by Seven Steps
She didn’t waiver as their eyes went heavy with fading consciousness.
She didn’t flinch when their bodies collapsed to the ground.
CHAPTER 42
Arees watched anxiously as the Unders carried the unconscious bodies to the Hole. She wrung her hands, wishing that there was another way.
The other communities would only work with her. Of that much she was sure. Today, she had secured their trust and loyalty. She knew in her heart that if she were to go with the Venians, to disappear without a trace, her people wouldn’t have a chance.
Without me, they will breed themselves out of existence, and the gators and rats will eat what’s left. I cannot leave.
Her eyes wandered to Lex’s unconscious body. She wondered if they ever stood a chance. Her body hummed as she remembered his finger on her lips. She considered having everyone else put into the Hole but him, but quickly pushed the idea aside.
He’s their leader. If he says that I have to go back, they will follow him. And if he wakes up and everyone else is dead, he may just use that thing in his chest to hurt my people. I cannot have that. I’m so sorry, Lex. You all must die today. It’s the only way my people can have a chance. There isn’t any other way. We are a peaceful people, but this is a life or death situation. And if I have to sacrifice my own happiness for my people’s well being, then so be it.
She looked forward. Her chambers were directly ahead of her.
She looked behind her, searching the shadows of the cave.
I wonder where Eva has gone off to. What will happen when she finds out that all of her friends are dead? Will she try to come for me? Or will she run?
Arees fleetingly wondered if she should be concerned about any retribution that Eva could enact and then scoffed at the idea. No, Eva had the necklace around her neck, not in her chest like the others. In fact, Arees was almost certain that Eva’s necklace didn’t even work.
Although, better to be safe than sorry.
“Mack,” she said to one of the Unders in front of her.
He turned his malformed face to her.
“Once we put them in the Hole, please find out where the other woman is,” Arees said. “She’ll need to be dealt with as well.”
Mack bowed his head to her. “Yes, Arees.”
Arees felt a little of the pressure ease from her shoulders. With Eva out of the way, her plan would be complete. These Venians would be out of her life. She would swear Mack and the others to secrecy. If anyone asked, she would say that the gods disappeared in the middle of the night.
She felt a small pit burning in her chest for the lie, but she took a deep breath, willing it away.
Yes, she would lie.
Yes, she would murder.
Yes, her people would be safe.
CHAPTER 43
Eva held Arees’ soiled suit in her hand. She lifted it up to her nostrils, smelling Venus for the first time in days. She missed her home.
She leaned back in Arees’ chair and wondered how Jun-Su was doing as a leader. Was she convening a new High Council? Did she bring all of the women out of hiding? She felt the frightened confusion of lost memories overtake her. Her childhood memories went first. The atmosphere seemed to be eating at her, robbing her of her home, her former life.
Soon, I won’t even remember my own name. I have to find a way back, with or without Lex.
She turned over the white suit in her hand. Something caught her eye. She examined the collar.
A small black button looked back at her.
“A comm,” she said.
Arees must’ve been wearing it when she came here.
A plan began to form in her mind when footsteps echoed in the tunnel.
Holding the suit close to her, Eva ducked behind a table and hoped that she wouldn’t be seen.
The footsteps grew louder.
Several creatures walked in, followed by Arees. The creatures carried the lifeless bodies of Lex, Kiln, Nadira, Seven, and Pennick between among them.
Eva put her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming.
Is Nadira dead? Oh please don’t let her be dead!
“Take them to the Hole,” Arees directed.
The creatures adjusted their grips on the bodies, carried them through Arees’ chambers and waited in front of the gate.
Arees followed. She drew a key from around her neck and unlocked the gate.
The creatures carried the bodies into the tunnel and sprinted out again. In only a few seconds, the gate was locked, with the creatures safely on the outside.
“How long until they wake up?” Arees asked.
She’s talking to the cook, Eva thought. What’s his name? Nock.
“I gave them enough for about a half an hour,” Nock said.
Eva gasped. He drugged their food!
“Plenty of time,” Arees said.
“But Arees, is it wise to upset this Magistrate that you speak of?” Nock asked. “What if the travelers don’t return home? Will she send more gods to find these ones?”
“Perhaps,” Arees said, “But we will deal with that if it ever happens. For now, we are safe. You have done a great thing today, Nock.”
“I’m not so sure,” Nock replied.
“Nock, Mack, Bessie, Gof, Jen, and Arib. I trust that I can count on your silence. No one must know what we’ve done here today. Not your wives, not your children, not your friends, no one. You must swear.”
The creatures looked at each other.
“Swear it!” Arees demanded.
The creatures quickly nodded their heads.
“We swear to you Arees,” Nock said. “This shall never be spoken of again.”
Arees let out a breath. “Good. If anyone asks where the gods have gone, tell them that they went back to where they came from. Understood?”
The creatures grunted.
“Good.” Arees said. “I knew that I could count on you. Now, come.”
Arees and the creatures left the room, their footsteps echoing down the tunnel.
Eva peeked from behind the table, silently cursing Nadira for not listening to her. She turned toward the chamber entrance to make sure the creatures hadn’t returned, tiptoed to the gate, and shook it.
The gate, though old and rusted, didn’t open.
“Ooh.” Eva bounced from foot to foot. “Wake up. Please wake up.”
She kicked at the gate in frustration then looked around the room for something, anything that could help her.
She walked to the desk and opened each drawer, shutting them when she found nothing useful.
“Come on. Think, Eva. Think.”
She looked back at the pile of clothes that she had left on the floor.
The comm.
She ran to the suit, her fingers shaking. Finding the collar, she pushed the small black button.
The button beeped then lit red, sending its distress signal out into the world.
Please hurry. Please, please hurry.
Eva looked up to the gate, and directly into a pair of yellow eyes.
Her mouth opened and closed in horror as the giant rat nudged the gate with its large, pink nose. It then pulled its nose back through the gate and looked down at its tribute.
No.
The rat sniffed Nadira’s leg, placed it between its large teeth, and pulled her down into the blackness of the tunnel.
Eva let out a blood-curling scream and ran to the gate, shaking it violently.
“No! No, you bring her back! Bring her back!”
The rat briefly looked back at her before pulling Nadira’s body deeper into the darkness.
Eva watched Nadira’s head shake from side to side. She didn’t know if Nadira was waking up or if it was the rat moving her. “Nadira, wake up! Nadira, please wake up!”
The rat stopped at the end of the hall. It seemed to be deciding whether to take her to the right or the left.
Eva felt her heart leap into her throat. She reached a hand through the bars. “Kiln!
Kiln! Nadira’s in trouble! You have to wake up! You have to save her!”
Kiln’s body remained still.
Eva felt hot tears roll down her cheeks as desperation over took her. She kicked at the gate, screaming at the top of her lungs. “Bring her back!”
The rat and Nadira disappeared beyond the curve of the tunnel.
Eva felt bile rise in her throat.
Nadira was gone.
Her friends would die one by one.
Footsteps echoed in the tunnel as the creatures filed back into the chamber.
Arees pushed her way through the small crowd. “Eva?”
Eva’s hands turned into claws, and she threw herself at Arees.
“You beast! You killed her! You killed my friend!” Eva wrapped both hands around Arees’ throat and choked her.
Arees grabbed the hair at the crown of Eva’s head, delivering iron like punches to Eva’s skull.
The two women fell over in a tumble of arms and legs as each of them wrestled with the other for dominance.
Eva found herself astride Arees. She reared back her fist and punched Arees squarely in the mouth.
Arees’ face flew to the left, her lip exploding. She bared her teeth and rolled Eva onto her back. She grabbed at her hair again and banged her head against the cement.
Eva saw stars with each vicious blow. She flailed her arms wildly before rocking her left arm up and connecting her fist with Arees’ cheek.
Arees howled.
Eva rolled on top of Arees. She clawed at her face, drawing blood, screaming every obscenity that she had ever heard.
Arees kicked her feet beneath the assault. She shot up a foot and kicked the back of Eva’s head with the toe of one hard boot.
Eva swayed but didn’t relent. She clawed at Arees’ throat and popped off the chain with the key. She paused. The key to saving her friends dangled on a delicate chain between her fingers.
Arees threw Eva off of her, and Eva landed hard on the ground.
Arees jumped on top of her, grabbed a handful of Eva’s hair, and yanked as hard as she could.
Eva pulled back a fist and punched Arees with every ounce of hatred that she had for her.
Arees hit the floor of the chamber with a thud.
With Arees momentarily stunned, Eva scurried backwards, found her feet, and ran toward the gate.
She looked through the slats.
Her friends were gone.
Eva pushed the key into the lock, turned the key, and burst through the gate, diving deep into the darkness.
CHAPTER 44
Kiln woke from a dreamless sleep. It felt as if invisible fist were pounding on his chest.
He shook his head from side to side, trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind.
Where am I? What’s happened? Where’s Nadira?
He laid a hand on his chest, trying to quiet the insistent pounding there. He opened one eye in the darkness and tried to sit up. His head felt like iron, forcing him back down onto the cool stone.
The pounding grew more intense, moving up his chest and into his head.
His stomach rolled, the pain acute. He flipped onto his belly just as vomit spewed out of his mouth and splashed onto the stone.
And still the pounding continued. It spread to his spine, sending painful bolts of lightning down his back.
He rolled away from the pool of vomit and onto his side. He held his head in his hands, trying to squeeze the pain away.
The pulsing moved down into his legs. His thighs and calves throbbed and what felt like hot acid pumped through them. His entire body felt like one big ball of pain, pain too terrific for sound, pain that could only be experienced in the silent depths of one’s mind.
His body contracted into a tight ball and centered around the jewel that pumped miserable agony through him. Suddenly, his muscles released. The pain turned to something else. Something warm. He felt his body heat up, as if he were sitting inside the sun itself. He smelled smoke, and somewhere in the back of his screaming mind he knew that it was coming from him.
The warmth centralized in the Toma.
His stomach contracted, shooting him into a sitting position.
The warmth began to fade, leaving him drenched in hot sweat.
Kiln rolled up onto one knee, and placed a slippery hand on the wall, steadying himself. In front of him was a faint light. Behind him was a gate. He heard commotion from the other side of the gate but didn’t move toward it. Something was wrong.
Where’s Nadira?
He turned back toward the faint light ahead of him and stumbled down the hallway, his head swimming.
Where is Nadira?
Though his legs wobbled underneath him, he kept moving forward, wondering if the Toma was leading him. The hallway blurred in and out as his mind tried to stay focused.
Yes, there was something. Some pull. Like a magnet. Something was pulling him this way.
The tunnel ended abruptly, dropping down into another tunnel. Tubes, like stair steps, jutted out from the walls, leading down into a nest filled with dozens of giant rats. Bits of fur filled the room, like a fuzzy hail storm. Their naked tails swung to and fro.
Kiln’s heart stopped.
Nadira, Lex, Pennick, and Seven were piled in the center of the room surrounded by rats. They seemed to be waiting for something.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a larger rat leisurely ambling through the crowd, its sights set on the bodies laid before it.
Kiln’s mind went blank.
He felt his body heat up and burst into flames.
He retreated a few steps then charged out of the tunnel, flinging his body into empty space.
CHAPTER 45
As Eva sprinted into the darkness, she felt the floor shake. In the dim light, she saw a giant rat peek its head around a bend in the tunnel.
It locked eyes with her.
She froze.
The rat lumbered toward her, all four legs briskly carrying its large body through the tunnel.
Eva plastered her body to the tunnel wall as the floor shook again followed by the sound of wind.
The rat turned.
The black tunnel lit yellow and warmed.
Eva looked past the rat and down the tunnel.
With Nadira slung across his shoulder, Kiln marched down the hall with fury in his eyes, his body covered from head to toe in blood. He was flanked by Lex, who had Seven and Pennick floating behind him.
Eva couldn’t recall when she had been happier to see them.
Kiln lifted an arm and incinerated the rat with a blast of fire, a pile of ashes the only reminder of where the rat had been.
Eva ran to Kiln and wrapped her arms around his hard, bloody waist. “You’re alive!”
She ran behind Kiln and looked at Nadira’s face. Her friend was still unconscious, but she was whole and breathing. Eva ran a hand through Nadira’s hair, tears of relief rolling down her cheeks. “You scared me,” she whispered.
Lex raised a hand, broke the gate from its hinges, strode into Arees’ chamber, and flicked a hand upward.
Arees clawed at her neck as Lex lifted her from her feet.
“Bad move, Arees,” Lex growled.
“No, you don’t understand,” Arees choked out. “I can’t leave.”
The Unders rushed at Lex, throwing their frog-like bodies at him in defense of their fallen god.
Lex lifted his hand and pushed them back, pinning them to the wall.
Eva had never seen Lex so angry. Thoroughly relieved that justice would finally be done, she held Nadira’s hand as Kiln laid her on the floor.
“No, please don’t hurt them,” Arees said. “I will go with you. Just please don’t hurt them.”
“I’m not here to hurt anyone,” Lex said. “But it’s time to go now.” He lowered Arees to the ground and released the hold on her neck. “You betrayed us. I trusted you, and you tried to have us killed.”
Arees looked up at him through bloodshot eyes. “I
had no other choice.”
“There is always a choice,” Lex said.
“I tried to talk you out of it,” Arees said. “Then I realized that Eva and Nadira would never accept me. They would never see past who they thought I was. I had no other options.”
Lex raised a hand to lift her. “We’re leaving, Arees.”
“Wait!” she cried.
He lifted Arees from the ground. “There is nothing that you could say that will—”
“I have set up an exchange,” Arees interrupted. “I can finally breed the defects out of my people. We will be normal again. We’ll be able to see in the sunlight. We can go topside and live like normal human beings. But the other communities will only work with me.”
“Why?” Lex asked.
“Because they think that I’m a god,” Arees said. “Please, Lex, don’t punish my people for my crimes. Don’t take the only chance that they have at a normal life away from them. Please!”
Lex heard Eva began to sputter. “We have to take you back. There is no other way.”
“Then kill me,” Arees said. “Make me a martyr so that a new leader can be elected and take up the work that I’ve started. If the other communities feel like I’ve abandoned my people, then all hope for them is lost.”
The creatures, still squeezed against the wall, stared at Lex.
Lex looked back at their large eyes.
If what Arees says is true ...
“Please, Lex,” Arees pleaded. “Give us a chance.”
Lex pressed his lips together, sighed, and turned to Eva and Kiln.
Eva was already shaking her head.
His voice was cold, final. “We’re leaving.”
Eva stood to face him.
“We have to leave Arees in peace,” Lex said. “I will explain everything to Embrya when we get back.”
“You can’t,” Eva said. “We’ve come too far.”
Nadira groaned.
“I can’t take her away,” Lex said. “Not after all she’s done.” He watched Seven and Pennick turn over.
“No, Lex,” Eva said. “You can take her away after all she’s done. That’s why we’re here. She’s murdered people.”
“That is not the fault of these creatures,” Lex said.