Chapter 30

30

May 12, 11:39 A . M . MSK

Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Russian Federation

Gray forged through the rising flood. The water level was waist-high and climbing fast. Dozens of crashing torrents echoed from the chambers on all sides. A hazardous flotsam of broken chairs and slabs of tabletops confounded the group's passage, swirling and forming dams.

Jason called, yelling to be heard above the crashing waters. "Help!"

Gray turned at his frantic shout. The young man struggled with Anna. Her long dress—already clinging and weighing her body down—had snagged onto one of the logjams of debris.

Gray pushed Yelagin toward Bailey. "Take him. Keep going."

Gray and the priest had been hauling the bishop between them.

Bailey nodded. "I got him."

Gray set off, kicking and paddling over to Jason and Anna. Once he reached them, he drew a knife from his belt. The woman's eyes were wide with panic. The shifting blockage was dragging her under.

He felt along the fabric to where it was snagged. The cloth had twisted into a hard rope.

He let it go, knowing it would take too long to saw through it. He shifted behind Anna, lifted his blade, and slit her dress from neckline to waist. She understood and wiggled free with Jason's help, shedding her garment, swimming away in her bra and underwear.

"That's better," she gasped out.

Jason headed after Anna.

Even this brief stop had cost them valuable time.

Ahead, Bailey had an arm hooked around Yelagin's waist. The bishop used his staff like a rafting pole to help propel them along.

By now, the water had reached neck high. They'd all be swimming soon. And terror made it look as if the roof were closing in on them.

He had to accept the truth.

No one's escaping this trap.

Gray's heart pounded in his ears. He wished Lomonosov's study had been closer to the staircase. Still, even alone, Gray doubted he could've crossed that distance in time. The remote location of the study had made it a deathtrap.

Wait...

He halted in mid-stroke.

That makes no sense.

His mind spun—and he knew the answer.

"Stop!" he boomed.

Heads turned his way.

He pointed behind him. "We're going the wrong direction!"

"What?" Jason called back.

"Follow me!"

With no time to explain, Gray turned and waded back toward Lomonosov's study. It was still closer than the distant stairs. Even if the group could've reached the staircase, he suspected it was already a waterfall. The trap's designers would have made sure no one escaped that way.

He also suspected something else about those engineers.

They wouldn't want to be caught in their own snare.

Especially Lomonosov.

The Russian scientist was too smart to risk his own demise if some quake or other mishap disturbed the mammoth tusk and triggered the trap. There had to be another way out, one close to his study.

And I know where it is.

He prayed he was right and not leading everyone to their doom.

As he reached the room, he found the waters inside clogged with floating books from Lomonosov's shelves. He pushed his way through, shoving ancient texts out of his way, forging a path for the others.

"Why are we back here?" Jason gasped, treading water now.

Gray's toes could still touch, allowing him to kick off the bottom the last few yards. As he did, he tried to explain. "If Lomonosov worked endless hours down here, he wouldn't do so without a backup plan. He or the original designers would have engineered a way to escape this trap if it were inadvertently triggered. And that back door would have to be close at hand."

"Where?" Jason asked.

Gray pointed at the answer.

Anna's eyes widened in disbelief. "The fireplace?"

"I thought it was a replica," Gray panted out as he reached its mantel. "But now I wager it served double duty in the past. At one time, it must have been a functioning hearth, one whose chimney to the surface could double as an emergency escape route."

To test his theory, Gray ducked underwater, grabbed the top edge of the hearth, and wiggled himself into the space. With his upper torso inside, his hands blindly pawed above.

He nearly choked in relief as he found a chimney leading up. To be sure, he squirmed the rest of the way inside—until he was able to stand and clear his head out of the water inside the shaft. Under his palms and fingers, he felt handholds carved along the chute's inner wall, forming a stone ladder leading up.

Thank god...

Satisfied, he dropped and slid out of the fireplace's hearth.

He popped back to the surface in the study.

"There's a way out," he announced. "But it's not going to be easy."

11:59 A . M .

Jason climbed behind Anna. She shivered—both from cold and terror. Wearing only a bra and underwear, she looked naked. Still, she showed no concern or embarrassment. Like all of them, her focus was on the arduous ascent, on clinging to the hand- and toeholds along one side of the chimney.

The passage was tight. Rock rubbed Jason's back if he leaned out too far to raise a knee or reach an arm. But it was manageable for someone of his small stature. Overhead, Gray struggled a bit more as he led the way.

Luckily, Kowalski wasn't with them.

He'd never have fit through here.

Still, another teammate strained for a different reason.

Below Jason, Yelagin wheezed and coughed. The elderly bishop fought for every yard gained, but so far, he was managing the ascent. Mostly due to the thoughtfulness afforded them by the engineers of this exit. Every thirty feet, a side cubby had been dug out. It allowed for two people to sit, perched above the drop, and catch their breath.

At each spot, the group had allowed Yelagin to relax with Bailey—while everyone else braced their backs against the chimney wall and pinned themselves in place and waited.

"There's another rest stop up ahead," Gray called down.

They had reached this one quicker than expected. The last cubby was only twenty or so feet below them. The gaps between the rest stops must be getting smaller, which was a merciful boon. In the shine of flashlights looped to the men's belts, Yelagin's face had gone deathly white, his eyes pinched from the exertion.

Jason returned his focus above. "Anna, do you need to take a break? Maybe sit for a spell with the bishop?"

"I... I'm okay. I can keep going. For now, at least."

Anna stared up the endless chute. Though she didn't ask it, he knew what she was thinking.

How much farther do we have to go?

With no way of knowing, they continued the ascent in silence. Despite her assurance a moment ago, Anna looked longingly toward the cubby, but she climbed past it.

Jason couldn't blame her. By now, his fingers were crabbed, and his shoulders ached. It was actually a relief when Bailey shouted under him.

"I'll help Bishop Yelagin get seated. We may need to rest a bit longer this time."

Sighing, Jason pushed his back against the opposite wall and pinned his legs to a toehold. He felt secure enough to let go with his hands and massage his fingers. Anna did the same. Past her, Gray looked anxious to keep moving, but there was no rush.

The rising waters below had stopped pursuing them for some time, indicative that the library must be fully flooded by now.

Under his legs, lights jostled as Bailey helped Yelagin into the cubby. The bishop thanked him, collapsing heavily in exhaustion. As he did, a loud metallic snap sounded, echoing sharply from the two men's position.

Oh, sh—

It was another boobytrap, likely meant to rid the chute of any trespassers who stumbled upon it, those who failed to note that this cubby was not like the others, positioned differently from the regular run of rest stops.

A wall of heavy water burst from the rear of the cubby, surging out a hidden door. The bishop's body was slammed against the chute's opposite wall, crashing into Bailey, who still clung to the stone ladder. The two men tangled, with limbs thrashing, then Yelagin fell away, vanishing into the torrent.

Bailey managed to keep one handhold. His legs flailed under him, scrabbling for a purchase. But the surge was too fierce. He looked up in a panic, as if recognizing the inevitable.

Jason refused to accept this and headed down. "Hang on!"

Bailey choked on the downpour. "No... you'll be pulled with me!" The priest looked below. "I'll try to reach—"

Then he was gone, ripped off the wall by the current.

Jason cried out, nearly losing his own grip. He searched, but there was no sign of either man. Water continued to flood down the chimney.

Knowing there was nothing he could do, Jason faced back up. Anna stared down at him. He had no words.

Gray did—offering the only option left to them. "We keep going."

12:43 P . M .

Free of the chimney, Gray reached down, grabbed Jason's outstretched arm, and pulled him out of the crack in the rock. The top of the chute had emptied into a cave. The shaft had narrowed precariously at the end, making for a difficult final ascent.

But they had made it.

Just not all of them.

Anna stood to the side. Gray had given her his jacket, which hung over her shoulders. She hadn't even tried to button it. Instead, she had hugged her arms around her body, not in shyness at the state of her undress, but in shock and grief.

Jason remained on his hands and knees. He breathed heavily, plainly as distraught as Anna. "Wh... what do we do now?" he gasped out.

"We rejoin the others," Gray answered, doing his best to compartmentalize the loss of the two men.

"Shouldn't we wait here?" Anna mumbled. "In case... maybe they'll..."

Her shoulders sagged.

Even she couldn't find the strength for hope.

Gray let the two rest for a few minutes. He waited until he got a nod from each, then set off.

Sunlight glared on one side of the cavern, promising an exit nearby. He led Anna and Jason toward the light. As he did, he cast a final glance back. Even this close, the pinched entrance into the chimney was nearly invisible, blending into the surrounding rock.

No wonder it was never discovered.

Gray shook his head and headed off.

The three of them crossed through the boulder-strewn cavern and had to crawl along a low tunnel to reach a grotto on the far side. It opened into a forest. Ahead, between the trees, the towering white walls of the Trinity Lavra glowed in the midday sun. It appeared they had exited a half-mile or so outside the grounds of the monastic compound.

Which is just as well.

Gray saw no reason to return to the Trinity Lavra.

With a long hike ahead of them, they stumbled off into the woods.

Anna looked haunted and forlorn, barely blinking, staring blankly.

Jason turned to Gray, his eyes wide, searching for an answer to explain their loss.

Gray had none.

All he could do was make a promise.

"We're not going to let their sacrifice be in vain." He stared toward the Lavra, but he peered much further, thousands of miles. "We'll find that lost continent."

Still, a warning echoed inside him, one inscribed in wood above a mammoth tusk.

Never go there, never trespass, never wake that which is sleeping.

Gray headed onward without slowing.

Screw that.