by N. M. Howell
“I was at home,” Andie said, trying to hold onto her emotion. She turned away from Carmen and looked back to the chasm behind them. “I never saw the explosion.”
“You’re lucky.”
Andie nodded. “I…” she began, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. The memories of that day have haunted her since she was a child. It was the day her mother had been taken away from her. The day her mother had been killed.
Andie managed to hold herself together with the exception of a few tears that refused to obey her. She turned back to Carmen and offered the most genuine smile she could. Carmen reached out to wipe Andie’s cheek with her own sleeve and took hold of her shaking hand. She gave Andie a moment to breathe, to calm. They had gotten to know each other enough over the past few years that Carmen knew there was more going on behind Andie’s eyes than she let on.
“Andie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up anything painful for you.”
Andie shook her head, and a hoarse laugh sounded from her throat. “No, no. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“I only mentioned the story so that you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I will never abandon you. Whether it’s a falling building or racist professors. I’ll be here.”
Carmen took Andie’s other hand and gave it a light squeeze. Andie could tell from her hands just how weak her friend had gotten. Carmen yawned, and Andie pulled her pack over for her to use as a pillow while she rested. Andie offered a final smile and got up to go back to the precipice, leaving Carmen to rest. There was something about staring into that cold and endless void that took Andie’s mind off all the problems waiting above ground. She glanced back momentarily to Carmen, who had already fallen asleep next to the dying fire.
After what seemed like an endless amount of time trapped in her own thoughts, Raesh walked up beside her and stood silently. He did that often, always knowing when to speak and when to be silent, almost as if he were reading her mind. He knew her that well. Right then Andie was hoping that he knew what she needed, which was to hear his voice, even if it was only bad news. She had grown to love that voice over the past few months, not that she would ever admit that to him. Not after she had brushed him off for so long while she was at the University. It was just one of the many things she regretted.
“Eight months,” he finally said to her. “That’s how long we’ve been stuck down here, roving back and forth through these tunnels, looking for a path that isn’t here.”
“What else can we do?” Andie asked, still staring out into the black. “It’s almost a hundred percent guarantee at this point that there’s only one way out of this place, and it’s probably guarded with hundreds of professors. Without the dragonborn here to back us up, we’ll never make it out alive.”
“We have the dragonborn,” he said. “We’ve got you.”
Andie stood silent for a long moment. “I’m not enough.”
Raesh turned to her, slowly, deliberately. For a moment, he just stared at her, as if he couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. “I don’t ever want to hear you say that again. You’re all we’ll ever need.”
She shared a look with him then that escaped her ability to define. With the immensity of the pressure and the reality of their situation, there hadn’t been much time for romance, but she felt it whether he was near her or not. And she knew he felt it, too. It just wasn’t the right time to act on it.
“Raesh,” she began. “It’s just that now…we can’t really…I know what I’ve put you through with Tarven and the Archives and…the timing—”
“Isn’t right,” he said, nodding. “I know. Maybe someday.”
He smiled at her and then left. She felt incredibly grateful. She turned around, looking for Marvo, and couldn’t help but smile at Carmen snoring softly on the ground, curled up next to the burnt-out fire. Yara was also asleep, sprawled out near the dregs of the food reserves. They hadn’t been able to scavenge in a while, and their reserves has gotten dangerously low. Andie’s stomach grumbled just thinking about food.
She wrapped her arms tight around her waist, hoping no one had heard.
Chapter Two
Marvo’s fighters were scattered over the tunnel, sleeping, staring, eating, or finding some small way to pass the time, which was all they’d really had since the group came into the tunnels. Marvo was walking toward her, picking his way through the seated bodies and trying to dole out smiles as he went. He reached her undaunted, even though only one person had smiled back at him.
“It’s getting harder to keep everyone motivated, Andie,” he said. “A lot of them have already given up, and every day we lose a few more to this depression. We’re dying down here. I think it’s pretty clear now that the only way out is the way we came.”
Andie stared at him with wide eyes, but in her heart, she knew what he said was true. “If we go back the way we came, they’ll slaughter us for sure.”
Marvo nodded. “I agree, but if we’re just going to die down here anyway, it’s a risk we need to take. If we’d known this eight months ago, we’d have had no problem fighting our way out, but we’re weak now.”
“I know. Even with my own healing abilities, I’m finding myself growing weaker by the day. But if we try to face what’s up there, I don’t think we’ll win.”
“We’d have to approach it cleverly. We do have the element of surprise. They don’t even know we’re down here.”
“We hope they don’t. But even if we surprise them, we don’t know what we’d be walking into. There could be no one up there, or there could be hundreds. We chose to come here to the tunnels under the University because we thought it was the last place they’d look for us, but that whole plan was contingent on them not knowing we’re down here. If they’ve figured it out, they could just be waiting.”
“We sent up scouts,” Marvo said, his hands on his hips. “They just got back an hour ago.”
“What?” Andie asked, excited and anxious at once. “Any good news? What did they see?”
“Nothing, but they only went as far as the cafeteria to scavenge some more food. They didn’t see anyone at all, and they didn’t hear anything, but that’s not conclusive.”
“It could be a ruse,” she said, deep in thought. “Make the scouts think everything is okay so that we all go up.”
“Possibly. But we can’t continue like this. We need to get above ground. We might have won the first battle, but you know that this is far from over. The University has been in power for hundreds of years, and there is no way they’re going to just give that up. If by some chance they go down, they’ll do their best to bring the whole world with them.” Marvo ran his hands through his hair as he spoke, his eyes narrowed in intense desperation.
“I agree.”
“You know as well as I do that the lies about your people and their dragons have probably already spread coast to coast. Chancellor Mharú looked like a man on a mission, and he’s had eight months to get his poison into Noelle. Factor in the droves of professors who are just as angry and hateful as he is, and you can imagine what that many powerful sorcerers can do.”
Andie turned away from him, contemplating. Her mind was racing for a solution, anything that would help her escape having to risk the lives of everyone again. There had been so much death that night. She couldn’t handle anymore. She wished she could find the connection to her people. She knew they would know what to do or even be able to rescue them. But the dragonborn had their own problems, and she and the rest of her party underground were alone.
“Maybe I can make it to the other side of the cavern,” she said. “I think I could still be strong enough. We don’t know what’s on the other side. It could be our salvation.”
“Andie, you’re not listening,” Marvo said, gently but firmly taking her by the shoulders. “We have to get out of here. And there is only one way to do that. You know it.”
Andie looked at him, wanting to disagree, to fight him on it,
to save her friends. But she knew he wanted to spare them as much as she did. And she knew he was right about what they had to do. She could see his heart breaking in his eyes. And then it hit her, solidly and without any illusions. The war for the heart of Noelle had only just begun.
“Okay,” she said with a deep breath. “We’ll all come together, finish the rations, and then leave as soon as everyone’s rested.”
Marvo nodded in response and then turned to go. He took a few slow steps away and then turned back to Andie, his expression softened into one of compassion. “Hope is not lost, Andie. We still have a chance at survival.”
Marvo’s words filled Andie with a flicker of hope, but she dared not hold onto it for risk of setting herself up for disappointment. She knew their chances of survival were slim to none, but she supposed she could offer him what little faith she had left. When Andie finally nodded in agreement, Marvo turned again and left her to her own thoughts.
Andie spent a few more moments at the precipice before she came down to be with her friends. Scenarios of their escape ran rampant through her mind, none of which featured a desirable outcome. Still, she trusted Marvo’s instincts. If he truly believed they had a chance, she would do everything in her power to make sure it happened. Andie closed her eyes and let out a deep breath she had been holding, the cool breeze that blew up from the depths of the chasm offered her a moment of peace. Finally, she opened her eyes and turned to gaze out at those who remained of their party.
Raesh was over with Kristole, talking something over vehemently. Carmen had begun stirring, possibly from a bad dream or the pain in her ankle. Yara was waking up, and she smiled when she and Andie made eye contact. Yara beckoned her over, and Andie went to join her friend. She and Yara had grown close over the past eight months. They had been friends at the University too, for sure. But something changed when they embarked on their journey underground. The two had grown closer than sisters, and Andie always relished the moments they shared together, no matter how brief.
Yara offered Andie one of the last pieces of stale bread from their stores, but Andie refused as she sat down next to her friend. Yara shrugged and nibbled on the bread, and from the expression on her face, Andie imagined it hadn’t kept all that well in the damp cavern. The two chatted quietly between themselves for some time, about nothing and everything all at once. They strengthened each other while Andie told Yara about the new plan. Yara seemed as uneasy about it as Andie was, but she knew what needed to be done. Perhaps that was why Andie had grown so close to her. She was always the first to act when anything was needed, and she supported Andie in all her decisions. She was the rock that grounded her.
Not too long later, Marvo made the announcement to everyone. There wasn’t much of a reaction from the fighters. Like Marvo had said, they seemed to have given up completely. Raesh did what he could to rally them, but they mostly just sat down to eat and then drifted off at their own paces. Hardly anyone seemed to even listen or care. They were defeated, and Andie’s flicker of faith began to go out as she looked on at the faces of the men and women around her.
“I know what this looks like,” Marvo said loudly when it became clear his troops weren’t responding to his announcement. “It must seem like suicide. Like we fought all those people and sat through all those nights of planning just to die here, in the dark. But that’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid. We can’t stay here anymore, not if we ever want to see our families again. There is no way out of here, no back way, no secret passage, no magical tunnel waiting to be revealed.”
Marvo’s fighters began to stir. Andie listened from a distance with a small smile on her face. She was the reason they were all down there, and it was her duty to lead them to safety. But these were Marvo’s men, and she knew only he could be the one to truly convince them of their strength.
“The only way out is back where we came in, and we all know what is waiting there,” Marvo continued. “But I’m not scared. How can I be? We beat them once, and we’ll do it again if necessary. Fortunately, it’s unlikely that they even know we’re down here. I wish I had something better to say, but the time for grand speeches hasn’t come yet. All you need to know is that I’m going up there and I’m leaving, no matter what I find.”
Andie walked over to join the fighters, the Council, looking up at Marvo and thinking that what he was doing was brilliant. He knew as well as she did that the fighters were tapped, borderline hopeless, and trying to rally them in any traditional sense was futile. But everybody loved Marvo, and the easier, better option was to inspire them not to believe in themselves but to believe in him. Give a soldier orders and someone to look up to and their path becomes clear.
“I think they believe him,” Yara said as she joined Andie among the now livelier-looking crowd.
“I hope so,” Andie replied, threading her arm through Yara’s extended elbow. “Whoever we find up there isn’t going to be happy to see us. If we can’t muster the courage to take them on, then we’ll die in this tunnel. In the dark.”
“Personally, I’m more concerned about what comes after that. Not only do we have to make it through the city and find somewhere safe, but we have to fight the lie. By now everyone up there thinks that your people are dangerous, evil. They must be so afraid, and you know what people are capable of when they’re afraid. What kind of horrors are waiting for us up there? What kind of world are we going up to?”
“I don’t know, but I suspect they won’t be welcoming us back with open arms anytime soon. I just hope my people have managed to escape. I can’t imagine how much this world has changed since their time. Everything must be so different to them now, and they have no one to trust. I just want to see them again.”
“You will. Soon,” Yara said, leaning her head against Andie’s. She then gave her friend a brief hug and left to go help Carmen recover their packs and get ready for their journey back up to the surface.
Within an hour, everyone had rolled up what few things they had and was ready to go. Raesh seemed hopeful, or at least was trying his best to look so. Marvo now looked sullener than he had before, and Andie knew the toll all of this was taking on him. Just as she worried for the dragonborn, she knew Marvo worried for his fighters. They had risked so much in coming there to her aid. There were no speeches or last looks at the dark, cold place that had been their makeshift home, just a high signal from Marvo and then the moving of feet. Andie was the only one to look behind her and stare off into the deep dark of the cavern one final time.
The journey was slow, measured. Everyone was thinking the same thoughts and feeling the same fears, but it was eerily quiet as they walked. Carmen and Yara walked a few paces ahead of Andie, who walked side by side with Raesh, though even they were quiet. Andie nodded to both Kristole and Murakami, who had held up well even though they were the two oldest members of the group. Andie looked around her, took a serious look at the state they were in for the first time in a while.
They were thin, haggard, the men unshaved and the women’s hair pulled back in loose, rough ponytails. All of the fighters wore black, but their clothes were horrendously dirty, frayed, and threadbare. Everybody walked slightly bent as if the invisible weight of the world was pulling their shoulders down. And although she couldn’t see it with her eyes, she knew that they were all hungry and worn out inside. The battle at the University had been one fight, and living underground had been another. And, as much as it hurt Andie to think it, these fights were only just the beginning.
They may have won some battles, but they were still far off from winning the war.
Chapter Three
It only took a few hours before they neared the surface. A muted, warm light flooded in from before them, and Andie could sense everyone’s spirits rise immediately. Raesh had been sent ahead to scope out their exit, and Andie stood strong before the rest of the party, soaking in what little sunlight she could. Even the faint glow on her skin revitalized her, and she felt stronger than she had in m
onths.
“It looks clear,” Raesh said when he returned. “I didn’t see or hear anything, but I don’t like this at all. It doesn’t feel right.”
“I agree, son, but we don’t have a choice. There’s no way we can go back.” Marvo paced back and forth as we all stood ready, waiting for his orders. Andie had stepped back and allowed Marvo to take over command. There was no one better than he to lead the group to victory, but she remained ready to step forward when the time came. Marvo turned back to face everyone and gave his commands. “Raesh, you stay up here at the front with me. I may need you and your pearlblood magic to blast through some things.”
“Or some people,” Raesh grinned. He looked like he was actually having fun, and Andie couldn’t help but laugh. Raesh winked at her when he caught her staring, and a slight blush crept up her cheeks. She feigned a cough and turned the other way. It was definitely not time for flirting.
“Andie, I want you and Yara to bring up the rear. We don’t need anything surprising us from behind. Carmen, you stay in the middle and try to be as light on that ankle as you can. Everybody stay in tight and stay ready. We’re only going to get one shot at this.”
“What do you think this is?” Yara asked.
The group looked around at one another, waiting for someone to answer. Andie rubbed her neck and let out a loud sign. “A trap,” she finally said.
Silence swept through the tunnel at her words, but soon after everyone fell into position as Marvo directed. The fighters formed into a loose phalanx and Andie and Yara kept their heads up, looking for anything and everything. Andie had great instincts, and everything inside was telling her they had walked into something strange. It was simply too easy.
In a matter of moments, everyone had cleared the edge of the tunnel, and they were above ground for the first time in months. But the farther they moved, the less sure Andie was. She tried to convince herself that their plan had worked, that the University had never known they were down there—after all, that was the point of their plan in the first place.
