Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 3) (4 page)

            Sandow came next. Massapa followed him. When Kleesod appeared, her heart began to sink.

           
No. No, no. Please, no!

           
Fullgrath blinked into sight and it was clear the fight had become critical. He was bloody and covered in worm goo. Jumping off the rock, he turned and waited with the rest of them.

            Cooter arrived. The man was on his knees, batting at two eye worms that had attached themselves to his back and buttocks. Mellori and Tojun dragged the man from the platform and jerked the worms from their hold. As Mellori smashed one with a rock, the Seneecian crushed the other beneath his foot.

            Kelen’s eyes remained glued to the rock. “Come on, Kyber! Where are you? What are you waiting for?”

            “He’s not there,” Fullgrath muttered.

            She whirled on him. “What are you talking about? You didn’t just leave him there alone and unarmed, did you?
Did you?
”

            The big ex-weapons master cast a glance at Cooter. “We were outnumbered. More of them starting coming in, so Kyber…”

            A coldness gripped her heart, squeezing it so hard she couldn’t breathe. She could feel the blood draining from her face as her imagination tried to envision the man she loved being overwhelmed with the voracious little monsters.

            “So Kyber
what
?” Jules hotly demanded.

            “He ran off,” Cooter told them. “He drew them away so we could make it back here safely.”

            Kelen reacted before she had the chance to think. Snatching Fullgrath’s pistol, she leaped back onto the rock. The last thing she saw before the world went white were her crew members scrambling to reach her, their hands mere centimeters from touching her before disappearing.

            Nearly a dozen creatures surrounded the platform, but oddly none of them tried to climb on top of it. Kelen fired, using the same sweeping motion as Cooter had to clear a pathway out of the room. Exploding eye worms sounded like popcorn popping. The things made no other sound that she could hear.

            Breathing heavily, she jumped off the rock and ran toward the maze. Other than the elevator, as Dox called it, the only other way they knew to reach the underground apartments was through the gardens. From there, Kyber could either use the platform located there, or go down the long, sloping tunnel that connected the two levels.

            She moved on the balls of her feet, trying to make as little noise as possible as she advanced toward the small doorway leading from the maze to the gardens. Something chittered overhead, and she fired at it. There was a squeak, followed by silence. Either she’d hit it, or it had ducked away. Either way, she wasn’t going to go after it to discover which.

           
Please be okay, Kyber,
she silently prayed.
Please be alive.

           
Every little sound scraped across her nerves, keeping her on edge. A glance down at the pistol showed it was a little over half full, and she sent a mental word of thanks to Fullgrath for keeping his weapon charged. Gripping her tube weapon in her other hand, she kept her arms out in front of her as she advanced further through the maze.

            When she reached the small opening in the wall that led into the gardens, she double checked around her to make sure nothing was crawling up from behind. Taking a deep breath, she stuck her head and shoulders through the opening and peered inside.

            The gardens looked empty.

            Carefully, she entered the cavern and stood to scan the area. At the same time, a figure appeared on the platform located several meters below. Cooter turned around, checking the vast area as she had, and spotted her standing at the top of the stairs. He motioned a question.

           
Anything?

           
She shook her head in reply and started descending to meet up with him.

            As soon as Cooter left the rock, Fullgrath appeared. The look he gave her as she drew nearer showed how pissed he was at her. Once she joined up, she handed his pistol back over to him.

            “I don’t think he’s here,” she whispered.

            “What about up top?” Cooter asked her. “He could still be up in the temple.”

            Kelen froze. She hadn’t considered that possibility. If the way to the maze had been blocked, being injured and weaponless, save for his claws, he wouldn’t have been able to battle his way to the gardens. She turned to go back up the steps when Fullgrath grabbed her shoulder.

            “Not so fast, Kel.”

            She angrily shrugged him off and started to retort when she saw Cooter climb back onto the platform. Before he blinked out of sight, she knew what he planned to do.

            “Come on! We’ll approach from the maze while he takes point!”

            Fullgrath gave her another disapproving glare but nodded. “I’ve got your back. Let’s go!”

            They scrambled up the steps to return to the temple.

Chapter 6

Trapped

            Kyber’s lungs heaved as he sucked in oxygen. He could hear the eye worms scratching at the wooden door barring their way, yet he was the one who was trapped. If those things persisted, they would outlast him. There was no telling how long they’d continue to claw at the door, or when they’d give up and leave. He hoped that if he remained perfectly still, they’d think he had vanished along with the rest of his kind.

           
The rest of his kind.

           
He closed his eyes and leaned against the cold stone wall. At least Kelen made it to safety. If there was anything to be grateful for, it was the fact that she had been spared.

            More scratching came from the door. Persistent. Intimidating. If they were capable of peering under the frame, he believed they would.

Opening his eyes, he glanced around at what he’d thought had been a different route. Perhaps a new escape tunnel. At first it appeared to be one until he entered it and discovered it to be a very oddly-shaped room. But it had a door, and once he’d realized he was outnumbered and couldn’t backtrack, he’d closed the heavy wooden portal a split-second before those things converged on him.

            He silently counted the number of walls. There were six, and none of them the same length. He couldn’t begin to guess the purpose of such a room. More surprising, there were no hieroglyphics covering these walls like there were inside the temple. These surfaces were smooth, almost too smooth. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear they were metallic.

            It grew quiet, but he suspected the creatures were still outside, waiting him out. Gradually, Kyber stretched his legs out in front of him. He felt a warmth around his middle and knew without looking he’d opened up his wounds again. Given he was on an alien planet, it was a miracle he hadn’t contracted some disease that would wipe him out. For that matter, it was a miracle they all had managed to survive as long as they had.

            He shifted his position. The warmth at his hip spread across his abdomen and back. Fortunately, it was a numbing pain, not sharp. Regardless, he couldn’t afford to lose more blood. He hadn’t recovered from his earlier confrontation with the D’har, or from the skirmishes he’d fought before that. He needed rest. Lots of rest.

            Kyber cocked his head, intently listening. It was difficult to tell if the eye worms continued to guard the door, or if they had left. He tried to swallow but his throat closed up on him. Reaching for his water pouch, he took a long drink. Knowing he had to keep up his strength, he opened his food pouch and extracted one of the three blue pancakes he’d hurriedly stuffed inside when he and Kelen were getting dressed. He bit into one, winced from the foul taste, and nearly spit it out. It was bitter, but he forced himself to chew and swallow it. He needed the nutrition, whether it tasted palatable or not.

            His thoughts returned to Kelen. He savored the vision of her face smiling down at him, her long brown hair hanging like a waterfall around them. If he knew the woman he’d fallen in love with as well as he thought he did, when she realized he hadn’t transported down with the rest of them, she would come looking for him, alone or accompanied.

            He fought the urge to call out to her and the others, but he knew that he’d attract the attention of those eye worms.
I wish there was a way to contact Kelen and the others. Damn Sandow and his scanners. We need communication devices.
He made a mental note to bring it up at the council meeting.

            Council meeting. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he knew he’d been unanimously tapped to be the unofficial leader of the group. His Seneecian crew mates had already conceded him that station because of his rank. With the D’har unseated, and he as their second in command, the burden of leadership automatically fell on him. It was an unofficial title he had no problem accepting because they were no longer in space. The Seneecians and Terrans were no longer mortal enemies. And he and Kelen…

            The scratching continued, this time against the rock walls. He glanced up at where the top of structure stood nearly six meters above the floor. Despite his own height and weight, it was too tall for him to climb or jump. He might do more damage to himself if he tried.

            A stray thought sent a chill through his body. Could the eye worms crawl up the sides? If they used the carved hieroglyphs as stepping points, it would seem possible.

            Slowly, he crawled over to the door and placed his ear against the stone to listen. There was movement, but it all remained at ground level. He gritted his teeth. It didn’t negate the fact that those abominations couldn’t scale the wall. In fact, they could be doing just that, planning to silently attack him once they reached the lip overhead.

            Carefully, he moved to the furthest corner of the room, placing himself in shadow. It may not make a difference, but it was worth a try.

            His stomach clenched, telling him he needed to eat more than one small pancake. Kyber eyed the remaining two in his pouch, choosing one. Training had taught him to ration, ration, ration, and never to count on finding provisions or water in hostile situations. The second pancake was as rancid as the first, but he managed to keep it down.

            His head ached. His eyesight was alternating between clarity and blurriness. He was exhausted. Actually, he was past the point of exhaustion.

            The scratching on the wall ceased. Kyber felt his muscles tense as he kept his gaze locked on the lip above him. At one point his vision distorted again. He was beginning to feel hot. Beads of sweat rolled off his pelt. He took a sip of water to cool himself.

            He had no knowledge of how long he remained there. He was aware of the shadows lengthening as the sun traveled across the sky. He knew he had bouts of unconsciousness, awakening with a start and a soft growl, claws extended as he imagined himself being surrounded by the grotesque little creatures.

            But instead of feeling better, he felt worse. His abdomen cramped. His head swam. Perspiration rolled off of him, a sure sign of a fever. If there was anything to be grateful for, it was that there had been no further scratchings at the door, and no sign of eye worms invading from overhead.

            He couldn’t stay in the strange little room any longer. He felt confined. It was difficult to draw a fresh breath, even though his air was not restricted.

            He managed to get to his feet. The dizziness grew worse, as did the roiling in his stomach. A sudden bout of retching caught him unaware, and he bent over to spew what was left of the pancake into a dirt-packed corner. When it was over, he felt somewhat better, but the fever inside his body refused to abate. He drank the last of his water to ease his parched throat.

            If he couldn’t find food, so be it. He needed water. Lots of water. He needed to drench himself beneath a cool spring.

            As he took a step toward the door, his sweaty feet slid inside his sandals. If he tried to run, if he had to make a dash to safety, he wouldn’t make it. Bending over, he started to untie the laces around his calves and ankles when he keeled over. Throwing his hands out to break his fall, he narrowly missed hitting his forehead on the wall.

            With a little more effort, he managed to remove his shoes, tying them to his belt. The rocky floor was uncomfortable. The tiny pebbles dug into his soles, one of the few places on his body that wasn’t covered in fur. But the discomfort was minimal and he felt more confident standing.

            Cautiously, Kyber opened the heavy wooden door a few millimeters and glanced outside. The area was clear, but it didn’t mean there couldn’t be a few eye worms standing guard. Hopefully he would be able to fight off any if there were. He needed water desperately.

            Being barefoot gave him better footing. Sometimes the soles of his sandals didn’t grip the ground as well as he wanted, as the shoes were more suited for the non-skid floor plating inside a space ship. He advanced slowly and glanced around the area to get his bearings.

            When he’d initially bolted from the room where the platform was located, he’d tried to head for the maze, hoping to lose the eye worms by going to the gardens. But their numbers were too big. The creatures carpeted the floor, barring that route.

            His next bet was to head outside. Going toward the rock slab suspended above the crevasse was suicide, so he opted for the sandy desert outside the temple. But the eye worms seemed to have anticipated that move as well, leaving him with no other recourse than to dodge and weave his way through parts of the temple that had yet to be explored. Areas that were unknown to him. Which was how he’d ended up in that oddly-shaped little room.