by Megg Jensen
Torsten was glad. He didn't want her to see how red his was. "I'm not like that, either. I mean, it's okay aboveground to kiss someone. No one tells us who to kiss or who not to kiss. But I've never..." Torsten stuttered, incredulous he was about to tell her. "You're the first person I kissed. Like that, I mean. I'm sure I kissed my parents when I was little. Before they…”
“Before they what?” Rell asked.
“They were murdered when I was a kid. I, uh… witnessed it.” Torsten looked down at his hands, incredulous he was sharing something so personal with someone he’d just met.
“I’m so sorry. That’s horrible.” Rell looked up, her brown eyes locked on his. Her voice softened. "Maybe we can both forget the kiss happened?"
"I promise I won't ever kiss you again." Torsten said. “I won’t even touch you if you don’t want me to.”
Rell nodded, wiping her tears with her free hand. "Thank you. And, I'm sorry if I hurt you, hitting you. It wasn't very kind, considering I had just healed your ankle."
"Your reaction was completely justifiable,” Torsten said.
Torsten followed her back to his friends. Three sets of eyes were trained on them, but Torsten didn't feel like explaining. They had their own romantic problems to work out; they didn't need to know about his.
"Where do we go from here?" Torsten asked Rell.
"It's nighttime. We sleep." Rell lay down on the ground, stuck an arm under her head, and closed her eyes.
"Here?" Leila asked. "If you live down here, why can't we go to your home?"
Rell's eyes snapped back open. "Because they would kill you. Grounders, especially military, aren't allowed down here."
Mellok laughed, his shoulders shaking. "I'm not afraid of a bunch of religious weirdos."
Before Torsten could tell him to shut up, Rell sprang upright, her hands balled in fists.
"She's tough," Torsten said, a smile on his face. He rubbed the cheek she'd walloped.
"I'm not afraid of a buried." Mellok cracked his knuckles, a smirk on his face.
"You should be." Rell lunged at Mellok, belting his stomach four times. She been trained to defend herself in case the grounders ever invaded, and she’d picked up a few offensive moves along the way.
With a grunt, Mellok grabbed Rell's arm, twisting it behind her back with a smug smile. "What are you going to do now?"
Rell snapped her head backward, cracking Mellok's nose. Her free hand formed a fist, and she bashed him in the balls.
Mellok released his grip on her, falling to the floor, one hand on his nose and the other on his crotch. He moaned pathetically.
"It's okay. I can heal him like I healed you," Rell said to Torsten as she shook her hand.
He had considered stepping in, forcing Mellok to abandon the fight. But Torsten was secretly pleased to see his sister's boyfriend get taken down so easily. He wasn't Mellok's friend. Torsten only put up with him for Leila's sake. He had hoped she'd move on to someone else soon. Unfortunately, the four of them were tied together on this mission.
Torsten sheepishly realized he'd lost his heart to Rell almost immediately. She probably wasn't who Leila would pick for him, either.
"I would have tried to stop the two of you, but I didn't want to get hurt, too." Torsten winked at Rell and knelt next to Mellok. "Perhaps she was telling the truth when she said they were trained in combat. Maybe next time you'll believe what she says."
Mellok glared at Torsten, in too much pain to make a retort. Torsten patted Mellok's shoulder as he made way for Rell and her healing device. She waved it over Mellok's nose. The bleeding stopped, and the bend righted itself. She moved to heal the other area she'd pummeled, but Mellok pushed her away.
"Don't come near me." He scooted away from her, his eyes closed as he waited for the pain to subside.
"So we're sleeping here?" Leila asked. "It's not so bad. If we dim the flashlight, it's nice and dark. I think it'll be fine for one night."
"Where are we going tomorrow?" Andessa asked through a yawn.
It was a good question. Torsten looked to Rell. "If you really do have something down here that can help in our war against the dragzhi, we’d appreciate your help. After all, if the grounders die, the buried don’t have anyone to defend them.”
"I can't." Rell set the device down. "Look at me. This isn't how the buried dress. If I go in there like this..."
"Why were you aboveground?" Torsten realized he'd never questioned Rell about her motives. If she was a believer, and all of her actions so far had convinced him she was, then why was she pretending to be a grounder?
"I was released from the community. Sent aboveground against my wishes. I'm not allowed back," Rell said. "They will kill me as surely as they will kill you if we are discovered."
Torsten wanted to reach out and protect her, even though he knew Rell could take care of herself. "So none of us can go in, and Hadar is on fire above." He looked at the other four, hoping someone had a plan.
Their silence told him they didn't. They were trapped. Couldn't go further into the tunnels. Couldn't go aboveground.
"There is one thing..." Rell's voice trailed off. She was hesitant.
"What?" Torsten asked, encouraging her. "Tell us."
Before she could answer, the ground underneath them shook. Torsten fell against the wall, bracing himself. Leila and Andessa scooted closer to Mellok. Rell's eyes grew wider with each successive shudder.
"Earthquake?" Leila asked.
A massive earthquake had devastated Hadar once before. Everyone knew the history, but no one knew why or how to stop them.
"Maybe,” Rell said, her heart pounding. “Or it could be the volcano.”
“Volcano? Let’s get back aboveground,” Leila screamed.
Chapter Fourteen
"We need to get out of here," Torsten yelled over the thundering tremors. He braced himself with his palms against the rocky wall, wincing at the sharp stabs of pain.
Rell stumbled as she made her way to him. Torsten grabbed her wrist, pulling her to the wall just before a patch of dirt and rubble crumbled from the ceiling above.
"Thank you," Rell said.
Mellok yelled, "Let’s go back. We need to get aboveground."
"No!" Rell yelled. "We need to go deeper."
"I know the world is on fire above, but we’ll die here if this tunnel collapses." Mellok pointed down the way they had come.
"You must trust me," Rell said. "Follow me."
Mellok’s eyes narrowed. "No. I just met you. I don't trust you." He turned to Leila, holding out a hand. "Come with me."
Leila looked at her brother, biting her lip. "Tor?"
Another tremor rocked the ground. Leila reached out for Mellok's hand. They took off running up the way they’d come, Andessa on their heels.
"Go." Rell turned her back on Torsten, following the sloping tunnel down to the right.
Torsten watched his sister's blond ponytail retreat. He turned, seeing Rell's pink hair moving away in the opposite direction. Torsten knew which way he wanted to go, and which way he should.
He cursed as he jogged after Rell. "Wait for me."
She looked at him over her shoulder, surprised. She didn’t look especially happy to see him, but at least she didn't argue as he pulled up alongside her.
"Why?" she asked him simply.
"I want to know about the Key," Torsten said. He felt uneasy about leaving his sister, but Leila had Mellok and Andessa. Torsten was sure they’d keep each other safe.
"I can't tell you anything about the Key." Rell made a hard right down a darker tunnel.
Torsten squinted as the light became dimmer.
Rell held out a hand in front of her and whispered a few unintelligible words. A light sprang forth from her palm.
"What is that?" Torsten wanted to examine her hand, but Rell's pace didn't slow.
"It's a flame." Rell's sarcasm wasn't wasted on Torsten.
The ground shook again. The light from the small
flame bounced along with their strides, but it was more than enough to illuminate the tunnel ahead. Torsten wanted to ask where they were headed, but he knew Rell wouldn't answer. At least not now.
Rell turned left down another tunnel. Torsten marked the turns in his head, building a mental map. He hadn't even seen the opening until she turned toward it. Another reason to trust her. Rell knew where she was going. She'd given no indication she wanted him dead, and he didn't think she'd risk her own life to hurt him.
He’d have to trust Rell, or die trying to find his way back out. He just hoped Leila, Mellok, and Andessa had found their way to the top... and they weren't attacked by the dragzhi or burned in the raging fires.
"Not much further," Rell said.
Torsten didn't respond, saving his energy. Rell had healed his leg, but he was still fatigued from the pain, not to mention having been on the run the vast majority of the day. He could hardly believe it was just that morning he'd been sent away from the tower. He'd met Rell mere hours ago, and here he was, risking his life with her. He never could have predicted it.
Rell stopped short of a door. She made a fist, and the light extinguished. She knocked twice, waited a moment, and knocked twice more.
The door creaked open. Rell grabbed Torsten's hand, tugging him after her.
He entered the dark room. A spicy, nutty scent permeated the air, as if someone was burning cardamom like his mother used to do. A cool breeze tickled the back of Torsten's neck. He kept one hand on the wall and the other firmly in Rell's grasp.
"Kneel," Rell commanded, tugging him down.
Torsten obeyed. He dropped to his knees. The ground was littered with broken shells and jagged pebbles. Tears sprang to his eyes as he tried to absorb the pain. Torsten sank down, letting his bottom rest on his heels.
A small light sprang to life across the room. Torsten could see Rell, her head down, her eyes closed in prayer. She didn’t even seem bothered by the sharp ground. He debated mirroring her, but he didn't know how to pray, or who to pray to.
This room didn't seem affected by the tremors. The walls were lined with bookcases. Some of the tomes should have fallen with the strength of the quakes, yet they all remained in their places.
"Torsten, be calm. Let your mind be free," Rell said, her voice barely a whisper. "Empty your mind. Do you understand me?"
He didn't. Still, he nodded his head in agreement. Torsten closed his eyes, attempting to let go of his thoughts. His heart pounded, feeling as if it was dropping to his stomach, only to rebound again. His palms dripped with sweat, and his jaw clenched. The harder he tried to relax, the more he failed.
Rell squeezed his hand. "You can do it, Torsten. Think of nothing other than a leaf blowing on the breeze. Or a star blinking in the sky. Focus on it."
Torsten tried thinking of something, anything, to calm him. Nothing about the military would do the job. He thought farther back, to his mother. She sat on his bed, holding him in her arms as he drifted off to sleep, her soft lips on his forehead. She smelled of earth, the most beautiful scent on Phoenix. It was the smell of freedom. Of love. It was something he hadn't thought of since the night his parents died.
Tears slipped down his cheeks. It was the first time he’d remembered his parents without thinking of the way they died. Instead, Torsten could feel their love. He heard his father sneaking into his bedroom, helping his mother lay him down on his bed. He snuggled into the flat pillow, pulling the moth-eaten blanket up to his chin. It was home. He was safe, and he was loved.
Torsten's body began to shake. Rell's hand grasped tighter.
"Don't let go!" she yelled.
Torsten felt the ground fall out from under him. The world began to spin. But instead of falling down into the hole created by the tremor, Torsten's body sped upward, twirling in the air. He tried opening his eyes, but the force of the wind around him was too great. Instead, he focused all of his attention on the feel of Rell's hand in his. Warm, trustworthy—just like his mother's embrace had once been.
Heat swirled around Torsten, burning off the sweat streaming from his forehead. He held tighter to Rell. He attempted to form words, but his body was caught in a force stronger than anything he'd ever experienced. His stomach flipped over and over again, until he no longer knew which way was up. He tucked his knees to his chest.
Rell's free arm wrapped around him, pulling him close to her. Her head rested on his.
Within moments it was all over. Torsten fell backward onto a hard metal floor, exhausted and confused.
He opened his eyes. Rell sat next to him, her eyes wide and a smile on her face.
"What happened?" he asked, his throat croaking as he looked around the room. Four stark metal walls surrounded them. A bench protruded from one wall, but that was the only piece of furniture.
"We are no longer underground." Rell let go of Torsten's hand, as if she'd just remembered she didn't want to touch him. "Sit. Look around."
Torsten rubbed his forehead as he sat up. He blinked a few times.
Everything had changed.
Rell was right. They were no longer underground. Torsten scrambled to his feet. He ran to the closest window. Looking out, he couldn't believe what he saw.
Darkness. Blackness so thick it could swallow anything touching it. A ship flew outside the window, speeding by at breakneck speed. Torsten whirled around, running to a window on the other side of the room. A planet, lush with green and blue, clouds swirling above it. Two moons. Countless stars. Torsten swallowed hard as Rell placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Is that what I think it is?" Torsten asked.
"What do you think it is?" Rell asked.
"Phoenix." Torsten swallowed again, hard, to tamp down his nausea. "It can't be. We were just there. Underground. Now we're here." He whirled around. "Where are we?"
"In the hands of the gods. The home of the Menelewen Dored." Rell's smile grew. "I have been trying to reach this place for years. Every time, I have failed."
"What?" Torsten croaked. "We could have gotten out of the tunnels with my sister, and instead you risked our lives for an experiment? We could have died down there."
Rell shook her head. "No. The gods always care for us when we need it. Today, we needed it and they responded. Don't you see, Torsten? This is the result of faith. We have been saved."
Torsten looked out the window again. Phoenix looked so peaceful from above. He couldn't see the fires burning in Hadar. It was as if nothing bad could happen down there. But something was missing.
"Rell," he said, "we haven't reached your gods. We are in the hands of our enemy. The ship out there. You saw one earlier today, just as I did. Those aren't ships of peace or religion."
He pulled Rell to the window. "Look."
Her brow furrowed as she looked out the window. "No."
"Yes. We haven't traveled to your gods. We are prisoners of the dragzhi. The same beings who are attempting to kill our people." They floated in space, alone except for one other ship. Was this all the dragzhi had left? Had they made a huge dent in the dragzhi forces? Maybe they could win after all.
"But, the Menelewen Dored..." Rell's voice cracked. "I don't understand. They kept telling us to reach the gods. They taught us how to pray. It was supposed to lead to our salvation, not our enemy."
A panel of the wall moved aside with a whoosh. Torsten and Rell jumped backward.
"Torsten, you made it." A woman glided through the opening, her arms wide, her distinctive red hair pulled back in an intricate braid hanging over her shoulder.
Torsten’s heart plunged to his stomach once more. "Mom?" he asked.
Chapter Fifteen
Rell held her breath as Torsten fell into the arms of the woman with long auburn hair. His mother was only slightly smaller than he was, yet their embrace was awkward. His mother’s arms couldn't seem to find the right placement as they fumbled about Torsten's back.
After a moment, they backed away from each other. Torsten's arms hung at his
sides, his shoulders slumped forward. Rell could almost glimpse the little boy who'd hidden under the bed while he watched his parents’ slaughter.
"I thought you were dead," Torsten said with a whimper. "I saw them kill you. I saw the light in your eyes fade. I saw your lips slacken. I watched as they took your bodies away."
Torsten's hands shook. Rell debating taking one in hers, even if just for a moment to comfort him. She wasn't sure she was ready. She'd already touched him too many times. Becoming comfortable with his body would lead to sin.
She couldn't risk damnation now. Not after she'd finally succeeded. Her attempts to ascend to the gods had always taken her back to her room. This time, she was in space. Whether it was a dragzhi ship mattered not. The Menelewen Dored had finally found her worthy.
"And who is your friend?" Torsten's mother completely ignored her son's question as she bestowed a glowing smile on Rell.
"Rell." She clasped her hands behind her back.
“Yasmin.” She smiled warmly at Rell.
"Mom?" Torsten's hand found its way to his mother's shoulder. Yasmin turned around to face him. "Tell me why you're here. How?"
"The same way as you. I found the gods, and they brought me here." She smiled eerily.
"You were dead." Torsten said it through gritted teeth, and his shoulders tensed. "I don't understand. Please tell me what's going on. Are we..." he stared at Rell, his eyes wide, "dead?"
Rell squeezed her fingers. No, not dead. She felt just as she had before the gods had brought them to this strange place in the stars.
"No, Torsten. You're not dead. Neither am I. It is a very long story. I promise I will explain it to you in due time." Yasmin reached up, patting his cheek, as if he were still a small boy.
Despite the confused and angry look on Torsten's face, Rell's heart was warmed. Her own mother had never treated her so kindly, not even when she was a small child. All her people did was in service to the Menelewen Dored. Children were not allowed to be soft. They were trained from a very young age to be independent.
