Read Online Gaia's Secret by Barbara Kloss - Free Book Online

other side.”
    I hadn’t given much thought to the style
attribute of another world.
    My cloak was enormous. I bunched up as much
fabric as I could at my neck, forced the silver clasp to hold it
together and felt completely awkward doing it. Alex was already
wearing his. The wool clung to his shoulders, rustling ever so
slightly as he moved. The cloak looked elegant on him, natural. It
seemed as much a part of him as the dark hair on his head. Not at
all what I imagined I looked like.
    Cicero stood before a door about thirty
degrees to my right. It looked just like the others, was shaped
just like the others. But there was something different about it,
something I didn’t notice at first. Unlike all the others, this one
was quiet.
    I felt Alex’s eyes on me as Cicero laid his
hand on the door. A few slow seconds passed and the stone rumbled
as it slid into the wall. Cicero glanced over his shoulder with a
grin, and then stepped into the pure blackness beyond.
    With a deep breath I followed, Sonya and Alex
right after me. The door slid shut behind us. The glow from the
torch-lit chamber narrowed and dimmed into a fine line, and was
gone.
    The darkness that followed was so thick I
couldn’t see my own hand. The air here was damp but a cool breeze
brushed over my clammy skin, making me shiver. There was a constant
drip—drip—drip echoing somewhere in the distance.
    I was about to say something when a light
flickered to life. It came from a single torch hanging on the wall
to our right. The flame burned bright, casting a soft glow down the
stone tunnel, fading into emptiness.
    Cicero proceeded forward, and we all
followed.
    Just as we reached the end of the torch’s
golden halo, another began burning up ahead, the flame behind us
snuffed out. On and on we walked, torch after torch dimming and
glowing as we moved from one to the other. They were lighting on
their own and I didn’t think it had anything to do with motion
sensors.
    What was this place?
    There was a strange reverence to the silence:
one that sank deep into my soul, overwhelming me with intrigue. The
walls felt alive . Life was everywhere, reaching out,
wrapping over me and through me. What the source was, I had no
idea, but I couldn’t shake the need to move forward. It was
becoming unbearable.
    My eyes flitted about, watching the shadows
dance along the rock. I felt like the walls were watching us,
whispering to each other as we passed.
    And that’s when I ran in to something.
    "Sorry!" I was thankful for the darkness.
Hopefully Alex wouldn’t see the blood rush to my face.
    He peered sideways at me and continued
forward.
    Well. He could’ve at least said something .
    The cave turned. Up ahead, beyond the glow of
the nearest torch, the blanket of darkness lifted with a soft,
white light.
    Daylight.
    We were almost at the end. My need to move
forward bordered on irresistible. It was all I could do to keep
from running. With each small step, the invisible string pulled
harder, gripping my consciousness until I could hold myself back no
longer.
    My legs moved faster and faster. I walked
ahead, brushing past Alex, Sonya, and Cicero. My speed walk turned
into a dead run. The light amplified as I ran, pitching headlong
toward the opening. I could feel the Del Contes’ eyes on my back,
but I was compelled by an insane desire to keep moving. Leaving
darkness behind, I ran from the mouth of the cave and was bathed in
blinding sunlight.
    My spirit was ablaze; my skin tingled as a
myriad of emotions engulfed me, drowning out my awareness of self.
My surroundings felt alive and I felt connected to all of it.
Overwhelmed and dizzy, I sat, closing my eyes. So many feelings
pressed against me and I swam against their strong current trying
to stay afloat. The world encased me with its life force,
holding me in strong, invisible hands. Like my body had returned
from a long sojourn, and the world was my spirit, rushing to unite
with its flesh. A few long moments