Free Empress of the Underworld by Gilbert L. Morris Page A

light, he saw a sight that froze his blood. He saw figures all chained together by their ankles, swinging axes at the solid rock. Their faces were dull and their eyes lifeless. They looked like the zombies he had seen in movies back in Oldworld. The sight frightened him so badly that he cried aloud and ran down a side passage. He seemed to be running to the center of the earth.
    Then he saw another light. He started running toward it as fast as he could. This time the light was brighter, and he now could see two figures, one clothed in white and one clothed in black.
    â€œHelp! Help me!” he shouted. He stumbled forward, then was shocked to realize that the figure in white was Abbey.
    â€œAbbey! Help me!” he cried. “I’m lost!”
    But Abbey did not even look at him. It was as if she had not heard. She was dressed in a fine white dress, and she wore jewels on her fingers and in her hair. There was something frightening about the emptiness in her face.
    â€œShe looks like those slaves. What’s wrong with her?” Josh asked in agony. “Abbey!” he cried out. “Wake up!”
    And then the figure dressed in black turned to him. It was a woman. She had green eyes that glittered as they fixed themselves on him. She reached down slowly with her long white fingers and clutched the large green stone that hung at her breast.
    â€œYou must know the truth,” she said and smiled. There was something terrible in her smile.
    Josh stopped abruptly. Somehow in his dream he felt the power of the green stone reach out to him like the empress’s long finger. It touched him, and he felt himselfgrow cold. Then he felt the power of the strange woman grasp him with an icy fist.
    And he knew why Abbey looked so blank, her eyes so dead. She was in the power of this mysterious evil woman.
    With a wild cry, Josh threw himself backward and ran into the darkness of the tunnel, and the voice of the woman in black came after him. “We will have you. We will have all of the Sleepers.”
    Josh had never been so frightened in his life. He yelled and suddenly opened his eyes.
    Dave and Reb and Jake and Wash were standing over him.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, Josh? You having a nightmare?” Reb asked anxiously.
    They were all holding him down, and Josh realized he was trembling. He took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s OK. You can let me up now.”
    When he sat up on the bed, Wash said, “Boy, that must have been the granddaddy of nightmares! I never heard anybody scream like you did.”
    â€œWhat was it?” Jake demanded. “You eat something that didn’t agree with you?”
    But Dave was looking into Josh’s face. “What is it, Josh? It’s more than just a bad dream, isn’t it?”
    Josh drew his hand across his face. “I think it is. I think it tells us something about what has happened to Abbey. Listen, and I’ll tell you about the dream.”
    The four stood around him as Josh described his dream. He could see it as clearly as if it were before him. When he ended, his voice was not steady.
    â€œAbbey looked dead. Her eyes had no life in them. And whoever that woman was, she was out to get me too.” He hesitated, then reached over and pulled a cloth from the pocket of his pants lying on the floor. He wipedhis face with it. “I think I met the Empress of the Underworld, and I think Abbey’s in worse trouble than any of us thought.”
    Dave stared at Josh, then looked around the circle. When he spoke, it was to say, “Well, that complicates things, doesn’t it?”
    â€œWhat do you mean, Dave?” Reb inquired.
    â€œI mean, we heard from Zohar that once someone goes to that place called the Underworld, they never come back. So when we hear from Abbey, what do we do? Go after her?”
    Josh stared at him. “We’ll have to.”
    Dave Cooper had his share of courage, but he, like Josh and