by Elin Wyn
I nodded in agreement. I had done all of that.
“Good,” Rouhr said with a semi-evil grin. “Then you can determine when to release her.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, getting to my feet. Somehow, I truly felt bad for her. I was going to have to find a way to extricate the location of the toxin from her, then bring her back to her cell. I was not looking forward to her temper when that happened.
“Good luck,” Rouhr said.
I nodded and gave a half-hearted salute as I left his office. This was going to be fun.
Nesta
“Oh, man,” I said, stretching my back as I let a smile spread across my lips. “It feels good to be outside.” Even though there wasn’t any sunlight outside - the vines blocked it all - it still felt amazing to be able to walk more than five feet before bumping into a wall. The only thing that didn’t feel amazing at all was the tall Valorni I had following me around.
Sylor wasn’t really that bad, though.
His talk of justice and punishment made him slightly annoying, more so because it was exactly those stupid ideas of his that had landed me in jail, but he did seem to have his heart in the right place. His one purpose seemed to be the destruction of Nyheim’s vine prison, and he seemed to want that because he was genuinely worried about the people. Too bad his need to help out involved putting people like me behind bars.
“Don’t get too far,” Sylor warned me, laying one his hands on my shoulder and ensuring I wasn’t more than two feet away from him. “You’re still a prisoner, remember.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I sighed. “I know that.”
“But if you’re telling the truth, if there really is a way out of the city…” He warmed up then, his usual grim expression giving way to a thin smile. “Deliver on your promises, and you might just find yourself a free woman.”
“Of course I’m telling the truth,” I said, looking back at him over my shoulder. “You might think I’m a thief, but don’t you dare think that I’m a liar. That’s the one thing I’ll never do.”
Of course, that was a lie.
When I told Sylor I knew of a way out of the city, it really had been nothing but a calculated bluff. Sure, I suspected there was a way out, but that was slightly different than a full-blown promise. Still, I’d had no choice: I had to remain out of that prison cell, whatever the cost. If I remained locked up for nine months, away from the underground, people wouldn’t just resent me like they do now. They’d consider me as an outsider...and if I became an outsider, Sabre would never be revived. And while at times I wanted nothing more than to punch idiots like Topan and Stupid Joe in the face, they still were the only family I had.
“Alright, I’ll trust you. You’re not a liar,” Sylor declared after almost a minute of silence, almost as if he had been weighing inside his head what I had just told him. “But why can’t you tell me where we’re going?”
“Because you wouldn’t believe me,” I grinned, glancing at him one more time. He narrowed his eyes at that, suspicious, but he still kept following me as I made my way through the maze of streets and alleyways in the Lua district. Most of the houses here were pretty much uninhabitable, vines as thick as a man jutting out from windows and rooftops, and most of the streets were completely deserted. It seemed that people had moved on from the district after the vines razed the place.
“In here?” Sylor asked, stopping as he eyed what was in front of us. It was a squat gray building, one that had been abandoned years before the Xathi had even set their sharp murderous feet on this planet. A local water treatment facility, it had become obsolete when the mayor went ahead with his plans to revamp the city’s sewage system.
“Yup,” I nodded, pushing on the rusty door with my shoulder. I groaned, struggling against the weight of the door, and then felt Sylor’s hand on my shoulder once more. Carefully, he pushed me out of the way.
“I’ll take care of that,” he said, and then laid the palm of his hand against the door. One slight push and the damn thing quickly swung back on its hinges, slamming itself against the wall.
“Showoff,” I grumbled, but Sylor just ignored me. He grabbed a flashlight from the tactical bag he had strapped to his waist and lit up the facility’s inside. There were a few overturned metal chairs and desks, all of them covered with streaks of discolored rust, but aside from those things, there wasn’t much to keep the eyes occupied.
“Follow me,” I told Saylor, and then just stepped in. He ducked under the doorway, his movements wary, but didn’t say a thing. Our footsteps echoed throughout the whole building, only growing mute when we went down a small ladder that gave access to an underground floor. The whole floor was nothing but a cramped little room, but it had the one thing I needed: a hatch that led straight into the underground tunnels.
“Do the honors, muscle-head,” I said, pointing at the hatch. I folded my arms over my chest and let Sylor get to work. He kneeled right before the metallic hatch, laying his hands on the massive bars that served as a lock mechanism. I watched the muscles in his arms come alive, the purple bands that ran the length of his forearms snaking over his skin, and only when he finally opened the hatch did I realize I had been holding my breath.
“Is there something wrong?” he asked me, looking at me curiously. I felt warm blood rush to my cheeks, but just gritted my teeth and pretended it was nothing. Because it really was nothing, I tried to convince myself. Sylor could be an impressive specimen, sure, but that didn’t mean anything.
“Yeah, there is,” I smiled, now my turn to lay one hand on his shoulder. “You’re in the way.” He shifted back slightly, just enough to let me through, and I grabbed the handle of a creaky metal ladder that dove straight down into the darkness.
“I really hope you know what you’re doing, Nesta,” Sylor said, watching me as I started climbing down the ladder. I had both my feet on the floor even before he had finished speaking.
“Is the big Valorni scared?” I laughed. “C’mon, Sylor, don’t be a pussy. Get down here.”
“I find your vernacular speech inappropriate, Nesta,” he protested as he started climbing down. I just raised both my eyebrows, hands on my hips as I watched him descend.
“My what?” I shook my head. “Sylor, you’re the weirdest green dude I’ve ever met.”
“I believe you,” he said as he found his footing. “Being that, in all likelihood, you haven’t met many of my race, that’s probably an accurate assessment.”
“Never mind,” I sighed, grabbing the flashlight from his hand and leading the way. We were in a small tunnel that was part of the old sewage system, and the ceiling was so low that Sylor had to walk in a crouch. We walked for fifteen minutes, and then our tunnel led onto another, and then another.
“What is that?” Sylor asked, pointing toward the light that finally appeared at the end of the tunnel. Smiling, I turned off the flashlight and threw it back at him.
“That, my green friend, is the underground,” I proudly announced as we stood at the end of the tunnel, a cavernous hall right in front of us. Tents had been pitched as far as the eye could see, merchants plying their wares every step of the way, and loud voices bounced off the tall stone walls. The ceiling looked as if it was glowing a pale amber, industrial lights mounted in the stone at regular intervals. The spectacle paled in comparison to how the underground really was a few months ago, but it still felt good to be home.
Sylor was speechless.
“Cat got your tongue?” I asked him, feeling slightly amused at his reaction.
“What cat?” He narrowed his eyes in confusion, but then just shrugged. “What is this place? And, more important than that, how is this place here?”
“Some of us don’t like the surface,” I shrugged as we started making our way through the cavern, a lot of curious eyes drawn by Sylor’s towering presence. The only aliens most of these people had seen had been the Xathi, and they didn’t have fond recollections of those. “C’mon, let’s hurry up. There’s a tunnel on th
e other side of this place.”
“Nesta?” I heard someone call after me, and I froze on my tracks. I turned around to see Topan standing between two merchant stalls, the palm of his hand resting on the butt of a gun. Frowning, he pointed toward Sylor. “What the hell is this?”
“Let me speak with him,” I whispered at Sylor, gently resting my hand on his forearm. Raising my voice, I turned back to Topan. “This is Sylor. He’s not interested in the underground. He’s just in here to assess the damage caused by the vines.”
“Assess the…?” Topan trailed off, his jaw growing slack. “Are you out of your mind, Nesta? Why the hell would you bring one of these guys down here?”
“I did it because I had to,” I replied, trying to sound as aggressive as Topan. “Look at the mess we’re in. We survived the Xathi, sure, but these damn vines brought us down on our knees. This guy just came to see if he could help. Besides,” I continued, already thinking of a lie, “the geologists on the surface think the sewage system might cave in at any given moment. And if that happens, we’ll be trapped in here. And you know what that would mean for us all.”
I held my breath then, hoping that my imaginary threat of being cut off from the outside world was enough for Topan to let this slide. He glared at me for a short moment, but then just shook his head and moved out of the way. “You’re batshit crazy, Nesta. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“Only every day,” I said, already moving past him. Sylor seemed as if he was about to say something, but I just dug my fingernails into his forearm, forcing him to shut up. He got the hint, thankfully, and only spoke up when we were out of earshot.
“That one,” he started, “I don’t like him.”
“Topan’s okay,” I said. “He’s just protective of this place. We’ve survived this far because we don’t go around announcing ourselves to the world. Besides, this is our way of life. Topan would be crushed if that were to change.”
“I see,” Sylor replied. Then, as if remembering something, he continued talking. “Back there...you lied to him. I thought you never lied.”
“And why would you think that?” I laughed, having no idea if he was being sarcastic. “This way,” I continued, pointing toward a small tunnel entrance right ahead of us. I went inside it, grabbing the flashlight back from Sylor’s hand, and we continued on our merry way into the bowels of the underground.
“Look,” he stopped all of a sudden, pointing toward a small burrow in the rock. There was a pile of rubble near it, and some discarded pieces of clothing lay abandoned here and there. “Someone lived here.”
“Yeah, I know that,” I whispered, sadly eyeing the little burrow that used to be my home. “Never mind that, let’s just go.” With that, I continued toward the end of the tunnel. The ceiling grew lower with each step I took, and it didn’t take long before I had to crouch. As for Sylor, he was almost on his hands and knees.
When I finally saw the wall of dirt that marked the end of tunnel, I prayed for fate to be kind to me. It was showtime. “Do you have a knife or something?” I asked him, and he grabbed one with a small but sharp blade from his bag. Using the tip, I started poking at the wall.
There was no stone there, and the earth was soft enough for me to start carving through it with just the blade. It only took me a few seconds before I revealed a few vines, these only as thick as my fingers. When I saw that they weren’t packed as closely together as the ones on the surface, I breathed out with relief.
“See?” Turning back to Sylor, I handed him back his knife. “If I had to guess, the edge of the dome on the surface continues into the underground. Thing is, the vines seem frail in here, and they aren’t that packed together. If we just push them apart, we can dig our way out.”
“Not bad,” he whispered, more to himself than to me. “Not bad at all.”
Sylor
I had to admit that I was pleasantly shocked. For a woman that I thought was simply lying though her teeth to get out of custody, she had managed to follow through on her claim.
She had found a potential way out.
This…underground city beneath the bones and skin of Nyheim was a wonder. The simplicity of things down here, combined with the desperation and resilience of the inhabitants, made for a place where I was sure people would grow to be strong, yet weak. I understood now why Nesta had stolen the fruits from the old woman…they would be worth much in a place such as this.
There was no fresh food, or at least, very little to be seen anywhere. These people were scavengers, hunters, and—for lack of a better term—inventors. They created and built what they needed to survive below the surface. They had dug tunnels where there weren’t any, created homes where there shouldn’t have been homes, and found a way to bring light and life to this… ‘underground.’
Nesta was beaming with pride as I looked at the vines. “You did well, little one,” I whispered as I studied the gaps in the vines. They weren’t quite big enough for me to fit through, but with a little bit of effort and the proper tools, I could get through. “You did well.”
Nesta smiled, and for the first time since our meeting, I felt that the smile was truly genuine, and mildly beautiful.
“We need to return to the surface to inform General Rouhr,” I whispered. “We will also need tools.”
“What do you mean, ‘we’?” she whispered back.
I wasn’t quite sure why whispering felt like the right thing to do, but it just was. I looked at her. “I will require your assistance. You brought me down here and I will need you to bring me again.”
“Fine,” she said, her voice rising in volume. “As long as you follow through on your end of the deal, I’ll help you.”
I nodded, knowing that the general had different plans for her. As she led me back through this underground world, I memorized the way, the locations of every turn, every corner, and every small change of direction.
Upon regaining the surface and allowing my eyes to readjust to the light of the city, it was time to get the equipment needed…and to put Nesta back within her cell. “Come,” I said. “Let us get the tools that we need.”
She nodded and followed me. It wasn’t until we were close to the general’s building that she began to hesitate. “Why are we going there?”
I looked back at her. “To get our tools, what else?”
“We couldn’t get tools from somewhere else?” she asked.
“We may have been able to, but I am not familiar with everyone still within the city. I cannot simply take tools from people that I do not know,” I answered her. Before she could speak again, I held up my hand. “And, no, to the best of my knowledge, we do not have stores of tools everywhere within the city. Our equipment is stored where we are and nowhere else.”
She nodded, but she did not seem to believe me. She seemed to know that I wasn’t telling her everything. Her trust in me, no matter how little it was before, seemed to be waning.
As we entered the building, I could sense that Nesta was even more uncomfortable. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking at everything she could. If she saw any of the guards that I knew were stationed in the building in certain secluded places, she would run.
Upon entering the building, I commented that our equipment was in one of the storage rooms in the basement. As I led her to the stairs, a guard sneezed.
She stopped moving. When I looked back at her, she looked like a feral animal trapped in a corner. Her eyes wide, her breathing heavy, she looked ready to run. “You’re not letting me go, are you?” she whispered.
I spent half a moment choosing my words, but that was all she needed. With a snarl in my direction, she bolted. I dropped my head, glared at the guard that had sneezed, and chased after her. “Where are you going to go?” I called after her. She was a sprightly little one, but my much longer stride allowed me to keep up with her easily.
“Away from you, you lying bastard,” she yelled back at me as she sprinted down the streets, dodging around people that st
ruggled to get out of our way. “You lied to me. You were going to lock me back up!” she accused me.
“Not forever,” I responded. “As soon as I found the toxin, I was going to call the general and he was going to release you.”
“And you believed him?” she sounded incredulous, and out of breath. I truly had no idea where she thought she was going to go. The only place she could have gone to escape was underground, and I was certainly not going to allow her to get there.
“He’s an honorable man. He would not go back on his word unless you gave him reason to,” I explained as I loped behind her, allowing her to keep a short distance between us. People moved out of our way as she led us—purposefully? —away from the populated areas and into a park. It was an…interesting experience, watching her run. The way her body moved as she sprinted made me consider the possibility of how she would look and how well she would have been able to care for herself if she hadn’t lived in the underground city.
“Liar! You lied to me,” she continued to yell at me as we ran.
I was tired of this charade, and of being called a liar. While it wasn’t too far from the truth, for I had lied to her, this entire scenario was becoming tiresome. It had to stop. As we raced through the park, I increased my pace a bit. As I got within a few feet of her, I dove, tackling her to the ground, twisting my body so that I took the brunt of the landing.
As she landed on top of me, my head came into contact with the ground under the thick grass. While it was not terribly painful, it was enough to cause my vision to blur momentarily. When my vision returned, I looked up into Nesta’s eyes and noticed for the first time the small explosion of gold mixed in with the dark brown coloring.
Her breath came hard and heavy, her chest heaving against my own. I was suddenly aware of the shape and firmness of her breasts and the slight sweetness to her breath. Her deeply tanned skin, a mystery to me as the others in the underground were pale, complemented the green skin of my arms as I held her close.