Adventurer (The Nova Chronicles Book 7)

by S. J. Bryant

  She turned left down a side tunnel, following the path she'd chosen based on the map in her memory. Just as she expected, the tunnel opened up into a wider chamber. Here the ceiling lifted away, held in place by four stone columns. Stone pedestals scattered across the square chamber and the four columns created long shadows leading away from her glowball.

  She stepped into the middle of the room. The coloured floor tiles created a blue spiral that circled around, finally ending in a purple square under her feet. She turned in a circle, admiring the columns and the high vaulted ceiling.

  Ghosts of the past whispered against her skin. The room felt steeped in culture and ritual. In her mind's eye she could see the old citizens moving between the columns, their long robes flowing out behind them. She drew in a deep breath and tasted the ancient air and dirt of the chamber.

  Nova smiled and stepped away from the spiral, some of her frustration forgotten. A second tunnel led away from the chamber, the next leg of her journey.

  She'd almost reached the gaping tunnel when something slammed into her back.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Nova stumbled, using the momentum to roll forward and leap to her feet. Her back pressed tight against the brick wall. She whipped her gun out of its holster and pointed it towards the centre of the chamber.

  Looming out of the darkness from between the columns approached a bulbous purple plant, as tall as Nova. Tentacles extended out of its base, covered with sharp barbs that glinted in the light. They waved through the air, whipping back and forth with harsh cracking noises.

  Surrounding the purple bulb spread massive green leaves that curled over and shone in the light from Nova's glowball. The leaves flopped back and forth with the movement of the tentacles. The purple bulb pulsated in and out, almost breathing.

  Nova's stomach clenched. The purple monstrosity reminded her of the orange plants that had attacked her and Jack on Drigoon. At the time, she'd had a gun that shot fire-balls capable of destroying buildings, and she'd still barely survived. Now all she had was a small plasma pistol.

  Tiny legs underneath the tentacles scurried across the stone floor, carrying the monstrous bulb. They tapped out a continuous rhythm as the thing raced forward. The creature bent over so that the top of its bulb pointed directly at her. The bulb opened up to reveal a gaping cavity and a red vine shot out. It whipped through the air like a crimson spear, straight for her face.

  Nova dived to her left. The red vine shot past her and slammed into the stone wall. Chips of yellow rock sprayed out across the floor and showered Nova's shoulders, filling the air with the scent of dry dust.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and tucked her head under her arms, away from the shrapnel.

  The vine recoiled back inside the purple bulb, which flicked up to vertical. The creature scuttled closer, pulsating.

  Nova stepped sideways so that a column stood between them. Her heart beat erratically in her chest, fluttering like a startled bird. Her last run-in with a carnivorous plant had ended with her nearly being digested alive. Damned if she was going to let this purple posy get the best of her.

  She strained her ears.

  The scuttling legs gave the creature away. It skirted around the side of the column to her left. Nova darted to her right and came out right behind it. She aimed her gun and fired. A blue blast of energy crackled through the air and slammed into the creature.

  The bulb charred and blackened where her blast hit. It screeched and ripped around to face her, rattling across the floor. Sap oozed out of the blackened wound, dripping to the floor and leaking tendrils of smoke.

  Nova had expected it to fall down dead with her first shot and wasn't ready for its sudden advance. Before she could fire again the red vine flew at her face. She flicked her head to the side but it wasn't enough. The barbed vine scraped along her right cheek before whipping back inside the bulb.

  A sharp sting ripped along her face like she'd been slashed with a hot blade. Her free hand flew to the wound and came away sticky with blood.

  "Bastard!"

  She aimed her gun.

  A green tentacle-vine slammed down out of nowhere and knocked the gun out of her hand. It scraped across the stone floor, far out of reach.

  "I hate plants!" Nova bellowed as the tentacle retracted back around the column and joined the waving mass sprouting from the purple bulb.

  She darted for the nearest column and hid behind the yellow stone. The red vine chased after her. It slammed into the edge of the column and more chips of rock fell loose. They crumbled to the ground.

  Her cheek stung and a warm trickle of blood slid down her face. Pain emanated out from her cheek and embraced her right eye as well as her ear.

  Anger welled up inside her. Where the hell had the plant come from anyway? There were no other passages aside from the one she'd entered from and the one she had planned to leave through. Had the thing been following her the whole time?

  The thought sent a shiver up her spine.

  A green tentacle shot out of the darkness like a whip, creating a wave of air in the still chamber.

  Nova darted to the side, but too slowly. The green vine slammed her against the column and pinned her in place, back pressed hard against the cold stone. She strained, muscles bulging, but couldn't break free. Her heart hammered and her breaths came in short gasps.

  The bulb leaned forward like a cannon preparing to fire.

  Nova pressed back against the cold stone, desperate to get away.

  The red vine lashed out of the bulb and whipped through the air with a sharp crack. It moved faster than she could follow, lashing across the space between them and stabbing into her stomach. It pierced her like a sharpened knife, tearing her insides apart, before jerking back just as quickly.

  Pain burst through her abdomen. It screamed through her veins and out to every extremity of her body. She cried out and clenched her eyes shut against the agony but it didn't stop the waves of pain. Tears sprung to the corners of her eyes, dribbling down to join the blood on her cheek.

  The green vine withdrew, letting her slide down the column to the floor. She clutched her stomach with both hands, feeling blood seep between her fingers. A cold chill, like liquid nitrogen injected into her stomach, spread out from the wound. Icy tendrils spread through her body, her organs, until her fingers felt filled with ice.

  She groaned and the plant drew closer, tentacles waving. "Get back," she gasped, the words barely more than a rush of air.

  The plant scuttled forward and a green vine snapped around her neck, squeezing.

  Nova's eyes bulged and her bloody hands flew to her throat, scrambling with the hard vine. Her nails dug in and peeled away green fibres but the plant appeared not to notice.

  Nova dropped a hand to her belt and the hilt of her knife.

  Each breath burned, scraping against her crushed windpipe, and her head throbbed. Stars floated across her eyes and darkness threatened to consume her. She drew a rasping breath and tugged the knife free.

  Strength flowed out of her muscles along with her dwindling oxygen supply. Her vision had narrowed to just a tiny tunnel, filled with the purple plant. She blinked, straining to lift her arm. Her knife seemed to way a hundred pounds, dragging her hand back towards the floor. She took a ragged breath that scraped over her throat and heaved. A weak whisper of air escaped between her lips as her arm rose up. It wavered, level with her head, and then plunged down, carried mostly by the force of gravity, into the green vine.

  The plant hissed and the green vine whipped back, jerking through the air.

  Nova drew a deep lungful of air, relishing the sudden rush of clarity, and scrambled away from the column. Through clouds of pain she searched the ground for her gun. A dim shadow lay to her right. She fell to her knees, pain cracking up her legs as she hit the hard stone. Unable to walk she crawled forward, stretching one hand out.

  Pain surged up through her chest and stars danced across her vision. She held her breath, stret
ching, until her fingers closed about the gun and she dragged it to her chest.

  She fell against the nearest column, gasping for air, her hand slick with blood. She rolled her head to the side, catching sight of the vicious plant moving around to her right.

  Barbed vines waved through the air. They lashed out randomly, clipping at the walls and columns of the room. Freshly chipped pieces of stone layered the floor. The scraping tapping of the plant's movements echoed around the chamber and an odd hissing accompanied the scuttling.

  She gasped, trying to get over the pain that emanated from every part of her body but centered on her gaping stomach. It stung worse than anything she'd felt before. The burning spread out from the wound to the rest of her abdomen and then down her legs. She risked a glance down. Her flesh blackened and dripped with yellow pus. Blue tendrils spread like veins from the wound. Poison.

  "Shit," she whispered.

  She took a deep breath as the vine disappeared around the other side of the column. Using the stone, she struggled to her feet, biting her lip to stop a scream. She hobbled towards the lumbering shadow and aimed her gun.

  She stumbled forward squeezing the trigger, so that blast after blast of blue energy careened through the chamber and slammed into the purple monstrosity.

  It shrieked as burning holes opened along its flesh, bright embers glowing in the dim room. It scuttled towards Nova, tentacles waving.

  She stood firm, still firing, her jaw clenched.

  The blue blasts ripped into the plant's flesh, building up heat until flames whooshed into the air. The moist flesh sizzled as it caught fire and the tentacles fell motionless to the floor. The plant took a few more paces forward, teetered, and then collapsed to the sandstone floor.

  Nova didn't stop firing until the entire plant turned into black ash.

  She stumbled to the nearest column, leaning against it, and squeezed her eyes shut. Pain roared through her torso as if someone were hacking into her with blunt knives. She took a deep breath and lifted the corner of her shirt to reveal the wound beneath.

  The gaping hole spilled blood down her side which pooled in a red patch on her pants and shirt. Black lines spread out from the wound like a spiderweb, reaching up across her chest and around her ribs to her back. Green and yellow pus smeared across her skin, giving off the scent of rotting flesh.

  Bile rose to the back of her throat.

  "Grishnak," she said, letting her shirt drop down. "Cal, I could really use some medical help."

  Silence echoed through her skull. She sighed. If they'd taken her communicator, they'd have set up jamming equipment around the area. She was on her own.

  She rolled her head to the side to look at the tunnel through which she'd come. Her heart clenched at the thought of stumbling back through the passages in search of the way out. She bit her lip and took a deep breath; she had to keep going.

  Nova looked around the chamber with bleary eyes, every breath sending spikes of agony through her body. She blinked. Her heavy lids drooped closed and it took all of her effort to open them again.

  She grabbed hold of her side and stumbled towards the second tunnel, wincing with every step. Shadows and shapes danced in front of her eyes, like demons. A lump formed in her throat. They looked just like the shadows that had stalked her on Archalon, the ones that were always at the very edge of her vision.

  She ducked out of the way of their swinging arms. Her feet knocked against one another and her shoulder slammed against the wall of the tunnel. The stone scraped through her shirt and grazed her skin. She barely felt it.

  She poured every ounce of focus into moving forward and staying conscious. Burning from her stomach coursed through her body. Her arms stung with it and sweat poured down her face.

  Something gurgled. It sounded like someone trying to breathe through a pool of fluid. She daren't look back to see if someone was following her.

  With a jolt she realised the sound came from her own lungs. Each gasp of breath became harder and she had to lean against the wall to stay upright.

  Her feet scraped across the floor and she teetered on the brink of consciousness.

  Something caught her foot and she sprawled forward. Her chin smacked into the stone floor and her teeth bit into her lip. Blood filled her mouth and left an iron taste on her tongue. She shivered, her whole body convulsing.

  She turned to look over her shoulder. The sandy floor filled most of her vision but further back, near her feet, lay a body. Blood spattered the floor amongst torn pieces of dark clothing.

  Warmth seeped through to her leg where it rested against the body. A fresh corpse.

  Using her elbows, she hauled herself away from the body. New pain surged out of her abdomen and she cried out, curling into a ball. Tears trickled down her cheeks and joined the blood dribbling out of her mouth, choking her. Air bubbled through the pooling blood as she gasped for air.

  She strained to keep her eyes open, to cling to the last vestiges of consciousness. It was no good. Poison pumped through her heart and she toppled over the precipice into darkness.

  ***

  A voice shouted in the distance. It sounded familiar but she didn't want to acknowledge it. Too much pain swirled at the surface so she struggled to stay down in the swirling darkness of unconsciousness.

  "Nova!"

  The voice sounded desperate. Why was her body moving? She felt so tired.

  "Nova!"

  Nova's eyes blinked open and a face swam into focus. Light stabbed into her eyes and pierced through to her brain. She groaned with new agony.

  "C'mon, Nova."

  Nova blinked again, squinting so that the burning light didn't hurt so much. She recognised the voice now, it was Aart. But why did he sound so far away?

  "What the hell did you get hit by?"

  His fingers prodded at her stomach and she groaned. Something rattled and then soothing warmth spread across her side, calming the pain that twisted through her veins.

  With the release of pain she could breathe more easily. With her breath came a horrid smell. It made her gag and she choked on vomit as it flowed up to her throat. It poured out of her mouth and joined the blood and pus pooled on the floor.

  "Dammit," Aart said. "You got my shoes."

  Nova opened her eyes wider. Her head rested against Aart's leg. By her side swirled a coloured pool of red and green. Shreds of her shirt littered the ground and a white patch covered her stomach. The dead body she'd tripped over lay just past her feet.

  She tried to sit up but collapsed back to the ground.

  "Whoa, I think you should stay down," Aart said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

  Nova put a trembling hand to her forehead. "I'm not."

  Aart snorted. "So what got you? Giant snake? Fighter droid?"

  "A plant," Nova said with a sigh.

  "A plant?"

  Nova nodded and Aart chuckled. "You really should stay away fro flora."

  "You're telling me. I feel like I've died about ten times."

  Aart nodded. "You don't look good either. Go back to sleep, you're fine; I've got your back."

  Nova closed her eyes and slipped back into darkness.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Nova awoke wrapped in a warm blanket and lying next to Aart. He chewed on a dry biscuit and stared into the glowball on the ground.

  "Aart?" Nova whispered. Her voice rasped in her throat and sent burning pains into her lungs.

  "Hey, sleepy head," Aart said. "You've been out for hours."

  He turned around and held a bottle to Nova's mouth. Cool water slid down her throat and soothed the burning like a miracle drug.

  She sucked on the water, desperate for every drop she could get.

  "Okay, that's enough," Aart said, putting the lid back .

  Nova licked her lips and closed her eyes. She waited but the darkness didn't rise up to eat her. She opened her eyes again and pushed herself up so that her back pressed against the tunnel wall. Her head
spun but she managed to clutch at clarity and stay sitting.

  "What happened?" she said, looking at Aart through bleary eyes.

  "I was hoping you could tell me," Aart said. "Did you have a run in with that guy?"

  Aart gestured over his shoulder at the dead body.

  "What? No," Nova said. "There was some kind of plant. Bastard poisoned me. That guy was dead when I got here."

  Her voice cleared the more she spoke, but the raw burn in her throat and the deep pain in her side remained. It spread through her stomach and made her wince with every movement.

  "Lucky for you I happened to be passing by," Aart said with a grin.

  Nova glanced down at the white patch on her stomach. "What did you give me?"

  "Just some broad spectrum anti-venom. Seems to have done the trick."

  Nova sat a little higher, wincing. "How did you get that past border security?"

  Aart shrugged. "Hid it."

  Nova turned her head a little so that she could stare at Aart out of the corner of her eye. "You smuggled medical supplies?"

  "And lucky for you I did too," Aart said. "I may have included a few other items, but that's not important."

  "Well, thank you for letting your criminal streak shine through."

  "Yeah. I wonder what happened to him though." Aart jutted his chin towards the dead body.

  "I don't know. Maybe there were more plants or something?"

  "Maybe. I heard screams before. I couldn't tell where they were coming from. They could have been his I suppose."

  "Don't you think it's weird that we were all split up?" Nova said. "Not very fair for a competitive hunt."

  Aart shrugged. "The lift wouldn't have taken more than one anyway."

  "The lift?"

  Aart frowned. "The lift that brought you down into the tunnels? Wow, that venom must have done more damage than I thought."