Dark's Savior (Dark World Mates Book 2) Page 8

  And judging by the past few days, it would take several more weeks than planned to even get the ship off the ground, let alone travel quickly through space.

  Ryziel rubbed his temples, his receptors humming ever so slightly. He hadn't spoken to his brother in nearly a year and a half now as any line of contact between them had been severed and strictly monitored by the Council and the enforcers. The more time that went by, the more he feared his uncle's influence within the First House and his brother's right to rule becoming compromised. Perhaps it was only a false paranoia on his part, but it was a fear like many others. And regardless of any political movement within the city of light, his brother needed support. He needed Ryziel just like Ryziel had needed him in his youth. And the longer he was gone, the more he feared for his brother. Their father had many enemies, regardless of status; and friends—even family—were quick to turn sides when it benefited them. Ryziel could be his brother's guard, a physical manifestation of terror itself, if he had to be to protect him. Even his Night Blade if he so wished it, an assassin and silent enforcer of his brother's vengeance. Just like he had been for their father.

  He knew his brother would never ask him to do the things his father had. He had loathed what his father had made Ryziel do. But if he asked it—asked Ryziel to take out a threat to their family and house—he didn't think he would hesitate.

  But he couldn't help his brother now, and each day their uncle remained with some semblance of power was one day closer to him overthrowing their house and taking what was rightfully Korzien's. If Ryziel didn't get this damn ship going soon, he could be hearing about his brother’s death from some low-life miner. No, he needed to find a faster way to harvest, and, unfortunately that meant telling Nar he might have to stay behind and asking Xilya to come instead. The vrisha was way too big to fit into the areas that Nar could, but together, they could at least get to the minerals that were outside these tight spaces, even if there were less to be found. Meanwhile, they would have to find another way to get to the rest when the time came.

  "You’re sticking here for now, Nar," Ryziel said, turning back to him.

  "Like hell I am!" the little urk protested.

  "You don't have a choice. You will stay at the console instead and work the map, maybe get the tracer to search any of the areas for unknown dens and any threats lurking within. For now, I'm going on alone."

  Nar shook his head as he sat on the edge of a worktable, his metal legs dangling, one more loose than the other. "You'll never get enough done on your own."

  "I may ask Xilya for aid."

  Nar snorted. "She's nearly as big as you. Neither of you can fit—"

  "I know," Ryziel almost snapped, his receptors vibrating a little stronger now. "I know. But she could at least help me with the outer chambers."

  "What are you going to do, then, when the inner ones are all that are left?" Nar asked. "And don't say ask one of my kind for help ‘cause you know they won't. Or they will ask for an outrageous price."

  Ryziel rubbed at his neck and smirked. “I could always wait for one to have its legs chewed off then save them before they get eaten entirely. Then perhaps they will repay me by helping."

  Nar gave him a grimacing stare. "Very funny."

  Ryziel let out a breath. "We will figure it out. Just have the tracer ready for tomorrow, and I will message Xilya. Until she can make it down again, I will go on alone."

  Chapter Ten

  The rain didn't let up this time. Feeling drenched (even if she wasn't thanks to her slipsuit) and weary, Aly worked tirelessly at one of the charging station generators meant to keep drills charged and ready for use. Only it had suddenly decided to stop working, and, by the looks of the bashed-in pieces of metal and ripped sides, she could guess why. She was able to repair one outlet easily, but the rest had her fixing and mending for at least half the day now, and the hours were slipping away fast.

  Groaning and gritting her teeth as she pulled and wrenched at a piece of metal bent and stuck in between another outlet, Aly could see at the corner of her vision pairs of beady red eyes watching her. She tried to ignore the howlers as they climbed and jumped and ran nearby, some electing to perch up on a ledge above to observe her, but when they screamed, it was hard not to flinch.

  Aly cursed them silently, both for wrecking the charging station and for making it more difficult for her to fix it. When she wasn't looking, they would come dangerously close, one even braving to tug at her bag, forcing Aly to keep a tight eye on them while trying to do her job.

  Her shift was over soon anyway, and if she couldn't fix it by that point, then she would just forget it. Braxin could yell all he liked.

  Finally, the metal broke off but not without a lot of effort, causing Aly to stumble backward, splashing into a puddle behind her. Muddy water scuffed her boots and dirtied her suit from ankle to shin. Though she couldn't feel it, she could imagine the feel of the cold mud on her legs, and it made her shiver. She shook each leg as if that would help then went back to the generator, wiping away the wet hair from her brow with her arm.

  Lightning lit up a portion of the ground and the booming thunder followed, igniting a hoot and holler from the deformed monkeys around her as Aly attempted to dissect the generator one outlet at a time. Her techband went off, but she ignored it as she brought out her mender and stuck it into the set of wires before her, sparks flying at her face. She was alone on her current level, the other miners electing to take a break when the drill station went out then electing to move on somewhere else when she took too long in fixing it. Feeling worthless and annoyed, she stubbornly kept at it, even if it was unwise to be alone at that time within the mines.

  It usually didn't bother her. But when her mind started slipping to images of the dead tylian from the day before, she suddenly felt a tad more anxious. She found herself looking to the shadows, jumping every time a howler passed her periphery or lightning lit the cavern. She also couldn't help thinking about seeing a pair of silvery eyes staring back at her in the darkness.

  But no, he wouldn't be here. She wasn't even close to his territory so there was no way. She shouldn't have anything to fear.

  Shouldn't.

  Aly tried her best to concentrate on the work at hand. With the metal piece gone, all that was left was to reset the outlets, pulling back wires and twisting her mender around then shoving wires back in. Pull, twist, shove. Pull, twist, shove.

  She was almost done. She just had one more outlet and the charger should be set. She pulled and mended the last outlet then shut the metal door soundly. She went to one side of the generator and turned on several switches.

  Nothing happened.

  Aly groaned and kicked the generator. She must have missed a wire or two. Feeling really put out, she hit the generator again with her fist.

  "Damn thang!"

  Great. Now her southern drawl was slipping out. This was not her day.

  Aly stepped back for a moment and took a few deep breaths. She took off her hood and placed her hands on her hips, letting the rain fall on her bowed head. She probably should just give up. She would be reprimanded, but what did it matter? She felt miserable and wanted out of this damn rain.

  Aly looked on the generator for a moment longer, thinking maybe she should give it one more go, when something tugged at her leg. She looked around just in time to see a howler run away, glancing back at her with curious eyes.

  Aly turned to face them fully and watched as a few trotted closer to her then paused to sniff at her. All of them seemed to be studying her curiously, and Aly found herself staring back.

  Maybe they weren't so bad. They were just animals, after all, and perhaps some were even friendly. She'd never seen one attack anyone, honestly. Usually they were too skittish.

  "Hey, there little guy," she said softly, crouching down slightly to be more level with them. "You’re just curious, aren't you?"

  A pair of them circled her, and one got close enough that she could almost to
uch it, but she dared not to in case it did bite. Instead, she remained very still so as not to spook them. One tugged at her bag again and another pawed at her leg but nothing more. They did seem rather harmless.

  When the others watching could see she wasn't much of a threat, they slowly padded closer. Carefully, Aly began to stand, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the numbers.

  Friendly but a little too curious as they tugged at her on either side, one even trying to climb up her leg.

  "Yeah, I don't think so," Aly said, laughing nervously. She took a few cautious steps and they followed her.

  Great, she should have just left them alone.

  Aly went to turn her back and start for the elevator car when she nearly tripped over a howler cutting into her path. She stumbled forward and braced herself when another latched onto her arm and tugged. Aly pulled her arm away, and the howler came with it.

  "Hey! Come on, enough!" she shouted as she swung the howler around, who was now latched to her wrist and, to her great horror, pulling off her techband.

  Aly cursed not too politely and went to snatch her hand away, but the howler had a full grip on her band and was slipping it from her wrist. As the band began to loosen and fall from her hand, Aly flung her arm outward, causing the howler to let go and the techband to go flying. It went high then bounced on the edge of a rail before tumbling below.

  Aly froze for a moment, in shock. Numb, yet, to any growing panic. When the panic did finally rear its ugly head, she rushed over to the railing and peered down.

  She let out a little cry; both in relief and despair.

  By some great miracle, her techband had been stopped in its endless fall to the bottom by a large bright-red floater, getting caught in its wiry tentacles. It was a relief to see that it hadn't fallen into darkness only to break somewhere unseen below; what was despairing, however, was that the floater was making its way to the very bottom, likely from the weight of the techband forcing it down.

  She was really screwed this time. As she watched the floater drop farther and farther away, panic welled up higher and higher in her chest.

  "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!" Aly cursed.

  Even if it had been her old techband, she would have still gotten into serious trouble. But this being the very band that had only been given to her a few days ago meant if she lost it, she wasn't just going to the warehouses, she was going somewhere much farther away. Alone.

  Aly cursed some more and began to pace beside the rail. Then she looked down once more and saw the floater was almost out of sight.

  Now, she had two options, and neither were good in any sort of way. She could either let it go and face the consequences—face being taken away to await a punishment she had yet to know. Or she could take the elevator down. Down past level twenty, where she wasn't allowed to go farther. Down past level fifty, where she had been warned never to go again. Then down into the nillium's territory, where awaiting her was nothing short of a swift death, if not by some monstrous creature then by the nillium himself, who had made it very plain he didn't want her there.

  Aly stood there, unable to move, torn between her fear of being ripped away from the others to be placed somewhere somehow worse than Lethe Maws and her fear of the darkness and the nillium waiting in it below.

  When her brain finally started working past the senseless panic, Aly tried to think logically about her options. Obviously, if she didn't try to retrieve it, she wouldn't risk death so that there was a pretty good reason to just go to Braxin and confess she’d lost it. On the other hand, if she did take the risk and did find it down below without anyone catching her, she wouldn't have to face the awful possibility of never seeing her team again, of possibly being locked away. Or worse, like Sarah, who may very well be getting experimented on this very minute.

  So, there could be an option worse than death. So, what did she have to lose if she went down below and tried to get her techband back?

  Unlatching her fingers from the railing, Aly slowly turned her head over to stare at the elevator car only a few yards away.

  If no one caught her. If.

  She thought of the nillium again and of his threat, and her heart began to pound wildly. Her throat tightened and turned dry. Lightning and thunder crashed several more times before she decided to move. She made her way toward the car and hesitated before waving a hand over the scanner. The door opened and Aly stepped inside. She stood thinking for a moment longer before finally pressing the button for the last level. She took a deep breath and held it as the elevator started to move downward.

  The natural and artificial light slipped away, as did the storm above, the rain lessening somewhat, turning into nothing more than a light drizzle as the water was stopped by rock and platforms above only to trickle and cascade the rest of the way down to the bottom. The darkness grew more vast and was only barely fought back by the bulbs along the cave face and the few floaters hovering along each level. As Aly made her way down, she looked for the bright-red floater but feared it had already beaten her to the bottom. The system of rock around her began to warp and change, becoming more smooth and symmetrical, showing the slightest hint of some man-made design.

  When the elevator car finally hit the bottom with a not so graceful thunk, the doors opened, but Aly didn't step out right away. Instead, she peered out, staring into the darkness beyond where few lights could be found, most circling the elevator and a few feet ahead, focusing on the ground like a spotlight.

  Never having set foot at the bottom before, Aly felt like she had just been transported to a whole other world. A world that knew nothing of daylight or the sun. Just endless night.

  She imagined if the underworld were a real place, it would be something like what she was seeing now (or not seeing) and so feeling the uneasiness of being in such thick darkness was no great surprise.

  Because she was a being of the light above, trespassing in this kingdom of night where its god ruled and he didn't much like her at all and she was very much unwelcome.

  But damn if she was going to turn back now. So, she straightened herself up and walked out of the elevator and—

  And rushed right back in, her palm ready to slap a button for any level above. Only the barest amount of courage stayed her hand because something roared in the distance and it sounded huge.

  "It's okay, Aly. You're good, you're cool," she said softly to herself. The roaring grew more distant, until it was nothing more than a dull rumble. Whatever it was seemed to move on. Aly brightened the lights attached to her slipsuit, specifically around her wrists, and pointed her arm out in front of her. The light only pierced a few feet in front but it was enough to at least see where she was walking. Aly took one step then another until she dragged herself away from the elevator car and away from the comforting set of lights around it, setting off into the dark unknown.

  ***

  Aly got lost a few times and had to backtrack until she could see the pinpoint lights of the elevator car. There was no way the floater could have gotten so far in, and yet, she found no trace of it. As she searched, she also got sidetracked a few times by the curious elements she found as she went along. The ground, for instance, was rocky in many parts, but in a few parts, it was actually soft and full of moss. Another curious thing was the set of pillars she happened across. Pillars that supported nothing in particular and were not natural by what she could tell. It seemed to her they were long-lost ruins of some ancient people. But who in their right mind would actually live down here?

  And once she got her mind to wander just like her feet, she found herself lost again and had to once more backtrack the way she had come.

  When she finally set on a path that focused on her true goal, she walked for an impressive amount of time before she finally caught the dullest red light blinking in the distance.

  When she got to the source, she stopped and looked down into a small ditch to see the floater there, ripped down its middle with its wiry tentacles laying everywhere around it
.

  That explained why she hadn't found it right when she came out of the elevator. Because it had been dragged away.

  With a shuddered breath, Aly circled her light around the area but found no movement. Quickly, she climbed down to the floater to search in vain hope for her techband among the debris.

  She turned the bulb of the floater's head aside and saw no band caught in its remaining tentacles. She cursed under her breath then searched around.

  There was nothing. Not even parts of the techband to be found. Aly dropped her shaking hand and felt she needed to sit for a moment and think. As soon as her butt plopped on the ground, she heard the sound of something behind her, and she quickly stood back up.

  For a minute, it sounded like a hyena, with a high-pitched laugh-like call. But there were definitely no hyenas around here, though she wished there were because she would take a hyena over whatever just made that noise. The sound came again, to her left, and she whirled around to face whatever it was. She pointed her hand up and saw something shoot past her light, making her shriek and stumble back.

  The cries of many responded to her own, and, as Aly beamed her light in every direction to catch a source, her light fell onto a creature so vile she gasped.

  It smiled back at her, showing its razor teeth, and Aly screamed.

  Chapter Eleven

  "That's odd," Ryziel heard Nar say behind him as Ryziel dropped the last bit of minerals from his canister bag into the converter tank. Not nearly enough. And he had been at it all day.

  Tired and annoyed, Ryziel dropped his bag and rubbed at his brow. "What is?"

  "An alert just popped up of an intruder nearby." Nar, at the console, brought up a separate map of the surrounding area. "Looks like someone came down and is just aimlessly running around and"—Nar looked closer—"they are going pretty fast. Weird."

  Ryziel didn't bother to look over at the map that Nar was studying. Every so often, a miner somehow found their way down below and were stupid enough to go exploring around, only to meet their death. Many, if not most, of those on Lethe thought it was him, but it was never the case, though he allowed rumors to fly in hopes it would be a warning to others. Some, it seemed, still didn't bother to listen, but the sluths would get to them before they even had a chance to find his lair, so it didn't matter much anyway.