“A real shame some lamia will never become women,” Sanvi said with disappointment. “The lamia in the more developed regions are spineless and weak, flaunting around in their fancy dresses with haughty noses held in the air.” She shook her head while veering left.
“I can’t see how they can stand those garments,” Tru whined. “A vendor offered one the last time we went trading and it felt so uncomfortable like someone was squeezing all the air from my lungs.”
“Hmm, they do look nice, but they look so frail. Why bother wearing something you can’t move in?” Wei asked.
I rolled my eyes as they started chattering, hoping we could get outside soon. Of course, it was going to take an hour or two to get outside. Even if the tunnels were a straight shot, it was still quite a few miles to tread on foot.
The path we wandered down came to a dead-end. Before I could ask, Sanvi handed off the crystal and told me, “Hold this, please.”
She and Nuna got on either side of a large rock and, surprisingly, pulled it back. The sound of stone grinding on stone echoed in the tunnel, and the sound continued further into the deep cavern the rock was hiding.
Sanvi took back the stone and slithered through the small opening, and then Nuna followed. Going in order, I got down on my hands and knees and crawled through. The stone felt rougher and more uneven as I followed the red light down to where the floor sloped. The air was noticeably colder, and the air smelled of damp, musty earth. Nuna and Sanvi were waiting until the rest of us neared, and then they continued where the walls and ceiling pressed in, making it impossible for me to stand.
The claustrophobia didn’t last long because the narrow channel opened into a wide cave. There was a narrow crack on the far side on the left, and there were two holes side by side that were smaller than the one we just crawled through.
“Not quite what I was expecting when you said secret tunnels,” I observed wryly. Crawling the next several miles would take hours.
“We’ve only carved out the emergency exit, which is on the other side of our temple,” Sanvi said as she checked the leather guard over her spear. “The other tunnels are just natural formations that have occurred over time. One crack opens into a cavern, and that erodes into a hole there, and so on. That’s why Luppa is the priestess. She maintains the temple through her earth magic, making sure everything stays whole and stable.”
“Earth magic?” I asked with an overt note of disbelief.
“Luppa’s principal is in matter, and she has an affinity for stone,” Sanvi replied casually. “She, Wren, and a handful of others studied briefly at Chaparral from long ago, the academy that used to stand on the other side of the mountains. The Isusi aren’t known for our magical aptitude, nor the study of it.”
My gut response was to call bullshit, but then I remembered the wizard who was with Fell and Meriel. Magic would explain the impossible command he had over the rocks. Frustration gave me a headache while trying to fathom everything. Magic, monsters, monster-women, and jumping between worlds like a fucking comic book multiverse. With some mental strain, I buried my annoyance and got to brass tacks.
“How long is it going to take us to get outside?”
“Not long at all,” Sanvi said before chuckling. “But only if you hitch a ride on us.”
I tried to respond to that, but my mouth just hung open for a spell. “Are you serious?”
“Of course. Lamia are exceptionally fast. Not as fast as some beastkin, but tight spaces don’t inhibit our speed all that much. Which will be handy since we’ll be going vertical at some points.” Sanvi slithered closer and turned her back to me. “C’mon, no need to be shy,” she said, giving her scaly hip an affirming slap.
What the hell is a beastkin?
Adjusting the sling of my rifle, so it was tighter, I willed my body and buried the embarrassment before mounting Sanvi’s snake half like she was a coin-operated kiddie ride outside of a grocery store.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “You’re going to fall off.” She handed off her spear and crystal to Nuna, then forcibly reached for my hands and pressed them tight against her busty mounds underneath her poncho. “There. A nice, firm hold.”
“Honestly, Sanvi,” Nuna scoffed while shaking her head.
“Oh, I see you want Oliver to ride you more. It that’s what you want~.”
“Wha—No—that’s—” Nuna turned away in a flustered fit and started grumbling to herself.
Tru, Haya, and Wei giggled openly.
“Can we just fucking go?” I asked, my face still burning from the bizarre outcome.
Sanvi snickered. “Anything you want, but do keep a firm hold, Oliver. Keep your head down, and don’t be afraid to squeeze with your knees.”
I pressed my head to Sanvi’s back and crossed my arms under her chest for a better hold. Sanvi got her spear back, and Nuna took the lead into one of the cramp holes. Sanvi lowered herself and slithered forward, the woman moving as if I was nothing but a backpack. Not all that surprising when I’m pressed against her firm and powerful body.
The feeling of location while riding Sanvi into the cramped tunnel made it feel as though I was on a rollercoaster. It was slow and gradual as we progressed the first few feet, Nuna’s light hardly making an impact in the confined darkness. Then everything suddenly shifted into high gear when we propelled forward with enough speed for my stomach to compress. The rise and fall, changes from left to right, and the sound of their scales grinding against the stone sounded like wheels on a track, making it feel as though this actually was some twisted rollercoaster ride.
I tightened my arms around Sanvi and pressed my face as close as my helmet would allow into her back. Pinching my eyes shut, I tried to do mental arithmetic to distract myself, but the constant change in motion was making me feel sick. Instead, I just took some deep breaths, taking in Sanvi’s sweet and spicy scent as we propelled through the mountain.
After what felt like half an hour, we eventually slowed to a placid pace. Opening my eyes, I could see Nuna’s red light covering greater space, so that was the end of the tight tunnel. The lead lamia came to a stop, Sanvi doing to same. Not needing a confirmation, I got off my bizarre mount and took a few wobbly steps. My legs felt as steady as pool noodles.
“Would you like a drink?” Wei asked quietly, holding out a waterskin.
Wordlessly, I accepted and took a long draw before handing back the waterskin. With my dry mouth taken care of, and having some space to move around in, I was squared and ready.
“Alright,” Sanvi said in a hushed voice. “We’re inside of a cave that’ll open up to the outside. Corruptions could be lurking in the various caverns. We haven’t run into any so far, but no sense in being careless. Just be quiet and let us handle anything that gets too close. Okay?”
I sighed and nodded once. Getting talked down to like my nose was still wet pissed me off some, but given the context, I’m the FNG. The last thing I want was to be the fuck-up, too.
Sanvi pulled the leather guard off her spear and took point beside Nuna. Together, they led the way, having Haya and me in the middle, with Wei and Tru holding the rear. As we moved through the cave, the red light illuminated pools of darkness to our sides, other caverns that led elsewhere into the mountain.
The sporadic ride left me with no basis to even guess on how the tunnel from the temple led to here. As the dark warrioress stated earlier, we did a fair amount of climbing. The worry of getting hopelessly lost added to the ever-growing list of things to worry about. And with the mention of the cracks and rifts being natural, cave-ins joined the party.
Rationality warred with paranoia, and I tried to keep in mind that this was their territory. None of the women showed even the tiniest bit of concern; in fact, their light-hearted demeanor seemed very out of place with a mission venturing out into hostile territory. I’ll take it as confidence in their knowledge and experience.
Every time I got an eyeful of them, I was reminded of their lethality
. Wei and Tru carried their bows the same way I carried my rifle: naturally, as if it were another limb. Haya, with eerie coincidence, carried a machete—a kukri specifically.
The stone floor started to slope upwards, and then we made a sharp turn, coming out of a fork that had another path going elsewhere.
Jesus! How expansive is the damn cave?
Before I could bother asking, the two lamia ahead stopped.
Sanvi slithered forward until she was just inches from my face. “Nuna is going to turn out the stone. The entrance is just up ahead. Tread carefully and know that we’re all around you.”
Meeting her gaze, I gave a hard look and nodded. She grinned, then lowered her mask, giving me a different smile of ghastly teeth. The other girls donned their masks, too, and once Nuna saw everyone ready, she submerged us to darkness.
My heart was racing as soon as the last sliver of light died. The blackness just made it feel as though something was staring at me, waiting.
Panic boomed into being when something grabbed my hand left hand, but then I heard Haya.
“I’ll guide you,” she whispered, her voice somewhere near my ear.
Since she knew the way, I would tolerate her touch. It was easier to think without a racing heart anyways.
We progressed up the steep slope in the dark, musty air for a few minutes, nothing disturbing the silence. A noticeable draft chilled the sweat on my face, and after another couple of minutes, the first rays of light were at the end of the long cave. Nuna and Sanvi became dark silhouettes amidst the backdrop of light. The direct light was blinding as I stepped out, but after blinking, I saw the afternoon sun washing miles and miles of mountainscape in light.
The two lamia flanked either side of the cave mouth and panned the area thoroughly. Taking slow, measured steps, I walked further out into the open and stopped a few shy of a cliff that leads hundreds of feet down to some nasty-looking rocks.
Sanvi joined my side and tapped the butt of her spear on the ground. “Careful where you step near the edge. The stone here is brittle. This used to go further out and wrap around over there,” she said while pointing to our right. She then turned her gaze down. “Good thing no one was here when it collapsed.”
Getting straight to the point, I demanded, “Where is it?”
Sanvi gave me a purple side-long glance and then heaved a sigh. Turning, she pointed up behind us and said, “There, above the ridge. The area we’re going to forage will give us a mostly clear view of the valley.”
I pulled the M4 off my shoulder and checked the chamber.
“Lead the way.”
The trail further up the mountain was narrow, six feet at the widest, four feet at its thinnest, so we moved single-file. The fact that the Marker was so near gave me a headache of anticipation, but I wasn’t dumb enough to rush something like this. Cracks ran everywhere on the rock face to my side; some a few inches, others going beyond twenty feet. I’d imagine there’s a lot of stress on the stone given the terrain. Been a few years since geography, but I remember mountains form when the earth’s tectonic plates crash into each other — well, crashing over several million years.
I took one step further, and then a small chunk of rock broke away a few inches short of my boot. The sound of chuck bouncing down lessened in volume until I couldn't even hear it anymore. Swallowing hard, I shuffled closer to the wall and moved on, digging up old geography facts to not focus on the fatal fall just an arm’s span away.
Eventually, the trail opened to a small, lonely cliff, with a wide chasm in the rock face forming another path through the mountain. Following the slithering tails, I slipped into the narrow passage. More times than not did I have to shuffle sideways to get past a bend of a section of rock jutting out, so I made the right call leaving my rucksack behind. All on my person were a few magazines of extra amma, a knife, flashlight, and a first aid kit.
Finally, the passage led to where the terrain leveled out some and greenery grew. The trees weren’t as dense and thick in the forest down the mountain, but they were still towering. Wordlessly, the Sanvi broke off with the others and started going through the bushes and trees, leaving only Nuna to my side. It was odd; even with the mask on, I knew she was making a face.
“We’ll need to climb,” she said, turning away. “Let’s get this out of the way.”
I looked back to see Sanvi looking my way. She wiggled her fingers, and, oddly enough, I knew she was smiling. Keeping vigilant eyes, I followed Nuna.
We kept the rock face to our right, and the trees to our left, moving with only the sound of the whistling winds and the dirt stirring underfoot. The ground started to slope more aggressively on the left as we carried on. The strain of trying to keep steady was starting to make my calves burn. Nuna serpentined forward as if she was taking a nice stroll.
Nuna stopped at a rocky wall and started climbing. Her serpent portion easily moved her an extra six feet in the air before she started using her hands.
She stopped before she got too far and asked with a nip, “Do I need to carry you?”
“I can manage,” I said callously before getting some footholds.
The rough the fifteen-foot climb up the wall wasn’t too challenging. Of course, by the time I got up, Nuna was waiting with her arms crossed impatiently.
After some more light climbing, we got to the little summit of this particular area, which offered a mostly uninterrupted view of everything around. The mountain on the opposite side where we exited the cave stood much taller, where the air was most likely thinner. Separating the grand masses of stone was a winding valley that broke off and led to another gargantuan mountain not too far off. However, I didn’t bother to look at much else when I saw it. Nuna didn’t have to point it out.
About three miles from us in the narrow valley was a black obelisk, the thing looking like an ugly thorn that punched through the earth— The Marker. Going off a rough estimation, it looked to about the size of the Washington Monument. Such a sharp and refined structured looked out of place in the rough, uneven landscape. The fog clouding the valley floor was especially thick around the structure. Beyond the obelisk and mountain, black clouds hung in the sky, darkening the landscape under them as if God had ran an eraser through the planet.
“I take that’s the way is east,” I murmured, never taking my glaring eyes away from the monument of evil.
Nuna pulled her mask off and stared into the distance. Sorrow marred her face, but she looked on. “When the balance shifts to the Null, the land withers away, and darkness falls. If the Marker is finished, then darkness will swallow our world whole.” She exhaled forcefully through her nose and turned away. “You’ve seen what you wanted. Let’s go back and help the others gather.”
She slithered away, but I remained where I was, staring. Thinking.
I have to give credit where it’s due. Building in the valley between mountains gave them almost three hundred and sixty degrees of natural fortifications. Not only that, but anything that hoped to rip that thing down won’t have the easiest time getting to it.
Looking to the north, and over the thin ridge bisecting the forest I wandered the first days here, there was smoking black rent across the landscape. And in front of that was the little white blur of what must’ve been Elesrora. A war raged, people are dying right now, and it looked like nothing more than a smudge.
“Listen to me, you ass,” Nuna hissed in a strained whisper.
“Were you talking?” I asked, my eyes still glued to the Marker.
She growled and drew in a calming breath to keep from yelling. “You’re wasting time. Why are you staring so hard?”
“I’m trying to figure out how to destroy it.”
Silence was her immediate response.
“You’re going to destroy it?” she asked sardonically as she slithered in front of me. As she put herself in my gaze, the skeptical look she had on washed away, and her mouth fell. “By Yetzirah, you’re serious.”
Everything
was ripped away from me, and it felt as though God cast me aside into desolation to rot in a strange world. The Null tore my life and friends from me. The Null brought me here. And there they were, just a few measly miles separating me from them. I don’t want to get even with them, and I want to annihilate them into fucking oblivion until not even the idea of them remained. The fury deep, deep, deep down within the darkest depths of my conscious flared like a supernova at the sight of the Marker—the objective necessary for me to carry out my purpose. Not the brutal and violent revenge that I crave, but dropping something integral to their plan of world domination is a small start.
I will destroy it. I don’t know how, but if I keep staring, I’ll figure it out.
“Yes,” I answered, my voice swearing with absolute resolve, “I’ll destroy it. Even if it kills me.”
Chapter 13
The next few hours passed with agonizing slowness. The girls gave me a quick lesson on the wild fruits and vegetables they need to ensure everyone is getting enough nutrients in their body, enough to keep from getting sick, at least. Peppered throughout this side of the mountain in the rain shadow were small bushes that bore little pink cherries. Some trees, up in their branches, bore little oblong-shaped things that had the skin of an orange but was red like a tomato. For the greens, it was predominantly handfuls of a specific grass that had edible shoots.
It was all simple enough, and I secured a good number of the cherry things, but my body was just on cruise control. I couldn't stop thinking about the Marker; I wouldn’t stop thinking. I wanted to stand up on the summit all day and watched that thing until the answers came.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my twenty-one years of existing, it’s that if you stare at something long enough, it’ll make sense.
I glared at the darkened thorn for almost ten minutes. Only through Nuna’s constant pestering and reminder that Corruptions may be lurking around was enough for me to climb back down. The view was burned into my mind like a photograph, but nothing beat having the real article before the windows of the soul, all the fine details to be exploited and uncovered in real-time.
Heart of the Resonant- the Soldier's Tale Page 17