by Erik Hyrkas
Then the frantic beating became a slow, feeble twitch.
“That was some badass shit,” Hunter said.
Brit threw her arms around Hunter.
“Ouch!” He gave her a few awkward pats on the back. “Okay, you’re crushing me,” he whispered
She let go, realizing that he was squeezing his injured ribs. “I thought for sure…”
“Not yet,” he said. “Let’s keep moving.”
Brit handed him his armilon.
“I think it is out of power,” she said.
He tucked it away into the waist of his jeans. “Let’s take to the road,” he said.
“What if they see us?” Brit asked.
“This one clearly followed us on foot,” he said. “Our best bet at this point is to put as much distance between us and that tower. If the others were near, they would have heard all of the noise. The road will be much easier to walk on.”
They clambered out of the woods and onto the narrow road. If the other raivos were approaching, Brit couldn't see or hear them.
Brit tried to run, but her feet screamed agony and she was forced to walk. Hunter kept pace with her, and he seemed to know she was in pain because he didn’t push her to go faster.
When they came to the river and the broken bridge, Brit was relieved to soak her injured feet in the cool water. She sat on the shore, letting the water run over her toes. Thoughts of the demons entered her mind and then were washed away.
“We can rest a little,” Hunter said, “but we shouldn’t stay too long. I’m getting really hungry, so we’ve probably been gone for quite a while now.”
“Do you miss Earth?” she asked.
“I miss my daughter,” he said.
“I was thinking about the portal back at the tower,” she said. “I want more than anything to escape to Earth with Jax, but I realized that, when I saw the black stairs, I would have taken them anywhere if he had been with me at that moment. Wherever they led, it would have been better than here.”
Hunter nodded. “I understand. It was definitely tempting to risk it, but wherever it leads, it is probably a one-way trip. I want to make sure it leads to my daughter, Molly. My wife will be in her 90s, if she’s alive. She must hate me even more than my daughter.”
Hunter was married to Jax’s sister, Trina, somebody Brit hadn't thought about in decades. Trina was a few years older than Hunter, and something of a fitness nut.
“Trina will still be alive,” she said. “She worked out seven days a week.”
Hunter smiled. “I’m a little afraid to find out,” he said. “I know that makes me a dick, but even if she’s alive, she’s going to look so much older than me.” He paused and threw a stone into the water. “She’s probably remarried by now.”
They had been missing from Earth for a long time as Hunter was reminding her, and Brit had images of her funeral. She wondered absently which of her family and friends showed up and what they said as their final goodbye to her empty casket. She realized that some, maybe most, of those people wouldn’t be alive any more. Her parents, her aunts and uncles, and many of her coworkers would all be gone.
“We should move,” Hunter said. “Drink as much as you can before we go. We don’t want to get dehydrated.”
Brit nodded, and they both knelt at the water’s edge and drank in the cool, refreshing water.
Brit cautiously rose to her feet. “I’m ready.”
They set off at a slow pace, which Hunter let her determine. Her feet were beyond raw, and every limping step screamed at her to stop. She might have been able to hobble slightly faster, but she wanted to save her feet for any desperate attempts at running she might need.
“I might be able to carry you for a little,” he said.
She glared at him and he nodded.
The walk back was slow, and Brit’s hunger gnawed at her, but worse she really needed to pee. Eventually, it got to the point where she had to ask Hunter to wait while she gingerly crept into the woods far enough to discretely relieve herself. She hadn’t peed in so many years that the sensation was strange and interesting. She would never admit it, but she was surprised that she missed the sensation. The human body had many needs, and the simple acts of drinking, eating, and relieving oneself were among them. That she had not had these human experiences in so long suddenly made her realize how important they were to actually feeling human. There were other needs that were growing in her, needs that included Jax’s participation, and she wondered at what the halo might have been doing to suppress more than her desire for food and drink.
When she returned to the road, Hunter was nowhere to be seen.
“Hunter?” she whispered. “Hunter!”
She looked desperately up and down the road, then into the trees in all directions. Slowly she crept off the edge of the road into the brush on the other side. Next to a tree that was now wet and smelled of urine, she saw the armilon lying on the ground.
She picked it up, imagining that something had snatched up Hunter while he was standing here peeing. He hadn’t made the slightest sound. She was sure that she would have heard any call for help. After all, she hadn’t gone that far into the woods on the other side of the path.
There was no blood on the ground, which was a little comforting, but not so much that she was able to calm her nerves.
She turned in time to see a blue light, and then darkness overtook her.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Brit awoke on a wooden floor in a room with a small window high up on a wooden wall that allowed light to stream down on her. There was no furniture or adornment in the room, and the door was only visible by the small seam in the wall around it. There was no visible door handle.
Hunter was lying on the floor nearby. He had no visible injuries. She crawled over to him and shook him.
He let out a low moan.
“Shh!” she whispered.
His eyes fluttered open. “What the fuck happened?”
“Shh!” she said again. “I think we’re in some sort of prison.”
“Enkelis?” he asked.
She shrugged.
He patted himself down and pulled out the earrings to make sure they were still there. When he was satisfied they were okay, he tucked them away.
Brit did a quick inventory. She had the half-globe light, the ilo, and the armilon. She handed the armilon, seemingly no longer working anyway, to Hunter. He silently accepted it and tucked it away.
She realized that her feet were no longer bleeding. In fact, they were completely healed and whole. She no longer felt hungry or thirsty either. She checked her halo and found that it was still in her pocket.
There were footsteps outside of their door, and Brit and Hunter stood. Hunter moved to the side of the door while Brit stood directly in front of it, waiting for it to open.
The door opened away from them, and bright light flooded in. Brit’s eyes took a moment to adjust, and at first all she could make out where the shadowy figures outlined in the doorway.
“Greetings, humans,” a deep resonant voice said. “Please, follow me.”
Brit didn’t move and neither did Hunter, who still lurked out of their captor’s sight.
The largest figure at the front of the small cluster of creatures, which she recognized to be similar to those she had seen in the tower, stepped forward. His skin was deep ebony and the spines on his skull were short and protruding irregularly from the top of his head. The pattern reminded Brit of a dangerous punk-rock haircut.
“We mean you no harm,” he said.
“Why did you knock us out and put us in a cell?” Brit asked.
“For our protection and yours,” he said. “We saw the weapon the male human was wielding and thought it was best to not give him a chance to use it. We didn’t realize that it was out of power, which is why we’ve let you keep it.”
“You know what it is?”
The creature laughed. “Of course,” he said. “We invented it.”
“You…invente
d it?” she asked.
The creature’s broad face split in a broader grin, revealing his large, flat ivory teeth that nearly glowed in contrast with his dark skin.
“We are an ancient people,” he said. “We were here eons before Earth was discovered, and we had once been friends with the Irruga, before they became arrogant and certain of their own divinity.”
“The Irruga?” Brit asked. “There are other sentient creatures on this planet?”
“There aren’t many left, and so you might not have met an Irruga, but I would have thought you might have met some of their slaves as you have technology taken from them. They are worshiped by their creations like gods.”
“Oh, the lords,” she said. “I have met a few. And I have met the enkeli.
“They’re not fucking lords,” Hunter said. “They’re dicks.”
“I am called Rennox. I am pleased to meet you,” the creature said. “And yes, they are dicks.”
“I am Brit, and my eloquent friend here is Hunter,” she said. “You mention Earth—we need to get back there.”
Rennox frowned. “Walk with me, friends.”
Brit and Hunter followed Rennox from the empty wooden room and into the light. Suddenly Brit realized that they were underground and that ceiling glowed brightly in spots. She shaded her eyes as she looked up.
“Be careful,” Rennox warned. “Our lights are as bright as your sun and will burn your retinas if you look directly at them.”
“Where the fuck are we?” Hunter asked.
Rennox's smile turned sad. “Sunali, the last refuge of the Maoli. We used to have great cities across the surface of the world, but now…”
The city in the massive cavern consisted of many broad, walled tiers with stairs connecting each tier. The lowest tier was in the middle of the city, and the highest tier was on the outer rim, giving the impression of a giant bowl. The core light was directly above, but smaller lights also dotted the outer edges of the domed ceiling. The buildings were all constructed of wood and were of many different shapes, but the most common design was a broad, domed cylinder. Tall trees grew on grassy lawns. Three burbling rivers came from different sides of the cavern walls, and all met in a large lake at the center of the city. Beautiful arching bridges spanned the rivers at many points.
“Your city is beautiful,” Brit said.
“You may leave us,” Rennox said to the two other Maoli that had accompanied him.
They bowed to him and walked off along the grassy path.
“You asked about returning to Earth,” Rennox said.
“We want to go home,” Hunter said.
“I imagine you do,” he said. “And I do want to help you. When you tripped our security alert and I saw that humans were here on our world, I wondered why they would have brought you here. We have protected the existence of our city for centuries now, but I had to risk revealing ourselves to see what dangerous plan the Irruga had hatched. How many humans have they enslaved?”
“There are only four of us,” Brit said. “We were brought here by accident. There were five of us when we first arrived.”
Rennox nodded. “I'm sorry.”
“We haven’t seen other humans in the time we’ve been here,” Brit said.
“Then this was a fluke,” he said. “That’s a relief.”
“You said you would help us,” Hunter said.
“I said that I wanted to help you,” Rennox corrected. “The Maoli do not interfere with Earth, and our most sacred and ancient laws strictly forbid creating portals to your home world. You can take refuge here, in our last remaining paradise. You can work, live, and laugh here.”
“My husband is waiting for me,” Brit said. “I have to return for him.”
“It is all the more regrettable then,” Rennox said, “but we do not open portals for any reason.”
“No, he’s here on this world. He’s one of the other humans on this world,” she said.
“Ah,” Rennox said. “That’s equally bad news.”
“We would not risk our remaining civilization for you to return to your husband,” he said. “The Irruga have no idea that we still exist, and if they did, they would surely seek to stamp us out.”
“Just return us to the surface where we were,” Hunter said. “We’ll find our way from there.”
“We have no way to erase your memories,” Rennox said. “We must weigh the value of the last thousand of our race against the rescue of two humans. I’m sorry.”
“We are prisoners?” Brit asked.
“No,” he said. “You are free to go anywhere you like within the city. I will help you find a home here, and we’ll arrange a job for you.”
“You don’t understand,” Brit said. “They are fighting the enkelis right now. If we don’t get back, the legions might show up and destroy them before we get back.”
“You are the one who seems not to understand,” he said. “The Irruga believe they destroyed us, and if they realize that they haven’t, they won’t stop looking until they’ve finished the job.”
“We won’t tell anybody,” Brit said.
“I know,” he said. “I wish there was a way that I could help you. Come, let’s find you a home.”
Brit stood her ground. “We need to leave.”
Rennox sighed. “Humans. Such stubborn creatures. Please, follow me.” He walked away from them and began to climb a set of stairs.
“It doesn’t do any good to stand here,” Hunter said. “Let’s get this tour over with and maybe we can make a plan.”
Brit growled. “Jax might die while we’re home shopping.”
“And standing here arguing won’t get us there any faster,” Hunter whispered.
Rennox led them down pleasant grass walkways that showed no sign of wear, past different canopied shops selling everything from clothing to furniture, and up many flights of stairs. When they finally reached the outer rim of the city, they walked until they reached the last house near the river. There was no bridge, only a low wall.
“The house is unfurnished, I’m afraid,” Rennox said as he led them inside.
It was one of the smaller houses they had passed, a simple single room affair with broad windows on either side of the door that faced the center of the city.
“Not much privacy,” Hunter said.
“If you choose to work, you’ll be able to furnish your home with curtains,” Rennox said. “This is not the worst property in the city, despite the size. It is near one of the three rivers, which many find pleasant to listen to. Our kind cannot swim, and so for some it is a little disturbing to be so close to the water.”
“Why do you have so much water if you can’t swim?” Brit asked.
“We still enjoy the sound and sight of it,” he said with a smile. He led them back outside to the low wall near the river. “It’s not very deep, and any adult could stand in it, but the current is fast enough to be dangerous to anybody who does not swim. This particular river is the coldest, as it comes from the mountains of the Silver City.” His eyes met Brit’s, and he held her gaze for a long moment. “The passage ceiling above the river is high enough that one could walk for miles in it, but very few of us have ever had the courage to do so. I’ve heard that at one point there is a place one can look out on the Silver City, but I’ve never seen it. Personally, I much prefer dry land, and the Silver City was never much to look at anyway.”
“Are you saying that this leads to the cave near the mine?” Brit asked.
Rennox cleared his throat. “Well, I must be going. I have a city to run. There will be people interested in meeting you. You probably should expect a visitor from the city employment specialist soon. Again, be very careful of the river, citizens have drowned in it and were never seen again.” He again looked at Brit, then gave a nod and walked away.
The moment Rennox was out of earshot, Brit whispered, “Let’s go!”
“Where?” Hunter asked.
“You heard him. The river leads to the Si
lver City,” she said.
“It might go nowhere and we’ll just end up wet and cold,” Hunter said. “We are unarmed and going into the dark.”
Brit pulled out the light globe. “I still have this,” she said and activated it. The light turned on. She quickly turned it back off to conserve power.
“You could wait here,” Hunter said. “I could go to find Jax and Marcy. If anybody asks where I went, tell them that I’m swimming.”
“You could wait here, and I’ll go find Jax and Marcy,” Brit said, a fire in her eyes.
“Fine,” Hunter said. “This place is the closest thing to safety we may ever find on this world. You need to be ready for the possibility that a legion of enkelis have already descended on the others and that there won’t be anybody to find.”
“They are alive and waiting for us,” Brit said. “They are counting on us and we’re standing here talking.”
Hunter nodded. “Unarmed and running toward an army. I love this fucking idea. Lead the way.”
Brit cautiously climbed over the low wall at the river edge. The water was moving fast, but it was only a few inches deep near the edge. The ground was slippery and smooth, and Brit held the wall to make sure she didn’t slip. She was sure that, if she fell, she would slide all the way to the city’s lake. It didn’t look like it was much more dangerous than a water park ride, but she didn’t want to risk breaking her skull. They were easily fifty feet above the lowest point of the city, and though the incline wasn’t steep, the slippery riverbed and fast moving water would still provide a terrifying and quick tour of this side of the city.
The ceiling of the river cave was chiseled and smooth, and it was amply high enough for them to walk standing up. Once they were deep enough that the city light no longer filtered to them, Brit turned on her half-globe light.
Along the edges of the river were two shelves of dry ground broad enough to walk on. Brit stepped up onto one of the sides and Hunter followed her lead. The ceiling wasn’t as high near the wall, but it was better to crouch than have freezing feet.
A strong wind blew through the cave, making it impossible to hear anything. The air smelled of clean earth and open spaces.
