by R. R. Banks
When we got the rest of the way around the lake I saw that we had approached a large bank of cliffs. I noticed Ero stiffen where he stood in front of us and heard Zuri gasp. They grabbed hands and looked at each other.
"What is it?" I asked.
Zuri turned to look at me.
"This is where Ero and I came the night that we arrived back here. We had a picnic right by the lake and then went up on top of that cliff."
She pointed to a cliff nearby.
"I don't understand."
"The cave is at the base of that cliff," Pyra said from the front of the group, "If the Klimnu are using that tunnel to connect with the compound as we suspect that they are, that means that they could have been within just a few feet of Ero and Zuri when they were up there and the two of them didn't even know it. Everything that has been said near these cliffs might have been overheard by the Klimnu, and they could be using that passage to get in and out of the compound unnoticed. We think that the Traitor has known about the tunnel for quite a while and has been using it not only to bring the Klimnu information and supplies, but also to get to them and back into the compound quickly without anyone realizing that he was gone. That's how he was able to betray us so completely and for so long."
"Who is he talking about?"
"There was a warrior named Ullie," there was a hiss from a few of the warriors and Ty turned to them sharply, his hand coming up as if to quiet them, "Refusing to say his name is just giving his memory power. Don't let the sound of that one word be what is going to weaken you when you face battle with the Klimnu. If you let it be your defeat, it will be, but if you use it to enrage and empower you, it will only make you more effective when it comes time to fight."
"Ty's right," Pyra said and Ty felt a surge of pride go through him, "We aren't going to revere Ullie. We are going to remember what he did to us and ensure it never happens again." He turned to Samira, "Ullie fashioned himself as a warrior. He came to battle with us and fought beside us. Then he made an alliance with the Klimnu and enabled them to breach our compound and discover our defense plans. He is why they were able to injure Eden, capture Leia, hold her prisoner, and nearly kill her, and try to do the same to Eliana. We found out about his betrayal while we were in battle with the Klimnu but it was not enough to prevent another battle and to completely eliminate them."
The group started walking toward the cliffs again and Samira hurried to keep step with them.
"What happned to Ullie?" she asked.
Ty glanced down at her with a stern face.
"Pyra killed him."
Samira stopped short. She had always heard about the Denynso and their reputation for being fierce and fearsome warriors. She knew that they had fought wars with other species attempting to take over their section of Uoria and protected the planet from many threats. Hearing Ty describe Ullie's death so matter-of-factly, though, was a shocking, harsh hit of reality that made her truly come to the realization that they were not just talking about a distant and abstract threat, or going to see something that could be dangerous in theory. They were marching into war.
Suddenly something strange occurred to her and she ran forward to talk to Pyra.
Chapter Four
Ty followed after Samira, he wanted to be near her to hear what she had to say to Pyra as much as he wanted to protect her. He was quickly learning that the unexpected followed her, and that he was probably never going to feel completely confident that he knew what was going to happen next. That was something that he truly loved about her.
That realization hit Ty hard. He knew that he was drawn to her and incredibly turned on by her. He had even come to terms with the fact that even though she seemed so young, she was a grown woman who was more than enough mate for him. He had not had time, however, to wrap his mind around the emotions that all of that entailed, and he certainly hadn't thought, until that very second, that he loved her. His mind reeled at the thought and he longed to grab her, spin her around in his arms, and tell her not just that he loved her, but that he wanted to spend every moment of the rest of his life loving her.
Now was not the time, though. He wanted that moment just with Samira, not with most of the warriors of the clan, Leia, and Zuri. That was something that he needed to express to her when they were alone; when he could whisper it to her as he slowly undressed her, laid her down on his bed, and made love to her over and over again. The thought buoyed him as he caught up with Samira and heard her talking animatedly to Pyra.
"Don't you get what I'm telling you? You said that Ullie was a warrior. That means that he was most likely around your size, right? At least around the size of the other warriors."
"Yes," Pyra replied.
"Well, if you can't get anywhere near the tunnel to find out what is on the other side, why do you think that Ullie could?"
They had made it to the foot of the cliff and were making their way over the rocky terrain to a section several feet off of the ground where Ty could see the wide mouth of a cave. He had heard the warriors talking about that cave before. Several had even brought some of the women there when they wanted to be alone. None had ever thought anything strange about it. Now, however, it seemed to stare down at them ominously, gaping in the reddish-brown stone of the cliff as if tempting them to come in and meet their fate.
Pyra paused and turned to look at Samira. Ty could see the look on his face changing gradually as if he was processing what Samira had said to him.
"I guess he couldn't."
"No, he couldn't. Which means that either he was using another part of the cave to interact with the Klimnu…"
"Or there was someone else helping him."
"Exactly. Now what we have to do is figure out which one of those is the case. If it is just that there is another section of the tunnel that you couldn't find that is big enough for all of you to fit in, or there is some way that that tunnel is bigger than you thought it was, that is not that big of a deal. In fact, it would just make it that much easier to get to the Klimnu. If it is that there was someone else helping Ullie, though, we are dealing with much bigger problems."
Ty's chest constricted painfully as a surge of anger and protectiveness rolled through him. He wasn't even a warrior and he had been infuriated when he found out that Ullie had betrayed all of them and was essentially funneling them into the hands of the Klimnu. Now that he had found and bonded with Samira, this anger and was even greater. She was bringing out the beast in him, and for the first time he had no interest in waiting at the compound putting together packs of supplies for the warriors and being ready to take care of them when they came back. He could leave that to the women. He wanted to be a part of the fighting.
"How do we find out?" he asked.
"We have to go into the cave," Samira told him.
She looked over at Leia and Zuri, who stepped forward toward her, nodding as if they understood exactly what Samira needed even though she hadn't said it. Ty reached toward Samira but she shook her head at him.
"The warriors and you are too big to get inside, Pyra already said that. We have to start under the assumption that the tunnel truly is as small as they thought it was when they found it and then go from there. That means that we have to go in. It's the only way."
Samira got on her toes and lifted her mouth to Ty's. He kissed her gently, wanting to draw as much of the feeling of her as possible into him so that he could feel less afraid while she was out of his sight. As their lips parted he could see that Ero and Zuri, and Leia and Gyyx were kissing as well, two more pairs of mates drawing strength and confidence from one another. The other warriors waited patiently for the expressions of their bonds to be over. Even those who were not bonded understood the importance and solemnity of the bond and would not try to interfere with a moment between mates.
Samira turned to Pyra when she stepped back from Ty.
"Show us where to go."
Pyra started climbing up the side of the cliff and the women followed. The
path was steep, but they all held their own as they traversed the uneven ground and climbed over rocks and jutting sections of the wall. Ty followed close behind them, wanting to be there to catch her just in case Samira happened to lose her footing and fall down the side of the cliff. Gyyx and Ero scrambled up behind him, their eyes locked on their own mates as they went. Beneath them were the rest of the warriors, watching them with expressions on their faces that said they very much hoped none of them were going to go tumbling down the cliff.
Fortunately they all made it to the plateau in front of the mouth of the cave safely and formed a line so that they all could stare into the cave. The darkness inside was so intense Ty felt like he could reach out and touch it.
"How did you find out about the tunnel?" Samira asked.
"We were doing our patrol and we heard a sound from inside the cave so we decided we wanted to see if there was anyone in there. We thought everyone was accounted for in the compound, so we wanted to make sure that no one was hurt in there. You go just a few yards into the cave and then the ground suddenly drops off into the tunnel. I could only make it down the tunnel a couple of feet before it got so tight that I almost couldn't get myself back out."
"If I had known that I was going to be spelunking today, I probably would have chosen a little bit better of an outfit," Samira said, adjusting her shirt down over her waistband, "Alright, ladies. Are you ready?"
The other two women voiced their affirmation and stepped forward so that the three stood separate from their mates and Pyra. Ty saw Gyyx reach into the bag he wore around his hip and pull out a torch. He handed it to Samira, reached back into his bag, and pulled out a flint. He lit the torch and stroked Leia's face one more time before stepping away.
"Go straight in, go as far as you can, and then come back," Pyra said. He reached into the bag on his own hip and pulled out his dagger, handing it to Samira by the handle, "If you find any Klimnu or anything else that scares you, don't hesitate. Kill it and run."
Samira nodded, took a breath, and started into the cave.
Chapter Five
All of the fear I had been trying to suppress as I followed the warriors to the cliffs suddenly hit me as I stood there looking into the cave. The torch in one hand, the dagger in the other, and the lingering feeling of Ty's lips against mine, however, gave me confidence as I squared my shoulders and started forward into the darkness. Zuri and Leia followed me, coming close to my sides but staying just a step behind as if allowing me to take the lead.
We walked carefully, none of us knowing what to expect as we stepped past the opening to the cave. None of us had ever been inside it before and if I didn't miss my guess none of us were familiar enough with the topography and composition of Uoria to know if the caves on this planet were anything like the ones on Earth. I had only gotten the chance to read up a little bit on the planet and all I had learned was that there were many different areas of the planet and a huge enough variety of climates and features that I could safely guess it did not maintain the same rules as Earth. While that was an exciting thought if I had the opportunity to just roam around and explore, it made venturing into the darkness of the cave even more frightening because I had no idea what I was going to encounter with each step.
I could hear my own breath as we walked through the wide first chamber of the cave. The torch splashed orange and yellow light through the chamber, cutting through the darkness and illuminating the sandy ground at our feet. The floor of the cave was studded with sharp stalagmites, the tips sparkling like ice in the light of the torch even though it wasn't cold enough in the cave for them to actually be frozen. As we walked deeper into the cave I noticed that the walls that had been far enough apart that I hadn't even been able to see them in the light of the torch were starting to close in. We took a few more steps and I saw the entrance to the tunnel that Pyra had talked about. It would have been easy to miss if we hadn't been looking specifically for it. As it was, I almost didn't notice it.
The walls seemed to close in completely, giving the impression that the first chamber was the entirety of the cave. Behind a particularly massive stalagmite that disappeared up into the darkness, however, was a narrow, low opening. The edges of the opening were uneven, but smooth, so it was difficult to tell if the wall had formed like that, or if someone, or something, had broken through the wall many years before and the edges had weathered over time.
"Yeah, there's no way that the warriors could get in there far," Leia said as I held the torch a little higher so that more light shined on it.
"I'm surprised that Pyra was able to even get in it at all, much less go a few feet into it," I replied in agreement.
"I don't even know if Ero could make it very far in there," Zuri said. Leia and I both looked at her and she shrugged, "I love my mate dearly, but he is tiny compared to the others. I've embraced it."
We laughed, thankful for the moment of levity that broke the fearful tension that was building in the cave. I let out a breath and handed Zuri the torch.
"Hold this up so that as much light as possible gets in there. I don't know how tight it is past this entry so I don't want to be in there with an open flame." She nodded and held up the torch. Leia stepped up and stood to her side so that her body would block some of the light and prevent it from dissipating throughout the cave, "Alright," I said, "Here I go."
I ducked my head and stepped through the opening. I probably could have walked through it without ducking, but I thought I would be cautious until I made it into the tunnel. As soon as I stepped in, I reached above me and found that the ceiling was higher than the top of the entry, but still only a few inches from my head. I opened my arms as far as I could get them and found that the walls were so close my elbows were still bent when I flattened my palms on either wall.
"Are you OK?" Zuri asked from the outer chamber of the cave.
"I'm fine," I replied, taking a few more cautious steps, "It is really tight in here. There is definitely no way the guys could have gotten a whole lot further than I am right now." I paused for a second, "Even Ero."
Both of the other women laughed and I started forward again. The light from the torch illuminated several feet ahead of me, but all I saw was the darkness. I held the dagger tightly in my hand, occasionally adjusting my grip so that I felt I had absolute control over the blade just in case I came upon another visitor of the tunnel who was less than pleased to see me.
The tunnel got no wider as I walked, but I could feel the ground beneath my feet start to dip so that I knew it was leading me down through the cliff and into the ground. It was a strange feeling, knowing that I had started many feet above the heads of the warriors and in a few moments I would be beneath them. Orienting had never been my strong point, but I was struggling with every ounce of processing ability that I had to keep track of the direction that I was moving and figure out where I was headed so that I could tell Pyra when I made it back. I couldn't let myself think "if".
"Zuri, it's tight in here, but I'm running out of light, do you think that you'd be OK bringing the torch in?" I called back over my shoulder.
The path ahead of me had gotten so dark that I wasn't able to see more than a few inches and I wasn't comfortable continuing on without light if I didn't absolutely have to.
"Do I think I would be OK like you think I might get stuck in there, or do I think I would be OK like you think I might catch us on fire if I go in there?" she called back.
"Well…both…maybe…just a little bit," I said cautiously, trying not the offend her.
Zuri was beautiful, but the truth was she was a little bigger even than me, and I wasn't entirely convinced that she would be able to navigate the tighter curves of the tunnel, especially if it got any smaller.
"Well, damn. That's comforting," she said.
I could hear in her voice that she wasn't upset. Ero had done amazing things for her in even the small amount of time that they had spent together and I would have to remember to thank him fo
r the love, comfort, and confidence that he had given this woman who had meant so much to me during some of the most difficult times in my life.
"Sorry."
"It's alright. I'm on my way. Leia can bring up the rear and at least her tiny self will be able to get out in case all goes to hell and we burst into flames in here."
"Geez, Zuri, you sure do know how to make a girl feel better when she's creeping through the darkness holding a dagger."
"The things we do for our men."
I heard Zuri's voice close behind me and felt the warmth of the flame from the torch glowing on my back. I glanced over my shoulder at her and smiled.
"Don't I know it," I joked back, "But with the things that Ty is capable of, I am just fine with this little contribution."
Zuri let out a sound like she knew exactly what I was talking about.
"I am fine with just about anything as long as Ero keeps doing the same things to me that he was doing when we were on top of this cliff."
I laughed, but as soon as the sound made it all the way out of my throat, I felt the tension build inside me again. We were trying so hard to talk casually and joke about our men to distract us from walking down the tunnel, but it didn't have as much of an effect as we were hoping. Instead, as soon as I stopped talking, I felt even more nervous than I had before.
Chapter Six