Chapter 22

  The Entrance - Link

  Once Link was out of the water, he expected Bond to immediately tie him up. Instead, he pulled the lead rope on Max and said, "Come on, this way."

  Bond led Max and Link on the path that lay beside the river. It wasn’t far, just around a bend, when they turned and faced an opening into the cliff wall. Link noticed that it could have been easy to miss if you weren’t walking straight at it. Bond’s path told the otter that the gorillas had used this place before.

  Link asked, "So what's this place?"

  "The place we're going to stay, if we want to survive the sandstorm. I’m actually quite glad that our friend here," Bond nodded toward Max, "decided to take off as he did. The last thing we needed was to get stuck out in the sandstorm."

  Bond shuddered, and Link saw it, asked. "So, who is Lalo and what happened?"

  "Lalo is,” Bond corrected himself, “was one of our companions. He got caught in a sandstorm. He made it back but didn't live very long."

  “Is it that bad? What did the sandstorm do?"

  Bond shook his head. "The sand strips.” Bond paused, clearly not enjoying the memory. "The sand strips away the skin. Sand, when the wind blows it hard, it does.” Bond paused again and changed what he was going to say. “None of us who saw Lelo wants to be caught in a sandstorm.”

  “So, we're lucky that this cave is here."

  Bond nodded. "Yes. Now, quit talking. Let's get in. If Conquest discovers that I let you just walk around, neither of us are going to end up appreciating it."

  "I appreciate you trusting me. I keep my word. Some animals still do that," Link said, knowing that Conquest had promised the council in the past that he was only going to work for the good of the entire Forest.

  Bond ignored the comment and led Max into the opening.

  Link walked in behind them and stopped for a moment, amazed by what he saw. The opening was large enough for a large elephant to walk through, which made it seem impossible that it was originally hard to notice.

  Now that he had walked in, Link noticed there was light inside. He expected to find a dark cave. But instead, what was here was a cavernous room, which Link could tell was carved out of the cliff wall. Pillars stood in the middle of the cavern, and a large pit that Link could tell had been used for building a fire. Large stones surrounded the pit, and there was a good amount of firewood, both within the pit and stacked along the back wall of this enormous chamber. Link could tell from seeing how much space Max took up that at least 14 to 15 elephants could easily fit in the chamber with room to spare.

  What looked like small bowls came out of one wall. They were at a height that Link could have easily gone over and put his hand or face into them. These bowls were at least 16 inches deep and just about 32 inches in diameter. And it looked like they were cut in half and stuck onto the wall. And along the back wall, steps led up to a large carved stone door. And though Link had never seen a dwarven doorway before, he knew this door was the work of dwarven artisans. There were stone knobs on the door just a little taller than him and would still be comfortable for him to grab, yet the doors were large enough that Max could walk through easily. He wondered if this door might be a way into the dwarven kingdom.

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  Link whistled, “This is amazing.”

  At the whistle, Max jerked to the side as if the noise scared him. Bond turned and applied the anointment ointment back on his trunk and whispered, “Watch the noises.” To Bond and then to Max, “It's okay. We don't want you to get upset here because the otter can’t keep quiet."

  Link shook his head, knowing that Max wasn’t a non-talking elephant that would get upset in the way that Bond was afraid of. Yet, knowing he had to go along with the ruse, Link lowered his head contritely. "I'm sorry. I forgot. I'm used to our kind of animals. The ones having reason being able to talk.”

  Link turned his head to the side, hoping get a response, said. “Which makes me think. I’ve noticed you guys don't talk much. Has this affected your reasoning as well?"

  "No, we don't. And if you want to live long enough to live any longer, you'll learn to be quiet too." Bond said with more of a growl than was normal for the soft-spoken gorilla.

  Link ignored the comment and looked again around the room. "This is impressive. I can't wait to get back and tell the forest of animals about this place. This could be the key to finding the lost dwarves: an actual dwarven doorway, an actually dwarven cave. This is amazing."

  Bon huffed. "You're going to be lucky to live. And your best hope is that you're going to be a slave for the rest of your life."

  "I have faith. When I go back to the council, this will just be an extra thing that I can tell them about. It will be exciting."

  Bond shook his head. "What is it with you? You're one of those true believers. Think the creator is going to help you or something."

  Bond stared at Link. Link stopped and looked straight at the gorilla. "And you don't believe in the creator?"

  "The creator has long left me from where I see it."

  And a howling came from the opening going outside, and the conversation stopped.

  "It's time I get you two ready," Bond said.

  Bond tied the lead rope that Max was on to one of the pillars, then grabbed the ropes and looked at Link. "I know these things aren't doing us any good; they aren't keeping you from escaping, but it makes Conquest feel better. So get ready."

  Link shrugged. He was afraid that when he helped Bond get on Max, Bond would figure out the bindings weren't keeping him, and he did.

  Bond tied him, and to Link's surprise, he tied the ropes no harder than they had been tied before.

  "I don't know what keeps you here. Some crazy idea that you're finding out something. But let me tell you something. You're going to wish you had escaped. You really are. But for now," Bond said, and seeing that Link was getting ready to say something, added, "just keep quiet."

  The noise outside picked up, and Link could see the opening. Though he wasn't as close to the opening as Max was, Link saw just a few minutes later that the sky outside was growing dark. He could see sand starting to blow around outside. And then, in a rush, Conquest and the rest of the gorillas ran into the room. The world outside behind them, turning gray, and a moan followed, then the sound of sand grinding against stone. It was a sound that Link had never heard before and had nothing to compare it with. He listened, and the sound became a howl. He could only imagine what could have happened if all the little bits of sand had hit someone. Because of the location of the cave, most of the sand stayed away. Only a little came into the cavern. Link could tell that if someone was just a foot or two outside the entrance, they would be in the storm. Link wondered what would happen to the river. What light that was in the room became dimmer. And then finally, as the storm outside grew stronger, all light disappeared. Link was all alone in the dark the sound of the storm the only thing he could hear.