Although day and night were one and the same inside the tunnel, our internal clocks woke us up at our usual time.
The cold hard ground was not the most comfortable of beds. Simon and the twins stretched and moved about as much as they were able to.
I tried hard not to groan out loud as my sore stiff muscles spasmed and twitched in protest at the abuse it had been through.
Still, the group's spirits had lifted because I had been able to determine the correct tunnel to traverse through.
Since the bats had taken seven hours to fly the distance to the edge of the tunnel and back again, if we hurried, we would be able to exit the mouth of the tunnel by noon.
Then, once we were out of the tunnel, I would be able to summon the crows and gain their assistance to find Tory and the kidnapped apes.
Bolstered by the thought of leaving the dark tunnel, we hurried onward as quickly as we could.
As we got closer to the other side of the tunnel, the light tubes once again began working within the tunnel, steadily illuminating the way for us.
This end of the tunnel seemed to be in better repair than the previous sections. It was cleaner for one, but more importantly, I could no longer feel the rat horde.
I wasn't sure whether it had to do with Simon's magik, better maintained facilities, or the fact that I had gotten used to the feel of rats everywhere around me, having been inside the tunnel for almost two days.
It didn't matter. I was simply filled with gratitude.
I was also getting stronger.
No doubt about it, two days into the journey and I found myself more capable of matching the orangutan's speed. Even with lack of adequate rest and nourishment, my body had gotten used to the crushing pace.
My endurance was increasing to the point where I was almost comfortable with the clip we were maintaining. This meant I no longer had to expend the energy and intense concentration needed to chant my marching mantra.
At first, the glow at the end of the tunnel simply looked as if it was merely a part of the random noise generated by my ocular entoptic phenomena. It was just a tiny speck amidst the plethora of visual noise that danced about my eyes in the semi-darkness.
It wasn't until we got closer that I was finally able to see it for what it actually was.
This was literally, the light at the end of the tunnel.
Although we were all excited that we were so close to the end of the tunnel, Tarzan was ever cautious. He had us wait for him deep within the tunnel while he went to scope out the periphery of the tunnel's mouth.
I could see his large bulky orange body, outlined against the bright sunlight as he moved this way and that, checking out the environment.
He raised his nose up in the air, sniffing for danger.
Finding none, he waved his arm, giving the all-clear signal and we all headed out to join him with Max bounding at the forefront.
The closer we got to the tunnel's entrance, the more intense the light became. After being inside a darkened shaft for so long, with only intermittent lights casting dim pools of illumination, it was almost too painful for my eyes to adjust to the bright opening.
The temperature also began to rise and the humidity level increased. The muggy air was heavy and warm, almost tropical.
That was when I heard a sound that was so pure, it was heavenly.
Rain!
Max jumped up and down for joy, barking and running in circles.
You want to go play in the rain? I asked, fully knowing what his answer would be.
Yes, yes, yes! The dog panted with excitement.
"Dajiadohlikai!"
I Commanded and off Max sprang, into the water-logged world filled with strange new sights and scents to explore.
"Oh, thank the Heavens and the One True Soul. We finally made it out." Simon mumbled with relief, raising his arms and lifting his head in exaltation to a higher power.
He stood there letting the fat drops of rain fall onto his face and body, as if in a baptismal reaffirmation of his faith.
I stood rooted in place, stunned with amazement.
I had never realized Simon was an adherent of the House Sylphyte and worshiped The One True Soul.
It struck me as rather odd, especially since he was also a student of Alchemy and the Sciences and I wondered if what I thought was incongruous, namely a discrepancy between the religious viewpoint and the magikal arts and sciences, would actually be convergent.
"Ah, you fool." Corwin spat with obvious contempt. "There is no such thing as One True Soul. There's nothing out there but a maelstrom of stardust. Your power is all inside of you, ya crazy fool!"
"Don't lecture me, oh ye of zero faith!" Simon quipped, his eyes, daggers.
"Faith?" Corwin sneered. "I do not place my faith in fairy dust."
Simon shook his head with mocking sadness. "There are things out there that defy explanations, Corwin. You don't have to believe in a Higher Order for it to exist because it does not require your acknowledgement or acquiescence to exist."
He puffed himself up to his full height of 5'5". "In fact, it is extant to your own existence. I certainly do not need your approval to have faith in the One True Soul."
"You want to have faith in something? Have some faith in something real!" Corwin grounded. "Have faith in yourself."
"Relax, guys," Connor chimed in. "What difference does it make?"
But Simon refused to be mollified.
"It makes a huge difference! I do believe in myself." He retorted. "I also believe that we are all part and parcel of the One True Soul, which means I also believe in you," he pointed at Corwin, "and you, and you, and you."
He pointed to each of us in turn with such an unshaken conviction that I knew Corwin would never be able to sway him otherwise.
It was a classic argument between the atheist and the agnostic and I was not going to get in between that ball of wax being thrown back and forth. I had always been of the 'live and let live' mentality.
Leaving behind the guys to continue their heated discussion about the merits of an Almighty Overlord, I wandered out to the mouth of the tunnel l
I noticed Tarzan listened in, looking mildly curious about the subject matter.
Do you believe in the One True Soul, Tarzan?
He looked at me. I believe in YOU.
But I am not the One True Soul.
Still, I believe in YOU.
Well okay, but aside from me, do you believe in any other powerful force or source out there somewhere?
Tarzan stared at me as if I was the slow one.
I believe in YOU.
I sighed.
Tarzan was stuck on a circuitous logic. There was no point in continuing the conversation since he had no idea what a One True Soul was anyway.
Taking advantage of the momentary solitude, I stared into the distance. It had only been a couple of days inside the mountain, but I missed the wide open skies and the unrestrained summer wind so very much.
At the moment, riding on this summer wind was a cloudburst of unremitting rain. It was not a warm, gentle rain.
It was an all-encompassing violent storm, covering the entire landscape in a furious pounding deluge.
Electric arcs of violet-white lightning flashed in sequential bursts, splitting the sky into jagged halves and quarters.
The accompanying thunder boomed and rumbled in the distant horizon, pushing the suspended charged particles into the downward drafts and blanketing the area with the sharp, fresh aroma of ozone.
The sweet, pungent petrichor of damp earth, wet rock, and sodden plant life tickled my nostrils and brought a smile to my face.
I inhaled with deep breaths, the rich scent of the rain, temporarily replacing my troubled thoughts with the pure healing fragrance of nature's healing elixir. Then I took in the environment that splayed out before us.
Although we were caught within the perimeter of savage weather, which was incongruous with the semi-arid panorama that lay before us, there was no doubt that we had emerged onto the fringes of a desert.
Geographically, it was only the other side of Topaz mountain, but the landscape was alien and exotic, filled with unfamiliar flora and fauna.
The soil beyond the tunnel's paved concrete sidewalk was more sand than loam, a light brown mixture of sand and soil, as opposed to the compact iron-rich, red clay dirt of Topaz.
The olive green ground cover that covered the loamy soil in vibrant patches had spiky, fleshy stems, touched with light heather grey growths at the tips. Alongside the spikes grew tendrils of roaming grass the color of celadon.
They grew in thick lush clumps meandering along their rhizome lengths and rambling about the craggy black rocks which jutted out at odd angles, looking like wicked dragon teeth.
In the distance was an army of silent sentinels of the wilderness. The yucca palms stood in stoic determination above the flat plains. Their twisted, spiky feldgrau stumps were raised in painful salutation to the stormy skies as they professed their ardent devotion to the god of rain.
And teeming in every orifice and every nook and cranny of the desert, life of every form and function whispered and tittered with excitement at the gift of life-giving rain.
I touched a finger to my tongue and held it up so I could feel the wind speed. It reaffirmed what I could already see with my eyes and feel with my inner ears.
The air was heavy with a steady low pressure that kept the clouds anchored in place. This rain was going nowhere fast.
The dark roiling masses of cumulonimbus clouds ensconced their fat bottoms onto the desolate brown and heather landscape and dumped their entire load right over our heads.
Even though I had not participated in the heated discussion between the guys, I had already drawn the same irrefutable conclusion.
Two days and one night in the tunnel had taken its toll on all of us. We were dirty, exhausted, cranky, and our magikal energies were dwindling down to the nubs.
We needed to rest if were were to handle the next leg of our journey. The rain only made it that much easier to follow our plan of resting and refueling.
Huddling together to draw strength from each other, we shared some dried beef jerky and a few fruit bars.
We also took advantage of the rain to refill our water bottles and to wash in a very rudimentary fashion, some of the travel grime from our hands and faces.
"Rest." I told the twins. "We can't go anywhere until I can locate the crows to get some information, and they won't venture out in this downpour."
Needing little prompting, the twins stretched out on the concrete and promptly fell asleep.
As they napped, Simon and Tarzan took up guard near the tunnel's entrance.
To pass the time, they cleared out a small section of the ground and began a rather complex game of checkers using a handful of black pebbles for one side and silver metal light-bender discs for the other. Their game strategy was rather complex and it wasn't long before I was no longer able to follow the logic of their moves.
After a few minutes of watching them play, I found myself getting more and more drowsy. There was nothing to do and nowhere to go.
Ah well.
No time like the present to catch a nap. Things were bound to get hectic once we head out, away from the shelter of the train tunnel.
I settled myself on the ground next Max and closed my eyes. Even if I could not fall asleep as quickly as the twins did, I could at least rest my eyeballs.
Max took the opportunity to sidle up next to me and heaved a big doggy sigh of happiness.
I closed my eyes.
Being this close to him, I could really smell his singed fur and his doggy funk. He needed a bath, badly.
He poked his cold nose into my face.
Poke, poke, poke.
Let me sleep you mutt. I murmured into his mind.
Poke, poke, poke.
Ugh. Go away and let me sleep.
Poke, poke, poke.
It took the malamute several minutes of poking his nose at my face to wake me up.
I had gone out like a light.
Wake up, wake up, wake up! Birds call you. Birds call you. Birds. Birds. Birds
Max voiced with some anxiety.
I opened my eyes and saw his large black nose, inches from my face as he continued to nudge me.
From the distance, I could hear the cawing of crows.
The rain had stopped while I was sleeping and they had come out of their storm shelters looking for me.