“I’m not going alone,” Crystil said.
Cyrus reacted strongly, his face registering disgust.
“You want me to leave Celeste right now? Not a chance. Not a chance anywhere. As long as she’s in the state she’s in, I can’t leave her.”
And I’m not going alone. Not a chance. You need to come.
“Cyrus, I get it,” Crystil said as she walked to him, shortening the distance to a mere foot. “You love your sister, and that’s admirable. Are you worried about her safety? That the monster might do something?”
“Ehh,” Cyrus said. “Not really. This ship already locked me in once—thanks, Cortanus!—so I know it can prevent anything from getting in that shouldn’t. And really, I know if the monster truly wanted to kill us, it could, whether I’m here or not. I’m not a deadly pathogen to it.”
Crystil nodded sympathetically, but silently also thanked Cortanus that it had not given in to Cyrus’ demands. Cyrus could not override Cortanus, no matter what. Especially if he finds out about the ship’s…
“You’re worried that something might happen to her because of the poison while we’re gone,” Crystil said.
Cyrus nodded, his head bowed. Crystil wanted to embrace Cyrus, saying Celeste would be fine, and that the worst that would happen is she’d take a long time to recover. But she held herself back, afraid doing so would allow emotions to shine that didn’t need exposure at the moment.
“Do you remember how long it took for you to get to that patch of land?”
“Two days,” he said, his voice shaky.
“OK. And one of those days was really a half day of sorts. If we leave now, we can be back by nightfall. Cortanus will make sure nothing happens to Celeste.”
“Yes,” Cortanus said. “I can confirm that we will keep her alive as long as you are gone.”
I wanted a bit more than that. A promise you’ll help her improve.
Cyrus sighed, head bowed, and shrugged.
“All right. This is on you if anything happens, though.”
Crystil understood full well. Whatever guilt Cyrus would hoist on her would feel like a feather compared to the self-guilt she’d feel for failing Celeste.
Cyrus walked into the armory, while Crystil headed back to the cockpit. Outside, she could see Cyrus had left her assault rifle on the ground from the night before. She walked back to the airlock, and couldn’t help laughing when she saw Cyrus.
“I guess you’re good enough to carry a sword now?”
“Yeah, if I’m going to go, I might as well have some fun, you know? I have too much on my mind to not have some fun.”
How strange.
Crystil shook her head as she opened the airlock.
“Where are your weapons?” he said.
“Right where you left them yesterday,” she said, then added with a smile, “Jerk.”
Cyrus laughed as he gently pushed Crystil into the airlock, bringing a warm smile to the commander as the two left behind the concerns for their third member on board Omega One.
31
Cyrus kept thinking several times that they’d already passed the spot of interest. All he saw were plains to the right, plains straight ahead, and trees to the left.
It didn’t help his sense of certainty that as he walked behind Crystil, he was beginning to see her in a new light. A more understanding and appreciative light. It was one thing to hear her talk of a soldier’s duty. Seeing her live it out carried an entirely different weight. She now seemed like a protective, stronger woman who took their safety as a personal duty and not a professional one.
She was more willing to indulge his random whims and stories. She wasn’t the Ice Queen anymore.
“You know, you’re basically a hero for saving my sister,” he said, causing Crystil to pause so he could walk side by side with her. “Really, you’re the first hero of Anatolus. You know what that means? It means we’re going to have to throw a Crystil Bradford holiday in a few decades.”
Crystil laughed genuinely hard, much harder than Cyrus would’ve predicted. It showed her appreciation, but Cyrus wondered if it might show something more.
“While I very much appreciate the flattery, Cyrus, save it for yourself—I know you’re good for it,” she said, keeping her smirk. “I would’ve died a failed soldier if you weren’t there. Maybe I covered more distance, but you played the most important role.”
“Which is a role I never would’ve gotten to play if not for you.”
Crystil cleared her throat, but nothing else came. Sensing the commander in the best mood he’d ever seen her, Cyrus continued.
“Listen, this might sound crazy from me, and I know sometimes I can be a huge pain in the—”
“You? I never would’ve guessed,” she deadpanned before laughing after a couple beats. “Go on.”
Cyrus chuckled as a delay tactic to get his thoughts back in order. It’s like she got a personality amputation in addition to a leg one.
“Yeah, sometimes. OK, maybe most of the time. But, serious time from Cyrus here—you are our commander, and the two of us would’ve been screwed without you. We wouldn’t have known how to land the ship, we wouldn’t have gone in the right direction, we probably wouldn’t even have gone into hypersleep, we’d be panicking. Really, if we’re being honest here, we probably wouldn’t ever have made it off Monda and we’d be where my father is right now—with my mother, six feet under. So, Crystil, thanks. OK, funny time Cyrus is back.”
Crystil coughed as she turned away, and Cyrus wondered if he had legitimately seen her eyes well up, or if he’d imagined it. But when she turned back, her facial expression showed gratitude, not uncontrollable emotion.
“Just trying to do my job, Cyrus,” she said. “My job is to protect you two and find us a sustainable water supply. This recon mission is to help fulfill the former—the more we know about what caused this, the—”
“Yeah, yeah, Commander Focus,” Cyrus said with a laugh.
To his surprise, Crystil also laughed, though a content silence soon overcame their interaction. Crystil slowly resumed the head position.
Part of Cyrus felt unsatisfied. He didn’t know what more he could get that would satisfy him, but it wasn’t what had just happened.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to find this place,” Cyrus said after several more minutes of silent procession. “I think I imagined it. I’m sorry, Crystil. I know when I said let’s take a walk on the beach you imagined actual sand and water—”
“Hey,” she said, more intrigued than annoyed. “Look.”
Cyrus jogged up beside her and saw it.
The same, unmistakable burnt area.
The trees, aligned too perfectly in a semicircle around the graveyard.
“Oh, just kidding,” Cyrus mumbled, though the overwhelming nature of the site subdued his words.
Crystil looked closely from where they stood, examining the site from a safe distance. Cyrus looked at the site and didn’t see anything too different.
“I think—”
“The trees next to the ashes aren’t even discolored.”
She took a couple of steps toward the closest tree and felt it up on the side facing the ashes.
“I don’t feel anything unusual. This all feels pretty uniform. This feels like an especially well-controlled fire. Or maybe someone dumped the ashes and bones here… don’t know why they would.”
Cyrus walked over to the ashes and felt around for skeletons, but became perturbed when he couldn’t find any.
He kicked the ashes aside, desperate to find anything. A nail, a limb, a tooth, the end of a tail—anything to prove he wasn’t lying.
“Whatever was here, it’s gone. I swear there was something here. I’m not crazy!”
“Cyrus,” Crystil said, still by the tree. “Relax, I believe you. I saw the bone pieces inside the ship. The question is, why would there be no bones here?”
Cyrus shrugged, too upset to think. He felt like some… thing wa
s playing a conniving game with them, leaving clues that would make them go insane faster than isolation would. When they lost their minds, they’d lose their lives to the thing in the sky.
“Bones don’t just decay and vanish like that,” Crystil said, walking slowly toward Cyrus. “Either an animal grabbed them and picked at them, like a voltus might. Or… it sounds crazy, but someone or something moved them.”
“The latter,” Cyrus said. “The latter. I’m starting to think that claim isn’t crazy anymore. There were too many of these skeletons for animals to claim all of them up. Some intelligent being removed them.”
“So we’re not alone,” Crystil said. “I suspected that. We can’t know for sure, obviously, but if you saw the cave we saw in the mountains, and how perfect it looked, you’d agree.”
“Cortanus said we were alone.”
“And Cortanus could only lay eyes on the surface during the day. Look at what’s around us. Ocean for miles, hundreds, thousands of miles. A mountain range and cavern system that goes who knows how deep. We don’t know anything, Cyrus. We only know it’s not safe above ground at night.”
Cyrus sighed and walked toward the edge of the forest. The last thing he needed was another mental puzzle to add to their mission. He looked down to kick something but paused.
A small chip of a bone remained. It was jagged and no larger than a small cup, but it didn’t look like anything else in the area.
“Well, whatever came here, let’s hope they forgot one thing,” Cyrus said, showing the bone to Crystil.
“Agreed,” she said as she turned her attention to the sky. “We should head back now. May have to run some of it.”
Crystil took the bone from him, gave it a quick glance, and put it in her backpack.
“I’m more curious as to how the trees didn’t even get damaged,” she said. “Maybe if we find what else is here, we can ask.”
To Cyrus’ pleasant surprise, they had more time than they thought. Though they heard the first roar of the beast when the airlock opened, they felt no danger as the platform lifted them back up. Both headed to the research bay, but Cyrus paused just before, taking a seat by his sister.
He looked into her pod, and much to his relief, she looked better. Her skin had returned to her natural lighter color, and her swelling had nearly vanished. Her heart rate had elevated to stable levels.
“How is she, Cortanus?”
“Recovering. She is still weak, and there is still poison in her body. But the worst of it is over.”
“Can you awaken her?”
No response came, which Cyrus figured meant no. He leaned forward in his chair and placed his hands on her pod to say goodnight.
She opened her eyes.
32
Celeste saw a thin glass tube surrounding her. She felt claustrophobic, but also too weak to resist.
“Let me out,” she said, but her voice felt frail and soft. If Cortanus didn’t hear her, she had to accept the tight quarters.
Much to her pleasant surprise, the tube opened. She tilted her head to the left and saw her brother—her brother!
“Cyrus,” she said, a weak smile forming. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
Cyrus did not respond with words, instead hugging her to the point of hurting her. Celeste hugged back and, through sobs, they both told each other they loved the other. When Cyrus finished, he gently laid her back on the pod.
“Welcome back, sis,” Cyrus said. “I guess I owe you an apology for making you slap me.”
“Hah,” Celeste said, followed by a cough. “Someone needed to knock sense into you.”
She thought of saying something more, but her mind became consumed by remembering the previous events. She’d pricked herself against the poisonous flowers. She’d hobbled back with Crystil. But she tripped and got cut. The last thing she remembered was a giant arachnia falling on them, followed by some screams from Crystil…
“Where’s Crystil?”
“She’s busy in the lab. She’ll come and say hi to you when she’s done.”
“Good. So she’s not dead.”
Cyrus erupted in uproarious laughter, putting his hand on Celeste’s shoulder and shaking her gently. In her current state, his actions produced more pain than she cared to admit, but she wouldn’t let that replace the good feelings.
“Hey, in my defense, the last thing I remember was an arachnia trying to eat us.”
Cyrus let his laugh trail off and spoke louder than Celeste thought necessary.
“That girl would never die. She’s too tough and too determined to let anything get in her way.”
Cyrus leaned forward.
“But seriously, I owe you an apology for many things, Celeste. I’m sorry for not being there when you got hurt. I—”
“What?” Celeste said, softly chuckling. “You’re here right now.”
“I keep telling him he did all the hard work,” Crystil yelled.
Celeste widened her eyes at Cyrus, who smiled gently back.
“Crystil did most of the hard work. She carried you here. She fell and broke her tibia just outside the ship. I just had to carry you both in. You were first, and you’re fine. Then Crystil came, she had to get her leg amputated, but she’s fine.”
“Oh,” Celeste said.
“But, listen, I’m sorry for being a pain on the trip. I’m sorry for not being the nicest brother growing up. I’m—”
“Is this like Cyrus’ Confessions? Cuz I’ll just go back to sleep if it is,” Celeste said with a sarcastic smile. “Listen, don’t apologize. Because of you, I had to push myself. I had to go out of my comfort zone. So take the silver lining and wear it with a mark of pride.”
Even as she spoke, though, Celeste knew she valued Cyrus’ presence more than any courage she’d gained. For all of the battles and journeys, Celeste would rather fail early with her brother by her side than die old without him.
She groaned as a headache crept in.
“You all right?” Cyrus asked.
“I feel like I drank too much at one of Dad’s banquets,” she said with a soft chuckle. “I guess that analogy isn’t too far off either since alcohol is poison.”
“Yeah, thanks for the reminder, I wish I had an entire hall of alcohol,” Cyrus said. “It’s the poison, obviously. Cortanus is pumping it out, but you can’t just shovel it out. It’s a slow process, and you’re probably going to need a few more days before you’re healed.”
I can handle that. We all need a break from near-death experiences and the monster. We need a few days reading and eating rations.
Behind Cyrus, Crystil lingered in the door, staying close enough to eavesdrop.
“Hey, Crystil,” Celeste said, but too weakly for her commander to hear.
Cyrus waved Crystil in. She took a seat near Celeste’s head next to Cyrus.
“I’m alive because of you, you know,” Celeste said.
“Stop, you’re alive because of Cyrus,” Crystil said.
“Nice try,” Celeste said with a compassionate smile. “But I know the truth. After the arachnia attack, you must’ve carried me home quite a ways. I just told Cyrus that I wanted him by my side, and that goes for you too, Crystil. Don’t you ever die on me. Get all the amputations you need to stay this way.”
Crystil laughed, but Celeste noticed the tears forming in Crystil’s eyes. The biggest surprise to her was that she was doing this in front of Cyrus without making any effort to stop.
“I will,” Crystil said, her voice wavering.
A single tear fell from the commander, who brushed it away gently. She cleared her throat and no more tears came, but the effect had taken place. Their mission had regained its legs.
“How are things in the lab?”
“Good, good. We got a new bone that we think is another lupi, but we’re analyzing just to stay on the safe side. We got a scale from the monster. We’re learning quite a bit.”
“Oh? Like what?”
Crystil started with,
“ahh,” but she paused.
“About the creature’s composition and that kind of stuff. Nothing too crazy yet.”
Celeste knew Crystil was hiding something and not particularly well. Still feeling too weak to inquire for more information, though, Celeste settled for a disbelieving look.
“And the foot?” Celeste said after some time, knowing she’d find out everything eventually.
“Surprisingly natural. I can walk on it, I can run on it. I don’t even think about it if I’m not focused on it.”
Curious as to her own strength at the moment, Celeste tried to stand up, but she felt tremendously weak. Cyrus gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down.
“Rest, sis,” he said. “We got things under control here. You’re still a few days away from recovering.”
“I…”
“You don’t need to recover instantly, Celeste,” Crystil said. “Give it at least two days. After two days, we’ll decide how to proceed. OK?”
Celeste looked into the eyes of her commander, which still betrayed her emotions. Celeste understood, despite her desire to push through. She leaned back down in the pod.
“Go back to night-night sleep,” Cyrus said. “We’ll wake you up in 48 hours.”
“If it’s 48 days, you won’t need the monster to kill you,” Celeste said, drawing a loud one-off laugh from Crystil, who quickly tried to hide her laugh. Cyrus just shook his head in amused disbelief.
“Welcome back from the dead, sis. Ain’t nothing that’s gonna strike fear in you now.”
If only you knew, Cyrus. I al—
Before she could even finish her thought, Celeste went back into a deep sleep.
33
With night having settled in for barely an hour, Cyrus headed for his room and told Crystil to let him get his beauty sleep. The commander, a stickler for routine, at first argued the point but quickly decided to allow it. She, however, could not fall asleep, not feeling the slightest bit of exhaustion. Instead, she remained in the medical bay, watching Celeste slowly breathe as the pod analyzed her condition.
Just a few minutes after Cyrus’ door shut, Crystil entered an almost trance-like state. She stared at Celeste, but she did not see her.
Kastori Revelations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 1) Page 14