Author's Note: This is the sequel to And Into The Light. The reading order so far for all of my Flynn/Clara fiction is: And She Was Not An Adventure, Plato's Step-Daughter, A Christmas Clara, Sure As Sin, Once Upon A Dime, Reap The Whirlwind, Out Of The Darkness, And Into The Light, and By The Sword. Each new Flynn/Clara story will include an updated reading order. All my Librarians fiction can be found under the 'My Stories' section of my profile. Videos for characters canon and original, can be found on my Youtube channel via the link on my profile.
Thunder & Lightning
Sit tight with the lights off
Waiting for my brain to start
Trying to work things out
It's thunder and it's lightning
And it's all things too frightening…
Clara opened her eyes, the world a blur above her, the sky another mystery to solve. Slowly, her existence began to make sense, Clara piecing it together like a puzzle, her father taking her hand, his eyes encouraging. She was in the House of Refuge, birdsong in the air, the sunlight streaming in through the window, silence reigning supreme. There was peace here, the best of dark and bright, the choice she had chosen.
Jacob was in Paris, remembering the rain; Eve taking back her position as Guardian; Cassandra condemning the past, what she could have done to save those already damned; Ezekiel sitting in a smoky bar, losing count of how many beers he'd knocked back, trying to knock himself out; Jenkins seeking shelter from the storm, knowing there was none to be found, that it was just a story in a book, a fairytale for children. But Galeas had grown up, and grown out of fairytales, reality a truth he couldn't comprehend...
All around Clara, the battle raged, swords crashing together like thunder and lightning. Camelot was burning, fading as she faded, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The sky was a mystery she'd long since learned to solve, tracing the stars with her bloodstained fingers, finding her home in freedom before desire destroyed it, desecrating what had once been holy ground -
"Hartley!"
Clara opened her eyes, only to discover the world was sideways, Jacob's voice dragging her out of the darkness.
"Hartley, get up!" Jacob yelled, ducking, the axe missing his head by inches. "You're losin' focus - again!"
Clara staggered to her feet, snatching up her spear, only for somebody's sword to slice it in two. "What did you do that for!?" she yelled at Eve, ducking to avoid a flying dagger.
"It was an accident!" Eve yelled back, swinging her sword at her assailant. "Jones, what's holding you up!" she bellowed at Ezekiel, who was prancing about in front of a hieroglyphed wall.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ezekiel said sarcastically, "I just assumed you didn't want the ancient death-trap to drop a thousand tonnes of rocks on her" -
- "Get on it like a car bonnet!" Clara said, half vaulting, half sliding over the sarcophagus.
"I could rush if you like," Ezekiel said, striking a thoughtful pose.
"Please do!" Clara said, sinking her brogue into somebody's stomach.
"The mathematical combination is based on these hieroglyphs!" Cassandra shouted above the din. "How many base symbols is there!?"
"Twenty four!" Jacob and Clara chorused in unison. "Old and New Kingdom!"
"Ezekiel, turn the gear twice clockwise," Cassandra said quickly, crouching down beside him, "and then the disciples of the sun divided by golden ratios and the pyramids three times counter clockwise" -
- "Ha!" Ezekiel crowed as the walls split open, only to reveal empty space.
"Where the hell is he!?" Eve said in disbelief, dodging a dead hand.
"He said to meet him here!" Clara cried, ducking again. "But he didn't mention the mummies!"
"You can say that again!" Jacob snapped, diving past her, rather like a goalkeeper. But just as he did, the mummies froze, only to crumble into dust, Flynn stepping forwards, carrying a casket, eyes alight with adventure.
"Remove the medallion, and the mummies fall!" he declaimed, striking a noble pose.
"You didn't mention the mummies or the medallions," Clara said pertly, sashaying over to him.
"I'm sure I did," Flynn said, eying her appreciatively, "back in Venice, just after that particularly ravishing sunset."
"I only remember what came after that," Clara said seductively, wrapping her arms around his neck, his own arm snaking round her waist.
"Stone, Baird, Cassandra, Ezekiel, did I not mention the mummies nor the medallions in my message to meet me at the Monolith of Moods?" Flynn reeled off, throwing the casket at Cassandra who barely caught it, Ezekiel all but ripping it from her hands, Eve clipping him around the ear, forcing him to drop it.
"Nope, next time, mummy memo," Jacob said, picking himself up off the floor.
"You came back alive," Clara said, tapping Flynn on the nose, just to remind him she was there.
"So I did," Flynn said, wrapping his other arm around her waist as well.
"Not that I don't enjoy a spot of classic tomb-robbing," Ezekiel said, swaggering over to them, "but why are we here?"
"Because I believe this sarcophagus holds the key," Flynn said, reluctantly letting go of Clara, "I think I've found the way to bring back the Library."
