فصل 71

CHAPTER 71

WHOLE AGAIN

HERDED BY A HALF-DOZEN GUARDS, James and the other three prisoners followed the Skeleton down the familiar tunnel to the excavation site. James noted the two black cables running along the ground; he had not seen them before.

They passed the cells that held George and Molly. The Skeleton led them into the last chamber. The prisoners knew it well; they had excavated it themselves, at the cost of much sweat, exhaustion, and pain. The chamber was considerably larger than the rest of the tunnel, its ceiling ten feet high, braced by beams and planks.

Von Schatten stood with his lackey Revile next to a workbench that had been set up at the center of the room. Next to them was the Skeleton’s assistant, Scarlet Johns; next to her were his henchmen, Coben and Mauch. The two men were kneeling on the ground near the bench, doing something with the ends of the two black cables; both wore rubber gloves. James noted that both also had ugly deep scratches on their faces and arms, as though they had been attacked by an animal.

At the far end of the chamber was the strange vault that had been the apparent goal of the excavation project. It was a massive thing, its front face eight feet square. It was made of a mysterious metal, smooth and silvery, creating an odd sensation of warmth when touched. Neither rocks nor shovels scratched it. The face of the vault had a seam running around the perimeter a foot from the edge, forming what appeared to be a tight-fitting square door, although there were no visible hinges. In the center of this door was a vertical slot about three inches long.

When the vault was first uncovered, James and the others had watched as the guards had tried for hours, using crowbars, hammers, chisels, and other tools, to open it. Their efforts had been utterly futile; the vault’s gleaming surface was unmarked, the door still precisely in place.

Next to the vault stood a sturdy-looking dolly with a flat bed and four thick rubber tires. James assumed this would be used to transport something—presumably something that was now inside the vault. Something heavy. He further assumed that he and the other prisoners had been brought to the chamber to play some role in this process. But how did they intend to open the vault? His eyes went back to the workbench.

On it lay a sword, its handle golden, its blade shining. The tip was missing.

Next to the sword, on a blue velvet cushion, was what appeared to be the tip. Next to it, gleaming in the electric light, was a lump of silvery metal.

Von Schatten was examining these objects when the Skeleton approached. He pointed to the silvery metal and said, “You are certain this will work?”

“Miss Johns is the authority,” said the Skeleton, gesturing toward Scarlet. Von Schatten turned to her.

“All my research suggests it is heavenstone,” she said. “It should work.”

“It had better,” said von Schatten. He turned back to the Skeleton. “And these prisoners?”

“They will retrieve the chest,” said the Skeleton.

Von Schatten examined them, his gaze lingering for a moment on James. James felt the familiar, awful coldness creeping into him.

“Appropriate,” said von Schatten, “that you should be here to witness this.” Then he turned toward the Skeleton and said, “Get on with it.”

“Are you ready?” the Skeleton rasped to Mauch and Coben.

“We are,” said Coben. He and Mauch put on leather welding goggles with thick dark lenses. Then they bent and, with rubber-gloved hands, carefully picked up the black cables. The rubber insulation had been peeled back from the ends of the cables, revealing thick copper wires. Affixed to the end of each wire was a metal clamp. Keeping the clamps well apart, Mauch and Coben approached the workbench. Mauch carefully attached his clamp to the middle of the sword blade. When it was in place, he lifted the sword tip from its velvet cushion and positioned it at the end of the blade, fitting the two broken edges together. He stepped back.

Coben picked up the piece of silvery heavenstone, studied it for a moment, then attached the clamp to one end. Holding the clamp, he announced to the chamber, “If you don’t want to be blinded, you’ll want to look away.”

Everyone turned away except the two goggled men and von Schatten, who kept his dark lenses fixed on the sword.

Coben bent over the bench and slowly brought the heavenstone down directly over the crack between sword and tip. With a sharp buzzing sound and a brilliant burst of light, electricity arced across the gap, almost instantly heating both to more than 6,000 degrees. The lower end of the stone melted, and the molten metal flowed down along the arc, fusing sword and tip together. It was done in seconds. Coben pulled the stone away; the arc stopped instantly, leaving an acrid smell in the air.

Mauch detached the clamp from the sword; he and Coben set the cables down on the dirt floor, keeping them well apart.

“May I lift it?” asked von Schatten.

“By the handle, yes,” answered Coben. “The blade is still hot.”

Von Schatten grasped the handle and lifted the sword so it gleamed in the light. The weld was perfect, the seam barely visible.

The Sword of Mercy, broken for so many centuries, was whole again.

Holding it in front of him, von Schatten turned toward the vault.