by Elin Wyn
Nesta
“The Old Caverns,” I muttered, my heart tightening into a scared little fist. Our flashlight illuminated the cavernous place in front of us, stalactites hanging from the ceiling like daggers, projecting their elongated shadows across the walls. “Quiet now,” I warned Sylor, and we carefully made our way inside the cavern.
I put one foot after the other cautiously, trying not to make a sound, but my heart was beating so loudly I couldn’t stop myself from being afraid whatever dwelled here in the depths would hear me.
There was no sign of the tents that once had formed the old city, their canvas and poles long gone, and only ripped pieces of fabric that had been discarded lay on the ground. They were so old that they disintegrated easily, the sole of my boots destroying them as I pressed them against the earth.
“Look,” I whispered, pointing the flashlight toward the walls. Old etchings of faces, buildings, and flowers covered their surface, telling a story of the first people that had come here from the surface. There were also drawings of a creature as dark as the night, its eyes burning with murderous intent. Just that drawing was enough to make my throat go dry.
Few dared go after a Kouldarc, and I still remembered all the stories Odeon used to tell me about the men that went on a hunt, never to return. The creature thrived in the shadows, the silence of the depths its only companion, and only a few brave but suicidal hunters dared go after it...and that with all manners of equipment. The fact that I only had a flashlight in my hand did nothing to help my nerves. Sure, I had Sylor, but still…
“Don’t be nervous,” he told me in a whisper, his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t say anything to him, but I laid my hand on top of his. His fingers squeezed my shoulder kindly, and I felt myself growing more relaxed. Even though we were so different, he seemed to know exactly what I was feeling.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” I said after a few minutes of walking. “The Kouldarc only moves in the shadows. It blends in with the darkness, where it feels safe, so I think our flashlight won’t help.”
“I might have a solution for that,” he said promptly, grabbing his backpack and laying it on the ground. He knelt before it and, while I held the flashlight, he started unpacking. He unfolded a roll of canvas on the floor, then grabbed a few electronics from a small metallic case.
“What are you doing?”
“You’ll see,” he said, momentarily looking up at me.
Grabbing a datapad he carried with him, he popped out the case back with the tip of his knife and start untangling a few wires. Before I knew it, he had hooked up a few electronics to the datapad. Using a pair of braces, he then secured the datapad to his backpack.
“Hold this,” he said as he removed the scope of his laser rifle, handing it to me. He then tapped the datapad a few times, and two seconds later the scope in my hands lit up. “Try it.”
Having no idea what I’d see, I held the scope up and pressed it against my right eye. To my surprise, I could now see into the darkness, a green glow covering the surface of the walls and the floor.
“Those scope models are old, and don’t have night vision,” he explained, “but I managed to hook it up to a program I just coded in the datapad. Now the scope is feeding the visuals straight into the datapad, which converts the signals into something we can actually see, and then it feeds that signal back to the lenses.”
“You did this now?” I asked him, momentarily forgetting where I was and raising my voice. I had met a lot of men that knew their way around electronics, but I had never seen anyone work so fast and with so little warning. No wonder the Valorni had pegged Sylor as their weapons designer: he was more than just talented...he was gifted. “That’s...that’s amazing, Sylor.”
“Thank you, Nesta,” he returned, a proud smile spreading on his lips. It seemed there was no easier way to make Sylor smile than to compliment him on his handiwork. He really prided himself on his creations.
“So... I guess I have to turn this off now?” I asked him, hesitantly looking down at the flashlight in my hands. Even though I knew that walking in the darkness was the best shot we had at finding a Kouldarc, I didn’t like the idea one bit. As fun as it was to hunt some murderous creature inside an abandoned city that had been the place of a massacre, it was hard not to prefer being back at the tent, where I could enjoy a nice breakfast without having an ancient creature trying to murder me.
“Yes, turn it off,” Sylor nodded, still looking as relaxed as always. He was either underestimating the strength of a Kouldarc, or he simply wasn’t afraid of it. Being that Sylor was the kind of guy that calculated every move of his, my bet was on the latter.
And if Sylor wasn’t afraid, then I’d just follow his lead.
Taking a deep breath, I turned the flashlight off. The darkness swallowed us whole in a heartbeat and, for a moment, panic started taking over my mind. As if he had been anticipating it, Sylor just reached for me and held my hand. Grabbing his improvised scope with his other hand, he held it up as he started marching deeper into the cavern.
Our pace slowed down considerably, since Sylor was now the only one of us that could see, but he guided me carefully through the uneven ground of the cavern. His hand remained on mine, his large fingers making mine feel so delicate that I almost felt like a child again.
We spent the next two hours simply walking further into the caverns, but always avoiding the tunnels that ventured deeper than I felt comfortable with. Still, there was no sign of any Kouldarc.
“I think we have to go deeper,” I whispered, holding Sylor’s hand more tightly. I didn’t like the idea of entering the tunnels this deep underground, but it seemed as if we had no choice. We couldn’t return to Nyheim without the toxin. Sylor would never accept defeat and, somehow, I had bought into his crusade. If the people of Nyheim needed me to do this, then I would do it.
“Deeper, yes,” Sylor whispered back at me, already leading the way there. “Don’t be afraid, Nesta. I’ll die before I let anything happen to you. You’re safe with me.”
“Thank you,” I found myself saying, pressing my body against his. Because I knew he wouldn’t be able to see me in the dark, I let a smile spread across my lips. I had no idea what the hell Sylor had done to me, but I really felt safe around him. More than just safe, I felt comfortable.
For a long time, I had never let anyone come close. The members of my old gang were the only ones I let in, and I’d just keep my distance from anyone else. Trust didn’t come easy for me, but it was different with Sylor. And it was more than just trust or comfort...somehow, I was starting to really like him.
“Stop,” he suddenly whispered, freezing in place. I had no idea why he had stopped, but I just did what he told me and didn’t say a word.
Then, I heard it.
Coming from the depths, a growl.
The Kouldarc was close.
Sylor
The growl echoed through the cavern. Instinctively, I reached out and grabbed Nesta, pulling her behind me. There was little to see with the scope as I slowly panned back and forth, searching for the creature.
Another growl came, the echo making it difficult to pinpoint its location. Nesta tapped me on the left elbow, directing my attention. I slowly panned to my left, and soon came across movement. I caught sight of a leg going behind a boulder, so I concentrated my attention on that boulder and waited. Soon, the creature moved from behind its cover and I was able to get my first good look at the Kouldarc. A quick glance in its direction without the scope showed me that the Kouldarc melded almost perfectly with the dark. When it blinked, its eyes flashed a bright yellow for a brief moment before fading back into the dark.
Using the scope once again, I was able to study it as it studied us. It had an almost feline quality to it, except for the six legs. Its long, lithe body moved fluidly, while its three whip-like tails waved back and forth like saplings in the wind. It opened its mouth and let out a noise that sounded like a whispered roar.
&nbs
p; It must not have thought us a threat. As quickly as I could, I snapped the scope onto my blaster and brought it up. The Kouldarc had moved, it took me a brief moment to find it again. It was moving slowly, patiently, towards our right. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end as it stepped towards us and I was able to see the Kouldarc’s paws. Even ten yards away from it as we were, I could see that its paws were massive, about the size of my own hands, and the paws ended in six razor-sharp, three-inch claws that made no noise when they hit the cavern floor.
I took aim and it must have seen me, for its head tilted to the side in curiosity. Not wanting to squander the moment, I fired and watched as nothing happened. My blaster fire seemed to simply absorb into the creature. It let out a series of short hisses that sounded almost like laughter.
“Do you have any idea how to kill it?” I whispered back to Nesta, who had laid her head against my back. I could feel her head move side-to-side in a negative. “I thought not. Well, blasters don’t work. I wonder what else we can try before he attacks us.”
I returned to watching the Kouldarc as it moved and paced in front of us. It stayed back from us, almost as if it wasn’t sure of us, either. Our staring contest continued for minutes before I became aware of something. Its coloration and movements seemed to make it part of the darkness, as if the darkness were another skin for it.
That was it! The darkness. I reached behind me and pulled Nesta forward. She resisted at first, but I was firm. “Hold this,” I whispered sternly as I put the blaster in her hands. “Keep an eye on it…there,” I said as I helped her find the creature.
As she maintained a visual on the creature, I reached into my side pack and pulled out a flare. I quickly took the flare apart and removed the wick. “Come with me,” I said as I gently pulled Nesta back into the lighted part of the caverns. I had her hold the scope up for me to look through. The Kouldarc stayed where it was, sitting on its haunches, watching us.
I took the blaster back from Nesta and quickly removed two rounds. “Watch,” I told her. I quickly attached the wick of the flare to one of the rounds, then added the blasting cap. What I had essentially done was create a modified flare-round. Since I did not have a flare gun, I was forced to improvise. “Now, do the same,” I said to her as I handed her the other round and another flare.
I emptied the blaster of the regular rounds, inserted my modified flare, then waited for Nesta to finish the other one. I wanted her to do it because I wanted her to be able to care for herself if she were ever away from me and in a situation where improvisation was needed.
She finished the round, as I had done, and handed it to me with shaking hands. “Is it right?” she asked.
I nodded. “Perfect. You’ve got a knack for this.” I quickly loaded the round, then loaded the remaining rounds back into the blaster. I clicked off the safety, brought the blaster up, and looked again for the Kouldarc. There it sat, watching me. It had not moved.
“Stay here,” I cautioned. I walked back into the darkness, getting close enough to the creature that I could hear it breathing. It still sat, watching me, its three tails sweeping back and forth across the cavern floor. I took a deep breath and quickly came up with a plan.
As quickly as I could, I pointed the blaster in the air and fired. As the round flew up, I brought the barrel back down. The Kouldarc was moving, quickly. He cleared the distance between us in one and a half bounds of its six powerful legs. As it was in the air, I fell to the ground and averted my eyes to guard against the explosion of the flare. The cavern lit up brightly as the creature’s screams filled my ears. It crashed to the ground beside me and I turned and fired the second round directly into its quivering torso.
The flare erupted and covered the beast in flames, its shrieks and screams both frightening and pitiful. I felt sorry for the beast, if only for a moment. I regained my feet and moved away as it twitched and writhed in pain.
Nesta rushed over and fairly tackled me back down to the ground. “I thought it had gotten you,” she whispered desperately as we lay on the ground. Before I could answer, she plunged down and kissed me, her tongue nearly breaking through my teeth to reach my own. Her enthusiasm and passion overwhelmed me and I returned the fire.
I ran my hands up and down her back as she kissed me, my hands gently caressing the small of her back before I moved them down to her firm and amazing hind quarters. She moaned as I grabbed her and pushed herself against me, grinding against me, getting my blood rushing.
The pleasure that I felt was intense, but I was determined to make it last. I refused to let myself go, not without being able to feel all of her. As she pulled her head up to breathe, she smiled at me. Then she looked past me and nearly cursed.
“What is it?” I asked as I craned my neck to look. The creature was dissolving before our eyes.
“We still need to get the toxin,” she said as she climbed off me. I hated to have her leave me, but she was correct. The toxin was of vital importance. As she rushed over to begin extracting the teeth, I straightened my pants and gained my feet. I reached into my pack that had fallen off when she tackled me and extracted the case we had brought with us.
She pulled carefully at the teeth, using a small pair of clamps that she had brought with her. If any of the teeth excreted the toxin while she pulled, the clamps would keep her protected. I kneeled next to her as she pulled one tooth, then another, placing them carefully in the case. She managed to extract five teeth before the Kouldarc turned to dust, taking the rest of its teeth with it.
She looked up at me, a sense of pride, fear, and desire on her face. “We did it,” she breathed.
I nodded. I could scarcely contain my desire for her. The feel of her hands, her skin, and her lips against me kept my adrenaline pumping, kept my mind thinking about her and what her body would look like without clothes.
I smiled at her in hopes that my smile would rekindle our earlier actions. As I held my hand out to her, another growl filled the cavern, a much louder and deeper growl than before. Not wishing to discover the size of the creature that owned such a growl, I grabbed Nesta and we escaped the cavern, grabbing our packs as we went.
We headed away from the cavern and back into the tunnel, keeping an eye behind us. It wasn’t very long before I was comfortable enough to slow down our pace and walk.
Her hand was small, painfully small, in my own, but it felt right. I wanted her, desired her, and wished to feel those hands against my body again. To feel her hands draw themselves slowly down my chest and across parts of me…I wished for that to be something that I could feel for the rest of my days.
Nesta
We made our way back to the marketplace in a state of pure euphoria, the toxin safely stored inside Sylor’s backpack. The fight against the Kouldarc hadn’t been an easy one, but Sylor hadn’t flinched in the face of danger. On the contrary...he seemed to thrive whenever his life was on the line.
While most men would balk at the impossible task in front of them, Sylor hadn’t even hesitated before rising up to meet the challenge. And all that even though he was doing it to protect a species that wasn’t his own.
There was more to the Valorni than met the eye, apparently.
“Tired?” he asked me, the lights from the marketplace already glowing up ahead. I breathed out with relief as I started hearing the usual chatter from the vendors, and only when I considered Sylor’s question did I realize every single muscle in my body seemed as heavy as lead. Even something as simple as keeping my eyes open was taking a massive amount of effort.
“I’m exhausted,” I sighed, but even my exhaustion wasn’t enough to wipe the smile off my face. The memories of Sylor’s body were still fresh in my mind, and that ensured my smile would be etched on my face for hours to come.
“I know,” he said softly. “So am I.”
Gently laying his large hand on my lower back, his fingers brushing against the patch of bare skin between my shirt and pants, he looked into my eyes and s
miled. I returned it, closing my eyes for a moment as I enjoyed the way I had my hand tucked inside his.
“Finally,” Sylor groaned the moment we stepped inside our tent. Taking his backpack off, he placed it in one of the corners, hiding it under a series of pillows, and then almost collapsed on our improvised bed of blankets. I dragged my feet toward where he was and, like a deflated balloon, I crashed next to him.
“Thank you, Nesta,” he breathed out as I turned to face him. Even though he was tired, his eyes were still full of life.
“For what?” I asked, closing the distance between the two of us and laying my head on his chest. I closed my eyes as I heard the gentle beating of his heart, my fingers tracing the contour of his toned pectorals.
“For everything,” he replied, his voice nothing but a whisper. “You might have saved Nyheim.”
“I only came this far because of you,” I said, not even bothering with lying. “If it weren’t for you…” I trailed off then, the exhaustion in my muscles slowly seeping into my mind. The rest of my sentence died in my throat, and I felt my consciousness drifting away from me. The only thing I still felt from the waking world were Sylor’s fingers, woven in my hair as he gently caressed me.
I slept more peacefully than I had in years, and when my eyelids fluttered open, I was still in the same position. Slowly raising my head, I glanced at the tent’s entrance and sighed with relief as I realized it was still nighttime, the dim lights of the underground’s marketplace indicating the passage of time. I still had a few more hours of sleep ahead of me.
“Already awake?” I heard Sylor ask me, and I rolled to the side so that I was facing him. He was looking at me with lazy eyes, his mellow voice telling me he must’ve woken up while I was trying to see if it was morning already.
