Chapter 18 #2
I don’t ask, but I assume she’s taking me to see the ley lines.
The book described the energy as a myth—something no one had ever seen.
If it existed, the author speculated that the energy would be so powerful that it would be untouchable.
They estimated the power to be greater than a strike of lightning.
There was also a chapter theorizing about harnessing such power, which is ridiculous.
Men have been trying to bottle the energy from lightning for years now.
Some things aren’t meant to be controlled by man.
Yet here we are, descending into the depths of the Earth to what I’m assuming are these ley lines.
More questions form as we proceed in silence.
How did the author of the book know to call the phenomenon ley lines?
How was the ley line beneath Gravers Junction discovered? Why are Maureen and the town hiding it?
When we reach the bottom landing, Maureen continues forward through a wide tunnel. The light of the lantern guides us through the darkness. There are several tunnels that branch off, and she even takes a few of them.
“You sure you know where you’re going?”
“It’s up ahead,” she says, then recesses the wick of the lantern until the glow of the light dies completely.
My heartbeat picks up, not particularly keen on being so deep underground…
in complete darkness…where we could easily get turned around and lost. I suck in deep breaths of cold air, trying to keep my rising panic at bay.
I’m about to cry out for Maureen when I see it up ahead.
A faint glow of light. It’s not like lantern light with its warm glow reaching the walls of the tunnel.
It’s more like the moonlight that reflected off the hot spring beneath the rock formation at Booker’s place.
A soft, pale light that barely reaches a hand’s width.
“Is that it?” My nerves relax, as my curiosity takes over.
“Mmh,” she hums. “Come on.” I trail behind her, captivated by her silhouette as it stands out against the glow of the pale blue light and blends in with the surrounding shadows.
As we get closer, it’s more apparent that the glow of light is coming from around the corner.
Actually, the tunnel zigzags with tight turns, and the farther we move through it, the brighter the light becomes.
At the end of the tunnel, we enter a cavern so large you could fit an entire town inside it.
“Maureen, this is amazing!” I gaze upward at the blue energy that’s at least three stories above our heads. It resembles a colossal rope, shining with vibrant intensity while sparks of pale blue energy flicker off from its stream. There’s also a faint hum coming from the energy line.
My dustslinging magic reacts to the energy, coming alive along my arms. The gritty sand grows warmer, as if I were standing out under the sun and absorbing the warmth and sunrays.
“You haven’t seen the best part yet,” she says. “See how the energy passes through that rock?”
I follow her pointed finger and see the rock she’s speaking of. I thought the energy stopped at that point, but she’s right. There’s a hole in the center, and the stream passes through it.
Maureen weaves between tall stones jutting up from the cave floor until we’ve cleared the large boulder that’s blocking our view to see the center of the cavern. The second we’re on the other side, I gasp. “Whoa. What is that?”
Maureen leans against one of the tall boulders, tucking her hands into her front pockets. “There are ley lines all over the world. Most are invisible to the human eye, but here, because of the intersection of so many ley lines, and the lack of natural light, we’re able to see them.”
When she says them, I count the connecting lines. Six lines. And though they don’t all cross at one direct intersecting point, they all cross one another in a beautiful lace pattern, like when a spider first starts its spiderweb.
“This is why you stay?” I say, my gaze following one line after the other, each disappearing into the cavern wall through its own hole. I wonder where the lines are traveling off to.
“Yes, this is why my family has stayed in Gravers Junction all these generations. It wasn’t always our responsibility to protect the grandeur junction of lines.
That’s what they call a place where four or more ley lines converge.
You see, a long time ago, way before this cavern was discovered, a man named Benedict Graves made a deal with an ancient demon stuck between worlds.
The demon promised Benedict everlasting life and fortune beyond anything he could imagine if he searched the lands for a powerful source of energy that could free the demon from limbo. ”
I lean against a nearby rock, entranced with Maureen’s story. I never heard anything so absorbing in any of my fiction books back home. “And I’m assuming Benedict— Wait, did you say Graves? As in Malik Graves?” I know the name since Persephone was so adamant that I remember it.
Maureen nods. “I’m getting to that part.
And you’re right, Benedict and his family did eventually find this cavern with the power source the demon wanted.
Instead of returning to the demon and relaying the cavern’s location, Benedict’s son, Hershel, convinced his father to protect the power from the evil of Graveyard Territory.
And they’d lived in the Graveyard Territory long enough to know they couldn’t live in a normal home. ”
“Let me guess,” I interrupt, wanting to see if my hunches are right before she divulges the truth. “They dug out the tunnels and their home beneath the ground and then built the town over it.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what they did. Except their numbers weren’t big, so they didn’t need the space we have today.
Hershel recruited some men and their families to come live out here and help build their secret town.
I don’t know how long it took, but they did it.
And my great-grandfather was among the men recruited to help dig out the tunnels and protect the grandeur junction of lines. ”
It then dawns on me how the town’s name came about. Gravers, the family that discovered the ley lines, and junction from grandeur junction of lines. Clever.
“When did protecting the ley lines become your family’s charge?”
“Hershel’s son, Malik, had different plans for Gravers Junction.
But that’s a story we can save for tonight, after supper.
Just know that being a dustslinger—protecting this town—isn’t about protecting the residents.
It’s about protecting this power from falling into the wrong hands. No matter what. Do you understand?”
I don’t nod or say yes, and I don’t disagree either.
I’d been ready to say yes yesterday. But now, seeing the power they guard, and knowing every aberrant alive wants it, this is way more than protecting a town against retribution or random bandits.
This town is always on alert. A threat can arrive at any time, intent on taking that power.
Part of me wants a normal life, which I thought could’ve been possible here, but now knowing it’s about protecting this mystical energy…well, that changes everything. Now that the stakes are higher, I need a stronger reason to stay.
And there might be one handsome reason.
Or at least I hope there might be.
I think about what I’d told him by the stairs last night before supper: Sometimes a person can’t help what they feel when it comes to matters of the heart. And denying those feelings only makes you want a person even more.
Maureen pushes off the boulder she’s been leaning against. “If this power falls into the wrong hands, it’s not just Graveyard Territory that will suffer.”
Basically, whether I stay or go, there’s a chance evil could find its way into Billingsworth County. The odds are better though, I imagine, if I stay. And Nina, since there’s a strong magic within her too.
Not ready to commit to anything, I say, “Thank you for telling me the truth. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
She offers me an understanding smile before we make our way out of the cavern.