by Cheree Alsop
Commander Kennik took his place on top of the main entrance and crouched behind the pile of stones with his rope in hand to close off the entrance after the Sathen had entered. Pyth took his position around the back of the Caves at the kitchen exit so he could blow the explosives either when I appeared or when the other Duskies had made it out safely and returned to his exit. I led the Duskies that would run through the Caves to a small dune near the entrance. We settled on the cooling red sand and waited.
Any sign of the sun disappeared completely, and still the Sathen failed to appear. The scent of blood from Commander Jashen’s trail through the desert sat heavily in the air attracting sand crabs and small black spiders, but there was no sign of the Sathen horde. I watched the Nathos rise on the bigger dune across from us and listened to the Duskies fill them in on the plan. If the Sathen attacked when either the Luminos or Nathos were at strength, they were to wait at the various exits and help the Duskies escape, finishing off any Sathen that made it through before the tunnels were blocked. Swords glinted in the moonlight, then the Nathos quieted and watched the desert for the Sathen.
Tension rose as the creatures failed to appear.
“Maybe the battle at the Caves and then fighting us took away their blood lust,” Pyth said with a slight smile.
I studied the dark desert; my heart jumped at every puff of dust stirred by the night wind and every cry of desert creatures cloaked by the night. “We can hope,” I said, but I knew in my heart that we hadn’t seen the last of the Sathen.
Chapter 34
We waited throughout the night, then the Nathos lay down to sleep as the horizon blushed and the stars disappeared from above. Slowly, the animal sounds stopped and a thick silence fell across the desert. I drew my sword just as someone shouted from across the dune and pointed at dust rising in the distance.
I turned to the Duskies behind me, smiled to hide the trepidation in my chest, and motioned for them to rise. The plume of dust grew closer and my breath slowed. It was obvious by the size of the dust cloud that the Sathen had brought reinforcements. We slid down the small dune and waited near the entrance to the Caves when the first Sathen appeared.
They flooded over the dunes around us, thousands of black eyes and red scales that glinted and seethed together. For a moment I could only stare; my blood ran cold in my veins at the sheer number of them. There were so many more than even the footprints in the valley between the dunes. No one had ever guessed so many Sathen had banded together, and there was no way our small army could defeat them if our plan failed.
The Sathen drew near, gaping mouths drooling at the scent of blood at our feet and fresh carcasses in the Caves beyond. Then several stopped and looked toward the dune where the rest of our party slept behind the tent. The ice that froze my limbs broke and I picked up a rock near the entrance and threw it as hard as I could. It hit the highest Sathen on the dune hard enough to crack its skull and send the others on top of it in a blood-thirsty pile. Within seconds there was nothing left but bloody, broken bones.
I threw another rock and it hit a second Sathen who turned and hissed at me. I waved my arms and yelled and the Duskies around me did the same, hitting their swords against their small shields and showing the Sathen that fresh meat waited just below them. The Sathen who had started up the dune turned and opened their mouths in wide grins that showed all their rows of teeth. They left the hill and surged toward us with eager hunger in their black eyes and I realized that we had made one critical error in judgment; the Sathen were much faster than we had thought. The seething mass of bodies swarmed down the dunes to the Caves. I pushed the Duskies around me into the tunnel, then ducked in after them.
“Separate!” I yelled.
Duskies dove down their various tunnels, yelling and making as much noise as they could. The scratch of claws on rocks sounded so loud and close behind me I knew that most of the horde had taken the bait and were following me down the blood trail to the lower tunnels. I ran as fast as I could, but I couldn't outdistance them.
The closest Sathen bit at my heels before I even reached the main corridor. I drew my sword and spun, catching the first two across the throat. They fell and were lost under a rush of claws and teeth. I turned and ran across the corridor as fast as I could, careful to jump over the outcropping of stone in the middle. It slowed the Sathen for a second, but then they were right at my heels again. Claws caught my calf and a searing pain ran up my leg. I kicked hard and ran forward without looking back.
They were faster than me.
The thought kept pounding over and over with the frantic rhythm of my feet. I ran down the ramp that led to the lower chambers and through the bottom caves. The tunnels twisted and turned, but I could have followed them blindfolded. The adrenaline from the thousands of Sathen who chased me through the darkness spurred me faster. I reached the lowest tunnels and my breath fogged in the air. I skidded around a corner, slipped on a patch of ice, and slammed into a door to one of the many mining shafts that had been closed off so no one would plummet to their death.
I pushed back to my feet just as the first Sathen slipped on the same patch of ice and hit the wall next to me. A scent touched my nose and I glanced through the door to see massive reddish mounds that gave off the smell of cinnamon and sage. I stared, stunned, until a sharp claw caught my arm. I turned and chopped off the reaching hand, then ran around the opposite side of the cavern and up the other ramp.
We had chosen the kitchen exit because it would give time for all of the Sathen to enter the Caves before Kennik released the avalanche, but we never took into account the speed the Sathen could muster when pursuing prey. I hoped that the other Duskies had made it out of their tunnels as I scrabbled back up the ramp, my feet finding purchase in the fine sand that coated the path and made the Sathen fall on top of each other in their effort to catch me.
I backtracked through the dining room and saw hundreds of Sathen devouring the massive pile of body parts Commander Jashen had left there. The animals snapped at each other, pulling at mutilated limbs and attacking at any who threatened their meal. I ran down the hall past my chamber and a brief memory of the leaf in the hidden floor groove I had cut brought a surge of energy through my body.
I rounded the corner from the Duskie chambers, then tripped on a pickax someone had left out. I landed on my own sword and felt the curve cut into my stomach. Sathen claws tore across my back like fire, and one grabbed my left hand in its mouth. I rolled to my right, freeing my sword and right arm, and I drew the blade across my left hand, severing the head of the creature that had it in its teeth. I jumped to my feet, stumbled, and pushed down the hallway as fast as I could.
I could see the entrance to the kitchens just ahead. Sathen paced me on either side, biting at my feet and hands and gouging chunks out of my back. One jumped and landed on my shoulders and I let out a cry; when I turned to knock him off against the wall, another Sathen tripped my feet.
I fell against the entrance to the kitchen and the Sathen swarmed over me with a surge of teeth and claws. I held my arms over my face to protect it. Time slowed; I felt every bite and scratch. I pushed up against the wall so that my back was protected, and felt the familiar sensation of scratchy red sand on my tattered skin. I couldn’t see past the red scaled bodies, bloodstained teeth, and void-like black eyes that surged around me.
I closed my eyes in despair and saw Axon’s face in my mind. His icy blue eyes stared into mine with an intensity that matched the way he had spoken to Chaxa, but this time he directed it at me.
“Get up.”
I shook my head and the Sathen growled around me, fighting over my body. “I can’t,” I said out loud.
“Nexa, you’ve been fighting since you were born. You can’t give up now!”
Tears rolled down my bloodstained cheeks. A Sathen bit down on my foot and a scream ripped from my throat. “I can’t,” I sobbed.
Axon’s eyes bore into mine. “You promised.” Pain reflected in t
hem, the same pain I had seen when he realized he couldn’t persuade me from pursing my crazy plan, the same pain that had been there when he said he would die of a broken heart if anything happened to me. And I heard myself reply that I would do my best not to kill us both.
I pushed to my feet with an angry roar, slashing at the closest Sathen and severing body parts without mercy. The Sathen backed up briefly in shock at my sudden defiance, then surged forward again. I cut down four with one blow, threw my sword at another one, then limped through the kitchen as fast as I could.
“Nexa!” Pyth shouted from the hole.
I followed his voice, blinded by blood that flowed into my eyes.
A warm brush of air announced the exit. I pushed outside into Pyth’s arms. He carried me backward and I felt as much as heard the avalanche of stone that trapped the Sathen inside when someone pulled the rope. Duskies surged forward and cut down the Sathen that had made it through with my escape.
Pyth hit the trigger, then slipped my arm over his shoulder and we ran away from the Caves with the other Duskies behind us. A moment of silence followed and my blood turned to ice at the thought that perhaps the explosion wouldn't work. Sathen fought free from the avalanche and rushed after us, then a rumble sounded and the ground trembled. An explosion ripped through the air, followed by another and then another in quick succession. Parts of the Caves moved and several Sathen who had escaped were trapped under sliding rocks.
I glanced at Pyth and he looked at me as if to ask if we were done, then a roar sounded so loud the dunes moved underneath us. The Caves rose like an awakening beast; boulders the size of houses flew through the air and landed around the desert, sending up smaller shockwaves that shook the dunes. The Caves then collapsed inward as the entire mountain toppled into the gaping holes beneath. Boulders grated together, and above it all I could hear the screams of thousands of Sathen crushed by the red rock mountain.
Red dust rose into the air smelling of cinnamon and sage. We rounded the corner of the dunes and came face to face with hundreds of Sathen who hadn’t gone into the Caves. The weary Duskies around me drew their swords, but I could see the defeat on their faces and the knowledge that we couldn’t beat them alone.
Then dust began to drift down through the air. Thick red flakes landed on our heads and shoulders and fell to the ground with the sound of a hundred feathers dropping softly to the earth. Sounds were muffled and the Sathen paused as the cinnamon and sage scented flakes fell on them. A motion through the drifting dust caught my eye. I looked up to see hundreds of Nathos and Luminos charge down the dune. They raised their swords and a battle cry, fierce with passion and rage, tore through the air. The Sathen turned and shrieked their wordless, soul quaking cry and swarmed to meet them, but the Luminos and Nathos cut them down as though they were sheaves of grain.
I cut down a Sathen and turned as two more leaped at me. I stumbled backward, then Axon was there. He took the Sathen out with one slice and turned to face two more. I fell back in the sand and closed my eyes as the first rays of morning lit the desert.
“Hold on, Nexa!”
Axon’s voice reached me through the darkness. I wanted to tell him everything was alright, that the Sathen were gone, but I couldn’t speak. Hands touched me and pain flowed through every limb. I screamed, but they wouldn’t let go. I tried to fight them off, but strong hands held me down.
“Keep still; they’re trying to save you,” Dathien’s deep voice said, though there was a quiver to his tone I had never heard before.
“There’s not enough sun,” someone shouted.
“We can’t wait,” Axon replied with a growl. “Everyone, now!”
Pain flooded through my limbs as though I was being doused with fire. My back arched off the damp sand and my fingers clenched into fists. My eyes flew open and I saw Axon’s face silhouetted by the rising sun. His blue eyes stared into mine and I could see him talking, but a roar filled my ears and I couldn't hear his words. Another surge went through me and my strength left with my breath. I felt like I was drowning, like I was back on the ship with the water over my head and bars holding me down.
“Breathe,” Axon whispered softly.
I took a breath, then another. Sweet, warm desert air filled my lungs. I opened my eyes to see Axon’s face above me, tears on his cheeks and his gaze soft and loving. I reached up and set a hand softly against his cheek. He turned his face into my touch and kissed my palm, then helped me sit up.
“They’re gone! Nexa, they’re gone!” Pyth said from where he crouched on my other side. “We’ve killed every last one of them.”
“Probably not every one,” Commander Thursten said, standing behind Axon so he could shadow me from the sun. “But most.”
I nodded. “I’ll settle for most.”
Axon pulled me close in a hug, then helped me to my feet. I wobbled slightly and he put an arm around my waist so I could see the rocky debris that was all that remained of the Caves. “Firen Caves are gone,” he said with a finality that lifted the weight from my soul.
He helped me to the top of the dune and we watched the sun rise. Fingers of light streamed through the cliffs in the distance and lit the sand like paths to the heavens. “We did it,” I said softly, trying to convince myself that it was over.
“You did it,” Axon said quietly. I turned at the strange tone of his voice and saw tears tracing their way down his cheeks. He tried to speak, but his voice caught. He shook his head and put his forehead against mine. I stared into his icy blue eyes. “I almost lost you. It was so close. You almost left me behind.”
His tears touched my cheeks and then I was crying with him, crying at the thought of leaving a world that had just become right, of leaving the one person I had truly come to love, to whom I had given all that was left of my heart. “I’ll never leave you,” I whispered past the tightness of my throat.
“I thought you died,” he replied, his eyes shut tight and forehead against mine. “You stopped breathing and I wanted to run to the Caves and throw myself in with the Sathen because I couldn’t live in a world you weren’t in.”
My heart clenched at the thought of his death by a hundred tearing claws and teeth, a death I had almost experienced. I turned my head and kissed the hand that rested carefully on my cheek. He put his fingers under my chin and turned it back so that he could look at me. He brushed the tears from my cheeks and kissed me soundly. I pulled him close and kissed him with all the love, relief, and gratitude in my heart.
When he let go, he gave a soft smile. “At least some of your strength has returned.”
I smiled back and turned to watch the figures work below us.
Commander Jashen and Commander Thursten directed the Luminos, Nathos, and Duskies below, setting up camp and carrying away the bodies of the slain Sathen. It was strange to see the Luminos and Nathos Commanders together; they were so different, yet their stance and the way they held themselves was similar, two strong men honed by years of fighting and defending the people they loved. “So that was Reathe in the lower cave,” I mused.
Axon nodded. “It filled the air after the explosion. The Nathos say they can already feel the effects wearing off, but at least it gave us what we needed to fight back.”
“And much more,” I said softly.
We watched the Luminos, Nathos, and Duskies care for the wounded, carry away the bodies, and gather supplies for a meal as one people. No one worried about race or who did what. Everyone worked together and I saw smiles exchanges and stories told as they helped each other. I leaned against Axon and felt a surge of gratitude toward the Caves for one last gift.
Chapter 35
“You’re sure you want to go through with this?” Queen Midissa asked, disapproval in her tone.
Axon’s eyes met hers and their gazes sparked with matching stubbornness; it was like watching a battle between two cave bears.
The Queen finally laughed. “Good; I just wanted to be sure.” She motioned for me to come to h
er and took my hand, ignoring her son’s stare completely. “I had to be positive you deserved him,” she whispered to me loud enough for both Axon and his father to hear.
“Mother!” Axon said indignantly.
She glanced at him and then back to me. “Now, I’m not sure if he deserves you,” she said in a slightly louder voice.
I laughed and she squeezed my fingers. “I’ve waited a long time for a daughter.”
I looked at Axon and he gave a reassuring smile. “I’ve always wanted a mother,” I replied, surprising myself with my honesty.
Midissa studied me for a moment, then wrapped me in a close hug. Axon and King Adexo watched us with matching looks of surprise. Midissa let me go and waved a hand at the men. “Oh, don’t look so shocked.” She motioned for me to follow her. “We’ve got a lot to do before the wedding.” As we left through the door, she said, “I know a material that will look just perfect with your beautiful skin.” I followed her wordlessly and knew my face had the same expression of shock as Axon’s.
EPILOGUE
Citizens of Lysus, Luminos, and the newly relocated members of the Caves came for the wedding held on the same beach where Axon and I had been rescued after the ship went down. King Raden surprised everyone by crowning Tiseria ruler of Lysus before he passed away, much to the chagrin of her mother, whom Tiseria promptly settled in a beautiful home several miles from the castle. She was happier than I had ever seen her, and flirted with every suitor who asked for a dance.
The ceremony itself was beautiful, simple, and elegant, which also described the dress of shimmering white lace and silk that Axon’s mother had made for me. I stood at his side amazed at the adventures which had brought us to such a fitting new chapter. I held his hand and looked out over the mixed faces of Luminos and Duskies. A celebration would also take place later that night so the Nathos could participate. A deep satisfaction formed in my chest and I knew it was all worth it. I would face down the Sathen a thousand times if it meant the empire could finally be at peace from the blood-thirsty creatures and from war.