I gasped for air, straining in the dark against Saratiese to keep from falling. There were too many people and the number was only growing. With every new prisoner, I felt the pressure shoving the line. I couldn’t breath. I could barely move, and the shadows seemed to be leading us nowhere.
Chapter 38
Blood boiled up in Laidea's legs. Time was running out. She had to pass the key off. The Amazon Commander unlocked the shackles of a young XenTok soldier, grabbing him by the arm before he could tear away. Prying his dirt stained palm open, she forced in the key.
“You have to finish this.”
The man looked on her without words, shock shining in his frightened eyes.
“Someone has to finish this.” She repeated. “Can you do it?”
The soldier glanced down at the key, then over to the line of people filing into the tunnel like frenzied ants. Laidea tightened her grip on his elbow, pulling his attention back. “Can you do this?”
“Yeah… uh, yes.” He stammered.
“Thank you.” Laidea nodded in respect, then shoved passed, heading for the tunnel.
As she went, she kept her eyes on the path ahead, far from the droves of people still lining the walls. Men. Women. Children. A hundred or more. The look in their eyes broke her heart and if she looked on them long, she knew she wouldn’t be able to bear the guilt. But her time was done here. She had a sworn a vow to lead her company, to protect Askca, Palius, and the Queen. Even unto death. Be that her own… or the death of others. Laidea repeated that vow over and over again in her head, but it didn’t ease her heart.
A chain of high pitched screams cut her ears, prompting the Commander to glance over her shoulder. A sea of dark Cloaks poured through the entrance in a black wave, spilling into the cavern by the dozens.
The already heavy push behind me surged forward in a burst, nearly knocking me to the ground. Stumbling into Saratiese, my leg muscles burned against the shoving mass, but I couldn’t budge from my place. The dark pressed in darker and the heat of the people prompted my sweat, saturating me. Stinging my blind eyes. Coughing, dust coated into my lungs. My ribs burned like I’d been running for days.
“Sara?” I shouted over the crowd.
Her voice came to me from the darkness ahead. “I’m here!”
“Don’t let me fall!” I clenched my hands into her sides, stumbling step by step in the black.
“It’s breaking up.”
The pressure in front of us loosened at her words, and I could finally breathe again. The narrow tunnel branched off into three separate passageways, and the crowd divided, trickling over into the different turns. The rushing from behind poured around us as Saratiese ambled to the wall, sliding down to rest in the dirt. I sat next to her, smearing the grime and sweat from my face, catching my breath. The dark still loomed, but my eyes were adjusting a bit, taking in the shapes of people as they ran past us.
"You think we’re close to the outside?" Saratiese asked in ragged breaths, smearing the sweat from her forehead.
“I don’t know.” I sucked in a lungful of air, still jittery from the suffocated feel of so many people. “But thank goddess we’re out of that tunnel. I couldn‘t breathe.”
“Gods, I know.”
“I was afraid we were going to hit a stop in the tunnel and just be crammed in there till we ran out of air.”
“So, are we waiting?”
“Yeah.” I nodded in the dark. “Just for a short while. See if we can find the others.”
“Commander Laidea.”
“Yeah.” I admitted.
Numerous groups streamed by, flooding into the forked tunnels. After countless people, Saratiese and I still hadn’t spotted Laidea, or anyone else from our company, so we decided to venture the middle tunnel. We wandered through the new darkness, hand in hand, with me leading. My stride ambled somewhat off balance, my muscles a bit jellied from so many days chained in the cavern.
Only seeing three people go in before us, and maybe a couple more eyeing this tunnel after us, I realized that not many people had chosen this route. I didn’t say anything to Saratiese about it, but the little twist in my gut made me pray there wasn’t a reason. I’d only been a warrior a mere week of days, at most, and my skills seemed to be off put by this entire quest. Hopefully, if I lived through this experience, it would mold me into a real warrior.
Because just now, I didn’t feel so brave. Or smart. I didn’t want to admit it, and I never would aloud, but that was another reason I had wanted to wait for Commander Laidea. She would know what to do. How to get us out. She was always calm and wise. Courageous. If I couldn’t find her on the outside, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I would go after Queen Perseathea in spite of her absence. I’d walk right into my death, if I had to… but I didn’t favor it.
A brush of cold bristled over me, stinging my attention to fresh cuts. There was no way of knowing just how deep underground we were, but the dropping temperature seemed to be an indication. The further in, the heavier the mist became, and it didn’t take long before my bare feet slurped in ankle deep mud. Alerted, I stopped, palming my amulet as I listened to the darkness. Aside of the distant scuffle of roaming prisoners behind us, another sound came. In front of us.
"Listen…." I whispered. I could hear Saratiese behind me, pulling in her breath to still it. Taking in the silence.
"A river?” Her voice hitched up. “That should lead us out."
"I hope so."
I started back into the moist blanket of black, tracking through the mud after the sound of water until, at long last, it echoed all around us. Booming. Loud and crashing. Misting my skin with a chill.
"Can you see anything yet?" Saratiese shouted over the noise.
"Not yet." I kept a steady pace, slurping the mud and reaching into the cold black for guidance. The deafening whoosh of the hidden river roared into my ears like a three headed beast. In this underworld hell I felt unnerved and off guard to begin with, and by this point would be unsurprised if some such dragon did lurk ahead.
The smell of damp mold hung heavy, blending with the sweet aroma of an underground river waiting somewhere up ahead. A cold drop hit my hand. Then another. I looked up to see nothing but the familiar black that covered everything in this place. Then, as if an invisible force swept under my knees, my foot slipped up, dropping me in the mud like a rock.
Still holding onto Saratiese, I yanked her down with me. Before either of us could say a word, we were slithering down a muddy slope. Slow at first, the decline didn’t seem to be dangerous, until I realized it wasn’t just a short slope. It was the beginning of a water channel. A sharply descending channel.
The taste of mud spattered over me as I sped deeper into the drenching black. Cold water streamed over me like a nighttime downpour as I struggled to hold on to Saratiese’s hand. But I felt myself starting to pull away. The momentum tugged at me, gravity pulling, straining our tight knuckled grip. I still couldn’t see the girl, and knew from my own screaming that I couldn’t hear her. All I had of Saratiese was her hand.
I gritted my teeth, straining to hold her, but I could feel Saratiese’s fingers pulling loose. The steep black became steeper and my hand snapped loose. Long, frightening moments passed with me waving frantic hands at the wet dark. Until something toppled into me with a breath taking slam.
"Sara!" I choked out, grabbing a hold of the girl before she streamed past.
A hard rush of cold flooded my feet, jerking me around a turn. We were being pulled into the main stream. The tunnel before had merely been a smaller torrent leading into this heavy flow. Water surged in this larger tunnel, ripping around curved walls and tossing me about. Saratiese slid from my hands. Again. Hurling from side to side, my body flailed around like a fish caught up in a wet and muddy whirlwind. Flung onto my belly with a hard splash, I was now sliding face first through the dark. The water gushed, coursing into my mouth. Down my throat. Choking me. Forcing my head under to rumble the rough
current past my ears. Then, a blinding white assaulted me, glaring so bright it shattered my sight. I pinched my eyes shut against the light. The tunnel dropped out from me.
Chapter 39
I screamed. The tunnel vanished. In a burst, my own voice came back to me in a wrap of cold wind. I clawed at the air, falling, as a river of dark water raced up at me. My mind came alive with questions, my heart wild with panic.
The water below knotted with protruding rocks so mammoth they looked like a herd of hippos, hippos certain to bludgeon any soft flesh plummeting into their rock hard backs. This fall would bust me into bloody pieces. Even if I cleared the boulders, what about caiman? Piranha? Sookurie? Or… some beast I’d never known before?
Time ran out. I slapped against the water as if I’d hit solid ground. My breath knocked from my chest and burned up my nose. I surged deep under the murky waves. The coldness sucked me down like a thousand hands groping my body. I opened my eyes. Swarthy, dismal green. I floundered, suffocating in the cold and bottomless river. Muffled screams trickled up around my ears and I wrestled, the water heaving down on top of me. Struggling. Straining. My chest burned, the air in my lungs begging to escape, but I held it, knowing the moment I set it free I would not make it to the surface. Salty water seeped into my mouth and stung my eyes. I stared up, longing for the distant surface. Air escaped my lips in a rush of bubbles. I heaved up, arms burning, exhausted. Fighting. Weakness squeezing into me, sucking my energy, draining my spirit. No matter how hard I swam, the surface loomed above. Unreachable.
The cold water pulled me sideways in its’ forceful current, nature gloating at my feeble swim. My chest felt like it was going to explode. I unwillingly gasped in, choking on more water. Swallowing it. I coughed out bubbles, sucking more water into my lungs. Disorientated, I was no longer sure which way was up. The current toppled me in its’ arctic dead womb, confusing my sight. My strength retreating, I pushed myself through the driving waters. Swimming and swimming. Pushing toward what I hoped was up.
And my hand broke the surface, a chilling breeze stinging my fingers as my head bobbed up after. I grunted in frenzied breaths, choking still. Coughing and spitting out lungfuls of water. Wading. I fought for breath, the raging river dragging me down course. The sound of the rushing river bounced back and forth between the cave walls creating a thunderous roar. I fought the currents, waves crashing into the surrounding boulders, spraying a mist over my head as I sped passed them.
"Sara!" I screamed in between gargles, unable to see much with the water splashing in my face. The murky waters assaulted, walloping into my eyes, my ears, my mouth. I thrashed in circles, barely keeping my head above water, the ruthless rapids drawing me further.
"Askca!" A faint scream shot across the water.
I looked in the direction of her voice. "Sara-" Water rushed my lips, gorging into my mouth again. I spat out the salty water, coughing. "Sara!"
I looked up to find Saratiese lying belly down on a boulder, stretching out a branch. "Grab hold!"
I pushed against the current, fighting to nestle myself in between the two hippos without being busted up by the combination of crashing waves. Hand slipping to grab a sharp crevasse in the stone, I planted my bare feet, jarring my knees, swiping at the branch.
"I… I cant!" I stuttered, the water slapping into my mouth.
"You have to!" Saratiese stared down on me with wild eyes, her wet hair clinging to her face.
I brawled against the rapids to keep myself wedged in between the rocks, my feet pushing, but constantly slipping in the gooey moss. I sparred closer, caught up in the constant swirl, my arms burning against the flow. Reaching up, I strained every muscle, my fingers grazing the branch. It plucked from my touch. Wrestling back, my legs felt like they were heavy and on fire.
The branch hovered just above me. I batted at it three more times before catching hold, my fingers blaring white against the branch. A sudden gush caught me up, slamming me into the rock. Bursting the air from my lungs. Bruising pain like lightening through my shoulder. I dropped my mouth, aching for breath.
“Askca!”
The sound of my name stirred me, but I couldn’t respond. I just held to the branch. White knuckled it. Praying to the goddess that breath would come back to me.
“Huuh….” The gargled sigh pulled deep into me, searching my lungs for air. “Huuh….”
“Don’t let go!” Saratiese held tight to the branch, my body weight now scratching it down her palms.
The only good thing about the waves shoving against my chest was that it kept me wedged between the rocks. It bought me time to find my breath, and slowly… it fought back into my chest. Nervous to scare it off by sucking in too fast, I drew the shallow breaths in slow, deeper, then deeper still, until my lungs once again filled with air.
“Askca! Are you alright?”
I tilted my head into the rock, staring up at Saratiese, blood trickling her palms. The branch still firmly in her grasp.
“Yeah.” I said in a weighty breath, followed up by a more readable nod.
"Hold on."
I nodded again, realizing at its’ mention that the branch was tucked vertically between my ribs and elbow with my hand clenched so tight that my fingernails were digging into its’ barkless wood. With my back forced into the boulder, I decided to chance lifting my other hand. The water rushed, swirling and sloshing into my face. Tugging at my legs. Grabbing the branch with both hands, a sudden swell pushed into me, dragging me sideways across the rock. Slipping my tight hold on the branch. The current kept on, dragging me partway around the boulder. Water lapped over the branch as I held it, trying to claw back up slippery splinters as they scratched into my shredded palms.
Saratiese tried to haul me back, my knuckles whitening into a tighter clench. She heaved me back in between the rocks, her blood trickling down onto my upturned face. I held on, trying to maneuver my feet into the mossy dimples of the rock. Trying to push up. But the river refused, yanking me back down at every foot of progress. Sucking me under its’ dark water. Choking me again. Filling my stomach with so much water it bloated. Bobbing me back up to wallop me in the face with another surge of slapping waves.
“Grab my hand!” Saratiese groaned out, the strain obvious in her voice.
I looked back up at her purpled face. Holding the branch with only one hand now, her arm shook in exertion to hold my weight. She reached out her free hand.
Fearful of letting loose of the branch, I forced myself to swing an apprehensive hand up. Saratiese clasped hold, and I grappled at her with my other hand. With that, the branch snapped loose, vanishing down the river. Even through the crash of the water, I could hear Saratiese grunting and wrenching to heave me up. My arms ached, my shoulders hurting like they might pop loose of their sockets. I fought to turn myself around, twisting and writhing in the dangle till I managed the turn. Sliding against the slick moss, I labored, ambling partway up. But my hands were slipping.
"I’m losing you!" I yelled, fear tensing my chest.
Gritting her jaw, Saratiese bruised her elbows into the boulder, digging her fingernails into my hands. I wedged my toes into another dimple in the rock, lunging my body forward, Saratiese scrambling backward. My knees bruised against the stone as I skirted my way up and onto my belly. Safe out of the water, I sunk into the rock, breathing in deep relief. Saratiese loosened her grasp on me, leaving my hands full of nail cuts and warming blood. We rested atop the cold boulder, silent and recovering.
An echo of screams cut into my ears. Saratiese and I both sat up, searching the water. In all the chaos, our ears had only just now taken in the surrounding screams. Several people swept by us, caught up in the black waters. They shrieked past, flailing and choking in the current. Then, goodly paces beyond where we sat, the screams cut off. Far beyond where we took refuge, a bend turned the river and a glint of light snaked back around the corner.
“Do you think the others chose this tunnel?” Saratiese mumbled, sou
nding fearful of the answer.
“I don’t know.” I swallowed. “What if all the tunnels are like this? Maybe that’s why the Cloaks didn’t chase us in. They knew.”
Saratiese kept her eyes on the bend. “Do you think-”
“Laidea made it?” I finished her words, eyeballing her. “If any of us would make it, it’s her.” I hesitated, choosing to put my mind off it. “Let’s get off this rock.”
Saratiese followed me, both of us searching a path we could venture across the boulders. We leapt from rock to rock, slipping and nearly spilling back into the river several times before we made it to the sandy edge. We took off toward the river bend, keeping our eyes far from the people in the water. The haunting of their screams could not be quelled, instead stabbing into my ears, but I knew there was no time. No chance. I’d barely escaped the river myself. Going back would be suicide.
As we neared the turn, I squinted against the light trying to focus. I held to the wall, slipping around the turn, looking to my feet to be certain I kept in the sand. Being in that dim cavern so long, I hadn’t seen daylight in days. Once around the bend, I felt a mist drizzling my skin. The light was so bright that everything took long moments to emerge. When they did, my mouth dropped.
"Gods…."
Saratiese came up behind me, holding my shoulders till her own eyes focused. We both stared, words hiding from our lips. The mist covered us in a spray of rainbow.
"Gods…” Saratiese repeated, too stricken to speak beyond a few words, “look at that."
“We would have never survived.”
Just a few paces from where we stood, the river tumbled into an immense waterfall with a thousand treetops swaying below. Swerving green hills, dipping valleys, and arching hilltops; an entire jungle stretched out below, touching into a far off horizon. Birds circled the waterfall… below us. Clouds misted before us like a foggy pathway. The river did not appear again until reemerging in the distant land below, looking barely the width of an emerald finger.
Amazon: Signs of the Secret Page 21
