but offered not a lot of protection when going up against swords and bullets, unfortunately.

Zamek placed a hand against the stone wall, and it glowed a faint green color before opening as if it were a sliding glass door. We all stepped inside, and the wall re-formed behind us.

The interior of the well was surprisingly light. There were hundreds of small crystals in the stone walls of the well and more on the path. Runes had been carved all around, and the entire place was plenty large enough for the seven of us and our horses.

“One at a time,” Lucifer said. “We don’t know what’s down there or how safe these paths are.”

“I’ll go first,” Zamek said. “I don’t have a horse, so if there are problems with the path, I can hopefully spot them.”

I stayed at the back of the group with Tarron, who led his horse silently as we moved slowly down the spiral slope into the hundreds-of-meters-deep well.

“You’ve been quiet,” I commented.

“I thought I was the last of my people,” Tarron said. “It is a lot to take in. And it’s made worse because those freed may well be criminals. I can only hope that some were imprisoned, like I was, for trying to do the right thing against corrupt regimes.”

“Vigilantes?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s the word I’d have used to describe my actions, I guess,” Tarron said thoughtfully. “Maybe I shouldn’t pass judgement on others after my own crimes, but I can’t help but be concerned about who was in that mountain.”

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” I said. “Hopefully there may be more of your people in Atlantis.”

“Maybe,” Tarron said. “I’ve all but given up on finding anyone alive. Or at least anyone alive who isn’t psychotic.”

Shortly after, Zamek found sections of the slope that had degraded, and we had to wait a few minutes for him to fix it before we continued. Occasionally, I could hear the sounds of something splashing far beneath us, but it was a well, so maybe there was still a measure of water.

“Isis,” I said. She was in front of me and turned to look back. “Why don’t you like Duat?”

“I haven’t been back since Osiris, my husband, was murdered,” Isis said. “Horus, my son, fled after Avalon was created, shortly after Osiris’s murder. He hunted for Osiris’s killer, Set. I have heard nothing from Horus since. Duat is a land of the dead, a land of spirits. I am concerned that I will find my son there among those who roam the lands.” Isis touched the gold-and-diamond pendant of a falcon she wore around her neck.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know that. I never should have gotten you involved.”

Isis turned back to me and smiled. “It is all right, Nathan,” she said softly. “It is something I must confront at some point, and more importantly, this is something that can help save lives. So that no family has to go through what we went through.”

As we continued further down the spiral slope, the splashing below became louder and more concentrated. I looked over the edge but saw nothing other than darkness. Still, the feeling of unease remained with me.

Upon reaching the bottom of the well, we found that it opened out into a huge cavern with a deep pool of water between the strip of land we were on and another bank of land fifty feet away, where I could just make out a realm gate partially obscured by rocks.

“How deep do you think that is?” Lucifer asked as he took his horse away from the water’s edge and tethered it to one of several large stalagmites. Isis, Selene, and I did the same, but Tarron