by Clayton Wood
Ariana tried it, lowering herself slowly onto her belly, waiting for the bugs to sense her and get out of the way before resting her body on the cool stone. She peered under the gap, and saw that it was a tunnel only a few feet long, leading to a much larger chamber beyond. She pulled herself forward, using her knees and elbows to crawl under the gap, and barely fit through, her head and buttocks scraping against the stone above. She took a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that Petra would never have been able to fit through the gap, given her ridiculous proportions.
Ariana crawled out from under the ledge, then got to her feet. Then her jaw dropped.
Before her was a massive underground cavern – nearly as large as the Arena stadium had been – with black walls climbing over a hundred feet in the air to the craggy ceiling above. To her surprise, she saw a shaft of light shining through a carriage-sized hole in the center of the ceiling, a hole through which a steady stream of water cascaded down in a glittering waterfall to the cavern floor below. The waterfall fed a subterranean lake in the center of the cavern, which was surrounded by a wide perimeter of what appeared to be black stone.
She stepped forward, careful to avoid stepping on any more bugs. That grew increasingly difficult, seeing as how the cavern floor here was practically swarming with them. They scurried around her feet, hundreds of them. She held back a wave of disgust, steeling herself against her natural aversion to the things; she had a mission to complete, and Kyle's life was at stake.
She continued forward carefully, peering at the very edges of the pond, where the water met the surrounding rock. There were more white things there, lots of them, densely clustered at the water's edge. At first Ariana thought they were more bugs, but she soon realized that they weren't moving. She got closer, and discovered that they were clusters of translucent white bubbles sticking to the rocks like barnacles, each the size of a marble. As she drew closer, she realized that there were long, black, stringy things protruding from each of the bubbles. She walked up to a cluster of these at the edge of the pool, and crouched down, getting a closer look. They looked like thin vines growing from the bubbles, their short roots encased in the spheres. She traced the vines across the floor, and realized they were fanning out from the edge of the pool, extending all the way to the rocky walls of the chamber. In fact, the entire floor – and walls – were completely covered with the vines, so thick with them that no rock was visible beneath them. The vines continued upward along those walls, all the way up to the hole in the ceiling over a hundred feet up.
She lowered her gaze, staring at the white bubbles where the roots lay encased. There were bugs crawling all over them; some of the bugs had little pieces of the vines in their mouths. She followed one of these bugs with her eyes, tracking it as it crawled over the white bubbles along the edge of the deep pool of water. It stopped before a long, slime-covered tubular structure that extended up from the depths of the pool, a white, translucent hose with wart-like bumps encasing it. As Ariana watched, the hose pulsed, and a few of the warts expanded, blowing up like little balloons. These slipped off the surface of the tube, landing on top of the other bubbles sticking to the rocks below.
Gross, she thought.
The beetle she'd been following crawled right up to the end of the tube, and dropped the little fragment of vine onto a series of long hairs that extended out from the mouth of the thing. Ariana noticed that there were many other little bits of vine on these hairs, as well as what looked like little pieces of bone, and a feather. Suddenly the hairs pulled in, retracting into the mouth of the tube, and the tube spasmed. Then the hairs slowly came out again...but now they were clean.
They're feeding it, she realized.
She crept closer to the edge of the pool, being careful not to step on any of the bugs swarming below here, or the white bubbles. Then she crouched again, tracing the squirming tube down below the surface of the water. It was long – incredibly long, she realized, extending all the way down to the center of the pond. She stood, trying to see where it ended. Then she froze, her eyes widening. There, at the very bottom of the pond, was...something. Something big.
She took a step back.
It was a bug...a massive bug lying in the center of the pond, at the bottom some thirty feet below the surface. It looked similar to the little bugs on the surface, with smooth, translucent white skin. But it was many, many times bigger, easily fifty feet long, with long segmented legs that clung to the rocky bottom. Long tubular appendages fanned outward from the sides of its body, six on a side, draping across the pond floor until they emerged at the shore, just like the one Ariana had been watching. And all of those appendages were being fed by the little bugs, spasming as they swallowed the offerings whole.
She stared at that massive body, seeing little holes above the base of each appendage. As she watched, a cloud of fine white particles shot out of each of them into the water, slowly settling to the bottom. The massive creature was surrounded in a bed of the white particles, a layer of white sandy material a few feet deep.
Ariana's eyes traveled back to the edge of the pond, catching something twinkling on the dark gray rock a few inches below the water there. She paused, then walked forward toward it, stepping around the white bubbles – and staying far clear of the tube. She stopped a few inches before the water's edge, crouching down low and peering at the twinkling object she'd seen. It was a crystal, growing outward from the rock around it.
A white crystal.
Her heart leaped in her chest, her eyes widening. It was a Void crystal...it had to be! And it wasn't the only one...not even close. The entire perimeter of the pond was covered in masses of the white crystals. The only reason she hadn't noticed them earlier was because she'd thought they were just more of the white bubbles.
Ariana reached down with one hand, dipping her fingers into the water, and pulled at the Void crystal. It was anchored firmly to the rock, and didn't budge. She grabbed the very base of it, and squeezed harder, using her considerable strength to try and break it off. She felt it crack, and withdrew a chunk of the crystal from the water.
Gotcha!
She stood then, glancing at the huge creature at the bottom of the lake, then turning around, stepping carefully around the bubbles caking the rocky floor. She cleared the perimeter of the lake, and made her way back toward the small opening in the rock wall she'd come through earlier, dodging bugs as she went. She was about twenty feet away from it when she heard a splashing sound behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder, and saw a huge white dome rising from the water.
Crap!
She turned forward, breaking out into a run, the Void crystal clutched in her right hand. Clusters of white bugs were crushed under her feet as she sprinted, sticking to the bottom of her feet. She heard a gushing sound, saw a shallow film of water rush around her feet, carrying hundreds of bugs along with it.
Oh crap oh crap...
She reached the gap in the wall, lunging forward onto her belly and reaching under it with her hands, pulling herself along the now-wet ground. She got her head underneath, and had to turn it to the side to fit it in. Her shoulders passed under, then the small of her back. She felt another wave of ice-cold water rush around her, soaking the front of her uniform, followed by a thump behind her. She reached out with her hands again, pulling herself further forward, feeling her buttocks get wedged under the rock. She pulled harder, but didn't get anywhere.
She was stuck!
“Oh come on!” she yelled, gritting her teeth. She pulled even harder, sucking her butt in and straining. Then she jolted forward, hearing a loud ripping sound as she did so, her legs passing under the ledge. She pulled herself through quickly, until she was back in the narrow vertical gap between the two rock walls. She scrambled to her feet, feeling a slight draft on her back, and felt along her left buttock with one hand. There was bare skin there...she'd torn her uniform. Badly.
I'm going to start losing magic, she realized, a cold
bolt of fear shooting through her. She pushed that fear away, trying to think. If she could patch over the hole, it should be all right. Maybe she could hold it together with one hand while...
A mass of small white bugs swarmed under the ledge around her, spilling over her feet. Then they were crawling up her legs, hundreds of them, so many that she couldn't see her feet at all anymore!
“Get off!” she cried, reaching down and wiping the bugs from her legs. Some fell off, while others clung to her hands, crawling up her arms. She backed up, slamming her shoulder blades against the rock wall behind her, and shook her arms violently, then scraped her arms against the wall behind her. Dozens of bugs fell from her arms, but countless more continued to swarm up her legs, coating her uniform in a sea of white.
Run you idiot!
She tucked the Void crystal down the front of her uniform, then reached up with her arms, pressing them against either wall. She hauled herself upward, trying to ignore the bugs crawling up her legs and onto her lower belly, concentrating on placing her feet on either wall. She pulled herself upward, one side at a time, ascending the narrow gap.
The bugs streamed up her body, up to her chest now. She felt tiny little legs on her neck, and fought back a wave of revulsion. She was intensely grateful for the uniform covering her flesh...still, it took everything she had not to stop and brush the bugs from her neck. She felt one crawl over her right ear, and shuddered.
Come on, she urged herself. Focus!
She continued upward, one foot at a time, pulling herself toward the hole in the ceiling she knew had to be above her. Then her left foot slipped on the wall, her sole slick with the gooey remains of the bugs she'd crushed underfoot. She slid down a few feet, then managed to catch herself. She cursed, scraping one foot, then the other, on the rock walls. Her legs were entirely covered in bugs now. Thousands of them were still spilling into the narrow chasm, crawling up the two walls in a horrid frenzy.
All coming for her.
She grit her teeth, pulling herself upward again and again, feeling the bugs on her cheeks now, on her lips, even crawling up the back of her scalp. She could feel them through the thin fabric of the mask covering her head and face. One crawled over her left eye, and she closed it, cursing aloud again. She shook her head, but it was no use...the bug clung to her eyelid, digging its little legs into her flesh. She forced herself to ignore it, going faster now, hitting her stride. Waves of bugs swarmed up the walls around her, and she felt them squishing under her palms as she went, coating her hands in sticky goo. She had to stop to scrape her palms rapidly against each wall just so that they wouldn't slip.
Where is that damn hole, she growled silently, looking up into the darkness. Another beetle crawled over her other eye, forcing her to close that one too. She pursed her lips, fighting back another wave of disgust, and continued upward blindly. She felt one of the bugs crawl onto the exposed bridge of her nose, then squeeze itself under her mask, crawling over her forehead. That made her stop, bracing herself between the walls with one arm and both legs, while reaching under her mask and yanking the little bugger out. She flung it downward, then swiped more bugs off of her face before resuming her ascent.
Ariana kept her eyes upward, and spotted the ceiling some thirty feet above, barely visible in the darkness. She pulled herself toward it, resisting the urge to go faster. All it would take was one slip-up to send her all the way back down. She tested every handhold and foothold, ignoring the bugs swarming over her body. She paused every few yards to swipe more bugs from her face, then resumed climbing, until she'd reached the top at last.
Yes!
She paused, then lifted her legs upward, planting her feet a little bit higher on either wall. Then she let go with one hand, then the other, carefully straightening her legs and reaching up through the hole with her arms. Gripping the edges of the floor above, she pulled upward, letting her feet dangle free. She made it about halfway up, and then her arms began to wobble.
What the...
She paused, resting on her elbows, then tried again...but her arms felt terribly weak, and she slumped back onto her elbows. She rested there again, trying to process what was happening. The tunnel around her began to darken slowly, until she could barely make out the outline of the rocky walls.
Come on, she urged herself.
She bent her legs, then placed her feet as high up on the two walls below as she could. Then she straightened her legs, pushing up on the floor with her hands at the same time. Her arms started to wobble again, and her feet slipped on the walls below, forcing her to fall onto her armpits on the floor with a dull thump. She stayed there for a moment, feeling bugs swarming over every inch of her body, crawling under her mask once again. This time, she didn't bother to swipe them away. She was too damn tired to care.
Just rest for a minute, she told herself, closing her eyes. God I'm tired. It made perfect sense, of course...she hadn't slept in weeks. I'm finally going to sleep, she mused. She needed it, after everything she'd been through. She deserved it.
But if she slept now, she'd fall down through the hole...and that woman would kill Kyle.
She opened her eyes, groaning as she placed her palms on the rocky floor around her. She tried to push upward, managing to lift one leg up onto the floor above, then the other. She cleared the hole, falling onto her stomach on the floor of the tunnel. Countless tiny legs crawled across the skin of her neck and back under her uniform, making her shudder.
If you don't get up, she told herself, Kyle will die.
She felt the bugs crawl over the exposed skin of her left buttock, then realized what was happening – she was losing magic. She barely had enough to move her arms and legs now, and it would only get worse the longer she waited. In another minute, she might not have any magic left at all...and then she'd lay here for eternity, these awful bugs slowly tearing the flesh from her bones so they could feed it to that monster in the pond.
No!
She grit her teeth, fighting the crushing fatigue that threatened to overwhelm her, and collected herself, hauling upward with everything she had. She managed to get up onto her hands and knees, then pushed herself to her feet, steadying herself by placing her hands on the rock wall on either side of her.
Magic...
She felt the hardness of the Void crystal she'd taken pressing against the skin of her upper chest, and pulled the neck of her mask up, ignoring the bugs swarming down the front of her uniform as she did so. She grabbed the crystal, pressing it against her forehead.
Come on...
She pulled at the crystal, waiting to feel magic flowing into her mind’s eye...but there was nothing. She tried again, straining to pull magic from the crystal, but it was utterly empty.
Damn it!
She grit her teeth, putting the crystal back, then forcing herself to walk forward, brushing bugs off of her as she went. She could feel them crawling under her uniform, and resisted the urge to smoosh them. The floor of the tunnel began to angle upward, and she leaned forward, putting one foot in front of the other. Then she felt something pinch her left temple...hard. An incredible pain lanced through her head, and she cried out, stumbling to her knees, her hands on either side of her head.
Her shard reacted, magic weaving unbidden in her mind's eye.
She felt her hair rise on end, and then a burst of white-hot sparks surged all around her. The pain in her temple vanished instantly, and the bugs on her uniform dropped immediately to the ground. Ariana stared at them, blinking away the spots in her eyes. Then she rose to her feet...or tried to. Her legs wobbled, and she nearly fell back onto her knees.
“Oh come on!” she cried, taking a step forward. Her legs were like rubber, barely able to hold her weight. Her shard must have used up most of its magic killing those damn bugs! Or not so dead; she saw the pile of bugs begin to squirm as the things came to, crawling up her legs again. She cursed, taking another step forward, then another up the 45-degree incline.
You're
so close, she thought. Just keep moving...
She hobbled forward and upward, feeling the bugs swarm up her body, even the ones inside of her uniform coming back to life. She felt a sudden terror overcome her, knowing that if just one of those bugs decided to bite her again, her shard would almost certainly discharge the rest of its magic to defend her.
And there would be nothing she could do about it.
She whimpered, taking another step forward, then another. Her feet began to drag on the rocky floor with each step, and she felt her left leg wobble dangerously below her. She tried to lift it, and her right leg gave out, dropping her to her hands and knees.
No no no...
She crawled up the incline, inch by inch, picturing Kyle waiting for her at the mouth of the cave, smiling at her in the sunlight. She started to cry then, great sobs wracking her steadily weakening body. Her head began to swim sickeningly, her vision darkening, her fingers going numb.
No no, please no...
She fell onto her belly, the cold stone inviting her to rest there, to put her head down and sleep. She reached forward with one hand, grasping a rocky outcropping and pulling herself forward. She felt the incline start to level off, and knew that she was no more than a hundred feet from the cave entrance now. She tried to yell out, to call for help, but no words came. She felt her head dropping downward, the muscles of her neck no longer strong enough to hold it up. She rested her cheek on the cold stone, feeling her eyelids starting to close.
No, don't...
She barely felt the biting pain at her left temple before oblivion claimed her.
Chapter 25
The eternal silence of the Void met Sabin as he withdrew from his memories, followed immediately by the full force of his unending pain. He welcomed it, letting the invisible fire envelope him, letting it eat at his flesh.