LITMIR.BIZ

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wanted to say I told ya so, but then again Kyle hadn’t agreed with her one hundred percent.

       It is always safe for those who have an affinity for the earth…if the rocks speak to you and tell you when and where they will fall…

      Uncharacteristically, Morrigan listened to the voice that sloughed through the winds of her mind. Here in the womb of the earth the voice seemed maternal, harmless, even nurturing. And she felt so right here—so like she belonged. Maybe the earth herself was insulating her from the whispers of the dark god. Maybe here she could be sure she was only hearing the sound of her mother’s voice.

      “Right around this corner is what we like to call the Encampment Room.” The line had begun to move again and Kyle had flipped on another set of abrasive artificial lights. “It would make sense if people had used this cave as shelter—although we haven’t found any evidence of ancient occupation—that they would probably have camped here. It’s close enough to the entrance to be easily accessible. The floor is flat. You can see the walls have formed in such a way that they’re perfect for shelves. And a stream runs here on the other side of the room, bringing in fresh water.”

      “Bleck. Camp here? It’s way too cold.” Lori shivered. “It would make something as gross as camping even grosser.”

      “Actually, the temperature inside the cave stays at a fairly consistent sixty degrees. It only fluctuates about five degrees either way, and that only in the middle of winter or summer,” Kyle explained.

      “Still means cold and creepy to me,” Lori muttered.

      Lori’s complaint made Morrigan realize that everyone else had put on jackets or sweatshirts. Even Kyle wore a khaki-colored jacket with the Alabaster Caverns State Park logo on the pocket. She was still holding her sweatshirt. She hadn’t been cold at all. As usual feeling weirdly out of sync with everyone else, Morrigan hastily tied the unneeded sweatshirt around her shoulders.

      “Okay, that rock is really pretty,” Gena said. “It almost makes me forget that bats live down here.”

      Morrigan followed Gena’s pointing finger to see a huge roundish stone onto which a pink spotlight was shining. The boulder glittered in the gaudy light. Morrigan thought it looked like something that should be decorating Dollywood.

      “That is the largest freestanding boulder in the cave made completely of selenite.”

      “It’s not supposed to be pink,” Morrigan heard herself say, and then she pressed her lips together. She was probably annoying the hell out of the cute guide.

      Kyle gave her a surprised look that lacked any hint of irritation. “You’re right, selenite isn’t pink. That’s just our creative lighting. If you get closer to it, or look around at the rear side, you’ll see that selenite is a clear crystal, like glass. Actually, it’s so clear and easy to cut that settlers used sheets of it as windows in their homesteads.”

      Without waiting for permission, Morrigan stepped off the well-marked pathway to look at the unlighted side of the boulder. She could easily see the clear brilliance of the glasslike stone. She touched it. The rock was soft and cool. Morrigan laid her palm flat against the surface. “You really are beautiful. You don’t need that stupid pink light,” she whispered.

      The surface of the rock quivered like the skin of an animal.

       Welcome, Light Bringer…

      The words weren’t in the wind around her, as were the familiar voices she’d been hearing as long as she could remember. The words somehow traveled through her palm, through her skin, soaking into her body. Morrigan let out a little yelp and stepped back so quickly that her foot slid over the damp floor and she had to windmill her arms to keep from falling on her butt.

      A strong hand caught her arm, steadying her. “Careful, it’s slick in here, especially if you move off the pathway.”

      Thoroughly shaken, Morrigan did little more than nod and mutter a belated thanks as Kyle pulled her back on the path, smiled shyly at her and then motioned for the group to follow him forward.

      “Okay, that Kyle cutie is tall and blond and delicious. Excellent job of getting him to notice you by playing damsel in distress,” Gena whispered to her.

      Morrigan’s body followed Gena but her mind was buzzing with disbelief. What was going on? She couldn’t have really felt the rock move. The voice couldn’t have been anything except what she’d been hearing since she was a kid. Or had she finally let all the weirdness get to her and gone totally, one hundred percent nuts? Which meant she should be packing for Laureate psycho hospital instead of OSU.

      By the time Morrigan caught up with the front of the group Kyle had stopped them in a place where the cave widened out again. He waited until everyone was looking expectantly at him.

       The dome…

      The words flitted through Morrigan’s mind just before Kyle pointed his flashlight up.

      “This is the first of several domes in the cave. Notice that it is easy to see from the grooves and patterns left on the rock that the domes were created by whirlpools. At one time this cave was filled with water. Over the years it carved out the unique shape of the cave. Of course today all that is left of the once raging river is a shallow, glassy lake you’ll see later in the tour and this little stream that trickles parallel to our path.”

      Morrigan thought the dome looked as if it had been shaped by a giant ice-cream scoop digging into the selenite-embedded alabaster ceiling. It was beautiful and mysterious, but somehow familiar. How could that be? It was like she’d known it would be there before Kyle had drawn their attention to it. But she’d never been in this cave—any cave—before now.

      Staring up, Morrigan wandered to the edge of the pathway where the smooth wall was peppered with selenite crystals. She wanted to run her hand over the glistening surface. Actually, she felt compelled to touch it. But she hesitated, afraid and eager at the same time.

       Discover the truth.

      Morrigan was immeasurably relieved when she heard the whisper in the air around her; though she did appreciate the irony in feeling relief about something that had haunted her since she was a child. To her it still seemed the voice in the wind was more clearly maternal than usual. And she was relieved that it was in the air and not traveling through the skin of the cave. Or was she? There had been something infinitely compelling about that “other” voice—the one that had come from the selenite rock.

      “This is my favorite part of the tour.” The humor in Kyle’s voice tugged at Morrigan’s attention. She turned so that she could see him standing with the rest of the group near one of the metal light-switch boxes. “We are going to experience complete dark. It’ll only last for sixty seconds, but it will be a long minute. The eye needs light to function properly. If you were to live in the dark for six weeks, you would go blind. Let’s get a little taste of that now!” With a click, Kyle flipped off the lights.

      The darkness was utter and impenetrable.

      Little squeals of semi-pretended fear came from the group. Morrigan definitely recognized Gena’s shriek. And there was the furtive rustling of people grabbing onto whoever stood beside them. Slowly, like she was moving through water, Morrigan turned blindly to the wall.

      She felt no fear. In the complete dark her senses seemed to expand. Her body felt liquid, and she imagined she could be absorbed into the cave and merge with the glasslike crystals.

      Morrigan realized the thought should have scared her, but it didn’t. Not at all.

      She reached out her hand and pressed it against the cool surface of the cave wall. She could feel the crystal selenite where it mixed with the smoother, softer alabaster, and was amazed that even though she could see absolutely nothing she could tell which rock was which. Then against her palm she felt a stirring, the same type of movement she had felt when she’d touched the crystal boulder.

      

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