Chapter 1808

The movement beneath their feet grew stronger.

It began as a low vibration, so deep that Jude felt it in his bones before he heard it. Pebbles danced across the stone floor. Dust drifted from the ceiling, and somewhere far below, an enormous stone object groaned as though it had been sleeping for centuries and was finally stretching its limbs.

"Everyone away from the edge!" Serena ordered.

Jude barely heard her.

He was still staring into the darkness.

"Sol!" he shouted. "Sol, answer me!"

For several seconds, there was nothing.

Then came a faint sound.

A small, distant laugh.

Jude’s heart tightened.

"Sol?"

"I’m all right," the boy’s voice echoed from below.

The words were faint, but unmistakable.

Jude moved towards the edge again.

"Don’t move!" Sophie cried, grabbing his arm.

"I need to get down there."

"You’re not going anywhere until we know whether this ledge can hold your weight."

"He’s down there, Sophie!"

"And if you fall too, who is going to bring either of you back?"

Jude looked at her. Her face was pale, but her grip remained firm.

Behind them, Layla had already taken the lantern from Scarlet and was examining the walls. Serena crouched near the edge, studying the broken stones, while Sophie kept the rope firmly wrapped around a thick stone projection.

"There’s something strange about this chamber," Layla said.

"Something strange?" Scarlet repeated. "We have a bottomless hole in the floor, a mountain that seems to be moving, and a child somewhere underneath us. I think we passed strange several minutes ago."

Nobody laughed.

Scarlet glanced at the darkness and swallowed.

"Fine. Not the best moment for jokes."

The rumbling suddenly stopped.

The silence that followed was worse.

Jude leaned forward.

"Sol?"

A faint blue light appeared far below.

It was so distant that at first he thought it was merely a reflection from one of their lanterns. But the light grew brighter, spreading slowly across the darkness like a star rising from beneath the earth.

Serena stepped closer.

"That’s not our light."

The blue glow illuminated a portion of the circular shaft. For the first time, they could see that the hole was not a natural formation. Its walls were made of enormous blocks of dark stone, fitted together with such precision that there was barely a gap between them.

And carved into every block was the same symbol.

Three curved lines surrounding a central point.

The symbol they had found on the fallen tree.

The symbol on the silver disc.

The symbol in the northern cave.

But there was something else.

Between the carvings, thin silver lines had begun to glow.

They formed a pattern that descended deeper into the shaft, connecting one symbol to another.

"It’s a mechanism," Layla whispered.

"Mechanism for what?" Sophie asked.

Layla didn’t answer.

The blue light suddenly pulsed.

A deep metallic sound travelled up from below.

Then the entire shaft shifted.

Jude stumbled backwards as the ledge tilted beneath his feet. Serena caught his shoulder, and Scarlet grabbed Serena’s arm. A crack spread across the stone floor, racing towards the place where the rope was secured.

"Move!" Serena shouted.

Sophie pulled the rope away just as the stone projection broke loose.

The rope slipped through her hands.

Jude lunged and caught it.

The sudden weight nearly dragged him forward, but Serena and Scarlet seized him from behind.

"Hold it!" Sophie shouted.

"I’ve got it!"

The rope jerked.

Once.

Twice.

Then it became completely still.

Jude wrapped it around his forearm and leaned backwards.

"Sol! Can you hear me?"

For a moment, there was no response.

Then the boy spoke.

"Jude?"

"Yes! I’ve got the rope. Hold on!"

A pause.

"I’m not holding anything."

Jude froze.

"What?"

"I’m standing on something."

The four women exchanged uneasy glances.

"Standing?" Serena repeated.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"On the floor."

Jude looked down into the shaft.

The blue light had grown brighter. It illuminated a broad circular platform far below, suspended in the darkness. It had not been visible before because it had been hidden beneath the shadows.

Sol was standing in its centre.

He looked very small from where they were.

His dark hair was untidy, and his clothes were covered in dust. Yet he stood perfectly still, looking up at them as though he had simply wandered into another room.

Jude released a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

"Stay exactly where you are!"

Sol tilted his head.

"Why?"

"Because I said so!"

"All right."

A second later, Sol took a step.

"SOL!"

The boy immediately stopped.

"Sorry."

Scarlet pressed a hand against her forehead.

"He’s going to give us all grey hair."

"He’s a child," Sophie murmured, though her voice trembled with relief.

"He’s a child who has apparently discovered a secret underground world," Scarlet replied.

Sol looked around the platform.

"It’s beautiful down here."

Jude’s expression hardened.

"Don’t touch anything."

"I haven’t."

"Don’t touch anything, don’t walk anywhere, and don’t go near the walls."

Sol glanced at the enormous carvings surrounding him.

"Even the pretty ones?"

"Especially the pretty ones."

Sol looked disappointed.

"That’s a very difficult rule."

"It’s an extremely easy rule," Jude said.

The boy considered this.

Then he sat down.

Jude closed his eyes briefly.

"Fine. Just stay there."

The blue light pulsed again.

This time, the platform beneath Sol began to descend.

"Jude?" Serena said.

He opened his eyes.

The circular platform was moving.

Slowly, silently, it sank deeper into the shaft.

"Sol! Get off it!"

The boy looked down.

"Oh."

He stood up.

"Sol, jump!"

But before he could move, the platform stopped.

A tremendous sound rolled through the chamber. It was not the grinding of stone or the cracking of rock. It sounded almost like a gigantic door opening somewhere beneath the island.

The blue light disappeared.

Darkness swallowed the platform.

"SOL!"

"I’M HERE!"

His voice came from below, much farther away now.

Then another sound followed.

A soft, rhythmic tapping.

Three taps.

A pause.

Three more.

Jude stared into the darkness.