Crais (6 page)

“Don’t tell me what to do, Lucas
. I’ll risk my life in whatever way I feel fit at the time. You don’t get any say in the matter.” I looked at my white suit, which was tattered, with burn holes scattered along its shiny surface.

I owed my father thanks for this outfit
. It seemed to have protected me from an all-over scorching.

Lucas
straightened then, his normally jovial features hardening.

“
You might not care how I feel, but you have a responsibility to every person on the seven worlds, Abigail. So maybe you do need to think of others before making stupid-ass decisions.”

I gave him one last look before turning my head away,
determined to ignore him. Although his damn words kept running through my mind. Sometimes I forgot this massive mantle of responsibility that had been dropped in my lap. But forgetting wouldn’t change the truth.

“Tell me what happened?” I looked
from Lucy to Talina. “Where are we?”

“Still on Crais, under the ground where the people live.”
Talina shifted uncomfortably.

S
he looked less pink, more pale than usual, and her emerald hair was dull, hanging in lifeless strands down her back.

“Are you okay, Talli?” I hadn’t seen her looking
this frazzled since the day Raror had died.

She nodded, her
gesture conveying immense exhaustion. “Yeah, it’s just the lack of moisture in the air here; it won’t kill me, but it’s very uncomfortable.” She looked around. “The man has gone for more of the water. I’ll feel much better after a splash or two.”

“He saved us
,” Lucy piped up. “Well, you and he both saved us. You dropped the shield to shoot energy at the dragon thing. But you only dropped it from yourself. Lucky we were in the shade or you’d have been instantly incinerated.”

I
must have acted on instinct because I was sure that my intention hadn’t been to drop the shield at all.

“Was it the man that we chased to the cliffs?”

Lucy nodded. “Yep, he must have been watching us, and when you hit the ground he jumped back out and dragged us all inside this weird folding rock.”

Talina added in her quiet tones
, “We’d have never found the entrance on our own. They have them cleverly disguised.”

“What happened to the dragon?” I doubt
ed my little burst of energy had killed it.

“You must have shocked it with
your blue electrical charge. It flew off and was circling up high when we were dragged to safety,” Talina said.

I took a moment to observe my surroundings.
We were definitely underground; and although it was much cooler than the surface it was still quite stifling. There was very dim lighting, and it took me some time to find the small lichen-type creatures hanging high on the walls. They emitted a faint luminescence, lighting up the cavern.

“We aren’t far from the outside.
The man wouldn’t take us any further until this ceremony the rest of the Crais tribes are doing is over.” Lucas shifted closer.

I coul
d make out his features and see the strain around his eyes. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead; he looked uncomfortable and irritated.

“So
again this planet’s inhabitants speak English,” I muttered.

T
he continuity between these worlds never ceased to amaze me.

“A rough version anyways
,” Lucy said. “They definitely have one or many other dialects, but they do understand and can respond.”

I
’d clearly been out long enough for these three to gather intel on the Crais man. I shifted then, the burn on my skin almost gone. I was about to pull myself to a standing position when the man walked back into sight. I watched him cautiously, never underestimating those I didn’t know. Trust must be earned. It’s too late if someone I love ends up dead. So, for now, I reserved all judgment.

“You awake. Skin healing. Need more water.”

He spoke roughly, before stepping forward to place a stone bowl on the ground. A drop of water sloshed over the side, the bead falling into the dirt. He moved back then. Talina was the one who strode across the space to collect the bowl. She immediately sank her face into the liquid, lifting her head to let the water stream off her. The relief she felt was obvious.

“Here
, Abbs, make sure you drink some of it in. This water is amazing and it definitely has healing properties.” She placed it gently before me.

I reached forward to grasp the bowl, lifting it to my
face, letting a small portion of the contents pour over my head and into my mouth. I immediately understood what Talina meant. In an attempt to describe it, I’d say it was thicker than water, with a much higher viscosity. It reminded me of honey. It moved slower, absorbing into my body and replenishing the fluids I’d lost.

Feeling a million times better
, I passed the bowl to Lucy, who had her share before Lucas finished it off. I turned back to the man. It took me a moment to find him, as he blended into the darkness that surrounded us. What an awesome camouflage technique.

“Thank you
,” I said, hoping he’d understand.

As he
moved, the purple-black of his skin reflected the dim light. I examined him the best I could. At first glance I didn’t notice any obvious differences between us and him, but there had to be some features that marked him as unique to this world.

H
e moved closer, watching me just as intensely, and a few of his unique characteristics became clear. His skin was rough, almost scaled, although I doubted without Walker vision I’d have noticed the slight mottling that indicated a rough texture. He was very thin, but the muscles on display showed a honed strength. He had no hair that I could see, not even on his head or face, just smooth skin. There was also something strange around his rib cage. I’d have sworn I could see an extra rib or a larger bone structure.

“Why are you here?” His eyes were dark
and he never took them off me.

“We
’re looking for someone.”

There was no point elaborating too much
. Firstly, this man didn’t need to know, and secondly, his English appeared to be very limited.

“Are there other
s close by?”

He tilted his
head, the way a predator did as it sized up its prey. I straightened, as did Lucas. Were we about to be attacked?

“You must follow me now.”
He waved both hands at us, reiterating his words.

I glanced at the
girls. This didn’t feel safe, but since my instincts appeared to be off recharging with my powers, I wasn’t sure what decision was right.

“We don’t have a choice, Abbs
. This is our best chance to figure out where the people are.” As usual, Lucy had no problem diving in. The girl was fearless.

He
gave us no more time to decide, turning and disappearing around the corner of the stone wall.

The four of us moved quickly
. It would be far too easy to get lost in this semi-darkness, even with my awesome vision. I was glad the residual burn pain was gone now. I could move with ease, although I felt a bone-weary tiredness, deep where my energy flowed.

We were in a long tunnel, which appeared to be sloping
at a downward angle. We weaved in and out, zigzagging along stone paths. On each level the air cooled and cleared, the ashy taste lessening. I kept losing sight of the man as he moved ahead and he never turned back once to check on us. Thankfully there seemed to be only one main path down into their territory.

“I
’m pretty sure this is going to the centre of Crais,” Lucy complained after a few hours.

Yes, I said hours. We just kept walking
, going down, down, down.

“Excuse me,
are we almost there?” Lucas’s voice travelled along the lengthy tunnel.

H
e hadn’t spoken much but continued to linger annoyingly close to me. I could almost see him holding out one arm in case I stumbled. How did he know I was almost dead-on-my-feet tired?

“Quiet now. We very close.”
The man was about five feet from us when he spoke in hushed tones.

Ahead in the dim lighting I could see the tunnel widening, until finally we emerged in
to a large stone room. And when I say large I mean gi-freaking-gantic. The area spanned, at minimum, the size of Central Park back in New York. And I couldn’t see very well in the dark, but I was pretty sure there was water sparkling somewhere across this space.

We continued to follow as
he began to cross the vast distance, and that was when I noticed them.

Sitting in large groups were hundreds or thousands of Crais inhabitants
. It was hard to distinguish the number in this darkened room. I finally registered the low buzzing that I’d been ignoring; they were chatting amongst themselves, although there were pauses as their curious faces turned when we passed.

“Are there more o
f them down here?” Lucy leaned close to me and whispered.

I
realized her eyesight wasn’t strong enough to see their midnight-black skin in the lichen lighting.

“There are thousands of them in this room
,” I warned her.

“Note to self, get eyes tested
,” she muttered as we continued to follow.

I suppressed my smile.

The man stopped abruptly. “This is sun cycle meeting time. The tribes discuss all important matters, and cleanse in water.” He gestured to the stone under his feet. “You sit here. Wait for return.”

He didn’t bother to
stay around for our compliance.

I decided now wasn’t the time to push our luck, so I flopped to the ground, plus I was so
tired and it was critical for me to get as much rest as possible. In case we needed my shield again soon.

“Our welcome in these worlds
is always so warm,” Lucy said, sitting cross-legged next to me. Her face screwed up a little. “They invite us in, give lots of hugs and make us feel at home.”

Talina
, who’d sat very delicately, her feet tucked under her left side, smiled. “Come on, Lucy, this is much better than Spurn.”

I nodded
. She made an excellent point. We hadn’t been captured yet, and that was a bonus since this time without ... I paused as pain lashed at me, it hurt to think his name, but without Brace we would have more trouble trying to escape. I just wasn’t that great with my powers yet.

“It
’s amazing how the humanoids have adapted on these worlds,” Lucy said. “No Earthling would survive either Spurn or Crais’s environment.”

“I can’t believe any human could survive this planet
,” I replied. “But then Crais has apparently provided this underground sanctuary for them.”

“And yet there are some of us who can survive
under the suns.” I spun around to find the source of the low, accented voice.

A woman stood there
. She looked to be a little older than us. Medium height with the midnight-black skin of the other inhabitants, and she was also hairless; in fact, from what I could see in the dim lighting, no one had hair here. But for this woman her hairless nature did nothing to detract from her large eyes framed by striking features.

I stood and faced her. “We need to speak with someone who can help us.
I’m sure you’ve guessed that we’re not from your world; we’re on a deadline and cannot linger.”

She interrupted me wit
h a brief wave of her hand. “I’m not the person you will deal with. My tribe leader and life-mate has requested I bring you to him. My name is Channa. Follow me.”

She waited for us to fall into step beside
her before she started to move.

“Do you have any problem seeing in this
semi-darkness?” I asked.

Channa
turned her head to smile. She seemed to have larger, flatter teeth than mine, and they were an ivory color, not as if they were dirty but as if that was simply their color.

“No, of course not.”

I raised my brows, waiting for the rest.

“Most of us are born down here and never step foot above ground in our life spans. This is the only light we know.” Her English was much better than our initial guide’s.

Channa continued to lead us across the expanse of cavernous space. It was
crazy big, and at the same time eerie. I didn’t like the feeling of being covered by thousands of tons of rock. Suddenly I paused, stunned by the vast expanse of lake spanning the entire side of the cavern, its ripples reflecting off the dull spheres of light.

“This is the sacred water, the most revered of all places on Crais.
None of the tribes reside here; this is the meeting ground where once a year we convene for catch-up and restoration.” Channa halted us on the edge of the water, and despite my best efforts I could not see the other end of the lake. “If the water accepts you, then we will do our best to assist you.”