Kalaes shrugged. “Maybe it’s for their lethal toxins. Who knows?”
Good point, and yet the sweet smell made Elei’s fingers spasm, his gums ache. He forced himself to wipe his hand on his pants. His ears rang and his heart thumped. Rex wasn’t happy with him for resisting.
“Does that mean we can’t eat any of the fruits?” Alendra asked, her voice barely audible.
“I wouldn’t trust anything growing here,” Sacmis said, low. “Hera?”
“I think we should get out of here and move on.” Hera kicked a branch out of her path. “At least we know the map is correct, and that’s all that matters.”
“Food and water also matter,” Elei ground out, getting up. His pants were soaked in fruit juice and the urge to pick up another fruit almost drove him back to his knees.
“We have bread,” Hera said without turning. “The main thing is time. It’s all about time. We delay, our lives are in jeopardy. And the fruit may poison you, or make you sick and then you’ll be vomiting all the way without water to hydrate you.”
Elei hung his head.
They made their way among the bushes, steering clear of the trees. Blue and white birds Elei had never seen before flew overhead, somersaulting in the light from the dome.
“Special lamps, most probably.” Sacmis nodded at the flickering lights. “With reflectors to concentrate their power on certain plants and patches of vegetation.”
“And you know all this, how?” Kalaes picked his way through a thicket of what looked like pepper plants from their clumps of red and black fruit.
“Same principle as cultivating indoors,” she said. “We’ve studied it at school.”
“Not at my school,” Kalaes muttered, and then he stopped. Elei crashed into him. “Kal?”
Kalaes staggered and Elei grabbed his arm to steady him, then he let his arm drop and stared.
An animal stared back, white and tall as a molosse dog, with drooping ears and very slender legs.
“What in the hells?” Kalaes blinked at the creature. “Should we start running?”
“It’s harmless, I think,” Hera said, though she kept her voice low. “I’ve seen similar ones in the old manuscripts. They’re herbivores.”
“Vegetarians?” Kalaes visibly relaxed, and Elei felt his muscles unwind.
Alendra sighed. “It’s cute,” she said. “Maybe there’re more animals.”
“And maybe not all are vegetarian,” Kalaes said and started walking. “We don’t have time for exploration.”
It was hard not to stare, though, not to look up and around instead of at the trail winding among groves and old, crumbling walls. Elei half-expected some old farmer to step out and greet them, or shoot them for trespassing.
Cat burst from the underbrush, then slowed to a walk with airs of grand indifference and nonchalance, for all the world as if he lived permanently in this domed garden.
“There are many such places marked on the map,” Hera was telling Sacmis, her voice traveling on the still air like a scent.
“Why wouldn’t they cultivate above ground?” Alendra muttered. “Was the surface not livable?”
“I wonder how old this place is,” Elei said.
“Old as the world,” Alendra whispered, and it felt that way.
“Is there a way down that’s close by?” Kalaes asked. “Hera?”
“I think I saw a symbol for a staircase,” Hera called back, “although I’m not sure that’s what it is.”
“Great.” Kalaes kicked at a pebble. “Just pissing great.”
They were almost halfway through the garden now, and Elei thought he saw another huge set of doors at the other side.
Something whirred. He looked up at the noise and froze. “Kal.”
“What?” Kalaes kicked another pebble. He pressed a hand to his stomach. “Pissing, frigid hells and Triton’s tail.”
Elei grabbed his arm, jerking him backward, and pointed up. “Look.”
Kalaes swore softly. “Cameras?” He glanced at Elei. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
They’d been off the radar so far, but not anymore.
“Hera!” Elei started toward her. “We’re being watched.”
Hera looked about. “What? Where?”
“Closed circuit.” Sacmis’ hands clenched into fists. “Damn.”
Without another word, Hera pulled Sacmis into a run, obviously trusting Elei to haul along the other two, Cat hard on their heels. “To the door.”
Elei reached out for Alendra who came willingly, but, turning, he found Kalaes bent over, arms wrapped around his middle.
“Kal!” Fear clogged his throat like a mouthful of sand. “Gods dammit, Kal, come on.”
When he got no response, he grabbed a handful of Kalaes’ shirt and dragged him along. Nonono, his mind chanted as Alendra got Kalaes’ other arm and together they pulled him through spiny bushes and sharp blades of grass. Elei’s heart boomed, the beat drowning all other sound. He glanced at Kalaes’ white face as they trampled through the underbrush like a pack of rabid dogs.
“Hang on,” he muttered. A hum behind them raised his hackles. He turned his head and caught a glimpse of what looked like a huge machine-gun mounted on the dome. The hells? “Shit. Run!”
Hauling Kalaes, they raced to the door, held open by Hera and Sacmis. They barely made it before a rain of bullets bit the ground at their heels, concrete shards spraying their legs. Hera tackled Kalaes to the floor outside, and Sacmis grabbed Alendra and Elei and swung them behind the wall.
The doors closed behind them with a clang, the bullets slamming into the thick metal with small chinks.
Elei slid down, lungs burning. He turned to look at Kalaes who slumped, pale and sweating. “Are you all right?”
To his relief, Kalaes’ eyes opened. “Hey, fe.” His voice was rough and low. “I think we pissed someone off.”
The tension in Elei’s body went so suddenly he laughed. His hands trembled and he shoved them between his legs to hide them. He wasn’t going to fall apart now.
Not when they’d just survived the garden from hell.
***
Barely five minutes had passed when Sacmis gave Alendra a hand up. “They know where we are. Let’s not sit idly and give them an easy target.”
Elei rose to his feet with a groan. “Kal, come on.”
“I think we should go that way.” Hera pointed to the left fork of a passage.
“Yeah, because your last idea about crossing the garden was such a damn good one.” Kalaes closed his eyes.
“Kal, don’t...” Elei began, but Hera was already twisting toward him, a dark scowl on her face.
“Hera, he’s sick,” Alendra placed herself between Kalaes and the two Gultur.
“He’s well enough to provoke me,” Hera said. Elei supposed she was right, and maybe it was a good thing that Kalaes still had the energy for that.
“Call it a parting shot,” Kalaes muttered.
“Come on, Hera.” Alendra dared take another step toward her. “He’d tease you with his dying breath, you know that.”
A shudder ran through Elei’s bones. In his possessed eye, Hera flashed with deep orange, her heart beating crimson inside her ribcage. He could see her throat pulse bright yellow — the place to strike, slice, kill and spill her blood.
No. Gods damn it, no, Rex. “They’d find us sooner or later,” he said, his voice hoarse. His throat burned. “Let’s move.”
Maybe walking would loosen his muscles and let him forget the image of Hera dying at his feet — and the urge to put her there. Cat jumped on his shoulder, rubbed his face against Elei’s cheek, soothing his nerves.
Hera nodded. “Let’s find those stairs.”
Alendra pulled Kalaes up, and they were off again, hurrying to catch up. Their booted steps echoed in the tunnels, the sounds fading and then returning, giving the impression a whole army was wandering underground.
Unless an army was wandering underground. Unsettle
d, Elei glanced over his shoulder, fully expecting to see a Gultur platoon coming around the bend, longguns raised. Colors flashed, and he lengthened his stride, Cat digging small claws into his shoulder, ears perked, blue eyes alert.
This tunnel seemed made of metal, an alloy where no phosphorescent fungi grew, so Alendra and Kalaes stumbled in the dark. Elei reached them and caught their hands to pull them along, his eyes picking out everything, from the forms of Hera and Sacmis ahead to the shapes of symbols and cracks in the walls.
The air had a musty tang and barely stirred. It smelled of animals, with the sourness of rat piss and the stink of crap. They crossed intersections with other tunnels lit by phosphorescence; in one such crossing, a trellis of glowing agaric intertwined over their heads and the pileus caps hung like white lanterns in the center, painting everything and everyone in faded hues.
Elei slowed to a halt. The lights swirled in his eyes in dizzying circles. Kalaes’ face looked like a skull, and Alendra’s hair glowed, a fluttering moth caught in the bright strands.
“Hey, Hera.” Elei swallowed. “Are you sure you know the way?”
“If you ask one more time...” She turned toward him, a hand resting on a slim hip. A shiny strand of dark hair brushed her jaw. “Look, I’m following the map. We’re on the right path. Just hurry.”
But he could only stare as her nails grew into claws and her eyes burned like red fires. Something black, like oil, was spreading from her mouth to her chin.
Cold sweat trickled between his shoulder blades. The crimson flashing on her chest blinked faster, a beacon, calling him. Kill her. It was the same voice he’d heard in his head after his breakout from the hospital, the voice that sounded so much like his own, it could’ve been a sliver of his own thoughts. Rex.
“Shut up,” he whispered. He stepped back, pulling on the others’ hands. Pain radiated down his spine, making his legs tremble. “I won’t, damn you, so shut up.”
“Elei, snap out of it,” Kalaes said, tugging back. “Hey.”
“What is it?” Hera asked.
“Just go, fe.” Kalaes sounded tired. “Rex must be acting up.”
The blackness seeped down her throat, tentacles reaching out, feeling the space. Elei swallowed bile.
“Peace, Hera,” Sacmis said, placing a hand on the other Gultur’s shoulder. “Senet. Are you coming?”
“T’e.” Hera finally turned away and was swallowed by the shadows of the tunnel, a fading ghost leaving trails of brilliance on the air.
Elei blinked up at the glowing agaric caps, then back the way she’d gone, half-blinded. The flashing colors dimmed. When Alendra asked if he was okay, he nodded, taking calming breaths. A wave of bitter fear was rising in his mind. What if he couldn’t control Rex next time? What if Kalaes didn’t last? What if Hera lost it and killed them? What if the Gultur found them?
What if it all ended there, deep underground?
Chapter Fifteen
It’s lack of sleep, Elei told himself as he dragged Kalaes and Alendra along, barely feeling his own feet. The tunnel walls blurred, patches of light blinding him at the intersections, the changing colors and textures of the walls startling him. Or is it lack of food? Sweat slicked his palms, and he held the hands of his friends tighter. Even lack of oxygen. That might explain the pressure on his chest.
At least Rex didn’t stir— probably needing fuel. Nothing sweet down here, buddy. He chuckled and turned to see Alendra’s wide eyes on him. She probably thought he’d finally gone around the bend.
Pale luminescence cast shadows on every protrusion on the walls and every irregularity of the floor. Mushrooms grew in concentric circles on the ceiling, glowing white.
The tunnel ahead was empty. Elei frowned. Where were Hera and Sacmis? He’d been following the faint light of their silhouettes for so long, his mind went blank.
“Hera!” He squinted into the darkness. “Sacmis!” Had they taken a wrong turn? Or did the two Gultur walk that much faster? “Hera, wait!”
The sharp shot of fear cleared some of the dizziness. Pulling the others, he quickened his pace, cursing his limp. Kalaes mumbled something, tugging, but his voice was lost in the deafening pulse in Elei’s ears.
And still he couldn’t see Hera, couldn’t tell if he was going in the right direction, and the panic that seized his chest only tightened its claws, digging deeper.
“Elei!” Kalaes’ voice finally registered, and he slowed.
He stopped and wrenched his attention away from the darkness ahead. “What is it?”
“Dammit, hold up.” Kalaes pulled his sweaty hand from Elei’s. His breathing sounded harsh in the quiet. He took a stumbling step back. “Shit.”
Slow, as if through water, Elei turned, alarms blaring through his mind. Kalaes’ face was pallid except for red splotches staining his cheekbones. “Kal?”
The older boy bent over, hands braced on his knees.
“Kalaes?” Alendra pulled away. “Are you okay?”
Kalaes waved a hand at them, not looking up. “Just need to rest,” he said, his voice a low rasp, “just need a minute.”
“Kal, we need to find the others. I can’t see them anymore.” Elei took a deep breath. “It’s a maze down here and we’ve got no map—”
“Gods, not so loud.” Kalaes slid to his knees, burying his hands in his hair. “My head’s killing me.” Blood dripped from his nose, over his lips and down his chin.
Elei’s breath hissed between his teeth. Pissing hells. That was how it’d started before, hadn’t it? He dropped to his knees. “Kalaes. Look at me.”
Alendra joined him on the floor. She caught Kalaes’ face in her hands and raised it. “He’s burning up,” she said in hushed tones. “Elei...”
“’M okay.” Kalaes blinked, his eyes too bright. “Just need to rest.”
Elei’s heart thumped so loud he could barely hear. A white mark climbed the side of Kalaes’ neck like a spiderweb. Elei pulled down the neckline of the t-shirt.
“It’s spreading,” he whispered, numb, feeling like he should be running and calling out and doing something, only he didn’t know what. The palantin mark covered Kalaes’ collarbones, reaching around his neck in a deadly embrace.
“Hera will come back for us,” Alendra said. “Sooner or later she’ll notice we’re not following them.”
He got to his feet. “I’ll go get them before they wander too far. Stay with him.”
“Elei,” Kalaes muttered, lifting his head. “Don’t go. You could get lost.”
“I won’t.” Elei tried for a reassuring smile. “I’ll be back before you know it. Rest, get your strength back.” He hesitated. He hated leaving them alone, half blind in the scant light from the ceiling, with Kalaes barely able to stand and the fear that the Gultur might find them.
“Alendra, take his gun.” Elei looked to Kalaes for permission, but he’d hunched over again, his arms shaking, dark hair hiding his face. That he didn’t protest was scary in itself.
Elei drew the semi-automatic from Kalaes’ belt and handed it to Alendra. “Drink some water, eat something. There’re pills in the medic-kit. See if there’s anything for his fever.”
“Be careful,” she said, taking the gun. “Hurry back.”
He set off before doubt could assault him, following the tunnel until the luminescent mushrooms ended and darkness enveloped him. As he waited for his eyes to adjust, he thought he smelled sweetness. Rex immediately jabbed at the back of his eye, sending flashes around him. He let the scent play out, heavy, ripe fruit notes and lighter flower perfume. Gultur.
Was it Hera? For some reason, he hesitated. He remembered her smell — Rex remembered it — and this felt subtly different.
Footsteps. He drew his Rasmus. A new scent hit him, a familiar one, and he knew Hera had found him.
“Elei!” Sacmis called, and now he could make out their forms. “What happened? Why did you not follow?”
He took a breath to answer, but the whiff of foreign s
weetness sharpened and strengthened, stinging his senses. Rex wailed inside his head, and his heart lurched into a racing beat. “Gultur,” he whispered and raised his Rasmus, his eyes tracking everything that moved — a rat, a cockroach, Hera’s hand.
“What do you mean?” Hera raised her gun and approached with light steps.
“Not you.”
“Other Gultur?”
“Yeah. Shit, I left Kalaes and Alendra back there.” Elei turned and sprinted back the way he’d come.
“Dammit, Elei.” Hera ran on his heels, with Sacmis pounding behind. “You left them alone?”
He didn’t bother explaining. He spotted them, sitting where he’d left them, kneeling together, their brows almost touching. Alendra got up when they approached.
“Explain,” Hera said. “Did you see other Gultur?”
“Smelled them.” It was hard to focus, hard to talk with the world flashing in rhythmic beats like a fire alarm.
Elei shoved his gun into its holster, trusting Hera to cover them, and grabbed Kalaes’ arm, feeling the feverish heat of his skin through the fabric. “Come on, Kal, we need to go.”
Kalaes nodded and leaned on Elei to get his feet under him, trembling, brow puckered.
“So they’ve found us.” Hera hissed and turned in a circle. At least she wasn’t questioning his statement, thank the gods. “A camera must have tracked us.” She set off again with long, determined strides. “To the stairs. Sacmis, cover our backs.”
Sacmis’ shoulders stiffened. “With pleasure, senet,” she bit out but took position behind them, gun in hand. “Go.”
Elei secured Kalaes’ arm over his shoulders. Alendra lifted her backpack, and he nodded to let her know that he could handle Kalaes alone. “You’ve found the stairs?”
“No.” A grin shaped Hera’s next words, and Elei could hear it without seeing her face. “But I know exactly where they are.”
***
Hera seemed so damn sure, it was a relief. As they marched down the tunnels, the scent of the other Gultur intensified, and it was all Elei could do to keep his arm around Kalaes and not rush ahead, make sure the way was clear.
Elei's Chronicles (Books 1-3) Page 66