Chapter 59

The dusty, dark cave was oddly comforting after the cold, alien nature of the fortress. Lois visibly relaxed once they exited the small room. She watched patiently as Clark moved the stone wall to seal up the room again.

Then her eyes spotted a flashlight atop one of the many work benches scattered about, and she grabbed it. Clark followed her as she slowly and deliberately looked at every single piece of artwork on the cave walls with the eye of the investigative reporter she was.

"So if these are Kryptonian symbols, who made them?"

"I'm not sure. Probably the Kawatche people."

"But why?" She didn't let him answer. "They're incredible, Clark! I don't know much about this kind of thing, but if that room was once a portal to Krypton itself, and the knowledge the fortress contained was meant for you, and you are, well, the last son of Krypton, so to speak, then it follows these symbols and pictures might be about you."

"They're mostly about someone called Naman." At the impatient look she gave him, he continued, "Okay, okay! It's a story about a guy who falls from the sky in a rain of fire, has the strength of ten men, can shoot fire from his eyes, and is meant to be some kind of protector of this planet."

She looked at him and smiled. "So you are Naman. Except the 'ten men' thing is a little insulting."

"Lois, it's a legend. I know it fits, but I…I'm not ready for that whole 'protector of earth' bit yet."

"Right," she said sarcastically. "Because there are so many people on the planet that fit that bill and are standing in line to do it. Okay, what else does the story say?"

"That someone called Sageeth is Naman's greatest enemy, an enemy that starts out as a friend."

"Lex." She said it with the certainty she felt. "How nice of them to warn you! A pity they couldn't put some kind of GPS system on the wall that would keep track of him for you. What's that picture way up there?"

Clark caught up with her to stand beside her before saying, "That, according to legend, is the woman that Naman is destined to be with."

She looked at him quickly and then back at the painting. It was a woman with dark hair, but she couldn't really tell much more about it.

"Okay, scoop and float, Smallville. I want a better look at that."

"What?"

"Like you flew me over that fence? Come on, just do it."

"Lois, you're sort of disrespecting my powers a bit, don't you think?"

"Disrespecting your powers? Moi? Oh, come now, but I still want a look at that. So scoop already!" She put her arms around his neck and all but jumped up into his arms to hurry the process. She felt him sigh and, slowly, they began to float toward the ceiling of the cave until they were hovering just inches from the painting.

With the flashlight, she began carefully examining the small picture, inch by inch.

He watched her face carefully, holding back a smile at the intense concentration she was giving the picture. "You know, if you had heat vision, you'd be melting the rock right now."

At that, she rolled her eyes and looked down at another picture just below it. "What's that?"

"Ah! I forgot about that!"

"Smallville!"

"It's a picture of a bracelet…meant for her." He looked back at the picture of the woman.

"A bracelet? Hmm, it's pretty. What's that stone in it?" She peered closer and shone the light directly on it. "It's …hmm…well, it's not quite green…or blue…maybe an aquamarine? Or Alexandrite?"

"Yeah. I guess. Sort of. But I'm not sure it's either really though. The stone's a bit brighter than the painting of it actually."

"You've seen the actual bracelet? Where? When?"

"It's another long story, Lois," he said, making a mental note to himself to retrieve the bracelet from its hiding place in the barn and have it gift-wrapped to give to her. Maybe for her birthday?

"Okay. Put me down. We're done here." As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was on her way to the cave entrance. "If you're not willing to open up about all you know about this, then it's time to go back to the farm and get some sleep."

He went after her, trying to reason with her. "Lois, I am. I will. I just…"

"No, you're not, and no, you won't. I can see why you've driven all the women in your life a little insane! And I am not going there! I, at least, know when to back off. " With that, she turned and left him.

"In what universe?" he mumbled to himself. Then he took off after her. "Lois!"

"Shh! Don't wanna wake any guards, do you?" She kept walking.