Shimmer

by Matthew Keith

  * * *

  Alex jerked awake with a start, gasping as he sat up.

  “It is alright.” Tabitha was by his side, stroking back his hair. “You are safe,” she soothed. “They have not breached the cavern, and they won’t. Our warriors are strong.”

  “What?” Alex croaked, his voice scratchy. He swallowed painfully against a dry throat. Putting a hand to his aching forehead, he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He was in a shelter, but not his. It was bigger, with personal items lined neatly on carved-out shelves. Tabitha turned to one of those shelves and filled a bowl with water from a pitcher, holding it for him to drink.

  “Not too much,” she told him gently.

  “Where am I?” The water was so good. He was greedy for more.

  “I brought you home,” Tabitha told him. “To my home.” She blushed and put the bowl down on the floor, turning away. Alex immediately picked it back up and drank more.

  “Mine and Sarah’s, I mean.” Tabitha had her back to him, unconsciously rubbing her arms as if she were cold. “Being so close to the tunnel entrance, they… everyone agreed it would be unsafe for you to remain in your shelter. And now that…”

  Tabitha trailed off, looking back at him and biting her lip. She hadn’t meant to say what she’d said.

  “Now that what?” Alex asked, sitting up straighter. “Tabitha, how long have I been sleeping?”

  “Nearly a full day,” Tabitha replied, looking apologetic. “You collapsed on the steps of Sanctuary and no one could rouse you, not even when we doused you with lake water.”

  Alex blanched, not liking the idea of having been so far gone.

  Tabitha went to the far side of the room and began organizing some of the items on the shelves, her back to him again.

  “Tabitha?” He said her name like a question, but she didn’t turn around. Instead, her hands began moving faster, putting things back where she’d just moved them from.

  “Tabitha,” Alex repeated firmly, and climbed unsteadily to his feet. He swayed slightly as he worked to get his balance, grasping the wall of the shelter for support. He gave a start when he saw the sword that Silas had given him propped up next to the door. He blinked. Why would Winston have left such a lethal weapon with Alex?

  “Now that what?” Alex demanded again. “You need to tell me what happened.”

  Tabitha blew out a frustrated sigh and turned to face him, her hands clasped tightly together. “They have seized control of the Core. It has been taken,” she told him tremulously. “It must have happened right after we left to bring you here.”

  “But how… how do you know for sure?”

  “Just after you fell unconscious, Winston sent a guard party back, but there they were attacked by a band of thralls outside the Antechamber. They were pushed back, nearly to the city, but guards at the entrance heard the sound of their fighting and came to their aid.”

  Alex stiffened. It had begun. “And the city?” he whispered.

  “They have not breached the Cavern of Domus,” she told him. “Winston has rallied every warrior and they have begun taking back the caverns one section at a time, establishing a guard station at every intersection. Our warriors are bravely pushing for the Core, but we do not know what they will find when they reach it. It could be that just one Nocuous and its thralls, or it could be Rasmus’s entire army.” Her mouth tightened into a thin line. “We simply do not know.”

  Alex groaned. In his heart, he already knew that it had to be Rasmus. It could be no coincidence that the Core had been taken on the same day he brought Silas to the Under with him.

  Did this mean Silas was in league with Rasmus and working to liberate him to the surface?

  “How many?” he asked.

  Tabitha furrowed her brow, confused.

  “How many warriors of Domus have died?”

  Tabitha frowned and bowed her head. “Three,” she responded sadly. “But it could be more. The fighting has gone on unabated since it began.”

  He’d slept through an entire day of fighting?

  “I have to go,” Alex said firmly. He still felt weak, but he was getting stronger by the second, his body waking up with his mind. It didn’t matter, anyway. Even if he had never slept at all, he would still need to go. He had the suit and he had the blade Silas had given him. He could help. “Where is Winston? Where is Jonathan and Abner?”

  “At the front, pushing toward the Core,” Tabitha answered. “It is Winston’s duty as Marshall, and as Winston’s second, Jonathan is with him. I have no doubt Abner will be there as well.”

  “I have to go,” Alex repeated. He reached out and took hold of the sword, lifting it to eye level. It really was a beautiful weapon. Why had Silas given it to him? Was it some sort of honor among enemies thing? From the experiences Alex had had with other Nocuous, honor didn’t seem to be very high on their list of priorities. He frowned and put the thought aside. Right now it didn’t matter. Right now, he needed to help his friends. Maybe he hadn’t been able to get them the weapons they needed, but he could still fight by their side. Domus might fall today, but not before Alex himself fell too.

  He turned to say goodbye to Tabitha but she was right behind him, blade in hand. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I am a warrior of Domus,” she replied, her tone allowing no rebuke. “As ordered by my Marshall, I stayed behind to be certain that you came to no harm. I have done that. But now my place is in the tunnels, with my fellow warriors. I am going with you.”

  Alex knew better than to argue. Their relationship, having moved on to something much more than either ever expected, was still rooted in the teacher-student dynamic. She was still his superior as far as the ranks of the Domus warriors were concerned, and he knew she would have no problem reminding him of it. Her demeanor may have significantly warmed, but at her heart she would always be a warrior first. He could no sooner force her to stay here than she could force Winston.

  “Alright,” he said. Secretly, he was glad that she would be with him. He did not relish the thought of traversing the tunnels alone. He ducked his head to leave the shelter, but a cool hand on his arm held him back. “What?” he asked, confused. “I thought you said…”

  “Your father,” Tabitha said.

  Alex froze. “What about my father?” he demanded. “Is he okay?”

  Tabitha shook her head. “I do not know if he is alright,” she replied. “We have not seen nor heard anything of his whereabouts.”

  “Then—?” Alex began.

  “If we do find him,” she cut him off, “and it is determined that he is… like my father…”

  Alex took a deep breath. He knew what Tabitha was trying to say. “If my father has been made a thrall—if he has,” he emphasized, pressing his lips into a grim line, “I will do what is right.”

  Tabitha held his gaze. “As will I,” she promised, searching his eyes. “You gave me a gift, Alexander Croatoan, when you slayed my father.”

  Alex raised a hand to halt the discussion. He wasn’t ready to consider this, not yet. “We don’t have to talk about this,” he said. “You owe me nothing. Not now, not when we might not live through the day.”

  “That is precisely why we need to talk about this,” Tabitha replied. She stepped up close and wrapped both arms around him. “You gave me a gift,” she repeated. “I had two choices in those moments. One was to end the life of my father, a man I loved more than any other. The other was to allow him to end mine. Had I been the one to kill him, a part of me would have died. I cannot fathom the depths of despair I would be feeling today if it had been my blade to make that cut.” She leaned forward and kissed him tenderly. “By saving my life, you saved my life,” she told him. “And I can do no less than return such a gift.”

  Alex could only pray it would never come to that.