by J. R. Ford
Ana stopped. I nearly bumped into her. Heather bumped into me, not spear-first, thankfully.
The stairway opened into a vertical shaft, walls rough and natural looking. Two metal bridges formed a cross over the drop, and each path led to other ascending staircases. Next to one of the bridges, a rusty ladder stretched down into the darkness. More crossed bridges glittered from below.
A series of moldy ropes hung beside the ladder. A leather harness was tied to one, complete with loops for someone to step into and a buckle to secure around the chest. Dubious. I’d chance the ladder.
Ana proceeded. She reached the intersection of bridges without incident.
“Where to?” she asked, looking at the three ascending staircases.
Farrukh inspected some scratches in the rust of the bridge. “Down.” He slung his bow over his back and was soon lost to darkness.
Ana went next, lantern dangling from a belt loop, illuminating the basalt walls as she descended.
I reckoned middle was safer than caboose. I gestured for Heather to proceed.
As she descended, silence misted in, smothering. I could hear nothing besides the shuffling of my friends’ movements.
The ladder was cool and hard. Progress was slow, with the torch in one hand. I had to focus on the ladder, and within a minute I’d lost sight of my friends, only the soft glow from Ana’s lantern visible below. I passed another pair of crossed bridges, each leading to ascending stairwells. The silence was oppressive, compounded by the solitude. Fear tickled the nape of my neck. What if we became separated? Could I stand against that monster on my own?
My ears strained against the darkness, trying to make out something, anything…
A shout, then a screech rent the air. I turned to see a dark mass shooting up the chasm. Torchlight glittered on bared fangs.
I let go of the ladder, tottered, then grabbed it again. Falling was doom. I dropped the torch and fumbled for my dagger, just in time to slash at the flying beast, catching it in the face. It hurtled past me.
“Ana!” I shouted, as darkness enveloped me, for the lantern light was gone. Air whooshed in my ears. No response. The blackness lay over my eyes as thick as a curtain.
My mind flashed back to the scene at Riyaasat, in the encompassing dark, mandibles reaching for my head. I screamed. “Ana! Heather! Farrukh!” In Riyaasat, my friends had saved me. They were gone now. Nothing but choking panic.
“Pavel!” It echoed up the shaft.
I stuffed my dagger into my belt and raced down the ladder. Another screech didn’t deter me, nor did the sound of rushing air which told me the beast was swooping down for another pass. My right foot touched bridge, and I collapsed, just as the monster plummeted past. I lay on my back, cold metal pressing against my skull. The air tasted of mold and sweat.
“Ana,” I groaned. “Heather, Farrukh…” Silence bounced the feeble sounds back to me, the only audience in my isolation.
I couldn’t see a thing. I clawed for a wall and clambered up, but standing helped nothing.
The monster was in the chasm. I retreated into a stairwell, each step tentative, not knowing what lay in darkness before my feet.
Could it reach me in here? I drew my rapier, for what good it would do me. My eyes ached.
Farrukh had said these were ambush predators. My skin crawled. I didn’t dare move. I was pretty sure bats have great hearing.
Was that the shuffling of a beast in the dark, or my own blood rushing in my ears? I wanted to scream.
If I could actually catch my breath, it might not be a bad idea. But calling for my friends would attract the beast as well.
My chances of solo survival were slim. Maybe I could ascend the ladder, find the entrance…but then I’d be a coward alone in the wilderness while Ana, Heather, and Farrukh battled horrors unseen.
And if the noise drew the beast to me, it couldn’t hurt any of them. My breathing settled as the path became clear. “Ana! Heather! Farrukh!”
Faint shuffling sounds from up the stairs. Could my companions have fled there somehow? Then a screech from the shaft raked across the back of my neck. I whirled. Hollow clangs echoed — something was on the bridge.
“Hello?” I called.
It was footsteps. I lowered rapier and dagger in time for someone to crash into me. We sprawled, my backpack cushioning my fall, the clatter of wood and tickle of hair on my face identifying my companion.
“Heather? What happened?” I asked.
She got off me. “We were attacked. Ana and Farrukh kept going, down to the next landing, I think. It can’t be more than thirty feet.”
“Let’s go.” The trollbat shrieked. “Second thought, let’s not.”
“It’s coming for us,” Heather whispered. Steel scraped stone as she set her spear against the back of a stair. “Get behind me.”
Did the sound of her voice quench my terror? No, but at least we’d die together, a much better death than alone in the dark. Air blasted my face, then claw clinked on stone, from the direction of the bridge.
Light! Two crescent claws shone crimson from the otherwise complete blackness, only bright enough to illuminate one dark-furred forepaw walking toward us.
“It can’t fly in these tunnels,” I realized. Neither of us moved, only watched those red curves, step by step.
The beast lunged. There was a thump as spear sank into flesh, then Heather cried out. I darted past her and chopped into a chunk of meat. Next came the dagger, plunging deep into the monster’s furry body. Jaws closed on my shoulder with sudden ferocity. I wriggled uselessly, then smashed the cup hilt of my rapier into the monster’s head and was free. Its maw glowed demonic red, blood — my blood — shining luminescent on its fangs.
Heather pushed past me, and claws shrieked on stone. The blood-light glinted on the prongs of her spear, still embedded in its breast, the flesh beneath writhing and bulging as it tried to knit itself back together. I dropped my weapons, grabbed her, and pushed. The beast gnashed and struggled, to no avail. As the flesh worked, the red glow faded. The struggle lasted a dark eternity.
At last, when the blood-light had fully faded from tooth and claw, its grip slipped, and it tumbled over a stair. With a tearing sound, the spear came free. The beast scrambled back until a whoosh of air told us it had thrown itself from the bridge. We stood panting in the utter darkness for a moment. Then Heather hugged me.
It came out of nowhere, what with how we couldn’t see each other and all. A deep breath slowed my racing heart, and for just a second I enjoyed the primeval comfort of a human embrace. No matter how dark the dungeon, there is some peace to be had in the arms of another. Her hair smelled of lilacs.
The second passed, and my shoulder reminded me that it had been bitten. I winced and retreated, feeling at it. Bloody and painful, but I could move the arm, so I’d worry about it later. I felt around for my rapier and dagger, asking, “You good?”
“Got clawed on my arm, but I think I’m all right.”
Her arm felt wet. She sucked in a breath. “Sorry,” I said. “Hold on.”
I rummaged in the pack for the roll of gauze and wrapped her wound. “Render aid: +1.” While I was at it, I took another strip and staunched my own. It was difficult, in the dark, and it didn’t earn me any points.
The monster’s face had resembled a devil’s when my blood lit its mouth. But if it had been my blood glowing — whose blood had painted its claws in the first place?
“You said you saw Ana below us?” I asked.
Heather paused, then said, “Yeah, on the next landing. I keep forgetting you can’t see me nod.”
Without thinking, “Here.” I put my hand to her cheek and immediately regretted it. I physically cringed away out of embarrassment.
Heather just laughed, the sound warm in the damp chill of the cavern. “Or you could get the tinder out.”
“Oh yeah.” I pawed for the small steel capsule. “Hold on.”
I struck the flint and steel. The tin
der caught, providing some meager light, barely enough to tell the shape of the staircase.
Another shriek echoed past us. My blood congealed to cold jelly.
“Was that,” Heather began.
“Behind us,” I confirmed. We turned in the stairway, for what good our eyes would do. Claws clinked toward us in an urgent tempo.
“Run?” Heather whispered. Her hand gripped mine.
“Run.”
It’s tough to run down stairs in near-darkness, even when the stairs are so neatly uniform. The monster behind us helped. We rushed down, our breathing heavy. My palm was sweaty in Heather’s. Thudding footsteps turned hollow.
Something screeched from the other side of the bridge. The other one was back for seconds. Whether it was still injured or fully healed, I didn’t know, and didn’t want to gamble.
“Ladder!” I said.
“Too slow,” Heather said. “There’s a harness!” She released my hand and stepped into the loops. The tinder’s light was too dim to determine the harness’s condition.
“Hold onto me.” Her tone didn’t inspire confidence, but what choice did I have? I wrapped my arms around her and together we leapt into the void.
The harness caught us midair and slowed our fall, though not by much. Air rushed past us and filled our screaming mouths, whipping out the smoldering tinder. Without any light, we couldn’t see the landing where Ana and Farrukh had dismounted. One faint cry reached us, Ana’s voice from above, “Heather!”
Heather jerked out of my grasp and the floor crashed into me. Pain exploded through my legs. Heather rustled out of the harness, then yelped and hit the ground beside me.
I tried to rise, but my ankles flared. Darkness strobed.
A shriek from above got me on hands and knees, crawling away. Panic rose in my gorge, overpowering the pain of broken ankles. Helplessness was a noose.
“I’ll defend you,” Heather gasped.
I let out a choked cry and continued hobbling away. Wind buffeted my back, and Heather shouted. Claws raked stone, and Heather stumbled, still shouting a frenzy. Smash. Scream. I took another crawling step, but the rock wasn’t below my hand, and then I was tumbling down, down, down, head over shattered heels. Stone battered me from every angle, striking my head, shoulders, knees. At last I rolled to a stop. Water tickled my fingertips.
I’d found my river to drown in. Peace blanketed me, insulating me from the agony. It hadn’t been my fault. No one could call me a coward. Perhaps best of all, no one had seen it, not even me. I wouldn’t be burdened with a mortal recording, just the memory of pain. If only I had some water…
But I’d have no succor, only the echoing clamor of Heather battling the bat. Blood-light blinked in and out of sight as the two wrestled — Heather must be injured. Guess I had one final task. But when I tried to move, the pain from my ankles made the world spin. Bile flooded my throat and mouth. There was nothing I could do to help her. I tried again anyway.
I was shaken awake. Warm light revealed two teary faces.
“Ana, Heather,” I muttered.
“Oh, Pav, I thought I’d killed you!” Heather cried. Sobs racked her shoulders.
“I’m fine,” I tried to lie. It barely came out. “Please, water.” I thought I could discern a third form over Ana’s shoulder — death lurking. Not long until Luxembourg.
Nope, it was Farrukh. “His legs look bad. We’ll have to set them before he can drink the potion, and fast — he’s losing blood. Either of you know how to set bones?”
Damn my morbid curiosity. My bones shone slick wet in the lantern light, freezing cold against the cavern air. I forced my breath to come steady. Not long.
“I’m sure we can figure it out,” Ana said.
“I’m good,” I groaned, terrified but too tired to show it. “You guys can just kill me. But first, water…”
“Hold him down,” Farrukh told Heather, then he took my shin and Ana my foot. White pain erupted, then I was again awakened.
“Drink this.” Farrukh’s voice, while he pressed his canteen into my hand. I took a swallow and almost retched.
I tried to ignore the pain and sipped at the potion. Slowly, warmth spread through my chest and legs. I sighed, “Oh, that’s good… Where are we?”
The lantern illuminated a dark lake beside us.
“Under the mountains,” Farrukh said.
14
“Great job, ranger,” Ana said. “I’ll figure out how to get us out of here.”
“Don’t you put the blame on me,” Farrukh growled, wide-eyed and tight-lipped. “If it weren’t for you, I would’ve killed the beast in the clearing.” He took a knife from his pack, unwrapped the cloth sheath, and knelt by a dark shape. The trollbat, I realized.
“How is that our fault? We were just walking through the forest. If you’d warned us earlier, you could’ve shot it no problem!”
“It wasn’t your fault, only bad luck. But it is your fault we got separated, when you smashed that lantern. We could’ve faced it together, then I could’ve brewed us some potions, and we’d be back by sunset.”
“My fault? It went out when I had to do acrobatics to keep you from falling off that ladder!”
“I’d have been fine. The thing barely scratched me.” I noticed then a gash in Farrukh’s mantle and the back of his tunic. Guess the blood on the claws had been his. White bandages showed beneath as he bent down and cut open the dead monster’s belly. Reeking intestine spilled over the rock.
Ana huffed and walked up the slope, toward where we’d fallen. “There’s no ladder, and the counterweights are smashed. Maybe I can rig something with the rope.”
“I’ll take a look in a sec,” Farrukh said, eyes intent on the surgery. “I’m pretty good with knots.”
“Of course. What are you not good at?”
I would’ve laughed, but Ana’s tone told me that this time the bad joke had been unintentional. She must’ve really been seeing red. Time to squash this beef before it went rancid. As playfully as I could, I said, “You’re one to talk!”
Ana glared. My foot tasted bitter.
Getting up, my ankles felt surprisingly fine, given how a few minutes ago my bones had met fresh air. The potion had worked wonders. “How’re you, Heather?”
The hasty bandage I’d tied in the dark was bloody. “My arm’s in a poor way, but I’m fine otherwise. Can’t wait to taste some of that potion. But what about you?”
“Healthy as a dead horse.”
“Tell me you’re all right, Pav. Really.” She seemed…cross, as her people would put it.
“No, the potion did it. I’m fine.”
The tension leaked from her. “Good. I hate seeing you hurt on my behalf. Ever since we met, you’ve been risking life and limb for me.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. Dying in pursuit of justice is no shame. And even if it weren’t for you, Ana and I would probably still butt heads with Edwin.”
“And coming into this cave? We interrupted Farrukh’s hunt because of Edwin’s thugs, but I was the one who said we should come down here. I thought I could protect you. But we’re still about to die, and it’s still my fault, and I’m still too weak to do anything to help.”
My mind swam for a moment. Twelve thoughts fought for my tongue. In the end, I latched onto her final words. “Weak? Did you see yourself back in those tunnels?”
She smiled. “No.”
“You’re picking up Ana’s bad habits.” But I smiled too. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be bat chow.”
“Saving you isn’t worth much when I was the one who put you in danger in the first place. I think Farrukh feels the same way.”
“He just doesn’t like Ana for some reason.” That can of worms wasn’t worth opening, not with all the ones I already had to wrangle.
Heather continued. “And, to make it worse, if one of you got killed…I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d keep going. Get the Storm’s Breath.”
&
nbsp; “When I’d never see you again?”
“We’d see each other. I could visit you.” The kind of promise that was easy to say, because it was a lie.
“I told you, I'm not allowed visitors,” she said. “And I don't go out much.”
“Why not?”
She glared at me as if it should be obvious.
Right, her parents. “But your parents let you come here?”
“It took me all week to get my courage up, to tell my father that I’d bought a ticket.” She must’ve seen the confusion on my face. “I’ve always had access to my accounts, probably because I’d only ever bought clothes, video games — normal stuff. He forbade me from coming, at first, but I convinced him it would be the safest way I could see a world outside the estate. I think I caught him off-guard — I’d never stood up to him like that before.” She shivered. “But I heard a glass shatter in his study, that night. And in the morning, he said that this would be my only excursion. After this, right back to the estate, for good.”
I swallowed. I hadn’t realized how much the game meant to her.
“When I came here, I was hoping it would mean freedom. Edwin stole that from me.”
“And we’re fighting to get that back,” I started, but she kept going.
“But it isn’t worth your lives. What’s the point of freedom without you? Without Ana?”
“Don’t be stupid. Do you want to go back to your father? Death can have its way with me, but you have to survive.” Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite — but I couldn’t back down now.
Silence rose between us, glossy like the lake’s surface. It muted Heather’s breathing as surely as if she were submerged. I was isolated in my idiocy.
It had only been yesterday that I’d resolved to keep my mouth shut. Heather’s distance froze the lesson in my mind.
Farrukh said, “Got it! I’ll brew up the potion once we’re out of here. Now about those ropes — I once saw a knot where you could put your legs through a couple loops, then haul yourself up hand over hand.” Sounded promising. I turned toward him, but Heather’s hand on my arm stopped me cold.
