by M. J. Haag
“I’ll watch the opening behind you,” he said, his words calm and quiet.
Not waiting for any reply, he moved toward the tunnel entrance beyond the tall growth of ferns and stood there with his back to the rest of us. Kerr rose, then gave me a censuring look before joining the other shadow men.
A sharp pain stabbed at me. Though I tried to swallow it, I couldn’t. Even down here, with me telling him how much I hate him, Drav still protected me.
Guilt and shame curled inside me. Drav hadn’t taken my dignity, but I’d lost it all the same. Trudging to the ferns, I set my bag to the side then dropped my pants. I cried and peed. Both, fairly quietly.
I hated that I’d thrown the rock at Drav when he’d only been trying to, yet again, keep me safe. What I’d done was wrong. Just like making me come down here against my will was wrong of him. I couldn’t take back my actions, but he could take back his. He, however, refused. With that thought, some of my anger returned.
Finished, I pulled up my pants with a cringe. I hoped wherever we were going had a shower. Wiping my eyes, I took a calming breath before picking up my bag.
“I’m done,” I announced.
The others, who talked quietly near the falls, left their positions and gathered up their weapons. Kerr picked up a bow and spear then nodded toward me. I glanced back at Drav. Blood dripped from his earlobe to his shoulder, and he wore a wary look on his face.
“I need to carry you again,” he said.
I felt guilty I’d hurt him but not sorry. Too much anger still boiled inside for me to feel remorse. I hated where we were and what it had done to us. I wanted to hug him and bring the closeness back. I wanted to trust him again. But I couldn’t. He hadn’t just taken me from my family, he’d robbed me of what I’d thought we’d had together.
“I shouldn’t have thrown the rock,” I said. It was as close to an apology as he would get from me.
“We should stop the bleeding or you’ll end up fainting and falling over on me.” I knelt beside my bag. The first aid kit wasn’t elaborate, but it had gauze and some tape. I grabbed what remained of my water and stood.
“You might want to take your shirt off. I’ll need to clean the blood away to see what I’m doing.” I shook the bottle for emphasis. Not that it was needed. He had his shirt off in a heartbeat.
He sat where he had been standing and looked up at me. The others waited near the tunnel where Drav had stood guard. Kerr gave me an impatient look. I rolled my eyes at him and went to Drav’s side.
Using the last of my water, I began to rinse away the blood.
“I know you are still angry with me,” he said softly. “Do you want to throw another rock?”
“I already said I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Yes.” He set a hand on the back of my calf. “But you did what you felt you must do at the time. Just like I did what I felt I must to keep you safe.”
His hand slid down the back of my calf. The gentle stroke made my pulse leap. It also made my temper flare.
“Keep it up and I’m kneeing you in the face,” I said softly, not pausing my work.
He removed his hand from my leg, but his gaze remained locked on my face. Ignoring him, I set the water aside and took a bit of gauze to press to the wound. I’d gotten him good, and it would take a while for it to stop bleeding.
“I thought beauty meant the way the crystals lit the water in the caverns or the way the inuchu flower blooms in the dark,” he said, drawing my attention. “But I was wrong. Beauty is seeing the soft look of concentration on your face as you touch me. It is seeing your peaceful face and parted lips as you sleep beside me. It is the look in your eyes when you search for me as soon as you wake.”
Heat rose to my cheeks that had nothing to do with anger. With those simple, earnest words, he’d reminded me just how much I meant to him and it tore at me.
He truly didn’t see what he’d done as something wrong. He’d only been protecting the one thing that mattered to him most. Me. Unable to stop myself, I set my hand on his cheek before quickly stepping away.
Bandaged and cleaned up, Drav put his shirt back on and lifted me in his arms before I had a chance to join the others. He looked down at me, his gaze intense. Then he leaned closer. My heart hammered hard in my chest as he glanced at my lips.
Kerr said something, halting Drav’s advance. When I looked at the man, I found him half-smirking. Heat burned my cheeks. I couldn’t believe I’d almost let Drav kiss me after a few pretty words. Swallowing hard, I focused on reigning in my emotions.
“What did he say?” I asked.
Before Drav could answer, Kerr’s expression changed. He spoke a smattering of loud words. From somewhere behind us, an answer filtered its way back.
Drav turned and I saw Ghua, jogging toward us through the ferns.
“Drav,” he said. “Mya.”
Behind him, his companions carried Phutsy’s body. I’d forgotten about them and their need to return home.
“Ghua, I’m glad you made it,” Drav said.
The men carrying Phusty’s body followed the edge of the pool, circling toward the shadows on the far side of the water.
“Any signs of them?” Drav asked.
Ghua answered in his language while glancing at me.
“Tell Molev we’re coming. We must go to the source first.”
Ghua nodded, said something with my name mixed in, then turned and jogged toward the party disappearing into the darkness.
“What did he just say? And let me just add, I’m glad we’re not going that way.” I was tired of dark caves.
Drav moved toward Kerr while he spoke.
“He is going to our city to tell Molev, our strongest fighter, what happened between Phutsy and me. He is also going to tell Molev about you.”
Great. Good ole Ghua was running ahead to tell an all-male city that the first female ever was on her way. Fear re-ignited my anger.
“You shouldn’t have brought me down here. It’s not too late to turn around and take me back.”
Drav picked up his pace and said nothing.
With no sun, I couldn’t tell how much time we spent traveling through the subterranean maze. We took several breaks, mostly so I could stretch my legs. Drav always stayed close while the other men watched me with open curiosity from a distance. Both actions frustrated me.
During one of the breaks, Kerr got lucky with his arrow and shot a jackalope. Hungry, and no stranger to wild game, my mouth watered at the thought of cooked rabbit. Kerr, however, didn’t light a fire once he skinned the critter. He butchered it and started handing out raw chunks of meat that the men immediately began to eat. I quickly shook my head when he offered me my share.
“Mya, you need food,” Drav said from behind me.
“Not that.” I wasn’t nearly starved enough to consider munching on some raw jackalope.
* * * *
One of the oddest things about Drav’s world was the lack of normal sounds. No wind rustled the leaves. Nothing chirped or sang. I found the silence eerie, but that changed the first time something did make a sound.
As we approached the next large pillar, something rustled the grass then became still. A noise rose that started out like an infant’s cry then morphed into the creaking sound of a rusted door, slowly opening. Goosebumps broke out on my arms. Creepy and mournful didn’t begin to describe the noise.
The rest of the group made a rapid halt while Kerr jogged forward with his bow. A thump almost immediately followed the thwang of his arrow. Drav and the others quickly moved forward.
Beyond the column, I could see Kerr going to the deer he’d killed. The thing looked completely normal. Brownish fur. Antlers. Brown eyes.
Having had venison before, I couldn’t say I was sad to see Kerr hit his target.
“If you cook that, I’ll definitely eat,” I said.
All the men turned to look at me with serious expressions.
“No, Mya. That is not food,” D
rav said, turning and moving away from the men.
I arched my neck to look closer at the deer as the rest began working together to skin it. The creature had hooves, no claws or anything. Its teeth weren’t jagged or threatening. I wondered why they didn’t eat it.
“You said everything down here but the hellhounds was food,” I reminded him. “If it isn’t food, why did you kill it?”
“For the skin. We use it to make clothes.”
“And you waste the meat? Seriously, I’ll eat some of it. Give me a fire and a stick, and I’ll hot dog that thing.”
Drav stopped walking and considered me for several long moments.
“I can’t. Not even for you.” He set me on my feet. “Stay close. When they are finished, we’ll move again.”
It frustrated me that the one thing that looked edible was off the menu. Not that I would argue. They lived down here, and I didn’t. If Drav said something wasn’t food, I wasn’t going to put it in my watering mouth.
Sighing, I walked circles in the soft grass until I noticed the light fading. I blinked up at the crystals, wondering if something was wrong with my eyes. Kerr called out, holding up the skin. As he rolled it up, a baying howl echoed in the air around us. Further away, the grass rustled as jackalopes sprinted in the other direction, running from the threat of the hound.
Drav had me up in his arms before I could panic.
“It smells the blood,” he said.
He continued in the direction we’d been headed. At least, I thought it was the same direction. The rest of the group hurriedly fell into place around us.
More baying joined the first, and the sounds kept getting closer.
I looped my arm around Drav’s shoulder, and the wound on his head caught my gaze. Red dotted the white. I glanced behind us. Four of the six men ran in our wake. Beyond them, fifteen red eyes blazed in the sea of darkness. No…sixteen. I was pretty sure one of those fuckers had just winked because that pack of hellhounds had skipped the deer for better prey.
My act of pissiness was going to get us killed.
* * * *
“We’re almost there,” Drav said.
I looked forward and saw a bright light in the distance.
“They won’t enter the source.”
“Neither will we if you can’t run faster,” I said.
He did. I alternated between watching the distance between us and the light filled opening versus us and the salivating hellhounds.
Halfway to the source, Kerr and his friend, who were running in front of us, stopped. Drav raced past them without hesitation. The others stopped as well. The six men faced the oncoming pack. Eight to six wasn’t bad odds, I hoped. After all, Drav had taken on two hellhounds, and we’d survived.
The two groups clashed with yells and growls. The hounds jumped and circled the men but didn’t pursue us. I watched as Kerr, using Drav’s spear, stabbed one in the side. The beast didn’t fall.
Distance and the lack of light blurred the details of the battle, until the men and hounds disappeared from view. I looked toward the spot of light that I thought was the source and watched it grow larger until we stepped into a different cavern. The bright light after so much darkness made my eyes hurt.
Drav lowered me to my feet and hugged me hard, almost suffocating me. I pushed away, needing to breathe and still angry.
“Enough, Drav,” I said, pulling my head back to glare at him. “What is your deal?”
He released me and spun me around so I faced the source of light. This cavern was smaller, about the size of three football fields. Ferns, grass, trees, and other strange vegetation grew in a dense tangle around an odd formation of crystals in the center of the space.
The massive cluster of crystals extended down from the ceiling and up from the floor, creating an hour-glass shape. A white-blue crystal connecting the two, pulsated with life and power. My stomach churned uneasily, looking at it.
“Go, Mya. Touch the source.”
“Uhh…why? What’s going to happen?”
He stepped in front of me and earnestly met my gaze.
“Nothing bad. The source keeps us alive. Safe. I need you to be safe, too.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I don’t trust you.”
He frowned slightly, stepped aside, and pointed.
“Follow the path.”
A thin trail led through the growth to the crystal in the middle. Fear shivered over my skin at the sight of the glowing source.
“No.”
He tossed me over his shoulder, turned around, and started for the crystal.
“Drav! Dammit!” I hit his back. “You can’t do this every time I disagree with you,” I yelled.
He didn’t stop until he stood right before the glowing mass.
“Touch it,” he demanded.
“I don’t want to. I’ll probably explode.”
“You won’t explode. It feels pleasant when you touch it.”
“Yeah, right.” I went to cross my arms, but he grabbed my hand. I guessed, whether I wanted to or not, I was going to touch it.
He gripped my hand and stretched it forward. A sickening feeling rolled through me a moment before the pad of my finger pressed against the pulsing light.
My breath left me, and everything around me changed.
Six
A group of women and men, all moving with silent grace, walks between the colossal trunks of towering trees. The simple muted colors of their clothing blends well with the forest. If not for the pale perfection of their faces, they barely appear visible. Intricate braids adorn their long, silken hair and allow a view of elegantly pointed ears.
“Here,” one of the women says, stopping and looking up at the nearest tree. “It weakens.”
“We will give it strength,” another says.
Each individual steps forward and sets their hands on the ancient bark. A soft glow lights their palms and spreads into the bark. One of the women faints after only a few seconds. The rest remove their hands and sit heavily upon the earth.
“The forest is dying,” a man says. “The more it weakens, so too do we. It is time to send scouts to search for a new home.”
The woman on the ground rouses enough to speak.
“Yes, it is time.”
I inhaled…
Ten men run together through the trees. Nothing stirs at their quiet passage, despite their impressive speed. Ahead, a light appears a moment before the trees give way to a sunlit body of water. Ten large boats wait upon the shoreline, along with other fey.
A woman, regal and beautiful beyond compare, stands apart from the rest, watching as farewells are made and each boat fills with ten men.
“Be blessed on your journey.” She steps forward and touches the first boat. The vessel moves away from her as if she’s pushed it out to sea. She does the same for the remaining boats then stands on the shore until they fade from sight.
I exhaled…
The boat scrapes against the rocky shore. The first man nimbly jumps from the vessel and touches the soil as the rest gather up the supplies.
“There is strength here, but muted,” the man says to the others.
A fey from the boat throws out a travel bag and looks at the shoreline.
“The trees are so small,” he says.
“New, perhaps,” the one on shore says.
“Perhaps,” he agrees.
The group of ten set out from the boat, exploring the trees together. A deer startles not long after they enter the forest.
“A good sign,” one says as they move on.
The trees and wildlife are abundant the further they move inland. They stop often to touch the earth and the vegetation, sensing a strength in this new place, a strength different from their home. After several hours, they spot something that makes them stop.
A primitive woman in furs and leathers gathers berries from a nearby bush. Her skin, the color of wet sand, is darker than theirs.
“She is
pretty,” one of the men says softly. “And, another good sign.”
The rest agree and quietly move away to continue their exploration of the new land.
On the second day, something subtly changes. The strength they sense when they touch the earth now touches them in return. With growing excitement, they trace the source to a cave entrance.
“This is unusual,” one says. “The power feels so similar to the heart tree.” He thinks of the largest and oldest tree in his ancestral home—a single tree that provides shelter to a third of his people. Meanwhile, the rest of the group debates exploring the caves.
“We are not hill dwellers to live underground,” one says.
“We are not. However, it is wise to understand the strengths of this new land in every form.”
They agree that exploration is needed, not just of the cave, but the land, too. The group splits. Five to explore the caves and five to continue exploring the land. An agreement is made to meet at the cave entrance in three days.
After those exploring the land leave, the others step into the darkness, taking turns to use their power to light the way, until the first one shudders and disappears from view. He reappears a moment later.
“There is a barrier here. Magic like none I’ve felt before. Come see for yourself what it hides.”
One by one, the men step forward and disappear from the darkness and appear in a cave lit from above by beautiful glowing crystals. Wonder fills them at the sight of vegetation and a few animals.
“This is no hill dweller home,” one says softly. He thinks of the short men and women who search the earth for metals and stones. His people trade with the hill dwellers often for the metals they find, and he knows their rustic dirt-filled dwellings.
“No,” another agrees. “Let us explore further.”
They wander the cave system, feeling the barrier occasionally when passing from one cavern to the next.
“I think this place is larger than it seems.”
“And not pleasant everywhere,” another comments when they step into the first of several caverns, all dark lifeless places with still pools of water.
Finally, in a cavern filled with crystal light and apple trees, they decide to rest.