Chapter 25

Cautiously, with lit wands, the three wizards began to follow the steep and narrow stairs carved into the mountain rock. They were roughly a hundred and fifty metres below the surface when they reached the first level down. They had to find their way to the next flight of stairs, but half a dozen tunnels exited the chamber they had emerged into.

"Right..." Harry said, "We're staying together, even if that means we have to take longer to search each tunnel one at a time."

Hermione and Alex both quickly agreed. Nobody was keen to be lost by themselves in these tunnels. Hermione made a mark at the entrance to the first tunnel they tried. After about 10 minutes of winding around, they emerged into a large chamber. Alcoves were cut into the walls, each with an ancient mummified body in it. Otherwise, it was a dead-end.

They followed the tunnel back to the first chamber and tried the next one. After a few minutes of strolling down the second tunnel, Alex stopped short.

"What's wrong Alex?" Harry asked.

"I... I'm not sure. I thought I heard something."

There was a loud cracking sound, the floor collapsed beneath them and their wand-lights went out. The three wizards tumbled into blackness screaming. Something broke Alex's fall, but thankfully it didn't feel like rock. She relit her wand and realised that she had fallen into a rope net. It had already closed over and she was trapped.

Alex tried a number of spells with both of her wands, but the rope net appeared to be impervious to magic. Then she noticed a ledge and what looked like an opening in the side of the shaft about 5 metres away. She wondered if she could swing over to it. But before she had a chance to try, the net had already begun moving to the ledge.

And then Alex spotted vaguely humanoid shapes emerging from the shadowed archway and began to panic. She tried several wandless spells, but nothing seemed to be working. As the net dropped her onto the ledge, ancient withered hands with leathery skin reached for her and pulled her out of the net as she screamed.

~o0o~

Harry kept tumbling through the darkness until he fell into liquid. His momentum plunged him deeply into the watery death trap. He held his breath until he bobbed to the surface. Gasping and sputtering, he relit his wand. He appeared to be in some sort of well about 10 metres across. Vicious looking spikes lined the walls.

Harry tried to use his wand to levitate out of the water. Nothing. Harry tried some wandless magic. Still nothing. A gnawing feeling of doom began to roil in the pit of his stomach. The feeling turned to alarm when the water caught fire. As flames lit the surface from the edge of the well, Harry took a deep breath and dropped back down beneath the surface. His alarm turned to terror when he felt hands grasping his feet and pulling him even deeper.

~o0o~

Hermione's fall was broken by something squishy, foul smelling and oozing. Her wand light didn't help much. All that she could tell was that it was organic and alive. She shrieked when a slimy tentacle wrapped around one of her legs. She tried some spells with her wand, but except for lighting her immediate vicinity, it was having no effect.

Wandless spells were having no effect either. Numerous tentacles now disabled Hermione and lifted her into the air as a gaping maw opened up beneath her revealing hundreds of razor sharp teeth.

~o0o~

Ibn noticed one of the soldiers approaching him while the other three gawked at the monster on the mountain. Ibn didn't know what terrified him the most, the beast or the soldier. But the soldier glanced back at the others and bent down to talk to Ibn.

"Shhh... stay quiet and come with me while the others aren't looking," the soldier said kindly.

"Wha... what...?" Began the boy.

"Shhh... in a minute. Let's get you somewhere safe... before the others see. Come on!"

The soldier grabbed Ibn's hand, but not harshly, and he led the boy back to the town.

"If anyone asks, you're my nephew okay!?" Said the soldier.

"Y... y... yes s... sir!" stuttered the terrified boy.

"Hayyim, call me Hayyim... Better make that Uncle Hayyim in public okay? Do you have any family? Can I take you home?"

Tears filled Ibn's eyes and shook his head. His parents had been murdered by Security Forces several months ago, and he had been living hand to mouth ever since. The soldier's jaw clenched and his eyes looked bitter. Hayyim hated his job.

"Well, I suppose I really will be your 'Uncle' for now then. I'll take you home to my mother, get you cleaned up and fed. Nobody is going to miss me while THAT..." Hayyim motioned towards the demon standing on Mount Meggido, "...is going on."

"Why are you helping me?" Sniffed the crying boy suspiciously as he wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Hayyim wasn't sure what to say and flushed. Ibn reminded him of his own little brother who had been killed in a rocket attack sent from the territories on the other side of The Wall several years ago. Hayyim just wanted all the horror to end. He was tired of all the killing.

"I... you... Everything here is all wrong. If I can make one life better, then it is good."

Ibn accepted the statement and then without another thought the boy sobbed and put his arms around the soldier. Hayyim lifted Ibn in his arms and carried him home.

Sarai Vital looked up from her copy of the Book of Zohar when she heard her son come home. She knew it was her son, because the enchantments she had protecting the home would only allow him entrance. But there was someone with him she sensed... another Wizard.