The Pegassian Order

5. Into the Caves

Chapter Five

Rafi leaned against the cold wall of the damp cave. Evening light cascaded in through the entrance and from where Rafi stood, the view of the world outside looked more like an image painted over the stone walls than an entrance. The view of brambles, shrubs and loose dirt beneath a clear blue sky showed no roads for as far as the eye could see. It had taken them a few hours to reach here and it was obvious no vehicles could pass through this terrain and nor did they.

There was a chilly draft clinging to the air, it had stalked them through the open wilderness, making their shoulders hunch in resistance. It was only when Duke pointed out the cave, that anybody noticed it. They decided to take shelter from the cold accompanying the setting sun and hunker down for short while.

Duke sat beside Galen on the ground with their backs pressed against the wall. Galen handed Duke a bottle of water. Rafi picked up a bottle and scanned the cave, Mara didn't come in. He gave it a few moments then headed outside to check on her.

She was looking up at the night sky and taking in the stars. He knew she liked the stars, he remembered from their time in Oman together. Nancy Mara would take her girls and sit them down beneath the stars and read to them of ancient mythology and what different civilisations believed the stars to be. He knew this because Mara had opened up once. He remembered how her eyes sparkled in the moonlight as she peered into the abyss of the night sky and asked in a low voice, 'How can one thing mean so many different things to people?’

He remembered because he found Elliot to be many things to many people. For some she was a brilliant historian, for others she was a mysterious beauty and for unlucky souls she was a thief who stole their treasures from beneath their noses. Her curiosity about the way human minds work was sincere. It's when he realised that maybe, just maybe, he and Elliot weren't so different after all.

She recognised his footsteps anywhere.

‘We need to talk.’ Elliot said as he approached. Rafi stayed silent and waited. He had saved himself a lot of suffering in his life due to mastering the art of being a good listener.

‘What aren't you telling me?' She quizzed sharply. From the way she turned to face him and stared at him unapologetically told him she was angry. Elliot didn't do upset, she only did anger. It was something he valued about her, it made her more productive than most people. A sure way to get things done was to make people angry.

‘Mara.’He said, his tone calm and soothing, hoping he could de-escalate whatever situation was unfolding before him. He didn't understand what she wanted to know. She thrust her phone at his chest. He gripped her wrist.

‘Mara.’ He objected, a hint of exasperation in his tone. He took the phone from her hand and examined the screen. He frowned then looked back at Elliot who wore an expectant look.

‘I haven't seen this before.’

‘It says sent.’ She bit back. He didn't respond for a moment, waiting for her anger to subside. He pointed to the address on the screen.

‘I haven't checked this account in weeks.’

Elliot took her phone from him then held out her hand. He looked at the empty pale palm and raised an eyebrow at her, almost offended by her accusatory tone. He thought about arguing with her, explaining she was just angry about Chloe and needed to calm down, she knew she could trust him. But he knew there was no point in reasoning when Elliot was angry.

Instead, letting out a resigned sigh, he reached into his pocket and tossed his phone to her. She caught it effortlessly. Rafi headed back into the cave, not saying another word, or even bothering to wait to be absolved of the accusation. He huffed and shook his head right to left.

Elliot loaded up his inbox, pacing as she waited for it to load. She knew she could trust him and she also knew he would have mentioned it if it was important, but she couldn't leave a single stone unturned. She wouldn't.

There it was, marked as unopened along with several other emails which, just as Rafi had explained, hadn't been opened for weeks. She exited the email and looked at his phone. For a fleeting moment, she found herself wanting to go through his messages, see what he had been up to, who he had been speaking with. He definitely hadn't been in her circles since she last saw him.

But she stopped herself. She had damaged the trust between them enough, and trust was one of those things in life which, once broken, was irreparable. A tinge of dismay moved through her. She had broken Rafi's trust countless times yet here he was. She locked the phone screen and headed into the cave.

As she entered, she found herself in a curved room with sloping walls and a thin film of dust hovering in the air. Galen and Duke were going through their notes and marking spots on a map of some kind. Elliot walked over to Rafi who stood by the wall, not caring his shirt would pick up the residue of powdery stone which clung loosely to the surfaces around them.

She steeled herself and stopped a foot from him, standing close enough to keep his gaze on hers. Even as he tried to look away, she caught his eye again. He let out a faint sigh as he regarded her. There was the mildest trace of annoyance on his face. It made his beard and moustache seem to wilt, reminding her of a grumpy lion.

‘Thanks.’ She mumbled, handing him back his phone. He slid it into his shirt pocket and folded his arms, revealing lean biceps through his shirt.

‘We're going to find her.’ Rafi promised. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, she didn’t lean in, but nor did she shrug him off. Elliot took in a shaky breath and nodded, longing to believe him. Rafi squeezed her shoulder softly, it comforted her. She felt Duke watching them from where he sat.

‘I promise.' Rafi said.

Elliot looked at him, 'don’t.’

It was a single instruction but that was all it took to bring back the bitter memory of a promise he once made then, in a fit of anger, broke. She remembered going into withdrawal and fading in and out of consciousness. Her only request was he stayed. She wanted to explain. She didn’t want to lose him. He promised he would, but as surely as the sea turns from blue to green, when she woke, Rafi was gone.

Rafi pulled his hand away and cast his eyes down at the ground.

‘You told me you were clean.’ Rafi uttered. Elliot looked at him, he couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes. Was he that disappointed in her?

‘You told me you'd stay, no matter what.’ She replied. And there it was, the broken promise that sat between them, forcing them apart like a double-ended spear, not allowing either of them grow closer.

Elliot walked over to a low sitting boulder and slumped onto it, going through the possibilities of where her sister could be and what might have happened to her.

‘We should follow the river underground.’ Galen suggested, joining her on the boulder. He had the map in his hands and pointed at the various spots. ‘All of these line up to points we can access through the catacombs beneath Athens.’

‘There are catacombs beneath the city?’ She asked, momentarily surprised. She knew she ought to know better than to be surprised by this, because most of Europe had catacombs beneath it, even England and Wales.

‘Oh, yes. They run for miles. Like a dense maze system.’ He explained, as Duke and Rafi joined them.

‘We have enough supplies to last two days, at a push, three.’ Duke chimed. ‘But it's not exactly safe.’

Rafi looked at the three of them with an incredulous expression.

‘Mara, there's nobody waiting for us on the other side if we go in. No one will come looking for us if anything happens down there.’

She knew Rafi was right, normally there was some rich tycoon or obsessed collector who would hire muscle to send in as back up to retrieve them if they were gone too long. But this time they would be going in alone, with fewer supplies and just the two pistols Duke had.

But if going in like this meant they stood a better chance at finding Chloe before it was too late, then Elliot was game.

‘I'm in.’ Galen volunteered. ‘My Lana deserves answers.’ The man said in a tremoring voice which thinly masked the grief in his heart. Elliot noticed the tears pooling in his eyes.

‘If you're going, then I don't have a choice.’ Duke quipped, patting Galen on the back. Rafi's broad shoulders wilted as Elliot looked at him. She knew he was hoping she would see reason and decide against this. Elliot gave him an apologetic look. He shook his head, knowing what was coming.

‘Mara…’

‘We can't afford to waste time waiting for supplies.’ Elliot explained. ‘I won't ask you to come with us.’

Rafi groaned. He knew a bad idea when he saw one, and going plundering in catacombs beneath a city, away from security and people and with such few resources was definitely a bad idea. Correction—it was a dreadful idea.

Elliot opened her satchel and rifled through the items she had; a few energy bars, a bottle of water, her phone, a bandage and antiseptic spray and some money. She covered the small hipflask at the bottom of the satchel with a cloth, obscuring it from any prying eyes. She knew if Rafi saw it, he would turn on his heel then and there, and leave.

‘We shouldn't spend more than a few hours down there.’ Duke warned. Galen nodded in response as he rifled through his own backpack, which in turn was filled with crisps and history books.

‘I would advise leaving some of those books and notes up here. They'll be here when we get back.’ Duke said, gesturing at the heavy backpack which looked as though it was about to tear at the seams.

Galen grumbled and emptied the contents of his backpack. A scratched photograph of a young woman with Galen's eyes and smile fluttered out of the bag and onto the ground. Elliot scooped it up and handed it to Galen, he took it with a grateful nod. From the tears in his eyes, Elliot surmised the girl in the photo was Lana, his deceased daughter.

‘A word, Mara.’ Rafi spoke with a clenched jaw, clearly bothered by the decision she had made. She walked over to him as Duke and Galen left the cave and began scaling the boulders leading down into a cavern below. Once they were alone, Rafi shook his head.

‘I'm not asking you to come.’

Rafi shot her a look. They both knew she didn't have to ask. He wouldn't let her go alone.

‘It's a suicide mission.’

‘Like I said, I’m not asking you to come.’ Elliot reiterated with folded arms.

‘I know.’ He replied with a concerned look on his face. ‘I'm asking you to wait until we get the chief of police on board. We'll persuade him, or at least wait until we go and get more supplies.’

‘I don't have time to take precautions, Rafi. I don't expect you to follow me.’ She didn't mince her words and it stung. He cleared his throat then studied her.

‘If I follow you down there now, we're even for what happened?’ He asked, his eyes on the opening of the cave. Elliot smirked, bitter.

‘You mean for giving me your word you wouldn't leave, then leaving?’ She let him squirm as the question hung in the air between them.

‘I couldn't stay. You know that.’ He said, giving her a pointed look. Elliot flinched, so she was right. She had disappointed him so he had left her. She knew Rafi had commitment issues, same as she did. But she expected more from him than to turn his back on her like she was nothing more than a stranger. She had forgotten how self-righteous he could be at times, it irked her.

‘No.’ Elliot said simply, knowing what was about to happen next would sting him.

‘No, what?’ Rafi asked, his eyebrows knotted together as he examined her.

Elliot held his gaze. ‘No, we're not even.’

She walked away from him. She was determined to find her sister, with or without him. Rafi watched her walk away and something tugged in his chest. He owed it to her to go through with this. He knew that. The gnawing shame he felt when he thought about how he left her at the hospital wasn't going away anytime soon and it didn't look like she would forgive him anytime soon either.

He knew she thought he was heartless. She knew how hard he had worked to earn her trust, and then in a moment of pride and judgement he turned away from her. He regretted but he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't do it again if the situation arose.

The sound of Duke grunting got their attention. Duke and Galen were rolling a small boulder to one side, revealing a manhole in the ground. Duke kneeled and shone the torch on his phone into the hole.

‘We can enter the catacombs from here. It should connect to an array of tunnels, all of which lead to the catacombs and caves underground.’

Elliot and Rafi exchanged a look. It was now or never.

‘I'll go first.’ Duke announced and swung his legs into the gaping hole and lowered himself into the darkness below. Elliot joined Galen who peered into the hole.

‘Come on down!’ Duke called. Elliot looked at Rafi, who remained stood at the other end of the cave. Elliot turned back to the hole and climbed down, disappearing into it.

‘For Lana.’ Galen said before lowering himself into the hole too. Rafi stared at the black hole for a moment. He couldn't believe she was going ahead with this. In the dark, Elliot could hear Duke and Galen chatting further along the tunnel they were in. A draft blew through the shadowy tunnel, resembling a growling bear. Elliot saw two beams of light appear, illuminating the light coloured stone walls around them.

Elliot pulled out her own phone and shone the light at the ground. She patted it with her boot. It let out a hollow thud.

‘This isn't safe. We need to keep moving.’ She ordered. She heard Galen and Duke's footsteps ahead continue into the darkness. Three circles of light flitted here and there as they cautiously moved through the tunnel.

‘There!’ Duke's voice came from up ahead Elliot followed his light. It hovered over a bundle of rocks and boulders to one side, which looked like they had crumbled from the roof of the tunnel they were in. Amidst the rocks was a small clearing which you could just about fit a person through.

‘It'll take us lower, closer to the catacombs.’ Duke explained. Elliot was surprised by how well Duke seemed to know the network of tunnels. The way she saw it, her and Galen had no choice but to trust him.

‘Lead the way.’ She told him. Duke grunted as he lowered himself into yet another hole, which looked like life itself glitched and opened up a black abyss. She peered into the dark hole below. The ground beneath her feet groaned, threatening to cave in. They had to keep moving. Once Galen had disappeared into the hole, she sat down and swung her legs over the edge of the hole.

There was an icy breeze grazed her legs. She braced herself then leaped down into the lower tunnel. She landed on her feet, crouching upon on impact. Dust flew up into the air and made her cough.

‘I've got no signal.’ Galen said, examining his phone which looked like a bright flare in the darkness.

‘This way.’ Duke said, shining his phone toward a large boulder up ahead above which was a narrow passageway over what looked like an endless drop into pure black. Elliot was about to ask why when she heard the thin ground crack beneath her weight. She walked swiftly, hot on the heels of Galen and Duke. These tunnels were ancient and ready to collapse at the first sign of pressure.

When it was her turn, she gripped the edge of a boulder and climbed onto it, pulling herself up against the rough surface. She headed down the walkway formed by centuries of water flowing through the rocks and caught up with Duke and Galen.

Duke immediately shone his torch at her then looked over her shoulder then back to her.

‘Let's go.’ Elliot said, not wanting to look back and confirm what she already knew, Rafi had abandoned her a second time. Galen and Duke didn't move. Elliot pushed past them.

‘Come on. What're you waiting for?’

‘For your friend.’ Galen called after her. Elliot cast a glance back at the pair to see Rafi, begrudgingly climbing up onto the walkway. A small smile tugged at her lips. She turned back to the path before her and saw it continued further down the tunnel.

‘This way!’ She shouted, waving them along. She was joined by Galen then Duke. A rumble came from the cave walls as Rafi caught up to them. He opened his mouth to say something when the ground beneath their boots suddenly fell away and the foursome plummeted into the pitch black cavern below.