The rax out of darkness, p.21
The Rax, Out of Darkness, page 21
Molli opened her mouth and closed it again.
“Well, I have,” Katrina continued. “It kept me up all night. I went for a walk to clear my head. But it didn’t matter how far I went, I just couldn’t let it go.”
Tael put a hand on Katrina’s shoulder. “Look, no one thinks you were up to something.”
Tael scowled at Molli and Quince to elicit their agreement. Neither of them gave it.
“We all trust you. I trust you, if it means anything,” Tael said. “We were just worried, that’s all.”
Katrina gave him a noncommittal nod.
“We should probably get going,” Tael said, hoping to change the subject. “Is your old camp much further?”
“Half a day at most.” Katrina let out an exhausted sigh. “Maybe less, if Devon drives us the way he did yesterday.”
Tael let out a sigh of his own. “Part of me wouldn’t mind taking a whole day to get there.”
“Yeah,” Quince agreed. “The sane part. But I’m pretty sure we won’t get that lucky.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“I’m telling you, we’ve looked everywhere.” Katrina threw her arms out in exhaustion. The group had trudged through the hot sun and made it to Katrina’s old camp in record time. They had searched the area as soon as they arrived, and it soon became apparent that finding ElRi’s hidden item would prove harder than they had thought.
“I grew up here. There are no other caves, no hidden passages, no secret doors. I know this canyon like the back of my hand. If there were something here, I would know it.”
Tael ran his hands along a huge the rocky spire, feeling around every bump and crevice, searching for anything out of place.
“We have to keep looking.” Tael’s voice took on more of an edge than he intended. “We didn’t come all this way just to give up.”
Katrina’s childhood home was located in a geological formation that acted more like a basin than a canyon. From a distance, the hidden settlement looked like a steep cliff mesa jutting out of the plains. Once they got closer, however, Katrina showed them the secret passage inside.
Instead of a barren tabletop, the mesa harbored a hidden, hollowed out bowl. From the inside, steep walls sloped to the top on every side. In the center, a huge rock spire watched over the arid ground below. Two man-made rivers diverted rainwater away from the camp. The parched fingers formed a V around the settlement and then joined together to skirt around the spire on one side.
Like all life in this place, the river had run dry. Crude rock walls mortared with mud jutted from the ground like broken teeth, marking the location of the settlement. Only ruins remained. The rest had been leveled in true Raxion fashion.
Katrina kept her eyes to the ground. Tael realized that seeing her old home must be difficult. He reached out to touch her shoulder and felt her tension.
“Why don’t you take a break?” he said. “I’ll keep looking. If you think of anything else, give me a shout.”
Katrina nodded, still not lifting her eyes. The Rax had taken so much from them all. Tael couldn’t blame her for not wanting to relive it.
Wind whipped through the dry valley and spit sand into Tael’s face. He closed his eyes to stop the sting but still saw the rest of his friends coming toward him through his echo locators. They looked anything but triumphant. Devon and Mikhail led the group, turning their heads away from the sudden gust. Molli followed with Quince and Beckett, holding her hands out in defeat.
“We couldn’t find anything,” Molli said. “We should have thought this through before we came. I didn’t picture this place as being so big. We could spend months digging and searching and never find anything.”
Tael sighed. The others moved into a kind of huddle around him.
“I know it looks impossible,” Tael said, “but we have to keep trying.”
“We don’t even know what we’re looking for,” Beckett said. “ElRi didn’t exactly paint clues on the wall.”
“All right,” Devon said. “There’s no use in quibbling. We’re all tired. Let’s take a break. We have enough rations to stay for a day or two. Let’s set up camp over there.” He pointed toward an overhang not far from the spire. “Everything will look better on a full belly.”
“Sounds good to me.” Beckett turned to head for the inviting shade.
Quince watched him walk past and followed with a huff. Molli, Mikhail, and the guards went as well, but Devon stayed with Tael.
“We will stay as long as we can,” Devon said. “But the others are right, there’s a lot of ground to cover and precious little time. If we don’t come up with an idea quick, we will have come all this way for nothing.”
Tael nodded. “I’m going to keep looking. I’ll join you in a bit.”
Devon glanced at the others. “Don’t be long.” He turned to follow the rest of the group toward the shade of the overhang.
“What’s in here?” Tael took a few steps back and looked at a slot cut into the spire. It reached all the way to the top and led deep into the spire’s dark interior.
“Quince and I already checked in here and didn’t find anything. But when we lived here, we used it as a defensive position.” Katrina pushed her weight away from the wall and walked into the narrow opening.
Tael followed. He craned his neck upward to look at the beautiful formations that rain had carved into the rock. Nature was unforgiving, but it also wielded the brush of a gifted artist.
“The crack goes all the way to the front and fingers out in a couple of different directions,” Katrina said. “There are a few open fissures where the rock wall faces the entrance to the canyon. Rock doesn’t stop The Fear though. We might as well have been hiding behind tissue paper for all the good it did.”
Katrina smacked a hand against the wall as she wound her way through the crooked corridor. They came to a dead end. Katrina moved to a small opening, tracing it absently with her fingers.
“My brother was here, on watch, when the Rax arrived. They waltzed right past him and into the camp. When they finished destroying the settlement … he never stood a chance. Turns out this spire was nothing but a big coffin. My brother just didn’t know it.”
Katrina leaned back on the wall. A tear threatened to run down her face, but she batted it away.
Tael stood opposite her with his back to the wall. He wanted to tell her he was sorry, but the words seemed too small. Instead, he stood in silence, mourning Katrina’s loss.
Wind whistled through the crevice. Tael ran his hand along the rough wall behind him. It felt cold and sharp, and somehow warm at the same time. Tael lifted his head. Not warm, exactly, but inviting—almost familiar.
He spun to face the wall. He had become so used to using his echo locator that it hadn’t occurred to him to search with his other senses—including the unusual one that allowed him to find lithium. It was there—a pure, dense deposit right under his hand.
“What’s wrong?” Katrina stood behind him, looking at the rock.
“Something’s here.” With eyes closed, Tael ran his hand over the rock, tracing the crescent-shaped pocket of lithium with his hand. “It’s odd, not natural. Like someone put it here. It’s almost like …”
He reached down and touched the medallion around his neck. He ran his fingers along its edge, then leaned forward and touched the metal to the matching shape he sensed in the wall. When the necklace made contact, something cracked within the rock. A faint shower of sand rained down on him from above. Tael looked up and saw the outline of an expertly hidden compartment in the wall above his head.
His hand shook as he reached for it.
Katrina clamped down on his arm and pulled it away.
“Well, well, what have we here?” asked a voice behind them. “Two lovebirds sneaking away for a rendezvous?”
Lady Sowrin’s cold voice raised gooseflesh on Tael’s arms.
“And I thought you fancied Molli. She will be so disappointed.”
Chapter Forty
Tael drew the long knife he had salvaged from the battle with the bandits and took a step toward Sowrin.
“Let’s not be hasty, Tael,” Lady Sowrin cooed. “You’re young and naive, but even you aren’t stupid enough to believe I would come alone.”
She paused and let the statement stir in his mind before she continued. “My Raxion companions are holding your party captive. If you cooperate, no harm will come to your friends. We will set them free, and you will be given asylum. All you have to do is turn the object over to me.”
Hearing Sowrin name the Rax as her companions filled him with cold rage. He remained in his fighter’s stance but did not move to engage her. She was probably telling the truth. She couldn’t have entered the cave without Devon and the others spotting her, and since Tael had heard no alarm, his friends were almost certainly Raxion captives.
“How did you find us?” Tael asked, hoping the question would buy him time to think. “No one knew where we were going.”
Sowrin’s lips drew into a thin smile. “Not everyone in your group is as short-sighted as you.” Sowrin’s eyes shifted to Katrina, and her smile grew into a toothy grin. “We’ve known of your plans from the beginning. It would have been simpler to reach an arrangement back at the mine, but this has worked out just as well. A more reasonable member of your party kept us informed of your whereabouts. All we had to do was follow the trail.”
Tael looked at Katrina. She stared at him, wide-eyed, shaking her head in panicked little jerks.
“I swear to you, Tael, I didn’t tell her anything.” Katrina’s voice wavered with fear. “I mean, yes, I told her about ElRi and the disk, but that was all. I never told her where we were going.”
Katrina’s head jerked back toward Sowrin. “She’s lying. It’s what she does. It’s what she’s done ever since she started whoring herself out to the Rax.”
Sowrin brushed the vile accusation away with a backhanded wave. “Katrina, there’s no need to continue this charade. In fact, you should both be grateful. Without our Raxion snipers, those bandits would have destroyed you in the wasteland. You wouldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds against them.” Sowrin shifted her attention back to Tael and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you’d figure it out when Katrina disappeared last night, but I guess you’re just as gullible as your keeper suggested. You remember General Salric, don’t you? He’s waiting for you just outside.”
Tael felt his face flush with anger as he turned to Katrina. “You said you went for a walk.”
“I did!” Katrina’s voice came out just shy of a scream. “She’s lying. I never spoke to her after we broke out of that cell, I swear.”
Tael’s shifted his eyes to Sowrin, seeking the lie in her face. He couldn’t find it. He didn’t know who to believe.
Sowrin’s story made sense. Katrina’s disappearance didn’t.
“I do have something to offer you in exchange,” Lady Sowrin said, breaking his train of thought. “After all, you have gone to so much trouble, your efforts should be rewarded.”
Sowrin slipped her right hand into a pocket and pulled out a small, black device. “This is just for you, Tael. It can provide you with something you have longed for. Something you have wanted for a very long time.”
Tael looked at the little, black box in her hand and shook his head.
“Don’t be so hasty,” Sowrin warned. “Would I offer a worthless trinket for something as powerful as the item you’ve discovered?”
“I doubt you would offer anything else, you …”
Katrina’s voice was cut off by Sowrin’s sharp-witted laughter.
“Perhaps you’re right, but I want that item.” Sowrin tossed the small box to the ground at Tael’s feet. Her face turned cold and serious. “The object belongs to me. I earned it through years of cowing to the Raxions and to ElRi’s pathetic programming. Now tell me where it is.”
Tael thought of the open compartment behind him. Katrina knew the object was there. If she gave it away, everything would be lost.
Tael gripped the knife in his hand. Katrina began to turn. Tael had only a second to decide.
If he went after Sowrin, he left his back exposed to Katrina. She had left her weapon outside, but Katrina had the skill to knock him unconscious with little effort. She needed only a loose rock and an opportunity.
Tael lunged. An explosion shook the ground and pulled him up short. Dirt and sand rained down on them from above. Tael took a step back, trying to process what was going on. Another explosion, this time much closer. The noise echoed through the cave, causing Tael’s ears to ache and ring.
Sowrin’s eyes darted back and forth. Her calm demeanor vanished. She stood half crouched, as if trying to decide which way to run.
Movement to his side caught Tael’s attention. Katrina hit him hard and grabbed for his wrist. Tael’s arm twisted back at a painful angle as she pinched the tendons just under the surface. Numbing pain lanced through Tael’s hand. His fingers went slack, and the weapon tumbled free.
In one deft move, Katrina snatched the dagger out of the air. She reversed her grip on the knife and turned toward Sowrin.
“She’s mine!” Katrina said. “Take care of your business. I’ll deal with her.”
Sowrin’s stance did not change, but her focus did. Katrina’s challenge transformed Lady Sowrin’s face into a mask of calculating anger. Outside, screams of terror and wails of desperation filled the air. Their friends were in the grips of The Fear.
As if in answer to their cries, Sowrin circled to place her body between Katrina and the exit as she produced an elegant blade from her sleeve.
Another explosion, then a gravelly voice bellowed orders outside the spire.
“Focus your fire on that mortar site. Target the ridge. Flush the bandits out of the rocks.”
“Go!” Katrina screamed, then plunged her blade in a powerful downward arc, aiming it straight toward Sowrin’s heart.
Chapter Forty-One
Lady Sowrin parried Katrina’s attack with more experience and grace than Tael expected. She appeared to be a woman of fragile elegance, but her wicked expression revealed something twisted, arrogant, and ugly. She circled Katrina like a creeping spider, dancing around her blade. Sowrin distracted Katrina with a flourish of arms, and then launched a counter strike of her own.
A stone jutting out of the ground caught Katrina’s foot, throwing her off balance. It was the only thing that saved her life. Sowrin’s swing arced high as Katrina went down and tucked into a forward roll. She sprang to her feet behind Sowrin and took a defensive stance, more wary now that she had seen the woman’s skill.
Tael watched, mesmerized by the deadly dance. Both women feigned attacks, sizing up the other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Sowrin lunged.
Katrina parried.
Neither fell for the distraction again.
“Are you just going to stand there gawking, or are you going to do something?” Katrina intended the goading statement at Sowrin, but the hidden compartment flashed into Tael’s mind. Lady Sowrin now faced the exit. She wouldn’t be able to see what he was doing.
Suddenly, Katrina’s inept attack did not seem so inept. She had fallen on purpose to pull Sowrin’s eyes away from him.
Tael spun with silent resolve, rushing to the wall. The stone remained askew, barely visible above his head. With a wavering hand, he reached for the opening. Desperate fingers worked at the stone’s thin edge, trying to pull it free. It moved a fraction, giving Tael a tenuous grip on the corner.
Behind him, Sowrin let out a scream.
Katrina’s laugh echoed off the walls. “That was just an ear,” Katrina hissed. “When I’m done, you’ll look like the sick monster you are.”
Feet shuffled, sending gravel crackling across the ground.
“They’ll have to bury you face down,” Katrina taunted. “Even that’s more than you deserve.”
Sowrin growled and lunged again.
Another explosion rocked the cave, and Tael choked on the falling dust. Wails of terror continued to flood the air, and over them, Tael could hear the menacing voice of General Salric. So much was happening so fast, and he had little power to stop any of it.
Tael jerked the stone out of the way and dropped it to the floor. There was no more time. He had to find the object and figure out how to use it, or they were all going to die.
He shoved his hand into the small opening, frantic to latch onto anything inside.
The compartment was empty.
Tael’s body quaked with disbelief. He pushed his hand in further, flailing his fingers, but found only empty air. Sharp rocks cut into his skin as he wedged his arm in as far as he could.
Tael pushed up onto the wall with his toes and used his leg to lever against a tiny ledge of rock. The added height gave him a few precious inches. Tael thrust his arm into the hole as far as his shoulder, groping for the end of the breach. It was deep, much longer than it was wide.
Tael stretched farther. The tips of his fingers touched something. He tried to reach it again, but his clumsy effort pushed it further away.
His joints shrieked in painful defiance, but Tael ignored them. He jumped and shoved his hand in further. All of his weight rested on his strained shoulder. He kicked his feet against the wall, seeking leverage. Agony shot through his neck and down his arm as something in his shoulder gave way. Tael bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming. His feet found traction, and he made a final grab for the item before gravity pulled his arm out of the hole and he fell to the floor.
Blood ran down Tael’s hand and onto the long staff he now held. Strange, flowing runes were carved into its ornate surface. Tael thought the language seemed familiar, but he could not understand it. The staff’s surface shined with youth, rather than the dry, brittle death one would expect from something hidden for years in a desolate wasteland. The wood was green and alive; full of vitality.
