The mountain entrance had been formed out of the rock, with carvings of the hammer and books filled with algorithms and latin decorating the edges. Though it appeared to be unguarded Bookworm was concerned the Builders would consider them invaders and attack. “Mr. Moreau, they know you here so you must be the one to approach.”
“The B-Builders are n-not fond of Moreau, C-captain,” Yang hissed as he stuttered and shivered involuntarily. The adrenaline had faded leaving him colder than before. “I do n-not know that I w-would help their disposition.”
“We need you to try,” Book responded resolutely. The certainty in her voice steeled Yang and he approached unarmed.
“What about the others?” Mariah asked nearby, blending with the snow in her newly pilfered coat. She had taken it from the man Yang had wounded and it was too big for her, but it was dry and could come in handy. “Without Mr. Moreau to lead them how will they find their way?”
Bookworm had not considered the other team since the attack. She hoped they were alive and well, “I trust Tepic or Beryl should be able to lead them to us…they are very resourceful.”
“But you left Dr. Falcon in charge of their team,” Mariah reminded the captain of her hasty decision. Bookworm rubbed her temples as she recalled how Avariel lost over a week of progress in the mountains. Mariah grinned as she saw the gears turn in Books imagination, “I’ll go fetch them before she leads them down a ravine.”
“Be careful,” She said to both Mariah and Yang as he knocked on the door. Bookworm waited with Mr. Wright for a short time, but the knocker’s request went unheeded.
“Th-there may be no one st-stationed nearby,” Yang explained as he struggled to speak coherently. He stomped his feet trying to get his blood flowing faster, “They did ca-carve this tunnel thr-through the mountain.”
“Yes,” Bookworm studied the carved door with foreboding. “The monks would have traps in place to deter invaders.” Bookworm could see that Mr. Moreau was in trouble, and examined Mr. Wright briefly. He had wrapped his hand with an enemy hat and replaced his coat, carrying his duster with him, but the replacement was small on him. He’d used other coats to dry off, but most of it had turned to ice. Wright had also ripped off the symbol of the enemy.
“Mr. Moreau needs to get inside more than I do now,” Wright informed her as he approached the gate and looked to Yang, “Open her up carefully and stay behind the door. We’ve got you covered.”
Bookworm moved to stand beside Yang who gripped the handle and pulled. It was considerably heavier than he had anticipated. Bookworm helped him and Wright pushed when it was apparent the path led to a dark and empty tunnel room that contained an intricate metal door.
“Be wary,” Bookworm was not ready to believe the Builders had left no surprises, “We’ll be out of the snow and I think we can risk a fire in here if we leave it open.”
Yang was happy to oblige as he rushed inside. While there wasn’t much tinder in the cave Mr. Wright provided the enemies hat which would work for the start. He ripped it in half and then used bits to keep it going until Bookworm returned with wood wet from the snow. The fire dried it enough to be useable eventually, but Wright had to feed the flames with pieces of coat.
The three thawed slowly, but Yang had not stopped shaking and coughed nauseously. Wright told him to get out of his wet clothes and wrap himself in something dry quickly and asked Book if she had any tea in her pouches. As Wright treated Yang for hypothermia Bookworm made a mental note to have Beryl examine everyone.
The companions did not wait long for Mariah to return with the rest of their company. Tepic and Beryl had found their handiwork and followed their hasty snowprints. The enemy coats had almost caused an issue, but they had avoided a confrontation.
“They will discover us easily, but we should already be in town among allies.” Mariah fashioned a changing room out of a sheet and wire. Beryl examined Yang but found Mr. Wright had correctly diagnosed hypothermia. While Loki set their personal clothes and supplies to dry, Tepic’s attention was drawn towards the intricate door leading to the tunnels.
“No locks or handles or anythin’.” Looking closely at the six pictures on the door Tepic noticed that they were actually large buttons, “Think them Builders made one heckuva puzzle ter get it open.”
“I like puzzles,” Dr. Falcon trotted over to examine it with him. Two pictures depicted cloud angels coming to the aid of men. Two were instruments of construction, the hammer and mathematical compass. The final duo were saints that neither Tepic or the unicorn recognized.
Unfortunately neither could discover clues to the order they should be pressed or not at all. None of the picture-sized pushbuttons betrayed any wear or tear that the others did not. Tepic was about to test one when Bookworm stopped him. “Err, don’t think a trap would go off just testin’ a button, Ms. Book.”
“Maybe not, but there could be an alarm,” she warned. Tepic pointed out that would bring someone to open the way, but that was also unappealing. “We don’t know if the enemy would hear the alarm too.”
“Well, without any clues we don’t have much choice, Ms. Bookworm.” Avariel studied the enigmatic puzzle door with lowered ears. Outside a small crash of distant thunder resounded menacingly. “We will have to risk a little noise, and I can probably survive any of the usual traps.”
“Wait,” Bookworm rushed outside to the rock carvings. The hammer, the books written in latin, “I think we have your clues out here.”
Avariel, Wright, Tepic, and Mariah joined her at the door where the crew noticed thick ominous clouds in the sky. A frigid wind was rustling the barren tree branches of the forest and whistled along the pass of the Hildskal mountains.
“Cor, them Builders needs ter learn how ter spell!” Tepic said as he read the passages, then at a look from the group he said more subdued, “Er, not that I would know they’s misspelled cause I can’t read latin o’ course.”
“The Builders of old would not have put this much effort into a mural and then let it suffer from poor grammar! There is no doubt a puzzle here! Possibly a latin word jumble or a secret message!” Dr. Falcon studied the words carefully to decipher the Builders enigma while Tepic checked his bag for dry paper.
Darkness shrouded the lettering as the sunlight was blocked by portentous clouds that resounded with thunder. Avariel provided them light with her horn while sleet rained down on the companions. The blizzard was as relentless as the one that had shipwrecked the rescuers and forced them back inside reluctantly shivering.
“That blizzard is more unnatural than a generous skinflint or an honest politician!” Wright said as he shivered and shook off the sleet from his fur. “What is going on in these mountains?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Dr. Falcon said as she let the ice drip from her mane to the floor. “Bunny said that the aetheric pressure was-wait! Where is Bunny XXVI?!”
Avariel looked about the cave and discovered Bunny was not the only individual missing. Though Beryl stayed beside Yang nursing him back to health Loki had disappeared.
“Err, they’s safe,” Tepic assured her as he removed his bag. He opened it to reveal Bunny who leapt out and hugged Avariel’s face in terror. “GAH!”
She took several moments to calm Bunny down, but it wouldn’t stop shaking despite being immune to the cold. “Bunny confirms it! I suspect something is affecting the aetheric pressure and creating this storm intentionally.”
“Who or what could do that?” Bookworm asked though she feared she would never get any answers.
“Not enough scientific evidence to be sure. Using available information I could hypothesize these are the storms that always plagued the Icarus Research team and make them lose power.”
“Icarus Research?” Bookworm had not heard of them before, but she needed to now.
“They are an independently funded research team that took charge of Aquila IX around the same time the Lovelace Institute were restoring other facilities, and they have comparable resources,” Dr. Falcon said, momentarily forgetting Loki’s disappearance and the strange noises coming from the door. “Dr. Gammis runs this station, but I know little more about them. The spider lady said someone was afraid I would visit someday.”
“And then you sent wireless messages which they would have received,” Bookworm said as she realized how the army had known they were coming. Wright threw another piece of the coat onto the fire angrily, the symbol of the organization.
“Yes, everyone would have known I was on my way and my location, but those weren’t researchers trying to kill us!” Avariel said in defense of the scientists. “Icarus Research may be the victims of this strange army.” Tepic let out a loud harrumph at her protest, but he said nothing as he glanced over his notes.
“We need answers not accusations,” Bookworm said as she looked at everyone in turn, and then realized that someone was missing. “Where is Loki?”
“Opening the door for us,” Beryl said absently while serving Yang his tea.
“Awww, yer ruined thu surprise!” a muffled voice sounded disappointed from deep within the puzzle door.
Tepic, Avariel, and Bookworm jumped to their feet and ran to the door to see that Loki had removed one of the large buttons and squeezed inside. He had removed obstacles and gears as he needed.
“Cor! Yer gots a knack fer takin’ things apart! Surprised the clockwinder ain’t banished ya from his clocktowers!”
“If yer could not mention it ter him I’d be grateful!” Loki responded as they could hear something large twisting inside. “’ave some nice tabac been savin’ in a baggie fer Mr. Wright!”
After several more clicks the door rose into a hole in the mountain. Loki let out a cheer as did the companions, until they realized Loki was about to get trapped inside. With a startled shout Loki double backed, crawling his way back to broken button. He reached the end and stuck his hands out for the others to pull. They got him out just before he was out of reach as the door slowly disappeared leaving only the spikes below it to resemble a portcullis.
One does not simply walk into Puzzle Door.