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

by Angelique Jones

  Worried at the vibe that I could feel moving through the others, I asked, “Tara, is there anyone that you or Samuel can think of to speak to in this area that could be of help to us?”

  Not bothering to look at Samuel, she said, “I know of someone if he’s still alive. This way.” She led the way through the dark alleys as residents scuttled away from us like bugs. When she finally stopped, we were in front of a home that looked like any other. Raising her fist, she rapped on the door and we waited. Long moments passed before we heard the locks being disengaged and the door pulled open.

  Absolute loathing flashed in the face of the man who opened the door before he quickly ducked his eyes. “Sirs, how may I be of assistance?”

  Stepping forward, Tara pushed the large man back, the tension in is body telling us that he didn’t want to let us in, but knew that he didn’t have a choice. With his head still bowed, he stepped to the side, the tension in is body the only thing that betrayed his resistance. Going past him, we entered, gathering in what must be the living room and waited for the last to enter and the door to close.

  “Is there any other in the house?” Tara asked, her voice sounding low and scratchy, as if she was disguising it.

  “No, sir,” he blandly replied. He was lying. I had done it enough that I could spot it.

  “Is there any other in the house?” Tara demanded. “Or should we search?”

  “My daughter, sir, is asleep but no one else,” he reluctantly said.

  “Where’s the child’s mother?”

  This time he couldn’t disguise the loathing he felt as he spit out one word: “Dead.”

  Tara took off her helmet. She had her eyes pinned on the bowed head, raising her hand, she touched the man’s downturned face, causing his to flinch. “Dead, Tehenis, no. I may have been, but at this moment, I feel very alive, my love,” she whispered, causing the man’s head to jerk up. He stepped back, staring at her like she was a ghost.

  Tears ran freely down her face as he reached a tentative hand out and cupped her cheek. Raising her own hand, she captured his and turned her face so her lips pressed into his palm. As if her touch had broken the spell, he reached out and pulled her to him. Wrapping her into his arms, he pulled them both to their knees, his legs unable to support him any longer. Heart-wrenching sobs poured from her as he stoically absorbed them into his own body, expelling ragged breaths. Gripping her hair tightly, he pulled her back to gaze down at her, disbelief clear in his eyes, as if he expected to wake at any moment to empty arms. “How?” he asked.

  With a dazzling smile that showed the woman she must have once been, she said, “Oh, my love.” It was all that she was able to get out before gripping his face and pulling it into hers, locking her lips to his. Not wanting to stare, I turned, trying to give them some privacy when a small girl of about seven walked sleepy-eyed from the other room. Looking around for the noise that woke her, she spotted me and her eyes filled with terror. Not wanting to scare her more than she was, I stepped back, trying to look nonthreatening. “Tara,” I said, just loud enough to get her attention, causing the little girl to pull her frightened eyes from me and seek her father.

  Neither of the two, still locked in one another’s arms, heard me, but when the little girl whimpered “Daddy,” the two flew apart, turning to look at her. Tara seemed to be the first to recover, trying to get to her feet and her daughter. Moving in front of her, I said one of the cruelest things I could ever have said. “No,” turning to her husband, I said, “Put your child to bed so we can speak.” Seeing that they were both about to argue, I went on, “A child is a special thing and at times does not know when or how to not tell the truth.” Understanding dawned in her eyes as she bowed her head and whispered to her husband to put the girl to bed.

  Swiftly rising to his feet, he went to his daughter, gathering her into his arms and taking her out of the room. Looking down at Tara’s bowed head, I said, “I’m sorry,” before going to check out the window to hide from the conflicting feelings that I was having. We all stayed silent as we waited for the man to return. It took him almost twenty minutes to return, but when he did, he assured us that she was asleep as he rushed back to Tara’s arms.

  Sitting down around the room, we gave the two of them as long as we dared. “Tara, we need to speak,” I said, turning my eyes from her happy ones. Waiting until the two of them joined us, I said, “Tara, we don’t have much time”

  Nodding her head in understanding, she explained. “This is my husband Tehenis. He will be able to help us. He is the head servant of this section and will know everything we need to know about the city infrastructure and defenses.”

  “I’m sorry,” he interrupted, “but who are these people? You’re obviously not soldiers.”

  “No, my love, you’re wrong––they are soldiers, but they are soldiers of the resistance.” Pointing to me she said, “That is Misty, she escaped the caverns”––then sweeping her hands to the others––“and they are from the outlands where the other city lies.”

  Looking at me in wonder, he said, “No one’s ever escaped the caverns––that’s impossible!”

  Smiling at him grimly, I said, “No, it’s not. Two of us managed to get out, but I’m the only one left. The other was capture and killed, but not before we were able to spread the truth of the caverns and the government to the people who walk above.” Turning and motioning to Michael, I said, “This is Michael, the commander of our unit. His people are slowly being overrun with Loyalists to our government and they have agreed to help us.”

  “I don’t understand, what have they agreed to help us with?”

  Staring at him a long moment, I said, “They’ve agreed to help us fight for our freedom and the freedom of those still trapped below.”

  “What do you need from me?” he asked, with no hesitation.

  Leaning back, I let Michael take over. “We’ll need schematics of the city and its defenses,” he said. “We’ll need all the information that can be gathered about the caverns, exits, routines, and guards. Any information that can be gathered about your government and its supporters that we can use against them and we’ll need it within three days.”

  “It will be difficult, but not impossible to gather that, in fact, some I already have access to.” Smiling at Tara’s surprised look after stopping himself, he said, “I had no intention of our child growing up as a slave.” Turning back to look at Michael, he continued. “The information about the caverns will be the most difficult to get. They keep everything about them well guarded. The rest, well, they are arrogant and do not view us as a threat.”

  Smiling grimly, Michael interrupted. “That’s where you’re wrong. They do view you as a threat and that’s why they guard the truth about the caverns so zealously. Misty learned the truth of the caverns before she escaped and the truth is that there are hundreds of caverns filled with hundreds of thousands of your people in each one. They’re down there right now wanting freedom. Didn’t you know?”

  A hardness entered his voice. “No, the first thing that is beaten into you when you’re brought up here is to never mention the caverns or your life before the surface again.” And now he knew why, if they had all been able to speak freely, they would have learned how many hadn’t come from the same caverns. “The entrance to the caverns is located on the outskirts of the city, separate, but still within the wall. There is going to be a slave auction tomorrow––it will be the best time to enter that section. The area is under constant heavy guard.”

  “Are the guards soldiers like us?” Michael asked, indicating his uniform.

  “No they are a segregated guard, they’re only duty to guard the caverns and the slave auctions. They are unable to leave that area at any time and remain there until their deaths.”

  “Tehenis, can soldiers like us attend?”

  “Yes, some even buy the female slaves, using them for a while before selling them to a brothel.”

  Looking at the window, I saw that it
was starting to get light and that we had been here speaking longer than I realized. I butted in, “I think we need to wrap this up. Tehenis, are there others that you trust not to betray you and help to gather the information that we need?”

  “Yes I managed to gathers several that feel as I do”

  Smiling grimly “Good, get them to work and tell them to take great care. We’d rather leave without the information and try again than have them get caught and jeopardize the whole thing. Don’t tell them about us––the less they know the safer we’ll all be.” Turning to Michael, I said, “I think we need to head back now and get some rest before we attend the auction.”

  “Agreed. Tehenis we’ll meet you here tomorrow night.” Getting up, at Michaels urging we murmured our farewells, replacing our helmets and exiting the house to wait outside for Tara, wanting to give the two of them a moment of privacy. The soft click of the door told us when she joined us and without looking back we walked away.

  Chapter 18

  I have now seen hell and its servants in their truest forms. When you are born and live within the caverns you know that your life is not your own. You know that each breath you take is numbered and that freedom is not yours. These poor wretches that stand before me have learned the truth, there is no freedom, only more pain to come. Though we are slaves within the caverns, we are protected by family and friends who are willing to take a beating or even die if it means that we are safe. Those that stand here in the hot sun have lost that. Poked and prodded, they whimper in fear as strange hands glide over them, checking their worth. The thoughts of those that touch them are plain to see. They move through line after line of the new crop, speaking about them as if they were no more than a piece of furniture.

  We walked through the pavilions where they were displaying specialty stock, perfumed and pampered, the most unique that they gathered posed to look like dolls. The guards that surrounded them let the buyers know that these were look, don’t touch. Men, woman, and children littered these booths, causing disgust to roll through me, but I ignored it, keeping a careful eye on my companions, who, though they have known injustice and have recently felt the pain that wrongful death brings, have not known the true depths of evil that the human soul is capable of. Looking at the children was the worst because I assumed that they were the orphan children and the lottery had stolen the last of their family. We had always assumed that they all became soldiers, but now I knew better.

  As much as I’d have liked to help these wretches, that wasn’t what I was here for. Moving through the crowd, I discreetly made my way toward what we had come to see. It was closer than I thought––it was only about a mile behind the house that stood behind the auctions were the slaves were brought when they were taken from the caverns. Guards were everywhere, but they appeared to be more concerned with the auctions than with manning their posts. Leaving the others, Michael and I broke off, knowing that we would be less likely to be caught. Cautiously, we made our way to the house, trying to blend in, which was easier than I thought. Though a few guards glanced at us, as soon as they saw the uniforms their gazes skirted away, going back to the main crowd. Luck seemed to be on our side when I spotted a pair of glass doors left slightly ajar, and ducking into them, we waited to make sure that we weren’t spotted. After a few minutes we knew we were good.

  The room was dark, but the light coming through the crack of the curtains made it light enough to see. We were in what appeared to be a sitting room. Quietly I walked to a door, cracking it open I saw that it led to a large foyer. Closing it, I motioned Michael to check the other door and I followed, hoping that it led to a less open floor plan. Jackpot. The door opened into an office and moving in, we split up, while Michael took the vid display and the desk, I went to a group of cabinets designed into the wall, curious as to what could possibly be in them. Empty, each one I opened was empty. Closing the last one, I stepped back, going over to Michael, who murmured my name. Stepping behind him, I looked over his shoulder, watching as he pulled up file after file––everything from the sales to the scheduling for the guards was there, but it wasn’t really what we were looking for. Pulling a drive from his pocket, he attached it to a port in the vid display, copying the files to review later. As he worked, I kept being drawn back to the cabinets. Leaving Michael, I went back, opening each again and running my hands over them. Why would they just leave the cabinets empty, I thought, as my hands moved. Just as I was about to give up, it clicked, literally, my finger moved over a space like any other except this one gave way, sliding the cabinets to the side.

  Whispering Michael’s name, I stepped forward and lights came on as I moved in––they must have been motion activated. Another desk stood in the middle of the large room. Moving to it after a moment, Michael murmured “jackpot.” Leaving him to his work, I went to the true cabinets along the sides of the room. Each had the contents and dates listed on the fronts. Pulling opening the ones I thought could be relevant, I began pulling out vid discs, putting them in the satchel I was carrying. Going deeper down the rows, I found cabinets that dated back hundreds of years. Stuffing my bag with everything I could find, I kept searching until I noticed a remote that looked like it went to a vid display. Pressing the button, the room came alive, screen after screen showed around the room of the interior and exterior of the house, showing that the house was much larger than it appeared. From what I could tell, it went deep into the ground, but that wasn’t what truly interested me––zeroing in on one image in particular, I read and then reread the caption that showed across the screen: “Cavern slave intake.” Going to Michael, something else caught my eye––we had people moving toward the office. Running, I grabbed Michael’s arm, whispering urgently. Rushing from the room, the lights shut off as soon as we left and the door closed automatically behind us, we had just made it to the adjoining room, our door closing when theirs opened.

  Voices could be clearly heard from the other room, the words stopping us from making our escape. “Things are now moving faster and more messy than we had anticipated. The escapees from the caverns have caused more problems than I dreamed possible,” a male voice said.

  “How does this concern me, Henil?” a female voice amusedly drawled.

  “Well, President Bethel seems to not have finished killing those he believes responsible for this mistake. So if we don’t want to find ourselves on the chopping block, we’d better find a way to be useful in fixing this mess,” the man Henil growled.

  “How can I be blamed?” she hissed.

  “Oh, my dear, you above anyone should know how easily it is done, but I’m sure that it won’t come to that if you work with me,” he smoothly said.

  “What do you require of me Henil?” she pushed out.

  “I’ll require some of your best trained slaves. You know, the ones that have been broken to the point that they will do anything you wish. The ones that report all their masters secrets and business to you.” Chuckling, he said, “My dear I know that your beauty fools those fools, but did you think that I didn’t know your game? You live well beyond your means, my dear, so I would assume that your little blackmail and secret selling enterprise has been extremely profitable for you.”

  “What do you need them for? What’s your plan?” she asked, not bothering to deny his charges.

  “The plan, my dear, is to release them into the wild and allow that fool rebel force to capture them. We need to find their base of operations and destroy it.”

  “Agreed that it must be destroyed, but how will we find them? I’m sure that they’ll be checked before being allowed entrance and even those fools would watch closely,” she told him.

  “I’m aware of that, it’s why they’ll be implanted with trackers that are able to turn on and off once we are in range.”

  “Even if we destroyed the main rebel base, how does this help us? The people there now see us as a threat, we wouldn’t be able to continue with the original plan to slowly take over their government and them,
” she mused.

  “Yes, that is no longer an option for us. It is why in ten days we are preparing for a large strike. Our soldiers, disguised as ordinary citizens, are already being sent to the Stone City and outer provinces as guests of their government. The fools have even allowed our military access within their borders to search for our lying traitor.” Chuckling darkly, he went on, “We won’t even have to move more troops from the city, everything we need will already be there––they’ll have no idea what is happening until it’s finished. Their government and its official have been so easy to manipulate, their greed not letting them see what’s in front of them.”

  A scraping noise had us pulling back from the door and racing to the outside quickly, checking to make sure that we wouldn’t be seen leaving. Once out, we tried to move naturally, so we wouldn’t draw attention, and rejoined the auction attendants. Making our way in farther, we went in search of the others. Passing groups bidding on slaves, we finally found them watching stonily the sale of a child. You could tell that they wanted to do something, but some harshly whispered words from Michael had them turning their backs and following us. No words were said as we took the transport back to our quarters. As the door clicked behind us and the lock was thrown firmly in place, he turned to Samuel and Tara with suspicion clear in his eyes before masking it.

  “What time are we schedule to leave tomorrow?” he asked Samuel.

  “Our transport is scheduled for six a.m. departure.”

  Nodding his head, he went to the food laid out on the table by the servants who had been here earlier.