The Cyrun

by Janilise Lloyd

“Hi, I’m Trent.” Trent extended his hand out to Warren in greeting. “We’re super pumped you’ve asked us to join you. When do we begin?”

  A look of shock crossed Warren’s face, though I’m sure it was nothing compared to the surprise on my own. How could Trent agree without any real discussion?

  Warren’s face lit up, a huge smile stretching his cheeks. “Excellent. We start now, I suppose.”

  “Uh, hold on a minute,” I interrupted. “Shouldn’t we give this some thought?” This seemed very unlike Trent, who was uptight every time I crossed a line. He’d made it clear he intended to keep a low profile in his life here. Joining a rebel group intent on taking down the king hardly fit that category.

  “What’s there to think about, Ava? It’s sort of do or die for me right now. If there’s a chance we can make a difference—a real difference—I think we should take it,” Trent said, his gorgeous eyes boring into mine.

  “Um, well, okay then.” I turned to Warren, slightly dazed. I’d already made my decision, I simply never dreamed Trent would agree so easily. “I guess we’re in.”

  Chapter 16

  The Miners

  We trudged through the forest for what felt like an hour. In reality, it was probably about a half hour, but I tended to get impatient with a normal pace these days. Between Traveling with Trent and my ability to run at high speeds, moving at a walk was positively mundane. The hike had been almost entirely uphill and quite strenuous. I may be able to run without getting tired, but when I wasn’t using my abilities, it was clear I was out of shape.

  Before we started this endless trek, Trent had Traveled back home to let Meraki and his mother know we would be gone for a while, though he kept the fact that we were going to a secret hideout for a rebel group to himself. When he’d returned to the gully, it was clear the conversation hadn’t gone over well with Meraki. I probably should feel bad about causing discord in their relationship, but it actually brought a sense of satisfaction. I was a horrible friend.

  “Are we there yet?” I asked, feeling like a five year old child on her first road trip.

  “Just a few more minutes,” Jameson answered in his relaxed tone. I got the feeling there wasn’t much that would bother Jameson. He was very go-with-the-flow.

  “You said that a few minutes ago,” I grumbled.

  “If you’d stop concentrating on it, the time would probably go faster.” Trent laughed at my impatience.

  The further we walked, the thinner the trees became and the more rocky the path. We approached a very large boulder on the trail, which was pressed up against the side of the mountain. Warren and Jameson stopped at the boulder’s front.

  “Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!” Jameson exclaimed.

  “This is it? Your headquarters are out here? Seems a little exposed, don’t you think?” I asked incredulously.

  Warren rolled his eyes. “Of course not right here. This is just the entrance.” He stated it as if that fact should be obvious. I was confused. There was nothing here but the large boulder. How could this be an entrance to anything? I’d been expecting an abandoned cabin or a discreet cave or something of that sort.

  Jameson ducked down, wedging himself in the small space between the side of the mountain and the boulder, his broad shoulders filling the space entirely. He crept forward until I lost sight of him. Warren followed closely behind until he, too, fell out of sight.

  “Uh, are you as confused as I am?” I asked Trent.

  “Yep, pretty much. You think this is some sort of trap?” he asked, taking a step closer to the narrow opening where Jameson and Warren had just disappeared.

  “It could be.”

  Trent stood, deliberating for a moment. “Well, only one way to find out. Stay close to me and if something goes wrong, we’ll Travel back home, okay?”

  “Got it,” I agreed.

  I followed directly behind Trent as he crawled into the crack. I scrunched myself between the rocks, immediately feeling claustrophobic. After a few paces on our hands and knees, the direction of the crevice began to curve to the left as the last bit of light was extinguished. Odd, I expected our path to go straight through to the other side of the massive boulder. It was as if we were crawling into the side of the mountain itself.

  Gradually, the crevice began to widen and lengthen until we could crouch and then fully stand. Shortly after, a faint glow became visible ahead. We followed it forward until we found ourselves in a large space entirely surrounded by rock, yet well lit by several lights which hung on the rock walls. There, Warren, Jameson, and two teenage girls waited for us.

  “So, that was… unexpected,” I began. “What is this place?”

  “Awesome, isn’t it?” the petite girl with blonde hair gushed, bouncing on her toes. “You guys are really brave. It took a solid ten minutes before Warren could convince me to squeeze through that pathetic crack. I thought it was some lame prank on the new kid. I’m Elsie, by the way.”

  I had to fight to keep a smile off my face. Was this girl for real? She was unusually bubbly considering the dank surroundings. “Nice to meet you, Elsie. I’m Ava and this is Trent.”

  “And I’m Katherine,” the brunette standing next to Elsie said. She was taller than Elsie, but still had a very petite frame. Her brown hair was board straight compared to Elsie’s wavy curls.

  “So, is this everybody? You’re a group of four?” Trent asked.

  “There are eight of us, actually,” Warren said, evidently proud of his numbers. “Trevor and Damion are out on a watch in Magia, and Amos and Teresa aren’t thrilled with newcomers. It will likely take a bit before they warm up to you. Try not to take it personally.”

  “Eight, wow, that’s impressive. But still not enough to take on an entire government on your own. You do realize that, right?” I asked critically.

  Warren smirked. “You’re absolutely right. Fortunately, that’s not precisely our plan. What do you say we give you the grand tour?”

  “So there’s more to this place?” I asked, surprised. Elsie giggled and Katherine shook her head, smiling.

  “A bit more, yeah,” Jameson laughed, clapping Trent on the shoulder as he passed into a tunnel on the opposite side of the crevice from where we stood.

  “Alright then, lead the way,” Trent said.

  “This room we’re in is the main entrance,” Warren explained before heading down the tunnel Jameson had ducked under. We followed, walking for a short distance before the rock opened up into another large area that contained a long wooden table. On the adjacent wall, a stove sat next to a small table with a sink on the other side. It was a kitchen. A simple one but functioning nonetheless. “And this is the kitchen, obviously.”

  My mouth hung open wide. “What in the world? This doesn’t make any sense. We are inside a mountain, are we not?”

  Elsie giggled and Warren shrugged nonchalantly. “Yes, we are inside a mountain. Trevor—one of the guys out in Magia—is an earthshifter. He created these tunnels for us. Damion, who is out with him, can manipulate energy. He’s the reason we have light fixtures and a stove in here without any power source. And yours truly,” Warren gestured to himself, “can control water sources. I re-routed a nearby stream to run a small branch this direction, which fills two wells underneath us. You’ll notice any sinks around here are pump-only. At least for all of you.”

  “That’s incredible,” Trent breathed next to me.

  “Glad you’re impressed,” Warren said dryly. “Let’s carry on. I don’t have all the time in the world.”

  Warren walked toward another small tunnel to the right. The tunnel was very short and branched off into a spacious room with several couches, sitting chairs, and barstools. There was a card table against one wall and a pool table on the other. Light fixtures hung low from the ceiling, creating a cozy feel to the room.

  “Pool exists in Cyrus?” I asked, surprised.

  “There are a lot of similar games across the realms. This one happens to be a Cy
rus original, though,” Trent explained.

  “Just don’t challenge Warren to a game,” Jameson bent sideways to whisper in my ear. “He’s a pool shark.” He straightened up and winked at me.

  “This is the game room. We use it for pretty much all gatherings. You’re welcome to use anything you’d like for your entertainment when you are not on assignment,” Warren explained.

  “How did you get a pool table into these caves?” I asked.

  “In addition to being able to control water, I have the ability to shrink and enlarge inanimate objects. I simply shrunk down all the furnishings you see in here and carried them in,” Warren said.

  “You can only affect inanimate objects, right? Not people?” Trent asked nervously.

  “Almost right. I can shrink or enlarge myself, but nobody else.”

  “That’s awesome,” I said.

  Warren ignored the compliment and ducked out into the hall. We crossed back through the kitchen to another tunnel on the opposite side. This tunnel was long and large with a few smaller tunnels that stemmed off of it. Warren ignored the branches, continuing straight forward to a large arch which stood at the end of the path. We passed underneath the arch, then the tunnel curved immediately to the left.

  Again, my mouth hung open in shock at the sight before me. We entered the largest room yet, by far. It was also the brightest and tallest room we’d seen. It reminded me somewhat of the gym at my high school, though it was drastically different in many ways. For one, the walls and floors were made of rock. The far end of the room had full length mirrors that stretched across its face. In front of the mirrors were several mats. A punching bag and boxing gloves sat nearby. There were a few weight lifting machines along the right wall and a basketball hoop was attached to the left wall.

  “There’s basketball in Cyrus too?” I asked.

  “Actually, no. Jameson was a big fan back in the human realm and insisted on bringing a hoop back here to play,” Warren explained.

  “You’re from the human realm too?” I turned to Jameson, surprised.

  This time Katherine was the one to laugh. “You haven’t told her?” She looked at Warren who simply shrugged. “We’re all from the human realm.”

  “How did you get here?” Trent asked, his tone as surprised as I felt. “When did you get here? Is one of you a Traveler?”

  Everyone looked uncomfortable at the question. Warren let out a long breath before he answered. “It is true. We are all from the human realm. Most of the group are orphans, like me. The best we can figure, we were left there by our parents because they didn’t want us growing up here, with a tyrannous government. Some of the group’s parents came with them to the human realm. They chose to leave their parents behind and return here to fight.

  “When I was fifteen, I was found by a Traveler named Fox Springs. He was a rogue Traveler, much like you, Trent,” Warren nodded in Trent’s direction. “He spent a lot of time in the human realm, trying to maintain his resistance to Praesidium. After we found each other, we made it our mission to find others like us and form a group. Over the course of three years, I managed to put together this motley bunch,” Warren chuckled, “knowing that those who were raised in the human realm have the best chance of resisting Praesidium’s powers.”

  I kept quiet, not sure what to make of Warren’s story. The vision I’d seen—if it was real—contradicted his account. He wasn’t born or raised as an orphan in the human realm. He was from here—he was Tenebris’ own flesh and blood. I flashed a glance at Trent who also seemed skeptical of Warren’s words.

  “What happened to your friend Fox Springs then?” Trent asked.

  Warren sighed. “About a year ago, he was caught by one of Tenebris’ guards on his return from the human realm. They killed him.” He hung his head low.

  My breath caught in my chest. What if that happened to Trent?

  “He was a good man, Fox,” Jameson said. “It’s a shame you’ll never know him.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  “It’s a risk we all take as a part of the Miners,” Jameson explained.

  “The Miners?” Trent asked.

  Warren rolled his eyes. “We are not the Miners, Jameson, for the thousandth time! We don’t have a name. We’re not anything.”

  “‘Course we are!” Jameson slugged Warren’s shoulder playfully. “We live in tunnels in the mountain and our life’s purpose is to harvest a jewel—a ruby, to be exact. What better name is there?”

  “I like it!” Elsie chimed in. “I always have. The Miners—it sounds kind of dangerous.” She swung her arms in mock karate moves until she knocked a ball off a nearby rack. The ball flung forward, clipping Warren on the side of the head. “Oops, my bad,” Elsie danced forward, picking up the ball at Warren’s feet.

  “O-o-o-kay, that’s enough of the tour for me,” Warren said, rubbing the spot on his head where he was hit. “Elsie and Katherine can show you to your room, Ava, and Jameson will take you to yours, Trent. We’ll convene at 7:00 tomorrow morning in the game room for a debriefing with the whole group. Make sure you let the others know.”

  Chapter 17

  Rebels

  My room at headquarters was extremely simple, but still amazing considering that I was living inside a mountain. It contained a mattress with no bed frame and a miniscule set of plastic drawers; I kept the few clothes I’d brought along in there. A wooden chair sat in one corner, and the place was lit by a light on the wall that turned on whenever I entered and off when I left. I wasn’t sure how Damion’s powers worked, exactly, but they seemed pretty awesome.

  I wondered how many homes actually had electricity in Cyrus—Trent’s sure didn’t. But all the shops in Magia appeared to be well lit by the types of light fixtures I was used to in the human realm. Tenebris must have people like Damion in his control who help light the major city areas.

  I learned that Elsie and Katherine are sisters. Both seemed like they would be good friends to me. I liked Elsie, but Katherine was probably my favorite of the two—she was reserved yet bold when she needed to be. Elsie, on the other hand, was a ball of enthusiastic energy but reluctant to engage in conflict.

  I’d spent the remainder of my first night as a Miner with the two of them. They’d showed me to the small yet intriguing collection of books they had at headquarters, and after a few card games and an abysmal game of pool, I had retreated to my room to read. I was eager to learn as much as I could about Cyrus’ history.

  I trudged onward in the dull book I held in my hands. Though I enjoyed learning, history had never been my strong point, and that was especially true when it came to war. As far as I could tell, the first several thousand years of recorded Cyrun history was nothing but conflict after conflict. Small kingdoms battled for control of each other’s lands, using their most powerful people’s abilities as weapons.

  My mind continually wandered to a place I wished it wouldn’t—Trent and Meraki. During our game of pool, Jameson had informed me that Trent left the caves shortly after he’d been shown to his room. Apparently, after a long debate, Trent had convinced Warren to let him bring Meraki into the group. Trent had stopped by to tell me he was going back home to spend the night there. He hadn’t made any mention of Meraki, but Jameson insisted that he’d practically begged Warren to allow him to bring her back with him tomorrow. My stomach twisted with jealousy. The last thing I wanted was to have Meraki around this place all the time.

  After another fifteen minutes of morbid warmongering, I decided to call the studying quits for the night and rolled over in bed, pulling the thin blanket Elsie had given me over my head.

  The next morning came early. I’d set an alarm on my watch to make sure I wouldn’t miss the meeting. As soon as it beeped, I jumped out of bed, hurriedly changed my clothes to a simple t-shirt and jeans, and made my way down the unfamiliar corridors to the game room.

  As I entered the room, I was met by the sight of Trent and Meraki cuddled up in one of the small
loveseats, kissing. Mortified, I turned to leave the room unnoticed. In my haste, I caught the lamp by the door with my toe and sent it clattering to the ground.

  “Ava, I uh, didn’t see you there,” Trent said, standing up quickly, his face slightly red, though not possibly as red as mine. It felt like my face would melt with the heat of my embarrassment. I prayed a hole in the floor would open up and swallow me.

  Awkwardly, I scrambled for the lamp on the ground and stood it back up, avoiding both Trent’s and Meraki’s eyes. “I forgot to… grab some breakfast. Better go—” I didn’t bother to finish the thought and dove into the hallway, out of sight. I rushed into the kitchen, trying to dispel the awful image of Meraki wrapped around Trent from my mind. What were those two idiots thinking anyway? Making out in a room where a meeting is about to happen?

  I shuddered as I entered the kitchen and was greeted by a chipper laugh. “Cave life not all you imagined?” Elsie’s bubbly voice asked.

  “Um, no, it’s not that,” I said, catching sight of her next to the stove. Whatever she was making smelled delicious. I walked over to her side. She examined my face more closely.

  “Oh, I see. It’s Trent—you like him, don’t you?” She smiled, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

  “No, definitely not,” I said, my mouth turning down at the memory of the scene I’d just witnessed.

  “He is very good looking, isn’t he?” Elsie said dreamily. “I guess you saw him and Meraki sucking face in the other room? Yeah, I saw it too. Decided it was best to get a head start on breakfast and wait for that to calm down.” She rolled her eyes.

  “No kidding,” I snorted. “So what are you making?” I asked, obviously changing the subject.

  “Oatmeal—nothing fancy. Just wait for dinner though. That’s going to be delish!”

  “Do we eat together around here?”

  “Yes and no. I’m sure Warren will cover all of that in the meeting today. For now, dish yourself up a bowl. I made enough for you, guessing you’re not much of a cook.” Elsie looked at me through narrowed eyes, as if this fact personally offended her.