by C. S. Harte
After the fifteenth fork in the cave system, the composition of the tunnel walls changed from rock to metal. On the metal walls were alien markings. Maria was not able to discern their meaning. To make matters worse, the fish began to accelerate away from Maria. Panic swelled in her chest. She held her hand to her heart, trying to will herself to relax. Her only light source continued to swim farther away. Maria would soon be in complete darkness, alone.
Two minutes.
Maria had no choice but to turn around.
Naveed sat at the edge of the pool, waiting for Maria to swim to the surface.
“I have good and bad news for you,” Maria said.
“I just have bad.”
“Ugh, OK. Don’t know what bad news you got just standing here.”
Naveed pointed towards the dais. His arm was trembling. “See the water raising?”
Maria’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Nooooo…”
The dais was well above the water line when they started. Now the water was lapping the foot of the pedestal.
“What’s your bad news?” Naveed asked. He held his breath as if expecting the worst.
“I couldn’t find the sea creature, which is also the good news!” Maria gave a half-hearted smile. “Judging by the size of the tunnels, I would be very concerned about the sea creature if we do find it.”
“Maybe by sea creature, they meant like a sea cucumber. Or a krill or something,” Naveed said, his tone sounded like the mid-point between a statement and a question.
Maria kept her stare on the water level. “I wouldn’t count on it. Our situation as it currently stands is: wait forever and drown or find the sea creature and kill it before it kills us.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “And it gets worse.”
“What? How?” Naveed shrieked his questions.
“There are strange alien markings.”
“Like Chinese?”
“No. Like, not of this earth.”
Naveed stared at his feet. “Cave. Underwater. Aliens. Perfect.”
Maria sat on the pool edge. “I’m going to take a short break and go back in.”
Victor gently placed Kayla down to rest his arms. He checked her forehead for a fever, an indication of infection, then smiled at her. “You’re doing great, keep it up.”
Kayla returned a weak smile, using what was left of her strength to keep her eyes open.
“How do we get the vulture to fly low?” Jaime asked.
Kayla raised her arm.
“You have an idea, Kayla?” Victor asked.
“No, look!” she cried in fear.
Jaime and Victor looked up to where she was pointing. A second vulture had joined the circle of death above them.
“Well, that escalated,” Jaime said.
Victor rolled his eyes. “Jaime, do you think you can make a fireball that will hit both of them?”
“I can make a bigger fireball sure. But the bigger it is, the slower it’ll be. We would have to get it super low. Like, right above us.”
Victor turned towards Kayla. “I don’t suppose you can rip out all the trees here and send them into the sky like arrows to stab them?”
Kayla shook her head slowly. “I don’t think I can maintain the shield much longer.” The urge to fall asleep intensified with each passing minute. Her adrenaline was wearing off.
Jaime glanced at Victor. “You think the death birds are the bigger problem — pun intended — or fire snakes?”
“I think both of them are waiting for the shield to drop. We need to find cover — either with a roof like a cave or something on the high ground.” Victor rubbed his chin. “I’m going to go scout. Try not to die in the meantime.”
Jaime gave him the OK signal with his hand.
Victor left in a flash.
“You know, I wish Masa were here,” Jaime said.
“I never thought I would hear you say that.” Kayla smiled for a second before returning her expression back to neutral. The urge to sleep was overwhelming. Her eyelids began closing against her will. The sounds of chaos grew quieter as if her mind had already moved away.
The shield holding back an entire world of danger started to flicker. Some of the snakes were able to seep through.
“Hey, don’t go to sleep now!” Jaime yelled.
“Crap!” Jaime threw Kayla over his shoulders.
The jolt of being picked up pulled her mind back to the fray. “Leave me,” Kayla said. Her voice was barely audible. Victor and Jaime were risking their lives to protect her. Kayla was at her breaking point both mentally and physically. Her body had broken, no longer responding to her will. She was a husk of her former self, but still a heavy burden to her friends at a time when the stakes were life and death.
“No can do,” Jaime replied. His face hardened as he gritted his teeth. “I’m gonna get you to safety or die trying.”
43
“What is that sound?” Helen asked. Her voice was laced with concern.
Masa kneeled and placed a hand on the vibrating ground. “I think it’s horses, possibly cavalry. Or some sort of heavy infantry. Whatever it is, there’s a lot of them.”
Two waves of cavalry appeared out of the mist. One from the north and the other from the south rushed at full speed towards Masa and Helen's position.
Another horn sounded. Two waves of heavy infantry materialized out of the east and west. Their approach was slower and more methodical. The sounds of their feet marching in unison had a patterned and melodic quality.
“Looks like both. Of course, it would be both,” Helen said.
Masa was undeterred. With his hand still on the ground, he closed his eyes and concentrated on a new task. Blocks of ice materialized around him, forming stairs to the top of his ice wall. He climbed the stairs and surveyed the new armies from the highest vantage point.
Helen followed him.
He pointed to the infantry. “The new troops look Roman judging by their armor. The cavalry is also armored. I think they’re Cataphractarii. The heavy infantry could be Principes based on their tower shields.”
The charging cavalry stopped halfway and stood motionless in an eerie quiet. The infantry also grounded to a halt. Their faces were featureless like the spearmen in the wave before them.
“Why are they stopping? This can’t be good.” Helen’s body stiffened. Her hand reached for Masa’s while her eyes remained fixed on the armies in front of her.
Masa did not push her hand away. His fingers interlocked with hers. “They’re changing tactics. The battle is escalating.”
Four more horns sounded.
The ground began to shake again, with the intensity bordering on violence. Helen released Masa’s hand, gripping the ice wall instead. It began to crack in multiple places.
Sounds of stone grinding and wood buckling interspersed with sharp squeaks followed the tremors.
“Something large and heavy is coming. Something on wheels.” Masa said in his usual calm demeanor.
“You don’t think it could be a catapult? Or a trebuchet?”
“We need to thin the enemy lines.” Masa knelt and placed both his palms on the ice. He closed his eyes.
Helen, as if expecting something dramatic to happen, jumped off the wall towards stable ground. She grabbed a longbow and a quiver from the weapons rack and slung them over her shoulder.
Masa’s eyes burst open. A booming sound filled the air, followed by the shrill noise of glass breaking, like a factory full of chandeliers breaking all at once.
The ice wall exploded into hundreds of large slivers, forming a cloud of daggers hovering around Masa. Each frozen blade began moving and rotating on their own, aiming themselves at individual targets on the battlefield. Masa kept his pose until there was a complete stillness among his ice swarm. In one quick motion, he pushed his arms forward. The ice daggers shot away from him at lightning speed. Seconds later, a cacophony of yelps, groans, and grunts erupted from the attackers. Every dagger seemingly hit their
mark as all but a handful of soldiers dropped and evaporated. The remaining retreated into the fog.
Helen picked off as many as she could with her bow.
Masa held out his arm to stop Helen. “Save your arrows. We might need them for something else.”
She placed her hand on his shoulder and beamed a smile. “I have to say, that was rather impressive.”
The source of the rumbling finally came into view. Trebuchets the size of small buildings rolled out of the fog and onto the battlefield. Dozens of them approached on all four sides.
Helen’s mouth hung open as she watched the wooden death machines move across the field. “This is getting ridiculous. Your ice daggers won’t do much against those.”
Masa did not respond, too focused on the new entrants. Without saying a word, he knelt again and placed both palms on the ground. Every muscle in his body tensed in contraction, the veins in his neck popped out, and sweat dripped profusely from his brow. A low growl emanated from his throat. With each breath, his growl grew in intensity and ferociousness.
Helen moved far away from Masa. Her head swiveled between him and the rolling trebuchets.
The temperature around Masa dropped so dramatically that Helen shivered from her distance away.
Slowly at first, large blocks of ice began crystallizing in a large square formation around Masa and Helen. Then another set of ice blocks solidified on top of the first set. And another. By the fourth set, the process started to speed up as if the assembly was being fast-forwarded. Masa was building a new ice fortress. After the last block was in place, he collapsed on his back. The ice fortress stood an imposing 50 feet tall, larger than the one in his training simulation.
Helen ran to him and placed his head in her lap. She stroked his hair gently. “Now you’re just showing off,” Helen said in a soft voice. “But I don’t know how long your fortress can hold off against so many siege weapons. I've never seen anyone push their Chi to the limit like you.”
Masa remained silent, allowing himself to rest. He stared up into Helen's eyes.
She returned the stare and smiled.
He pushed himself up. “This simulation is curious. There’s no set objective. Just an escalation in difficulty.”
“I’ve been thinking about that myself. We’ve never had a test like this. I wonder if we disabled our defenses, will it de-escalate the scenario?”
He shook his head. “If we are wrong, it would be our lives. Not a gamble I’m willing to take.”
Before Helen could respond, an earsplitting roar came from the north side of the fortress.
“Oh for heaven sakes, what now?” Helen’s fist clenched.
“I recognize that sound. I had one in my simulation.” Masa turned his gaze north.
A massive black dragon soared through the fog. It circled the fortress once, eyes locking on Masa as it flew over. With its wings outstretched, it cast a giant shadow over the entire fortress. The dragon finished its flight by landing on a trebuchet to the east of the fort. The siege weapon buckled under its weight. The dragon lifted its head straight into the sky and gave an ear-piercing guttural roar, the effects of which shook Masa’s fortress.
44
Victor ran back to Jaime and Kayla. The writhing mass of snakes was still hot on their trails. He matched Jaime’s slower speed. “What happened to the shield?”
“Ask her,” Jaime said.
Victor glanced at the sleeping Kayla and lowered his head. “There’s a cave not far from here.” He pointed at a small fire he made earlier. “Follow the trail to it.”
“I don’t know how much I can keep running while holding onto Kayla,” Jaime said, his voice wheezing.
“Give her to me. You just make it to the signal fire.”
Jaime threw Kayla to Victor like a hot potato, almost dropping her. Neither broke their stride during the exchange.
The jolt from being thrown woke Kayla. She opened her eyes slightly but stayed quiet.
Victor smiled. “Sorry about that. The snakes are still behind us. No time to stop,” he said while firming his grip.
One of the condors swooped down towards Victor, its approach whisper-quiet.
Victor kept his focus on Kayla who was being carried face up in his arms.
Kayla was the first to see the attack coming. She screamed and instinctively covered her face with her hands.
The warning was not advanced enough for Victor, who howled in pain as the condor sliced his shoulder open with its knife-like talons.
Jaime immediately formed a fireball and shot it at the condor.
The fireball landed on the creature’s belly, causing it to fall out of the sky, taking out a large swath of trees where it crashed. A ghastly screeching sound emanated from its direction. After a few moments of rest, the condor flew into the air, seemingly undamaged.
Jaime pointed at the blood sprouting on Victor’s shoulder. “How bad is it?”
“I think it’s just a scratch,” Victor said through gritted teeth.
“Hey, that’s a lot of blood for a scratch.”
“I didn’t dodge that cleanly. But I’ll be OK. Keep running.”
Blood dripped from Victor’s shoulder onto Kayla’s arm. His shirt was blossoming red. Kayla looked at Victor and saw him clench his jaw in pain. Sweat dripped from his chin. Mud and dirt were caked on Jaime’s face. His once fiery hair was now brown and grimy. The birds were massive-looking when they were in the sky. Seeing them up close made her stomach squirm with fear. We might not make it out of this. At least… not all of us. With her strength gone, her talents also left her. She was useless to the group. Worse than useless, she was dead weight. Jaime and Victor would never abandon me.
“Victor,” she said softly. “I feel better now thanks to you two. I think I can run. Let me stay back and rest. I can hold off the snakes and catch up to you two later.”
Victor gave Kayla an incredulous stare. “You’re kidding, right? Your leg is being held together by two twigs at the moment. As bad as I must look, you look worse. Besides, I’m not tired. I've carried much heavier weight than you when I was in the army.”
Kayla didn’t argue further. What Victor said was true. She hated herself for getting caught by the python, for being weak. It was a struggle to wrap her arms around Victor’s neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered and closed her eyes.
Victor glanced at the exhausted and beaten Kayla. “Don't thank me yet. Hang on tight. I’m going to speed up.”
Maria dove into the water for a second trip. The guiding school of bioluminescent fish waited for her at the first fork like before. It was plain now. She was meant to follow them, but something had changed. In the first run, the fish took the left turn for every fork. With this second run, their choices seemed random.
Left.
Right.
Right.
Left.
Left.
Left.
Right.
Left.
The first attempt was a tutorial, and now the training wheels were off.
Maria shook her head and returned to base.
Naveed helped her out of the pool. “That was a much quicker run. What happened?”
“The school of fish I was following were leading me down a random path. I don’t know if I’m supposed to remember the way or what. I was afraid that if I followed them for too long, I would get lost or disoriented down there.” Her body language suggested defeat.
Naveed pointed at the dais. “I think the water is rising at about an inch every few minutes. We have about one or two hours left before we run out of cave.”
“Let me rest again, and I’ll go back in.” Her breathing was visibly and audibly rapid.
He tilted his head up. “I can just make a hole in the ceiling above us with my geomancer talent — keep going until it reaches the surface. Maybe we'll find a hidden path out.”
“No. We don’t know how deep we are or if there is another pool of water above us. That would b
e catastrophic.”
Naveed slumped his shoulders. “I figured you would say that.” He sat on the edge of the pool and rested his hand on the rock ledge. Multiple stone disks rose up, separating from the stone base. He picked up the closest one and threw it into the water.
Maria watched it skip several times before sinking into the deep. “Have you been doing that while waiting for me?”
“Yeah, why?”
Maria scratched her chin with her hand.
Naveed picked up another disk and repeated his exercise while waiting for a reply.
Maria snapped her fingers. An anxious smile formed on her face. “Can you collapse a tunnel from under water?”
“I don’t see why not. As long as I can touch the walls.”
“OK. I want you to come with me. There’s a ton of branching paths in the tunnel. I need you to collapse the branch we don’t take.”
“And if we see a giant sea creature?”
“Collapse the tunnel on top of it, and it should be game over.”
Naveed nodded and smiled. “That sounds easy enough. Which makes it a solid plan.”
“Give me your shirt.”
His eyebrows raised. “What?”
Maria grinned. “No time to be shy.”
Maria tore Naveed’s shirt into strips and tied them together forming a rope. She fastened the rope around her waist and made a knot at the end. “Take this. It will allow you to keep up with me when we swim.”
“Smart.”
“We should get going.” They sat on the edge of the pool together. ”Take three deep breaths, and we’ll go in.”
Maria pointed at the school of fish they were to follow.
At the first fork in the tunnel, the school swam right.
Naveed collapsed the left tunnel.
Maria gave the OK sign with her hand.
They did the same for the next fork and the one after that. At about two minutes underwater, they swam back to the start. Without having to memorize which path to take each trip, they didn’t have to worry about getting lost underwater. Each trip brought them deeper and deeper into the cave system before running low on breath. After their fifth trip, they made it to the fifteenth fork, the start of the alien markings. At this junction, the school of fish, their only light source, would not choose a path for them. Instead, they stayed stationary in the center of the fork.