In The Shadows of the Cavern of Death (Shadows of Death Book 1)

by Angelique Jones

  “Do we know how many of your people were found or were we the only ones attacked?”

  “We were the only ones attacked,” Victor replied.

  Hardening even further. “Then we were betrayed. Someone told them that Tristian and I were among you. The force that they sent was one to make a statement, not one to search. By your own words, we were the only ones attacked,” I stated, sure of it.

  Anger ripped through the crowd at my words. Slamming his hand on the table in front of him for silence, Victor said, “I agree there is a traitor among our groups.” Turning to look out at the crowd, he growled in barely contained anger, “All communication with groups in other communities will be approved by the council until this traitor is found and brought before us.” Turning back to me, he said, “You’re right, the Prey is what we need. It’s time that they were brought before us; they hold the answers we seek.”

  Moving and taking a seat, we began to plan on how to steal these people from the Stone City. If I was right, these people were threatened never to speak a word about what happened within the Loyalist City if they wanted to live. Then to be sure that they didn’t grow a conscience, they were kept close so they could be watched. I’m sure that they had killed as many that they could, but some hadn’t been wounded and they weren’t able to say that they were unable to save them. As the plans were laid, I told them that I would be going to collect them. This was not very well accepted until I said the one thing that they couldn’t dispute––I was one of them. If we were going to get them to cooperate and get them out to question them without them trying to turn us in, the best chance we would have is for them to know they weren’t alone that one of them was among them.

  For hours we debated on who to use in the other villages and in the Stone City we would need some of the people if we even had a small chance of this working. We would need Johnathon to get us into the Stone City and that could be a problem. He was suspected in our disappearance and though they couldn’t prove it, he wasn’t as trusted as he had been before. Finally it was agreed that chances would have to be taken and lives sacrificed if need be. The village that these people had called home all their lives was no longer safe and would have to be abandoned. It would be the first place after last night’s events that would be searched when the disappearances were noted.

  What I learned that day was even if we hadn’t come along, a revolution was inevitable. For generations, a secret had been kept within this village. A secret of underground bunkers built deep within the forest to be used in the event that they were discovered. Last night as we buried the dead, the children and many of the woman had been sent there to keep them safe. The place was stocked and restocked with food every year in the event that if something like this happened they would want for nothing. They knew that soldiers would be back, hoping that they could capture me, waiting until I felt safe to return then they would. Yes, plans within plans were made as a small group was selected to join me on my suicide mission. Yes, a suicide mission is what it was, the chance of success so slim it was almost nonexistent, but the reward so great that it had to be done anyway.

  It was late when the meeting was finished and everyone was sent back home to gather their belongings. Small groups would be sent out to join the others in the bunkers all through the night, while others walked through the town as a distraction in case the scouts missed any hidden soldiers lying in wait, watching. My group would also begin its journey in the darkness, moving through the woods to avoid detection. In the darkest part of the night we left with no light to guide our way. My life in the cavern was a blessing for this, as I saw better in the night than in the light. On silent feet we moved, never stopping, never faltering. It was well into the next day, miles from where we began before we felt safe enough to rest. Hidden in a crop of rocks, we rested while sentries who were posted around watched, waiting for their turn.

  For days we moved like this, avoiding all signs of life in the villages we passed. It had been decided that we would go two days and nights on foot before approaching a contact in the village or town we were near by then. This way there would be no clear path to us, but it would be before the soldiers realized that our village had been abandoned. Once that was realized, they would do everything to find their missing citizens. On the second night, we sat on the outskirts of a large town watching, waiting. Soldiers milled through its streets, their presence unexpected but something that we had to risk. When the streets had quieted and the soldiers wandered to their barracks, we made our move. Staying to the shadows, we went house to house, then to the darkened allies, weaving our path, careful to remain unseen until we reached our destination. An ordinary home on an ordinary street lay before us. Michael, the leader of our group, whispered for us to remain hidden as he approached it. Moving into the light, he walked over as if he belonged and knocked on the door. When a young woman answered, he spoke with her briefly before going in.

  Twenty minutes passed before he returned to the door, signaling for us to come. In ones and twos we crossed the street and made our way into the dark house, acting as if we belonged. We were waved to the back of the house as we entered and we went to a large room with a man behind a desk and the girl who answered the door beside it. Staying to the back of the group, the others crowding in front of me, they blocked any view of me.

  As the last person entered, the older man spoke. “What does the cause require of me, Michael?” It was evident that they knew each other.

  “We need a way to make it into the Town of Twin Rivers,” he answered, taking the seat in front of the desk.

  Shaking his head, the man said, “That’s impossible, all the roads are being watched. Something is going on. In the last week the presence of the troops in this area has doubled, also soldiers from the City to the West have joined them. I might be able to get one, maybe two, of you through, but all six? No, we’d be caught for sure, I’m sure you understand.”

  “No, Finis, it is you who will understand. The cause requires you to get us all through, so a way must be found,” Michael told him in an even voice as he leaned forward. “Two days past, our village was attacked by soldiers of the City to the West who knew of our visitors. They murdered indiscriminately men, woman, and children.” Stopping to watch the other man’s face before continuing, he said, “I don’t care what it takes. What bribes you have to make or what lives have to be taken, you will get us to Twin Rivers tomorrow.”

  Tightening his face as the girl beside him gasped, he asked, pushing the words out “My daughter and her family?” This, I thought to myself, was why Michael chose to push on and make it to this man for help. No words were needed as he looked into Michael’s face. “Take the rooms upstairs and I’ll prepare everything. You’ll leave at first light,” he said, watching the girl as she raced from the room. Filing out of the room and up the stairs, I heard him speak out before Michael could close the door. “Is the traitor dead?”

  Tightening his grip on the handle before answering, he said, “No.”

  “He will be,” the man behind the desk murmured, loud enough to be heard before the click of the door silenced him.

  Stopping at the top of the stairs, we waited for Michael to join us. Moving past us, he opened doors, putting us in rooms, two per room. Holding me back, he brought me to the last room, and giving me a gentle push, he told me to take the bed as he went to a sofa to the side. Exhausted, but unwilling to get into a clean bed this dirty, I went to the connecting bathroom to take a quick shower. Twenty minutes later, eyes drooping, I crawled into the bed careful not to wake Michael. Sleep and darkness took me as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  It was dark, but it’s always dark here. The cold of the caverns were settled so deep into my bones that they were a part of me. Walking through the streets, it was as if I had never left. Except they were empty, the cavern was empty. Running to my house, I threw open the doors, searching room to room, but no one was there. Racing through the cavern, I found myself at the doorway. T
he doorway to the Cavern of Death, its blackened abyss daring me to enter, to join the others. I was alone, but if stepped through I could join them once more. Peace came to me at the thought of being with them again and I fearlessly stepped in. As I entered the darkness, it gave way to light and sun, filled with laughing people grabbing my arms pulling me with them. To a table they pushed me, telling me to eat as platters were lifted. Empty eyes stared at me from posed bodies as each lid was lifted. One by one the members of my family and friends were revealed as they ate around me. At last there was only one left and with shaking hands I reached forth, lifting the huge lid, the lid that should have been heavy and bulky considering its size, but was light as air. Dropping it, it fell to the floor, causing them to laugh harder, raising forks full of food to my lips. Covering my mouth to block them, I couldn’t run as my eyes stayed locked with Tristian’s lifeless eyes as he joined my other accusers.

  Hands gripped me hard, shaking me, forcing my eyes open. Biting back the scream I could feel in my throat, my unfocused eyes found Michael’s concerned ones. Shaking as the breeze from the window touched my sweat-covered body, I tried to calm my pounding heart. Letting me go, he went and closed the window. I could feel his eyes upon me after he gazed out to make sure my screams had not alerted others to our presence.

  “Please,” I whispered, not even sure I knew what I was asking. Slowly, as if not to startle me, he moved back to the bed laying down beside me. Staring into his eyes we remained like that, not touching, until a dreamless sleep reclaimed me.

  Chapter 15

  Whispering voices woke me. Turning to the sound, I saw Michael and Garth, his second-in-command, at the door. Sitting up, they turned to me, Garth nodding his head before walking away. “We’ll leave soon get ready, so meet us downstairs,” Michael said, before following him. Grateful he wasn’t making a big deal out of last night, I got up and got ready. Hurrying, I joined them as quickly as I could. I walked in just as breakfast was going on the table. Ignoring the look of concern I saw in the others’ eyes as they looked up at me, I went and took the empty seat by the girl from last night. Luckily she was no more interest in speaking than I did, the grief that still ravaged her face from the night making that plain. Keeping my gaze to my plate, I listened as the others spoke of how we were going to be traveling. We wouldn’t be able to go together and would be moved in two separate trucks. Rushing through breakfast, our host said it was time. Grabbing our bags, we spilt up into two vehicles and drove to a warehouse, where once the doors were closed behind us, we got out and were rushed to the awaiting trucks. Careful to remain unseen, we made our way to the back of the trucks, sliding into a secret compartment. No sooner had the door closed then we were on our way, forced to stand and remain quiet through the long journey.

  We were stopped a total of five times, each scarier than the next. As the trucks were searched, the smallest of noises would mean our deaths. It was late into the night when we were finally let out, the truck having arrived and been unloaded hours before, we were forced to remain until all the workers had left for the day. The soft click of the latch being undone caused me to tense as the door was opened to reveal a child no more than twelve. With a finger to her lips she motioned for us to join her. Cramped, my body moved slowly as I exited the compartment, afraid that I was going to collapse without the walls to hold me up. With a scared look in her eyes, she waved at us to hurry as she looked around in fright. Unable to give in to my pain, I rushed to keep up with the others as we jumped from the truck and ran into the shadows that held the rest of our group.

  Luckily we didn’t have far to go or I wouldn’t have made it. Around the side of a house, we were let into a darkened basement, the little girl gone––her job done. No one was there to meet us, though food had been laid out and beds littered the room. It was a safe house. No one spoke as we ate, some going to the shower, some to the beds as they finished. The self-imposed silence that began earlier today no one wished to break, as we were drained, needing time to themselves. Sitting down on a mattress near me, I propped myself up on the wall, my stiff body protesting, wondering what the next move was. I must have dozed off when a noise in the darkness woke me. Tensing, I looked around to the sleeping forms spread through the room, surprised to find Michael next to me. Lifting my head from his shoulder, I quietly made my way to the side of the door, a knife gripped firmly in my hand and waited––I didn’t have long. A lone figure came through, closing the door behind. Waiting until he was in front of me, I struck. Slamming my body to his, I got us both to the floor, my knife flying unerringly to his heart. A hand lashed out, gripping my wrist, stopping its flight, and flipping us. I found myself trapped under the intruder, my knife useless.

  The lights blinded me when they came on. So much so that when my vision came back to focus, we were surrounded by the others now awake and I was staring into a familiar face. Letting my knife fall from my useless hand and deciding to brazen my way out, I lifted my hips before going limp and gazed at my captor with a droll look “What have you been eating, bricks? Get up, Johnathon, my legs are falling asleep.”

  Smiling, he said, “It’s good to see you, too, Misty.” He stood up, pulling me with him. “Though I would have thought that this is the last place I would see you,” he said, turning questioning eyes to Michael. The reprimand in his tone was clear.

  Seeing the fight brewing, I snatched up my knife, putting it back before grabbing Johnathon’s arm. “The council sent me, we agreed that my people would feel safer fleeing if they knew that there was one of their own among you.”

  Still unhappy, he turned back to me, surprising me when he pulled me into his arms. “I just glad you’re OK,” he said.

  Before I could say anything, I was pulled from his arms over to Michael’s side. With a dark scowl on his face, he growled, “Why wouldn’t she be?”

  A speculative look passed in Johnathon’s eyes before a smile took its place. “Ah, Michael, I see you’re as charming as ever. Come now, let’s sit, there’s much to discuss and little time.”

  When they just stood there posturing, I pulled my arm from Michael’s firm grasp and went to the table, rolling my eyes. Shaking his head and giving a small laugh, Johnathon followed, Michael right behind. Ignoring them until everyone was settled, I asked the question that I knew could break me. “Do you know what they did with Tristian?”

  A dark look passed over Johnathon’s face before he answered me. “He was taken to the City to the West. Our government turned him over immediately to their representatives. They stated that you and Tristian were criminals, leaders of a terrorist organization whose lies were looking to undermine their government in a bid for power. They’ve denied everything, saying that it was propaganda by your organization in an attempt to gather an armed force of our people and seize control.”

  “They handed him over without proof?” I asked, knowing what he was going to say and hoping that I could still do what I came here to do after he answered.

  “Their lies were corroborated by the escaped Prey from the city,” he replied, confirming my fears. “You’re wanted for treason and anyone caught harboring you will be put to death.” Nodding my head, I was afraid that if I tried to speak my voice would betray the pain that I tried to hide. I guess a small part of me hoped that Tristian would be here and we could rescue him. That small piece of me that held hope was gone now, as dead as he surely was.

  Michael’s hand reached under the table, taking my cold one. “Will we be able to get to the Prey?”

  Slowly shaking his head, Johnathon said, “It will be difficult, but not impossible. They are being watched more closely, but aren’t under constant guard. You’ve actually arrived on the best day possible to grab a few of them. A large fair will start tomorrow and the servants will be there buying for the households they serve. Your problem, though, won’t be grabbing them; it will be getting them out of the town. Once night falls, it will be noticed that they didn’t return and a search will begin. Every
house, every vehicle on the roads stopped and torn apart.”

  “I agree, which is why I think our best bet is the forests.”

  “The forests will be the last thing searched,” Johnathon remarked, not agreeing or disagreeing.

  “I know that it’s not the best option and it will take the longest, but I think it is the only option that might work. There are not many, especially in this area, who are comfortable in the forest. Most of the people are out just far enough to spot anyone making their way toward the town, no one is posted past the bridge,” Michael reasoned.

  “Agreed,” Johnathon said, turning his gaze back to me, where he looked for a long moment before speaking again. “Will you be able to deal with these people knowing what they did?”

  With dead eyes, I met Johnathon’s gaze. “I know what I have to do, don’t question me again,” I told him harshly, angered at him for voicing my own thoughts aloud. Only the knowledge of what I could do with them after we got the information that was needed and they held no further use calmed me enough to remain at the table to hear the rest of the plan. Letting none of my thoughts show, I listened carefully, now more determined than ever to save as many of these people as I could so I could kill them later. Traitors against your own people were dealt with harshly among my people. Now I’m glad I never told the others or they would know that I would wait as long as necessary to enact my revenge. I would have to make sure that the Prey didn’t realize that I knew what they did until it was too late or they would never come with us. Unlike these surface people, they would know that the death that I had planned for them would be more horrid than any death that the city would give them. I could forgive them for wanting a life, but not for taking Tristian’s.

  Moving away to gather my stuff to give to Johnathon, who would be hiding it all within the woods for us to collect later, I was so caught up in what I was doing I didn’t hear Johnathon approach. “He was alive when he left,” he said.