Ranelle rushed to finish up Gideon's dressing as her stomach was churning painfully from hunger. After she replaced the medical supplies into their satchel, she gratefully accepted a handful of dried mushrooms, plopping one into her mouth and savoring the rich flavor. The teenagers enjoyed their lunch while speculating how a boat had gotten to the beach in the first place.
“What I can't understand is how have the elders have missed all of this?” said Charlie after swallowing a mouthful of mushrooms. “Why haven't they come down here and explored?”
Ranelle and Lara nodded as they ate.
“What if the elders do know about it?” asked Ranelle, pausing to look at the others. “What if they already know that all of this exists but have chosen not to tell anyone?”
“How is that even possible?” asked Lara, eyes wide. “How could they know? How could they just waste all of the space and resources down here?”
Ranelle shook her head slowly as she stared blankly ahead. All she could think about was the lock on the door of station two, and the key that fit it. She slowly raised a hand and placed it on her chest, feeling the cool touch of the delicate key against her bare skin beneath her tunic.
“Ranelle?”
Hearing her name brought back her attention.
“What?” she said, looking back and forth at Charlie and Lara. There were identical looks of surprise on both of their faces.
“Gideon!” they said in unison, coming up onto their knees in surprise.
Immediately dropping her gaze downward to look at him, to her surprise, Gideon was staring straight back up at her.
Ranelle gasped, trying to think of something to say, but no words came.
“Ra...nell...” came his weak voice from between dry lips. Gideon blinked his eyes wearily, as if the effort of merely being awake was incredibly taxing.
“I'm here,” she whispered, bending over, bringing her face down close to his.
Gideon closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before he opened them again, concentrating hard on Ranelle's face. His lips parted and whispered to her, his voice rough and crackling, “forgive me.”
Ranelle opened her mouth to respond, but ultimately, the effort to stay awake grew too taxing. Gideon's eyes slid out of focus, his eyelids drooping slowly. Finally, his breath began to deepen as he drifted back to sleep.
Clasping his hands in hers while tears leaked down her face, she sniffed, trying to fight back the storm of emotions that threatened to break free. Trying to calm herself, she wiped her face on the back of her sleeve, then crossed Gideon's hands over his chest peacefully. Ranelle forced herself to sit back down, even though all she wanted to do was to lay and hold him till he woke again.
“Are you okay?” Lara asked as she approached Ranelle, worried for her.
She nodded, grateful for Lara’s concern.
“Why don't you help Charlie with the pyrus, and I’ll watch over him,” Lara suggested, motioning toward Gideon.
Ranelle stared ahead stupidly, her mind blank. Her stomach was hurting as she watched Gideon's chest rise and fall. She couldn't help but worry about him. The feeling she’d had while Gideon was gone, like she was never going to see him again, still hadn't gone away. Even though she’d found him, the overwhelming sense of dread in the pit of her stomach refused to leave her.
“Ranelle?” Lara said, more firmly this time.
Ranelle looked up in response, blinking as if she’d just woken from a nap. Nodding, she got to her feet gradually, crossing the small cave with Charlie. When she had settled herself, she pulled a handful of tendrils toward her as Charlie did the same, grabbing a bunch and placing them in front of himself on the cave floor.
Lara took a seat next to the unconscious teenager, leaning forward and dabbing his forehead with a cool cloth.
Feeling confident that Gideon was well looked after, Ranelle pulled two knives from a satchel, handing one to Charlie and taking the other firmly into her own hand. Carefully, she laid out one of the bloom tendrils as flat as she could, pressing her knife deftly and slicing up the center of the stem. As the knife-blade sunk beneath the skin of the plant, pyrus immediately began seeping out. When she reached the end of the tendril, she took the knife, running the back edge of the blade down the stalk. While she scraped, fresh pyrus poured out from within the plant’s flesh, flowing into the dish that Charlie had set between the two of them.
Charlie watched as Ranelle skillfully produced a thick layer of pyrus into the dish in a matter of a few seconds. Even though he lacked the same amount of skill as her, Charlie managed to keep up as the two of them processed the tendrils with ease, slowly filling the dish.
As they topped off the first bowl, the pyrus shone brightly, a mix of gold and blue hues swirling like lost lovers.
“I’ve never noticed the different shades before,” Charlie said, his eyes wide as he watched the colors whirl inside the container.
“That’s because it’s well mixed by the time it gets to the lamps,” Lara spoke up.
Ranelle and Charlie glanced in her direction with interest as she adjusted the blanket that was cushioning Gideon’s head.
“I had to help refill all the lamps in the avenues before I was assigned, and I overheard some suppliers say that pyrus is actually a combination of two oils. The oils mix when they are harvested. Each is weak on its own, but when they are combined, the properties change somehow, and the mixture is much heartier.”
The teenagers nodded, gazing back down at the swirls of color within the bowl until Ranelle lifted the container, pouring the contents into the water bladder as Charlie held it out towards her steadily.
They completed this process several more times. Each time the dish was full, Charlie would help as Ranelle carefully emptied the contents into the bladder. It took many tendrils to get the oil they needed, but luckily Ranelle had brought back plenty.
After the dish was emptied for the last time, Charlie was left holding a nicely plump bladder of pyrus. In addition to the fuel, they also had a full pile of cut bloom tendrils left over.
“What should we do with the spent bloom?” asked Charlie, eying the pile with apprehension.
“Oh, that one’s easy,” Ranelle replied with a rare smile. She was feeling a bit more like herself after finishing their task. Climbing to her feet, she brushed the cave dirt from her bottom, then bent over to grab a handful of tendrils.
She then walked over to the pyrus stove and threw the empty bloom onto the fire. The tendrils immediately began to sizzle and snap, turning the flames several different colors.
“Oh, how lovely!” Lara said, the colors of the flames were reflected in her eyes as she watched the bloom burn, an expression of peace on her face.
“The excess pyrus inside the tendrils, plus the plant fibers inside, burn all different colors. I've heard that the spent tendril fires across the burrows used to be quite impressive,” Ranelle said, leaving Charlie to settle on his bedroll as she took her place next to Gideon.
On her way past the pyrus stove, she dropped the rest of the spent tendrils onto the stone floor by its base so that roots could be added to the fire more easily.
“I thought bloom tendrils were scarce?” asked Charlie, his forehead wrinkling as he thought about it. “I heard miners saying all the pyrus over the last cycle came from pyromite processing!”
Ranelle nodded. Sitting on her bedroll, she pulled her knees up to her chest and crossed her arms over them. “I think that's why those fires were so memorable. It's been a few cycles, if I remember right, since they’ve found enough tendrils to warrant a fire.
Lara gazed into the flames with a sad look. “Things all over Alysium seem to be changing,” she said with quiet reflection.
“Mmm,” Ranelle murmured in agreement.
Lara was right; things were changing for the worse in every burrow. Less and less fish were being pulled from the Surge with each new cycle. The stockpiles of wood had been depleted. Even bloom roots were nearly impossible to
find.
“Someone has access to new resources, though,” Charlie commented, his eyebrows raised.
Both girls nodded.
Ranelle had to admit that the clothing she’d found in station two was unlike anything she’d ever worn before. It didn't make her itch, and the fabric was soft and supple. This was very different from the recycled outfits that she, as well as every other child in Alysium, was forced to wear growing up.
“You don't think that the privileged have been keeping resources from the rest of us, do you?” Lara asked quietly, glancing over toward Gideon, who still lay unconscious and unaware.
Ranelle considered her question for a moment, looking down at the young man she’d grown to love, watching his eyelids twitch as he slept.
Gideon would never do that.
Charlie could sense the struggle within Ranelle's current train of thought. “He isn't the only privileged person in our burrow, Ranelle. I'm sure she wasn’t suggesting Gideon.”
“Oh no,” said Lara, momentarily caught off guard from embarrassment. “I didn't mean him specifically.”
Ranelle knew what they meant. Gideon wasn't the only privileged, but he was one of them.
“His key did fit the station door,” said Charlie slowly, his brow furrowed.
“Wait, I thought the consensus was that Gideon wouldn't be involved in something like that?” Ranelle spat with rising irritation.
“We aren't pointing fingers at him, but even you have to admit that it all seems rather convenient,” Charlie offered in defense.
Lara nodded.
Ranelle fumed. She couldn't believe they were suggesting that Gideon could be involved in any way. She had talked with him at length about the oddities that had been occurring since the cave-in. He never appeared any more aware than the rest of them.
Searching her memory for anything that he’d done that could be taken as suspicious or dishonest, she came down to only one thought.
Why did he leave with Abree?
It had been the only decision he’d made since the cave-in that she hadn't understood. Ranelle still couldn’t fathom what his motivation could have been by leaving the rest of them behind.
Maybe the privileged knew something was down here, and Gideon didn't want us to find it.
Ranelle couldn't believe her own thoughts. Was she seriously suspicious of the person that had brought them all so far from where they’d first started?
No.
“This is Gideon here, guys,” Ranelle said with renewed determination, “you really think Gideon could have been part of anything happening down here?”
The others exchanged pained looks while Ranelle continued her scolding.
“How can you think his intention was anything less than getting us out of here alive and in one piece?” she asked, eyes narrowed.
Charlie glanced down at the cave floor, placing his hands in his lap like a chastised child as Lara followed suit, unwilling to look Ranelle in the eye. Ranelle’s harsh words had incited the exact emotional response she’d counted on.
“You're right,” Lara murmured with resignation as she fidgeted with her hands, “I guess this place is just bringing our fears to light.”
Ranelle remained aggravated as she turned away.
“When do you think we can get moving again?” asked Charlie, trying to change the conversation away from its current downward track.
Ranelle sighed, looking down at her sleeping companion, his chest slowly rising and falling with each steady breath. “At this point, I'm just hoping he wakes at all.” She was tired of all the questions. She was tired of needing to have all the answers.
Lara and Charlie exchanged worried looks, but Ranelle didn't care.
“I'm going to bed,” she stated, realizing that at that moment, her need for rest was sudden and overwhelming. She’d simply used all the energy she had left. After struggling the last few days, weeks even–Ranelle had lost track of how many days it had been since the cave-in–now, she just needed to rest.
The other two watched in silence as she retreated to her bedroll. Nestling down next to Gideon, she immediately took comfort from his warmth as she turned toward him, curling her body, pulling her legs under her bum to warm them. Reaching out, Ranelle then pulled the blanket that she’d laid over Gideon earlier, up over the two of them. Letting her tired body relax, muscle by muscle, she eventually felt the full weight of her body supported comfortably by her sleeping pad. As her eyes grew heavy, she had a hard time keeping them open. Unconcerned with the others, she focused simply on the rise and fall of Gideon's chest. His breathing was steady, which gave her hope. She naturally slowed her breathing to match his.
Rise and fall.
Breathe in, breathe out.
After a few minutes, her drooping eyelids gave in to the growing pressure. As they finally closed, a sigh escaped from between her lips. Even in sleep, her physical proximity to Gideon did much to calm her anxiety as she enjoyed the best rest she’d gotten on their trek so far.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mayge hurried along the empty avenue, her plump frame nearly dwarfing that of her assistant’s as she walked behind her. If not for her taller stature and short spikey hair, no one would have paid Ulenna any attention, even on the avenue to the Grotto. Since all the miners had been called to work, however, the tunnel was blissfully empty on their way through it.
“Not too long now,” sputtered the rotund woman as her forehead began to glisten from the effort of their hurried pace.
“Where are we going?” asked Ulenna as they neared the end of the avenue, however, her elder didn’t answer. Mayge simply continued on her way, walking quickly, as if she’d traversed this route many times before. Pressing on, their footsteps were silenced by a thin layer of sand on the floor of the high stone tunnel. Passing the last of the massive stone pillars that illuminated the avenue, Ulenna appreciated the large metal dish sitting on top of the pedestal, which held a flaming pool of pyrus. She imagined how difficult it must be for pyrus lighters to refill and light each of the more than two hundred pillars that lit the path all the way from Ashbourne to the Grotto.
What a waste; all this light and only the two of us to use it.
Ulenna glanced over her shoulder, observing the endless line of lamps they’d already passed. Each blazed on, illuminating the two-mile journey they’d taken from Ashbourne.
As the two emerged from the avenue onto the main street of the Grotto, Ulenna was overwhelmed by the activity she witnessed. Falling in step behind her mistress, she followed along excitedly as they joined the throng of people moving amongst the streets. They passed by many shop stalls selling small homemade trinkets or commodities that were scarce in other cities.
As they passed by a small stall, Ulenna’s attention was immediately drawn to a collection of brightly colored shells. Slipping away from her Mistress, she approached the display, looking down at a large blue shell that had been decorated with delicate strokes of white paint. The other, smaller items on the tray were also beautiful, however Ulenna had never seen details as intricate as on the giant blue shell before her.
“It’s breathtaking,” Ulenna said as the stall owner approached her with a smile. The woman was many cycles her senior, with light brown ringlets pulled back into a loose bun. The woman’s eyes were dark and welcoming.
“Thank you, dear,” said the shop owner kindly, “that one was tricky, she didn’t want to stay still.”
Ulenna leaned in closer, unsure if she’d heard the woman correctly. “Did you say she wouldn’t stay still?”
The woman nodded.
Ulenna frowned, unsure of her meaning. She glanced down to reexamine the shell again, but it wasn’t where it had been. This time, it was to the far right of the colored shell display.
Ulenna blinked, confused.
“Let me guess, you’re from Ashbourne, aren’t you?”
“How’d you know?”
“Ashbourne’s the only burrow that doesn’t h
ave hermits.”
Ulenna was getting flustered. “What are hermits?”
The lady simply smiled, then leaned forward, plucking an ant from off the ground and dropping it neatly onto the tray of shells. Suddenly, spiny legs erupted from within each colorful shell.
“Ahh,” Ulenna bellowed, jumping backward as each shell literally sprouted legs and began scurrying around after the ant.
The stall owner laughed, which startled Ulenna as it was a deep and guttural sound that came from her belly.
“Hello, Tess.”
Ulenna jumped again as a voice spoke from behind her. She turned to find her mistress standing with her hands on her hips, a soft smile on her face.
“Hello, Mayge,” said the stall owner, her smile immediately fading. She stood appraising the woman with a look of deep disappointment for a moment until she sighed.
Ulenna watched as the woman began collecting her wares into a satchel, pulling her fabric awning down over the stall, effectively closing her shop. She slung her bag over her shoulder and looked at Mayge expectantly.
Mayge nodded to the woman and said, “the others?”
The shopkeeper’s smile slowly returned as she said, “They’ll join us there.”
Mayge gave another nod. Stepping to the side, she motioned for the shopkeeper to lead the way. Ulenna then watched curiously as the shop owner took the lead with Mayge falling in line behind her. Both women headed off, moving at a good clip, so Ulenna did the only thing she could do…hurry along behind them, having no idea what was going on or where they were heading.
Without discussion, the three women made their way through the shopping hub, zigzagging through the stalls. As they proceeded, many of the vendors called out to them, trying to entice paying customers as they walked by.
Alysium Page 21