CHAPTER 5 The Ruptured Abyss
825 Words
"You walk quietly for a prince," Lyra remarked, her hand resting loosely on her knife hilt.
"Most nobles you have seen are Solarians," Kaelen replied, his pale left eye glowing in the dark tunnel. "The Lunar Court learned long ago that the earth owes us nothing."
"A humble royal," Lyra mused. "Now I've seen everything."
"Quiet," Kaelen warned, stopping abruptly. "Do you smell that?"
Lyra flared her nostrils. "Sulfur. Hot copper. And rotting earth."
Ten paces ahead, the tunnel vanished into a massive subterranean ravine. At the bottom, a glowing river of crimson sludge boiled, sending up thick ribbons of heat. A single, rusted iron chain was the only bridge across the forty-foot drop.
"That metal is completely pitted with rust," Lyra said, kneeling at the edge. "It might hold a ghost. It won't hold a man carrying a heavy sword and a century of bad luck."
"I am lighter than I look," Kaelen countered. "But look at the heat haze rising from the sludge. It is highly toxic."
Before he could finish, a violent cough ripped through his chest. He turned away, hiding his mouth with his glove. Lyra caught the faint smear of iridescent blood on the leather.
"I go first," Lyra declared, tying her rope around a stone mooring post and looping the other end around her waist.
"Lyra, wait—"
"If the cable snaps, do not try to catch me with your bare hands," she ordered, staring him down. "The momentum will pull you in. Use the post."
"I will not let you drop into the red."
"Just follow my orders, Your Highness," she muttered.
Lyra grabbed the burning hot iron chain and swung out over the abyss. The toxic air suffocated her, but she moved hand-over-hand with rapid speed. Halfway across, the chain groaned. Red rust rained down into the sludge, hissing violently.
"Keep moving!" Kaelen shouted. "Do not linger!"
She kicked off the empty air, hauled herself onto the far stone pier, and quickly tied her rope to the post on her side.
"The line is secure!" Lyra yelled across the hazy chasm. "Your turn! Move fast, or you'll choke!"
Kaelen gripped the chain. He was heavier, and the rusted iron shrieked under his weight. He moved steadily, but the toxic fumes triggered the Moon-blight in his blood. Ten feet from safety, his strength failed.
"The fumes..." Kaelen gasped, his fingers slipping off the iron.
"Kaelen!" Lyra screamed.
He swung wildly over the boiling red sludge, his left hand losing its grip entirely.
Lyra threw herself flat onto the stone edge, stretching her arm into the empty space. "Reach!"
Kaelen thrust his right hand upward. Lyra grabbed his wrist. The moment her bare fingers locked onto him, her constellation scar flared bright blue. A surge of clean energy shot between them, snapping Kaelen's eyes open.
"Pull!" Lyra grunted, hauling with all her strength.
Kaelen drove his boots against the stone wall, and together, they tumbled onto the solid tunnel floor. They lay side by side in the dark, gasping for air.
"You're heavy," Lyra panted, refusing to let go of his arm immediately.
"And you have a stubborn grip, maiden," Kaelen whispered, looking at her face in the dim light. "For someone who travels light, you refuse to drop dead weight."
"Next time, I'll let you fall," she snapped, pulling her hand back and sitting up.
An hour later, they sat in a freezing, dry alcove. Lyra divided their rations, handing Kaelen his share. She noticed his right hand shaking—a tremor he quickly tried to hide against his knee.
She stared at him for a moment. Then, she tossed an extra strip of salted meat and her water skin at his boots.
"Eat," she ordered.
"This is your share," Kaelen noted.
"You're no good to me if you faint on the trail tomorrow."
"You show kindness strangely, Lyra."
"It's not kindness," her voice went flat. "It's math. A dead partner carries no weight. Eat your food and stop analyzing me."
"Your math is appreciated, Ash Queen," Kaelen murmured softly.
They ate in silence. For the first time in a century of exile, the crushing weight on Kaelen's shoulders felt just a fraction lighter.
By dawn, they stepped out of the tunnel onto a high cliffside. The ash storm had cleared, revealing a jagged valley under a pale sky.
"The exit," Lyra breathed, pointing to the distant black spires. "There. The Whispering Ridge. My contact should be in that camp."
"Look closer, Lyra," Kaelen said, his voice turning cold.
Lyra squinted at the distant peaks. "Crimson signal fires..."
"Solarian war-beacons," Kaelen confirmed, drawing his longsword. "Look at the black lines moving across the ash drifts."
"They're encircling the valley. They're trapping the camp," Lyra whispered, her hand dropping to her knife.
"They are trapping us," Kaelen corrected, stepping in front of her. "The journey to the ridge is over, Lyra. The war has found us."
~~~
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD