Chapter Six

Emerie slid closer and Kyven pulled her against him with the arm that wasn’t holding the light stick. They were huddled against the wall, remaining as still as possible in the green glow. Since he had activated the light they hadn’t heard the breathing of the unknown creature, but he knew that the illumination wasn’t going to last much longer. It was the same light stick that he had been traveling with since they left the kingdom and he hadn’t taken the time to restore its power cell. Kyven had never needed to restore one of his lights. They were designed to provide so much illumination and until the Denynso came he hadn’t left the kingdom.

Guilt gnawed in his belly as he felt the rise and fall of Emerie’s breath against his arm and the slight shiver of her body. It was his responsibility to protect her and to make sure that she had everything that she needed. He had failed her, though he didn’t realize what he was doing at the time. It was something so simple, so completely ridiculous. He never could have imagined that his life and the life of the woman he loved may hang in the balance of a simple light stick that he hadn’t recharged.

Emerie shivered again and Kyven turned to rest a kiss to the top of her head.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

Emerie nodded and burrowed deeper against him. Kyven pulled her around so that she sat between his thighs and he could wrap himself around her. It was startling how quickly the chill had settled into the cavern. The daylight hours had been so brutally hot and now he could feel the almost painful sting of the air on his exposed skin. He wondered how much longer it would be until the others returned. He tucked her as close to his body as he could so that he was able to cover her skin and use his body heat to protect her.

Around them the illumination from the light stick suddenly faded, the circle of glow closing in smaller around them. Kyven drew in a breath and lifted the stick slightly in an effort to keep the circle of light as wide as he possibly could. Even as he did, though, he could hear the return of the breathing. It was in the distance, somewhere beyond the darkness, but he could hear it. He knew that whatever was there had returned and was just waiting for the light to disappear.

Kyven didn’t want Emerie to hear the breathing. She didn’t deserve the feeling of fear and uncertainty. He tucked his face down closer to her so that his own could replace the breaths of the creature.

“Tell me about the miracle,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“You said that this festival…” his voice trailed off as he tried to remember what she had called the holiday that she would be celebrating if she was on Earth.

“Hanukkah,” she said.

Kyven nodded.

“You said that there was a miracle. Tell me about it.”

“Why?” Emerie asked.

Her voice had lost some of the peace and determination that it had held when she was first telling him about the holiday and he knew that he had to help her get it back. This was the one thing that had given her the strength to move forward. He couldn’t let it disappear.

“It’s important to you,” he said. “This is something that matters to you and I want to know everything that I can about you. Besides, you said that they were like us. They were sneaky and brave, and there weren’t as many of them as there were of the enemy army. If you say that there was a miracle, I’d like to know about it.”

Emerie let out a long breath and leaned her head back against Kyven as if thinking through what he had asked. The light faded slightly again and Kyven felt the nervousness in his chest increase. Finally Emerie began to speak.

“In the war that they were fighting, their temple was destroyed. When the Maccabees were victorious, they sought to rededicate the temple and reclaim their identity and their faith. They went in and tried to find oil to light their lamps, but the oil had been contaminated. They finally found a bottle that was still intact, but it was only enough to last for a single day.”

“Just one?” Kyven asked.

Emerie nodded.

“It would take eight in order to purify more oil and that meant that they would go for a full week without any light. They had no choice, though, so they used the oil. Only, it didn’t stop after that one night. It kept burning, and it burned for the full eight nights until they were able to produce the new oil.”

“The Festival of Lights,” Kyven said.

Emerie nodded.

“That light was a miracle.” The glow from the light stick around them faded again, the circle growing even closer to them. Now the breath was loud enough that Kyven knew there no way that he would be able to stop Emerie from hearing it. “I think that’s where our similarities to the Maccabees ends,” she said, sounding weaker.

“Why?” Kyven asked.

Again the light faded, the energy within the power cells depleting more rapidly now.

“Their light lasted when it wasn’t supposed to,” she said. “Ours is disappearing by the second. They got their miracle.” The light faded again, closing in so that only a few inches of space on either side of them was still touched by the glow. Emerie let out a shuddering sigh. “It looks like we aren’t going to.”

Kyven closed his body in around her as tightly as he could. His arm was starting to ache from holding up the light stick, but he wouldn’t lower it. He would keep the light around them for as long as it lasted. The breathing of the creature had grown loud and intense again, filling the space around them nearly as powerfully as it had the first time that they had heard it. He knew that the only thing that was keeping whatever that creature was from getting to them was the weakening glow of the light stick. He wouldn’t tell her he was afraid. He wouldn’t admit to her that in that moment he didn’t know what they were going to do or if they were even going to survive long enough for the others to find them. The light would go out soon, and the only option that they would have would be to fight the creature that lurked in the shadows, that found its protection in the darkness just outside of their protective glow.

“They didn’t know that they were going to get a miracle until it happened,” he said. “They thought that the oil was only going to last for that one day. They lit it anyway. They didn’t know that it was going to last any longer until the next day, and the next, and the next. All they could do is hope. Hope and keep going.”

The light faded further and Kyven heard the creature coming closer. Its smell broke through the cold of the air around them and filled his lungs with its dank, sickening heaviness. Kyven could feel the air shivering with the current of each deep breath. He felt terror coursing through his veins. The only other time that he had ever felt fear even similar to this was when the Denynso, under the leadership of Pyra, had imprisoned the Mikana men in a section of the human settlement meeting hall, leaving them with little food or water, and not knowing when, or if, they would ever be released. Even then, Kyven knew what danger he was facing. He understood the hunger deep in his belly, the thirst parching his throat, and the violent threats in Pyra’s voice reverberating in his ears. This creature was completely unknown, and that made the threat even more frightening.

Kyven let his eyes close briefly, thinking back on his time in the meeting hall. They had learned to fear the Denynso then. These warriors who they had always learned were the most powerful and noble of men throughout the galaxy, had come and captured them, forcing them into imprisonment because of something that they didn’t understand. It would be several long, painful days before they were liberated and learned that the Denynso king, Creia, had condemned the actions of Pyra and those who followed him, and was seeking the forgiveness and alliance of the Mikana.

Despite the fear and misery that those days had held, the thought of them brought a faint smile to his lips. He tucked his cheek against Emerie’s head in the dying light.

“You were my miracle,” he said. “When Pyra had us locked away, there were moments when I didn’t think that I would survive. But you were brave. You came to us even under the threat of the Denynso. You kept us alive. Every time that you walked away, I was afraid that you weren’t going to come back. You always did. You came until they released us. You were my miracle.”

Emerie turned her face up to Kyven’s and their lips met in a deep, tender kiss. Finally the light went out.

Kyven scrambled to his feet, feeling the ground for their weapons. The creature grunted as it came toward them. He could feel the sandy ground shifting as it walked, its feet landing heavily as it approached. The darkness was suffocating and disorienting, and Kyven could only use the sound of the creature’s breath and its sickening smell to guide him toward it. He reached back and found Emerie with his palm.

“Get back,” he said. “Move back until you feel the wall and stay there.”

“No, Kyven,” Emerie said. “I won’t let you do this alone.”

“Do it!” Kyven demanded. He could feel the breath of the creature brush against his face and he drew his sword back. “Just go! No matter what happens, stay where you are. I will try to get it as far in the other direction as I can.”

He took only a second longer to feel the presence of her body against his hand, wondering if he was every going to feel it again, and then dove to one side. The creature let out a frustrated growl and he heard the sand shift, telling him that it was likely turning around toward him. Kyven longed for starlight. He remembered the seemingly endless cascade of stars across the sky in Uoria each night and how clear nights would light up nearly as bright as day when the moon was full. Above them, though, there seemed to be nothingness. No light filtered from the gap where they fell. There was nothing to break the blackness that he moved through.

A sharp pain shot down Kyven’s back and he realized that the creature had caught him with a claw. He whirled around, bringing his sword down with as much force as he could. He felt it make contact with something and heard a roar. Kyven yanked on the sword, pulling it out of the creature and then immediately slashing with it, feeling the resistance as the blade caught the being’s body and dragged through it. He stumbled back a few feet, trying to guide the creature away from Emerie. The longer that he could keep it away from her, the better chances that she had to survive until the others came to help or the sun finally rose again.

Kyven dropped down to the ground and rolled to one direction. He reached his hand forward, hoping to feel the wall, but he felt nothingness. Staying low, he ran in the opposite direction. The breathing was getting louder and it was as if every breath that the creature drew it took air from the cavern so that Kyven struggled to fill his lungs. He felt himself getting dizzy. He walked backward until he felt the wall against his back. The creature was coming toward him. He could hear its steps and the hiss of its breath. Suddenly, from somewhere behind the sounds of the creature, Kyven heard Emerie whimper. He didn’t know how he was able to hear such a tiny, fragile noise with the sounds of the creature filling his ears. No matter why he heard it, it seemed to spark something that burned through the fog and reignite his energy.

Kyven wrapped both hands around the handle of his sword and swung it up over his head. He waited until he felt the creature come within inches of him and then slammed the blade down. Just as his weapon drove into the creature, he felt another sharp pain, this time through his belly. He let out a grunt and covered the wound with his hand, pressing against the feeling of warm blood dripping through his fingers.

A high-pitched cry rang through the cavern and then the creature let out another rumbling roar. There was another sharp cry and the creature grunted, stumbling forward toward him so that he felt one of its feet brush against his leg as it tried to get away from the blows. Kyven realized that Emerie had left the place at the wall and attacked the creature from behind.

“Emerie, no!” he shouted. “Get out of the way!”

He climbed to his feet and slashed at the creature again, trying to force it away from Emerie as he made his way around it toward her. He reached out to feel her, finally grasping around her wrist. A tremendous impact hit Kyven and he fell forward, knocking Emerie to the ground and sending his sword skittering away from him. He tucked his arm under her and tried to move both of them across the cavern to get out of the way of the creature’s crushing feet. The wounds in his back and stomach, however, had taken much of his strength and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to completely escape the danger. He covered her with his body to protect her from the creature coming down on her and tried to whisper soothing sounds into her ear.

An instant later, the creature growled and Kyven heard its feet scraping across the ground, retreating toward the back of the cavern as the space around them suddenly filled with a blindingly bright light.