If his mother was alive, maybe his father was, too. And what did that mean for Andessa's parents? Were they also among the people on the dragzhi ship? He held in a sigh. And the ship. He hadn't even begun to try to explain the spaceship. How could he?
All Torsten knew was he and Rell had discovered some sort of tech that transported them to the ship. He was curious, even excited, to investigate it again. But what if the tech only led to one particular ship, and now the ship was gone?
It wasn't a risk Torsten was willing to take. He didn't want Andessa or Leila to try, either. And until he knew more about his parents, he didn't want to involve Leila. It was his job to protect her.
Torsten pursed his lips, determined to keep the secrets to himself until he knew more. Maybe if he could find a way into Hadar, or even the tower, he could learn more about what had happened out there. If the dragzhi had won, and destroyed the humans, he wasn't sure he'd ever have a life aboveground again.
They walked down familiar passageways until the two buried in front of him moved to the left instead of the right. Torsten couldn't help it. He peered down the hall, thinking, foolishly, he might see Rell. The hall was empty, and he quickly snapped his head back in the direction he was walking.
If Rell had told her people Torsten, Leila, and Andessa were trapped in the church, it meant she had returned to her pod. Though why she'd have them brought back down, he wasn't sure. She'd made it very clear she wanted them gone, no matter the cost. It didn't make sense. Then again, Rell hadn't ever made sense to him. Everything she'd done had been based on her faith, and her beliefs were erratic. One moment she wanted them gone, the next she saved Torsten, and then she killed Mellok.
Even though he was glad he'd held back from kissing her on the spaceship, Torsten knew if he had, things might have turned out differently. If Rell had felt someone was on her side, Mellok might not have died.
She was always so isolated, so lost in her faith, she couldn't even understand how Torsten could like her without sharing her beliefs. If they'd had more time, maybe he could have convinced her. Perhaps they would have become friends. Maybe they would have become more.
A poke on his arm jerked Torsten back from his thoughts. "What?" he said to Leila.
She pointed ahead, and his eyes followed.
The tunnel opened into a large cavern. Unlike the cavern with the volcano, this one was well-lit. People bustled about, the hems of their white robes sweeping along the dirty ground. One by one, they stopped to stare at Torsten, Leila, and Andessa.
The three moved closer together. Not one person smiled. Not one nodded in greeting. Instead, their eyes were hostile, and the sneers on their faces did not bode well.
"I swear, Torsten," Andessa whispered in his ear, "if we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you."
Torsten swallowed the lump in his throat. "If I were you, I'd feel the same way."
They followed as the two led them to a cell. Torsten, Leila, and Andessa walked in. There was no other choice. They couldn't fight their way out of this. They were severely outnumbered. Still, they were alive. And as long as Torsten could breathe, he wouldn't give up.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Torsten let Andessa and Leila choose food from the plate. He took what was left over. He bit into the mushy tuber. It was the first time he'd eaten since leaving the ship. He'd choose anything over krullers. He shuddered just thinking of the mealy little worms squirming over the plate.
He hadn't lied when he told Rell he'd learned to eat krullers in the military. He had lied when he said he liked it. Torsten detested krullers. He'd eaten it because he knew he could force himself to. Then Rell didn't have to worry about sharing her bread with him. She could eat enough to keep strong.
Torsten looked between the cell bars, watching the people go about their business. Few bothered to look at them, and the ones who did made it clear Torsten, Leila, and Andessa were hated.
The buried blended together in their androgynous clothing and hairstyle. Most of them had mousy brown hair, too. He wondered how often they'd gotten aboveground to breed. Ever? Were they all related?
Andessa and Leila had squirreled themselves in the back of the cell, as far away from the bars as they could get. Torsten stayed close. He watched the buried. Mostly he watched for Rell. Even if they'd forced her out of her leather and into a robe, her pink hair would stand out. So, Torsten kept vigil. Even after the lights had dimmed and the majority of the people had retired for the evening, Torsten sat, awake, waiting for her.
Despite his best efforts, Torsten's eyelids began to flutter, and he drifted off. Mellok haunted his nightmares, as his death played out over and over again. Torsten couldn’t just sit there. He needed to get out. To see Rell. To try to understand everything that had happened to them.
"Anyone out there?" he yelled into the darkness.
Silence.
"Tor, shut up," Leila mumbled from the back of the cell.
"Rell?" he called out.
"Oh no. Not again," Andessa said. "He needs to find another girl to obsess over."
Torsten ignored Andessa, listening for any other sound in the darkness.
Suddenly a hooded figure appeared in front of Torsten. "If you want to see Rell, stay quiet."
Torsten started, then leaned in closer to the bars. "Can you take me to her?"
"Yes. She wants to see you very much, but she was afraid you would not want to see her." The feminine voice was confident, almost too sure.
Apprehension spread over Torsten. He shivered. Even if Rell wanted to see him, she would never admit it to anyone. She was too guarded with her emotions. "Who are you?" he asked.
“A friend. You can trust me," the voice said.
Torsten hesitated. Rell hadn’t mentioned friends. It hadn’t even occurred to him she might ask a friend to help them. “Is she okay?" he asked.
"Of course. She is back in her pod. I can take you."
“All of us?” Leila asked, scooting up behind him. “Because I’m not so sure I want to see her again. Tor, you have to let this go.”
"Please, take us to her," Torsten said, letting Rell's friend hear his urgency. He knew how Leila felt, but he’d already gotten them trapped in a cell. He believed Rell would help them get aboveground. That’s what she wanted—for Torsten to go away.
The sound of tumblers falling into position echoed in the silent room. Torsten, Leila, and Andessa slipped out of the cell as soon as she moved the bars.
"Take this." The woman slipped a length of rope into his palm, keeping hold of one end.
Torsten looped it twice around his hand, the rope digging in. Then he passed it back to his sister. As he followed the robed figure into the darkness, he counted the steps and the turns. If he got out of this mess, he wanted to remember where everything was.
He couldn’t wait to see Rell again. This time he wouldn't leave her. He needed one more chance to convince her to come with them. She didn't have to give up her faith. She just needed to learn to trust people.
They walked silently in the darkness for what seemed like an eternity. It was obvious the woman had lived underground for a very long time. She navigated the twists and turns without a hint of light. She paused, then made an abrupt left. She yanked on the rope, pulling Torsten into a pod behind her. Leila stumbled behind him, and Andessa let out a quiet “Oof!”
A lock clicked behind him. A torch sprang to life. The woman lowered the hood from her head and pulled off a long, braided wig. Torsten was greeted by a shock of bright blue hair.
"I couldn't get you in here without lying to you. For that, I'm sorry. I haven’t seen Rell. I only listened in on the rumors. But when I realized you were the defenders who’d been sent to find the Key, I had to rescue you. You should be aboveground with your people."
“There are others alive?” Leila smiled. “Where?”
“In the tower. They’re hiding there for now. The ground is crawling with aliens. Things I’ve never seen. Huge rock formatio
ns moving of their own volition with scaled beasts on leashes.
She flopped down in a chair in the far corner. "My name is Renata. I met Rell above, and I changed her from a buried girl to a grounder woman."
A million questions flooded Torsten's mind, but only one was important enough to ask first. "Where's Rell?"
"I don't know," Renata said. "I was hoping you could tell me about the last time you saw her. I found my way back down after the dragzhi attacked the city. Somehow the buried knew you three were in the church above, and you were connected to Rell, but beyond that, no one has said anything I didn’t already know."
"Wait." Torsten held up a hand. "When they brought us down here, they said Rell had told them about us."
Renata shook her head. "It can't be true. Rell hasn't been seen since she left."
Torsten's hands formed into fists. "I need to find Rell. Something happened—it was an accident—and I'm worried about her. I left her behind because I thought she needed time. But then we were brought here, and if she went aboveground to find me, she's all alone."
"Calm down. We'll find her. Where did you see her last?" Renata asked.
Torsten hesitated. He didn't know if he could trust this woman. "Can you help my sister and her friend escape first?”
Renata nodded. "We need to get away quickly. It's better in the dark, where hopefully no one will see us."
"Why did they take us from above only to imprison us?" Andessa asked. "Why not leave us to die up there?"
"Oh no," Leila said, her hand clenching her stomach.
"Are you sick?" Torsten asked.
Leila answered by vomiting. She sank to her knees, vomiting again. Andessa leaned over, rubbing Leila's back.
"They need you for the ritual," Renata said, her eyes locked on Leila. "And she will be first."
"Ritual?" Torsten asked. Then he remembered something Rell had told them. "The volcano. They mean to sacrifice us to it?"
"Did they feed you?"
Torsten nodded.
"And what did she have?" Renata nodded at Leila.
"She had the meat," Andessa said. "We were going to share it, but then I decided I didn't want any."
"It was poisoned. Soon, she will fall into a deep sleep. They will carry her to the volcano and then awaken her with a spicy scent. She will hallucinate, and then she will walk into the volcano in search of a false image beckoning her. It is a kind way to sacrifice."
Leila flung her hair back and glared at Renata. "There is nothing kind about it."
Renata shrugged. "Better to go in willingly, than to be knocked in."
None of the three responded, Mellok's death still on their minds.
"What if I don't go into the volcano? Will I die from the poison anyway?" Leila rushed the words out before retching again.
"No. You'll have a very strange reality for a few hours, and your memories will be hazy. You won't die." Renata's nose wrinkled as the sharp smell of sick wafted through the room. "I need to get the three of you out of here. I can get you aboveground. There are others who survived. You should be with them. Not down here."
"I agree," Andessa said. "Get us out of this place as fast as you can. I don't want any of these sicko robed freaks sacrificing Leila to the volcano."
"Neither do I," Torsten said. "Take them, please."
"Them?" Andessa planted her hands on her hips. "You're coming, too."
"I am," Torsten said, "but first I need to find Rell. I have to give her one more chance to come with us."
Andessa rolled her eyes.
"Tor, I can trust you, but not Rell. Not again. Even if Mellok’s death was an accident," Leila said before she leaned over, losing more of her dinner to the floor. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Take this." Renata thrust the robe and the wig at Torsten. "I'll lead them above. Then I'll come back for you and Rell. We can meet here. It's an old, abandoned pod. They won't look here. Just hurry, because once they realize you're gone, they will begin searching, and trust me, you don't want to be found. They will kill you, and it will be painful. Leila would have been lucky to die, drugged, in the volcano. They won't be so kind to you."
Torsten shrugged into the robe, pulling the wig over his hair. The heavy braid tugged his head backward. Torsten regained his balance, drawing his neck forward to keep the braid from yanking him again.
"Get them out of here," Torsten said to Renata. "I'll find Rell. I kept track of all the turns we made down here. I think I know how to get to the volcano."
"Tor," Leila said weakly, "be careful. Don’t be so blinded by your feelings that you lose track of what’s right."
"I won’t." Torsten watched Leila slowly pull herself to standing. He gave his sister a gentle hug. “I'll see you soon."
The three women left, and Torsten followed them out. They turned left and he went right. Torsten laid his fingertips on the dirt-caked wall and began his trek. He counted each step, each passageway, as he made his way back to the volcano, where he hoped he'd find Rell waiting for him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rell sat on the ground long after Torsten left. Part of her wanted to chase after him, but another part ordered herself to stay put. She cried silent tears until her eyes were as dry as the desert sand above the caverns. She ignored exhaustion and hunger as the hours wore on.
With her arms wrapped around her knees, Rell wouldn't take her eyes off the ledge leading to the volcano. The place where Mellok had fallen. Where he had died. At her hand.
A tortured laugh bubbled out of her throat, choking her. She stayed where she was, not because the gods urged her to do so. No, she stayed because she knew, beyond a doubt, if she were to follow Torsten he would also end up dead. She couldn't stomach it. Not after how kindly he'd treated her.
Rell held her hands out in front of her and studied them. A light flickered, then sputtered to life. The flame danced between her palms. Yellow, orange, and red melded into each other and broke free again. Mesmerized, Rell watched her magic ebb and flow. Magic. Funny she thought of it that way. Magic was an antiquated term from Earth used to describe anything humans didn’t understand. Like a dancing ball of fire in her hands. But she knew it wasn’t magic.
It was her secret, the one thing proving the gods were real and she was special to them. No one else could do what she could. She'd asked others once. Their strange looks said her experience was unique. She kept it to herself after that day. And the guard didn't bring it up. Why he remained silent, Rell didn't know.
But from that day on, she knew she had been chosen for something important. The gods had given her a gift. So far, it had only brought pain and destruction, despite all of her efforts to do the right thing. She followed the teachings of the Menelewen Dored. She prayed six times a day. She offered all she had, and yet she hadn't learned how to use her gift for good.
If Rell couldn't harness her power, she couldn't be around anyone she cared about. Not again. She would live as a hermit in the tunnels. She'd steal food from the stores and wash in puddles.
Perhaps that was her destiny all along.
Rocks scrabbled outside the cavern. Rell clambered to her feet, running and hiding in a cleft in the wall. Her heart pounded. She swallowed her annoyance. Torsten had come back after all. She would do her best to pretend she'd left. Maybe then he would give up on her.
As the footsteps approached, she heard two people talking, their voices hushed and furtive. It wasn’t Torsten! Rell's brow wrinkled as she strained to hear their conversation.
"They were aboveground in the church. Someone brought them down. It's been almost a year since the last sacrifice. Better them than our own people." The first voice, deep, a man's, was slow and sure.
The second voice was higher, more melodious, and familiar to Rell. Her mother. "The attack above may have had little to do with us."
"They are looking for the Key," he said. "You know as well as I do. If we sacrifice to the volcano, it will assure our protection. The d
ragzhi haven't breached our safeguards, yet. I believe the sacrifice is why. The council—"
"Are fools," Rell's mother interrupted. "Stop talking about them as if you believe the lies they sputter."
Rell closed her eyes. Her own mother didn't believe? Then why did she live underground? Why didn't she leave? Why had she subjected Rell to years of ridicule over her unworthiness? Her heart hung heavy in her chest. She thought she had understood Torsten's confusion over finding his mother in the spaceship. Now, she knew exactly how he felt.
"We must keep the Key safe," the man said, his voice insistent. "You know as well as I do the Menelewen Dored only tolerate us because they are looking for the Key. If they should find it..."
"Then we're all in danger. I know." Her mother's answer was muffled by the sound of pacing over the dirt floor. "I positioned Rell to be sent away for a reason. I didn't think she'd come back."
Her mother was the reason she'd left? But the council said it was the gods' will.
"You had to protect her." The man's voice was gentle.
The more they spoke, the less their words made sense.
"I love Rell, but she is the secret we must hide."
"Kennor would be proud. He loved that girl so much," the man said.
Grief bloomed in Rell's throat at the mention of her father.
"He would, and he wouldn't have sent her away as I did. He would have kept her close. It was foolhardy. The council would have realized the thing they sought was right under their noses the whole time. Kennor was weak where Rell was concerned. It was his insecurity about her biological father. He always wished she was his,” her mother said.
Her father, Kennor, wasn’t her biological father? Then who was? And why hide it? Rell considered leaping out of the cleft to confront them. But she remained hidden. If her mother hadn’t told her any of this before, it was likely she’d dismiss demands for answers now.
"The Key must be kept safe at all costs," he said.
"I agree. But those fools, those grounders, don't need to be brought down here. It'll only cause trouble. It's been a very long time since we've taken grounders captive. Even then it was only to bring them over to our cause. The council may question our motives."
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