“Rei!” Yeke shouted. It broke through her concentration. Rei’s Essence snapped back to her and she staggered into him.
“You couldn’t just wait?” Chia demanded.
Rei pushed off of Yeke gently but kept a hand on him while she made sure her legs were steady. “I honestly didn’t think it would work.”
“It shouldn’t have! The weight of the door—”
“I didn’t open it that far, Chia,” Rei interrupted as she surveyed her work. It had moved enough for two people to go through if they were walking side by side. Her gaze fell toward the ground, the earth had piled up behind it to form a natural doorstop.
“Well, it’s good enough,” Yeke said. Chia marched through with Aede close on her heels. Rei stayed back a moment.
“Are you sure you’re fine?” Yeke asked.
“Yeah, it just came back to me too fast.” He smiled sympathetically at her and she straightened up.
“Come on.” He took her hand and led her to the gate. “Before Chia raids the whole town for herself.”
Buildings lined the cobblestone street in a neat line. The plants had yet to really take hold here, and the streets were even and clean as though waiting for morning business to come again. Their heads swiveled around as they walked up the sharp incline.
Rei took in the intertwined buildings. Their towering presence was even more prominent on the ground, their roofs piercing the sky in sharp peaks. A variety of balconies and parapets came off from all directions, a sharp contrast with the order on the ground.
Unfortunately, the damage that marred this otherwise pristine relic of a city was extensive. As the four rounded a bend in the main road, a wide crater opened before them. Cobblestones littered the street in all directions, while the surrounding buildings were little more than rubble. A small pond where rainwater had collected over time rested in the center. Rei led them over the remnants at the edge of the crater. It crumbled beneath their feet, sending pebbles down into the water where they landed with a dull plop. The other side revealed an intersection where they drew to a stop.
“This is going to be a while,” Yeke commented. He took a swig from his water canteen and looked around.
Rei studied the buildings around them. A glint of light caught her eye. “Maybe...” She took a few steps to the left and forward, just enough so that she could see what it was. “But I’d say that has promise.” She pointed.
The others scurried toward her. From where they stood, they could see the long staircase approaching a door that seemed tiny compared to the windows and doors of the other buildings.
Rei didn’t wait for their agreement and set off toward it. As she drew near, she could see statues gracing one side of the steps as though they were the first line of defense. She had to struggle not to take the stairs two at a time, but Yeke and Chia quickly overtook her before commencing a miniature race between themselves. She glanced over to see Aede trying the same trick with her. A grin lit up her face and she put on a spur of speed.
When they reached the top, she watched Yeke reached for the door only to have an Essence shield spring up around it. He glanced over his shoulder at Rei. “Do you think...”
“Are you sure we should let her? She might blow it to splinters,” Chia pointed out.
“I can unlock doors.” Rei glared. “That was one time ten jobs ago. As if you never had experiments go awry. You’re just jealous you won’t be able to try it.”
Aede calmly clamped a hand over Chia’s mouth as Rei set to work. There were a few safeguards in place for potential thieves, but their power was so minimal she easily pushed them aside. Bit by bit, she played with the locking mechanisms until there was a noticeable click and the shield fell.
The inside of the building was dark as Rei led the way through. Aede formed a fistful of flame in the palm of her hand, the light bouncing off the walls and into the arching ceiling. They walked between pillars that indicated the main walkway.
Then, Rei found it—the only exit in the room, a staircase that led into the depths of the building. Their footsteps echoed eerily, a reminder that they were the first living people to step foot in this place in centuries. Chia coughed and swatted the dust they were kicking up away from her face.
“How is it going?” Kuv’s voice asked over their earpieces. The group jumped.
“It was fine,” Chia hissed for them. “Until some idiot decided to scare us half to death.”
“We’re just checking out some of the buildings now,” Rei broke in. “How are things on your end?”
“All quiet so far,” he replied.
“Good. If we find anything, we’ll let you know. Rei, out.”
As she closed the channel, Rei felt something just at the edge of her senses. She put it to the back of her mind and resumed walking. Several more steps down, it brushed against them again. With a cocked eyebrow, she watched the others looking around, undisturbed. She released her Essence out in ripples, reaching farther and farther until she was sure she had spread her sense through the entire city.
There! Far below in the depths of the ground was something taunting her, beckoning her to come to it. Rei frowned, trying to shape her senses around what the thing was before blindly charging in.
The ground beneath their feet heaved and steps rose until they became miniature ramps. Each of them struggled to keep their footing, only to be sent sliding toward the walls. Rei watched in shock as the wall behind Chia opened and the engineer vanished into darkness. Seconds later it was back, looking like nothing happened.
“Get away from the walls!” she called.
Aede was the trap’s next victim, the section of wall swallowing her despite Rei trying to grab onto her. Yeke slid down several steps, then rolled away toward a bend in the stairs. Rei lost her own battle. Her last sight before the wall closed on her was him disappearing from sight.
~*~
Rei blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness around her. For a moment, she panicked as her mind tried to take in and make sense of what happened. Her breathing became ragged as she scrambled to her feet, blaster free and ready to fire. Her feet propelled her backward of their own volition until she hit a wall. The deep breaths calmed her, but nothing could stem the rising panic entirely.
A flame similar to what Aede had used revealed that while her bag had remained with her nothing else had. She was alone in an enclosed space that was barely wider than a closet. The flame left her hand and hovered beside her as she holstered her weapon. Her hands skimmed the wall in search of a release of any kind. No luck. Rei allowed her head to fall back and stared into the darkness above her. No visible ceiling; there was no telling how far she had fallen either.
There has to be a ventilation system of some kind, they’d want whoever tried to break in kept alive so they could question them. If I could use that... She shook her head. That’s an idiotic idea, Rei. Chances are it’s not nearly wide enough. Her eyes scanned the walls again, trying in vain to make out some exit she could use. If I can’t find one, I need to make one.
Rei threw her bag on the ground, pulled out one of Chia’s demolition devices, and activated it. The device counted down and Rei took cover along the opposite wall, crouching low and hoping that she was far enough away and her shield was strong enough. Minutes passed and nothing. She chanced a look at the device to find the last glyph in the countdown blinking back at her. Rei quickly placed a shield around the dud and retrieved another from her bag. The timer set, she settled back to wait, this time ensuring to keep an eye on the countdown. Once more it reached the last glyph—nothing.
A growl escaped her throat and she pulled the gun from her holster, aiming for the device. Her finger eased back the trigger, but it clicked with each attempt, despite the Essence filling in the chamber.
Her eyes widened. No tech works in here...
She shoved the weapon back in her holster. Another shield was placed around the second device and she pushed both out of the way. Back on her f
eet, she gradually released the control she had on her Essence. It radiated outward until the energy came off her skin in blue waves of energy. The fire went out as Rei’s entire being became her main source of light. An orb of pure Essence energy appeared in the palm of her hand. She extended the hand outward, focusing the energy toward the wall. Slivers of rock flew everywhere. Some scratched at Rei’s face, but she continued her attack. Slowly, she advanced as more of the wall was carved away.
Sweat beaded on her body from the effort, but she only stopped when a bit of fresh air washed over her. She poked her head through the opening she had made. A long hallway ran along the outside of her prison as far as she could see.
“Well, at least I have a place to go,” she muttered, then set to work widening the opening so she could get out.
Free, Rei closely examined the hallway. It was made the same smooth stone as the room she had found herself in. A hand absently went to her comm in her ear. “Yeke? Chia? Aede?” She released it and tapped her foot. “Can anyone hear me?” Silence continued to be her only answer.
Rei debated the two possible directions before choosing the right path since it was more likely to lead her close to whatever she sensed when they were above. The others were capable and she was better off trying to accomplish something productive since she wasn’t sure where to begin her search. If she found them while doing it, then it was the icing on the cake.
The hallway was unending; there were no other paths, just turns and twists that made her disoriented. The longer it went on, the more Rei felt her frustration mount.
This is like being stuck in a nightmare, she thought. These people definitely knew what they were doing to discourage criminals. If they made it out of the room, most of them probably gave up after the first twist. She stopped dead in the center of the hall and chanced a small probe of the immediate area. Instantly, the illusion she kept constantly around her vanished and a wave of Essence washed over her body. Rei couldn’t help but gasp as she looked down to see the claws menacing glinting in the light she cast off. She would have just hidden them again, but something told her it would do no good. Instead, she focused on her revealed surroundings.
I need to choose a direction and go. She examined the doorway off to the left, the top edge had alien writing carved into it. Rei glared at it as though she could force it to divulge its meaning. A faint clicking noise came behind her; Rei whirled around and stared into the darkness before she resumed her consideration of the text. The sound came again and Rei turned to see a pair of pincers descend into the ring of light around her. A hiss came from the fanged mouth of their owner. The body resembled that of a beetle, and its many sharp-edged legs dug into the stone as it fell to the ground. Rei whipped out her gun, her Essence flooding the chamber. She attempted to fire, but it still just clicked. Resigned, she shoved it back in her holster as she continued to backpedal.
A vortex of wind formed between her and it. The creature simply lunged through it, pincers clicking as they tried to grab onto any part of her body they could. Rei attempted to set it aflame, but it barely singed the exoskeleton. She put on as much speed as she could manage and formed another energy orb in her hand. She threw it at the creature with all her might, and then another. It faltered, stumbling as it hit its leg. More orbs flew from her hands, striking just above where she figured the eyes were. The exoskeleton cracked. Lightning streaked across the room from the gathering power in the palm of her hands. A loud shriek escaped from the creature as they crash to the ground before falling silent.
Rei paused, breathing hard. Well, no one should have any trouble finding me now. The threat dispatched, gave it a good kick before going down the corridor with the writing she couldn’t translate.
~*~
Far down the new hallway, Rei could feel the thing she had sensed beckon to her once more. She was definitely going the correct direction, but it still felt like it was somewhere beneath her. At every new intersection, she carefully looked down the passages, but nothing gave her an indication it was the correct path to get her where she needed to be. At last, the hallway became a sudden dead end. Her hands felt the surface, the claws at the tips of her fingers digging at the faint outline in the stone.
“A door?” she whispered.
The wall seemed determined to keep its and Rei raced back the way she came. She turned down the first hallway that she had ignored. She was midway when a sound echoed through the corridor. Rei skidded to a stop, her head whipping toward the ceiling in expectation of another creature. Instead, the noise, now clearly a whistle, grew louder by the second from somewhere in front of her.
Rei debated what she was going to do when four spears flew toward her from the darkness ahead. They hit full-on, forcing her shielding to fall. Before she could recast the shield, she felt a searing pain rip through her right arm. Rei cursed her slowness under her breath as she resealed the barrier.
She darted forward as more spears flew at her, this time exploding against her shield in a spray of flame and sparks. Rei rounded the corner to assess her wounds; the cut on her right arm was deep, but the bleeding was already starting to slow. She could feel herself growing a bit weary as she set out again, the injuries and Essence use finally getting the best of her.
The sound of hurried steps drew her attention. Rei checked her shielding before an energy orb formed in her hand. She fell against the wall, keeping a brightly lit section of hallway in her line of sight. The footsteps grew closer, increasing in intensity as charged Essence orbs flew out to strike the wall close to Rei. Through the haze of rubble, Chia emerged from the lit section of the hallway.
“Oh, hello!” Chia called.
A huge automaton crashed between them where the orbs had struck. It turned to Rei with yellow glowing eyes. “Elim...in...ate... threat.” The robotic voice was faint.
“Sounds good,” Rei agreed. She threw the orb of Essence, it tore through the chest, traveling through the system to its head. The remains collapsed to the ground and went dark.
“You couldn’t have just disabled it?” Chia demanded. “I was hoping to study it.”
“We’ll get you another later.” Rei stepped over the body. “Have you seen Yeke or Aede?”
“No, and why are you lit up like a nebula?”
“Huh?” Rei looked down as Chia pointed at her body with a smirk.
“Well, at least we won’t need light.”
Rei eased the Essence back under her control until the glow was only visible through her scars. Chia formed a new flame orb as she finished the process. “I forgot about it,” Rei explained. “I had to use some drastic measures to get out of where I landed and then met a bug with an attitude problem.”
“You get all the fun. I only found the room of automatons so far.” Chia folded her arms in front of her. “What now?”
“I’m going down, there’s something there. I can sense it from here.”
“I saw some stairs, that way.” Chia pointed in the direction she came. “But shouldn’t we wait for the others?”
“Do you know where to look?”
“No.”
“Me either so I imagine they’ll be along soon.” Rei used a claw to carve out a rune on the wall and flooded it with Essence, a secret message the crew used to use to give their location when needed. “There. Now, are you coming with me?”
Chia considered it. “Why not. Those other automatons will keep for now. Follow me.”
~*~
Rei looked around as the stairs opened into a wide cavern with low lights she imagined ran off of the natural Essence around them. It was filled with large stacks of papers, electronics, paintings, and gold. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, taking it all in.
“And this is all ours...” she said in a whisper.
“That’s what you said the client told you,” Chia replied. “Hopefully, they keep their end of the deal because I’m curious as to what’s all here.”
“No doubt there are things that’ll keep you
busy for a while.” Rei started them forward again. “You can’t take it all, though—I want to keep some safe here. Besides, I doubt even you could modify our engines to carry so much weight.”
“Fine.” Chia’s voice betrayed her disappointment. “Where do we start, then?”
Rei remained silent as she led them past the piles of gold and treasures, carefully casing each one with a critical eye. “Does it strike you odd,” she said at last, “that this place is so open? I thought it would be more guarded.”
“We might have gotten lucky. That, or they probably figured all the things above would take care of whoever tried to get down here.”
They rounded a larger pile until they stopped where the ground sloped down to where a large diamond sat atop a tall pillar.
“It seems too easy to just walk up and take it, but whatever.” Chia marched toward it, but Rei grabbed her arm.
“Exactly. So, let’s be careful, huh?”
“Well, what do you suggest?”
This close, the gem was a beacon of Essence. Despite it appearing harmless, Rei kept a respectful distance. She scanned the gem and pedestal, but couldn’t sense any defenses around it.
“Say, did you grab something that looked like a scope for a gun from the private armory?” Chia asked.
Rei set her pack on the ground and dug through until she found something like what Chia was describing. “This?” Chia nodded and Rei tossed it over.
Chia aimed it toward the pedestal. An invisible dome around it wavered and reflected the beam from the device back to the ground.
“A trap?” Rei asked.
“A very well hidden one; I sensed nothing around it.”
“How do we get past it?”
The engineer’s hand ran over the curve of her chin. “I’m not sure... There has to be something to turn it off around here somewhere.”
Forgotten Relics Page 13
