Several figures stood before the pillar at the far end of a wide bridge made of red stone. One raised her head and called out, her voice echoing up the shaft. Nina realised that a narrow walkway spiralled around the crystalline tower. At its top, about a hundred feet below her position, was a smaller crossing, an opening at its end leading inside the pillar—

Again she drew back in alarm as a figure emerged from it – one she recognised. ‘It’s Gadreel!’ she hissed. Gold glinted upon the head of the robed Nephilim leader as he surveyed the activity below, then started down the spiral pathway, holding a baraka like a staff.

‘We’ve found them – so what do we do now?’ asked Cheng.

‘If their people are here,’ Nina replied, ‘we have to stop them from waking them. If we can get the key off Sidona, throwing it down that very, very big hole would be as good a way as any.’

‘Except we have to get the key off Sidona,’ Eddie pointed out.

‘Just because she’s nine feet tall doesn’t make her invincible. They’re giants, not superhumans. If we can catch her alone and off guard . . .’

He raised the rifle. ‘Let’s see if we can, then.’

They resumed their trek down the tunnel, moving with even greater caution as they neared their enemies.

Chapter 42

42

Gadreel reached the bottom of the spiral walkway. From here, a broad stone bridge crossed the chasm to a large chamber where most of his forces were resting – but the most important of his people was here.

Sidona stood before a wide portal in the great crystal pillar’s side, the opening blocked by a translucent door. Hints of what lay beyond were dimly visible, shadowy forms picked out by the ever-shifting light running through the enormous column.

His people, imprisoned within.

The Nephilim leader had been as amazed as his followers by what lay within the giant red rock – Zan told him the humans called it Uluru – but forced himself to overcome his awe. The People of the Tree had discovered this wonder . . . and corrupted it, turning it into a place of torment and despair.

Sidona had made contact with the glowing spire when they first crossed the higher bridge, her inner senses exploring it – and finding over a thousand souls trapped in an unending nightmare. It was the same ordeal Gadreel and the others had experienced themselves, but they had chosen to endure it. Those here were prisoners, left to suffer for all eternity, their persecutors too cowardly to kill them.

But now eternity was over.

He gently touched his wife’s shoulder. She twitched, surprised; one hand was against the crystal wall, her mind fixed upon things beyond the physical realm. ‘My love,’ he said. ‘Is all well?’

She turned, revealing tear-stained cheeks. ‘Yes, my lord,’ she said, composing herself. ‘I was . . . with our people.’