"That's what the Klimnu feel like," he thought absently.
"I've never seen them."
"Zuri and Leia have. They'll tell you."
"I know. Wait…"
The connection went silent and Ty felt panic building inside him again.
"What? Samira? What's going on?"
"I feel air moving."
"What does that mean?"
"Air doesn't move inside a closed space. If I can feel air moving, it means that we are getting close to an opening in the tunnel. Get near Pyra. I want to be able to talk to him."
Ty called out to Pyra and gestured for him to come closer.
"Samira says that she can feel moving air," he told the massive warrior, "She wanted to be able to talk to you."
"Ask her if she can tell where the air is coming from."
Ty did as Pyra asked. It felt strange standing beside Pyra and having a silent conversation with his mate. He felt like the ability to communicate this way was such a private thing and it almost seemed inappropriate to be sharing it with Pyra. Of course, he knew that the way Ciyrs had healed Eden when she first came to the planet had created such a strong link between them that they were actually able to communicate telepathically, so Ty knew that it could be much worse. He didn't know how he would cope with knowing that another man was able to roam freely through Samira's thoughts or talk with her without anyone knowing what he was saying.
"Tell Pyra that I don't know yet. We can feel it on our faces and on our sides, so either it is one big opening, or there are two."
"Is the torch holding up?"
"The air in here is getting damper. It's fine for now, but I'm a little worried that it is going to go out soon. What do we do if it does?"
"Run the blade of the knife against the wall. Hopefully it will generate enough of a spark that you will be able to relight the torch."
"And if not?"
Ty hesitated. He didn't really know what to tell her. The thought of her being stuck inside the tunnel far underground without even so much as a light source made him feel sick.
"It'll work, Baby. Just keep going. I'm right here. Just know that I'm right here."
Chapter Seven
Ty's words gave me strength as I continued walking toward the feeling of the moving air. It was cold and thin, not what I expected coming from deep underground. Then I remembered my few visits to the caverns on Earth when I was younger and the way the air felt thinner once we got deep inside them. As I thought that I started to wonder if I was always going to be trying to draw parallels between the world I left behind and the one that I chose for my future. I wanted to embrace Uoria for all it had to offer, which meant that I would need to find a way to stop thinking about it as something to compare to Earth and start realizing all of its potential and beauty.
I took a calming breath and asked Zuri to bring the torch a little closer. The warmth from the flame seemed to dry the air around me just enough so that it no longer felt like it was crawling across my skin and I glanced down to realize that the ground at my feet had become wet and muddy. The terrain had definitely changed and I had the strange feeling that we had entered an area far from the cliffs where we had started. It felt like we had done more than just walk through a tunnel, that we were much further away than we should have been.
"Ty?" I called out to him in my mind.
"Yes? I'm here."
"Can you go into the cave?"
"Pyra said we won't fit in the tunnel."
"No, no, that's OK. You definitely won't fit. I just need you to find the entrance to the tunnel and yell into it for me."
"Did your torch go out? Are you lost?"
Ty's thoughts were starting to sound frantic and I tried to send him calming vibes. I didn't know if it worked that way, but I was hoping that I could send him soothing feelings through my thoughts that would work the same way holding his hand would.
"I'm not lost and the torch is still just fine. Don't worry about that. I just need you to go into the cave, walk all the way to the back, and find the entrance to the tunnel. Pyra can probably show it to you. When you get there, just shout in to me."
"Alright."
Ty didn't sound convinced. I kept walking as I waited to hear his voice, but it never came.
"Did you shout?" I asked, hoping that he would say that he hadn't.
"Yeah. I screamed your name a few times."
"As loud as you could?"
"Yeah."
I took a breath.
"OK. Is Pyra there with you?"
"Yes."
"Have him try."
I waited for a few seconds but still didn't hear anything.
"Did either of you hear the guys shouting?" I asked Zuri and Leia.
I could barely make out Leia's face behind Zuri, but I could see that both women were shaking their heads. I closed my eyes briefly, trying to orient myself and figure out what this meant.
"How far do you think that we walked?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Zuri asked.
"Do you think that we've come so far that if the guys were shouting into the tunnel we wouldn’t be able to hear them?"
"No. Those men are loud, besides, the tunnel would only amplify the sound. We haven't gone far enough that the sound couldn't travel to us. Why?"
"I had them shout into the entrance to the tunnel."
Zuri and Leia both got nervous expressions on their faces that told me they understood exactly what I was saying.
"How did we get that far away?" Leia asked.
"I don’t know," I replied, "but do we go back or do we keep going and try to find out where this tunnel leads?"
There was a moment of heavy silence. Even Ty wasn't talking to me through his thoughts.
"We came in here because Pyra and the other warriors believe that this tunnel has something to do with the Klimnu being able to get into the compound and attack and we are the only ones who could get inside," Zuri said slowly and carefully, "If we don't keep going, there'll be no way for any of us to find out what's going on, and it could leave the entire clan at even greater risk."
"You're right," I said, nodding, "We have to keep going. Turning back now isn't going to help anything."
"We're going to keep going," I told Ty through my thoughts.
"Do you want me to keep shouting?" he asked.
"No," I replied, "Just stay close to the entrance and as soon as you hear us coming, let me know. It might be a little while, but just listen for me. When you hear my voice, shout in to me."
"I will. Samira?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
I felt my breath catch in my throat and my grip loosen on the knife. I had to regain my composure quickly to prevent myself from dropping it.
"I love you, too."
If I had been vacillating at all in my determination to continue forward, that had sealed it. I had never seen the Klimnu and I didn't know exactly what they were capable of, but in that moment there was absolutely nothing that could have frightened me enough to stop me from fighting to protect Ty, his people, and our future together. I tightened my grip on the knife even further, set my jaw, and surged forward. I picked up speed until I almost left the other women behind. The faster I walked, the less nervous I felt, and suddenly I realized that I was excited to find out what was at the end of the tunnel. I knew for certain now that if this was in fact the path by which Ullie had been interacting with the Klimnu to remain undetected, he had not been acting alone. Unless the creatures had always come to him through that tunnel, which was highly unlikely considering the amount of vigilance the warriors used to protect the compound, there was someone else, someone small, who was acting as a go-between for the Traitor and the Klimnu.
I was determined I was going to find out who that was.
Chapter Eight
Ty sat on the floor of the cave beside the entrance to the tunnel, leaned back against the cold s
tone wall so that he could listen for any sound coming from the tunnel. It felt like he had been sitting there for hours and he wanted to connect with Samira and talk to her the entire time she was away, but he knew that she needed to be able to concentrate if she was going to gather all of the information that they needed about the tunnel and wherever it led and then get back to them safely. Pyra had gone back outside of the cave to talk to the other warriors and the silence surrounding Ty was becoming overwhelming. He closed his eyes and went back over the events of the last few days in his mind.
He never expected this. From the time he was a little child he knew that he was not going to be a warrior. The destiny of each Denynso man is set from the time of birth and it is evident early on what a man is going to do with his life, whether that is to join up forces as one of the clan's fearsome warriors so that he can march into battle and help the others defend the clan and the planet, or take on another role within the group. As a very young child it was already evident that being a warrior was not what he was made to do. While he was nearly as massive as Pyra, his spirit was gentle and nurturing, not aggressive. He had never been prone to fighting or lashing out. Instead, he was drawn to cooking and baking. He used his skills to prepare food for the warriors to take with them while they were in battle and to strengthen them when they came back.
It wasn't until Samira came along that he ever felt the intensity of what the warriors felt. She sparked something in him that was so powerful he was almost afraid of it himself. Suddenly he was ready to use his tremendous size and strength for more than he had ever used it for, and was ready to step forward and be a part of defending the planet from the Klimnu in what they hoped would be their final showdown. He always knew that he would change when he met his mate, but he never expected that the change would be so drastic and powerful. It brought to mind elements of his inner self that he had hidden for so long he didn't even know if he could still use them, elements that he had always feared and tried to forget that he had, but now knew may be the key to him helping the warriors.
"Can you hear me?"
The sound of Samira's voice suddenly coming through the tunnel broke Ty out of his thoughts and brought him to his feet. For a moment he thought that he may be hearing her talking to him through her mind, but her voice sounded too loud for that to be what was happening. He leaned into the mouth of the tunnel.
"Samira?" he shouted.
"Ty! Is that the first time you heard me calling for you?"
"Yes. Just now. Are you OK?"
"We're fine. We're coming your way, but the torch finally went out so it's dark. Just keep talking to me."
Ty nearly sagged with relief. He felt a smile break across his face as he crouched down so that it was easier to call into the tunnel.
"I'm here, Baby. I'm right here. Just keep coming toward me. Listen to my voice. I'm right here waiting for you."
Ty kept talking, repeating himself over and over because he couldn't think of anything else to say that he would want the other two women listening to as they walked through the tunnel. Finally he heard footsteps coming toward him and a few moments later he could feel Samira's presence near him. He reached out and his hands touched her. Even in the intense darkness he knew he was touching his mate. She curled into his arms and he pulled her back away from the mouth of the tunnel so that the other two women could step out into the main chamber of the cave.
"Pyra!" Ty shouted, "Bring us a new torch."
Heavy footsteps sounded in the front part of the chamber and Ty saw the bright glow of a new torch flame cutting through the darkness toward them. They rushed toward it, using the illumination to guide them around the stalagmites that jutted up from the floor of the cave. As soon as they stepped out onto the plateau, he saw Samira take a deep breath and lean over to rest her hands on her knees. She continued to draw in long breaths as if she were trying to replace all of the air from the tunnel in her body with fresh air. He stroked her back gently, trying to calm her, as Gyyx and Ero rushed forward to scoop Leia and Zuri into their arms. Everyone stayed silent for a few seconds as the men comforted and cuddled their mates. Finally Pyra stepped forward.
"What did you find?" he asked.
Samira straightened and curled close to Ty's side before she spoke. He wrapped his arm around her waist, giving over as much of his strength to her as she needed.
"I don't know if we'd be able to describe it to you effectively," Samira said.
"But I can draw it for you," Leia said, "I just need some paper and a pencil and I can sketch everything we saw out for you."
"Let's get back to the compound, then. The sooner we can find out what you saw, the sooner we can start building our defense plan."
Leia, Zuri, Gyyx, Ero, and Pyra started back down the side of the cliff to where the rest of the warriors were waiting for them. Ty held Samira back, waiting until the last of Pyra's Mohawk disappeared beneath the edge of the cliff to turn to her. He curled her up into his arms so that her chest pressed against his and her arms looped tightly around his waist. She rested her head against his chest for a brief moment and then looked at him, leaning back slightly so that he could see her entire face gazing up at his.
"I love you, Samira," he said softly.
A smile broke across her lips and he thought he saw the glimmer of tears in her dark eyes. She cuddled him a little closer, bringing her body forward so that as much of her pressed against him as possible.
"I love you, too, Ty."
His heart swelled and he felt his body getting hot again. The heat radiating off of his skin told him even more that he had definitely found his mate in Samira. That searing, glowing heat told all other females to stay away from him and gave both him and his mate even more reason to take off their clothes. She took her arms from around his waist and trailed her fingers down his arms, tracing the curves of his muscles with her fingertips. He could see her eyes getting smoky as she touched his skin, feeling the warmth on hers.
"I wish we didn't have to go with the warriors," he murmured to her.
She nodded, her long eyelashes dipping down over her eyes as she continued to touch him tenderly.
"I do, too. How long do you think that the meeting will be?" she purred back.
"I don't know. However long it takes for you three to tell us what you saw and for them to decide how we should move forward with the war."
The mention of war seemed to dampen the smoldering building inside her and she got a solemn look on her face.
"What's going to happen, Ty?"
Ty put his hands on her arms, gently squeezing her.
"Everything's going to be fine. I promise. The Denynso are the best warriors in the galaxy. Once we figure out how the Klimnu have been learning about us and getting into the compound so easily, the warriors will be able to defeat them."
"Why aren't you a warrior?"
The question stung him a little, but he had to remind himself that she wasn't familiar with their kind and didn't know how things worked with them. She wouldn't understand that it wasn't his choice what role he was going to play within the clan, or what skills he would have. From the little bit that he knew of Earth, he knew that each person had a choice of what they were going to do with their lives and what types of skills and abilities they were going to use throughout their lives. He figured that as strange as that seemed to him, it must seem strange to Samira that each of the Denynso were born to fulfill a certain role and meet their specific responsibilities so that the entire clan operated effectively.
"I wasn't meant to be," he answered.
He expected her to pry, to try to figure out more, or to criticize him for not being one of the powerful, fierce men who had a reputation throughout the galaxy. Instead, she smiled at him and got up on the tips of her toes to touch a kiss to his lips.
"We should probably catch up with everyone else before the think that we've been kidnapped. I don't think that they need any more stress in their ba
ttle planning."
Chapter Nine
I pondered what Ty had told me as we hurried across the plateau and down the side of the cliff. The rest of the group was already considerably ahead of us and we took off at a run to catch up with them. Even at my height, though, Ty's long legs created a stride with a length that far outdid mine, putting him several steps ahead of me within just a few seconds. I called up to him and he turned back to me. As soon as I caught up to him, he reached down and scooped me off of my feet, draping me over his shoulder so that he could carry me as he ran. I let out a scream, but it quickly turned into a laugh as I bounced along with my head at his waist level.
I was dizzy by the time we caught up to the rest of the group and he finally lowered me back to my feet. He held me stable for a few seconds so that I could get my wits about me again and then we started back toward the compound. Everyone was silent as we walked, each person lost in his own thoughts and absorbed in his own worries. I fought off the ominous feelings that fell over the group, trying to remain positive as we walked. I knew that what we found at the end of that tunnel was going to change everything, and I needed to find as much strength as I could in my positivity before we had to tell them about it.
When we made it back to the meeting hall, I noticed that everyone who had been in the main room was now gone. The long tables and benches were empty and there was a strange sense of tension in the air like the walls and floor themselves knew that something was about to happen and they were bracing themselves for it. One of the warriors rushed out of the room and came back a few moments later carrying several large sheets of parchment and a dark pencil. Leia sat at one of the tables and spread the materials out in front of her. She took a breath like she was preparing herself and stretched and wriggled her fingers. She had the look of an artist who had not drawn in quite a length of time and was trying to get herself back into that flow that allowed her to create.
She picked up the pencil and let the tip hover above the parchment.
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