Chapter Eight

 

Emerie gasped at the light that suddenly swept through the cavern. It was so white it had a blue cast, but it offered no warmth. Kyven remained in place on her for a moment, and then shifted off, allowing her to scramble across the ground and to her feet. She turned, squinting through the light to try to find Kyven. A massive black-furred animal disappeared from the cavern into a tunnel that led deeper underground. Her eyes tore away from the animal and to Kyven, who still knelt on the ground. One hand was pressed to his stomach and when she looked down she could see his blood streaked across her clothes.

“Kyven!” she screamed.

He looked up at her and offered a weak smile.

“I’m alright,” he said. “They aren’t deep.”

Emerie reached her hand to him and he took it, allowing her to help him to his feet. He turned toward the other side of the cavern and she followed his eyes to where a tall man stood watching them. The man held what looked like a ball of light in his palm.

“Did it hurt you?” he asked in a gravelly voice that sounded like he rarely used it.

“I think it clawed me,” Kyven said.

Emerie looked at his stomach and then his back, shuddering at the long, jagged gashed that had cut through his clothing and into his skin.

“And you?” the man asked, looking to Emerie.

She shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I stayed out of the way most of the time. Kyven protected me.”

The man stepped up closer to Kyven and Emerie was able to look into his face. His eyes were the color of steel deeply set in smooth, golden skin. Most of his hair was black and closely cropped to his head, but a shock of white hung down along one cheek. He crouched down and looked at the wound on Kyven’s stomach, then walked around to look at his back.

“You’re lucky,” he said. “The scratch of the Meldor can cut a man in half.”

“Thank you for helping us,” Kyven said. “How did you get here?”

“I was walking through the quarry and I could hear the Meldor. I jumped down.”

“You jumped?” Emerie asked.

The man didn’t answer her, but settled the ball of light onto the ground at Kyven’s feet.

“It won’t return as long as you have this light.”

He started back across the cavern and Emerie rushed a few steps after him.

“Wait,” she said. “Why did you help us?”

The man turned back around and faced her.

“No one deserves to die in the darkness, sacrificed to something that they can’t see and cannot defend themselves against.”

Emerie’s lips parted and she took another step toward him as he turned away again.

“Who are you?” she asked.

The man stopped. He straightened his back and squared his shoulders, pausing as if contemplating whether he should face her again or continue on.

“My name is Mhavrych,” he said.

Without another word or waiting for Emerie to say anything else, he ran toward the wall in front of him and leapt up. He planted his foot in the rock and used the leverage to force himself up toward the gap in the ceiling. Emerie was astonished by the sheer power that it took for the man to push himself up the smooth, nearly vertical wall with only those two movements.

She turned back to Kyven. Her eyes were becoming accustomed to the brightness of the light and she was able to see him more clearly. He was staring up toward the hole where Mhavrych had disappeared out into the darkness of the night above them. There was a hint of a smile on his lips and it grew the longer he looked.

“What?” Emerie asked, walking toward him. “What is it?”

Kyven looked at her, his smile wide now and a shimmer of tears in his eyes.

“His name,” he said. “It’s ancient Mikana.”

“So?” Emerie asked.

She had already guessed that the mysterious man was a hybrid, and it wouldn’t surprise her to know that he had some Mikana blood in his heritage. Kyven stepped up to her and took her hands in his.

“It means ‘miracle.’”

 

“What was that?” Maxim asked, stopping at the edge of the quarry.

“What?” Athan asked.

“I saw something,” Maxim said. “A figure. It was running across the rocks over there.”

“Do you see that light?” Lynx asked, gesturing ahead of them and to one side with the torch that he carried.

Maxim followed the direction of the flames and saw a beam of bright white light coming up out of the quarry toward the inkiness of the sky.

“That’s where Kyven and Emerie fell through,” Lynx said.

“Are you sure?” Maxim asked.

He was desperate to find his brother, but the beam of light seemed too perfect. It could be the hybrids trying to lure them in so that they could attack.

“Yes,” Athan said. “Lynx is right. That’s where we were standing when we fought the Valdician and where the rocks collapsed. That’s where they are.”

Maxim nodded. It could be the hybrid army, but in that moment he no longer cared. Finding Kyven and Emerie was worth the risk that they could be facing. He hiked the bag of supplies higher on his shoulder and they started across the rocks, each of them vigilant of their surroundings. If the hybrids were there, this would be the time for them to swarm, and the three of them had to be ready. They would have only moments to protect themselves, and if they didn’t, all hope for the rest of the team would fade away. Ryan would have exactly what he wanted.

As they drew closer to the beam of light Maxim noticed a dark mass lying on the ground.

“It’s the Valdician,” Athan said. “They never came back for it.”

“Hello?” a voice called as if from within the beam of light. “Is someone up there?”

Maxim dropped to his knees on the rock beside the hole where the light was streaming up and stared down into it.

“Kyven?” he shouted down.

“Maxim? Is that you?” Kyven yelled back.

“Yes!” Maxim shouted. “Yes, it’s us! Are you alright? Are both of you alright?”

“He’s hurt,” Emerie called up.

The words sent a chill through Maxim.

“How are we going to get them up?” Athan asked.

Maxim dropped his bag to the rock beside him and started pulling supplies out of it.

“Take this,” he said, handing Athan the end of a rope attached to a heavy metal claw. “Attach it to a rock and secure it in place with the heaviest rock you can move. Lynx, can you go down there?”

Lynx nodded.

“Absolutely,” he said.

Athan carried the rope across the rocks and secured it tightly to one of the largest boulders, then forced another rock into place to reinforce it. Maxim pushed two other rocks together like a vice on either side of the rope to ensure that even if the claw came loose from the other rock that it would catch on these rocks. When they finished, Lynx took hold of the end of the rope and eased himself over the side.

“Lynx is on his way down,” Maxim shouted down to Kyven. “Wrap the rope around your waist and we will pull you up.”

“I’m sending Emerie up first,” Kyven yelled up.

Maxim could hear Emerie protesting, but he knew that there was nothing that she could say that would convince Kyven to allow her to stay underground without him. No matter what type of injuries that he was suffering, he would ensure that the woman he loved was safe first, and then he would take care of himself.

 

Kyven’s heart was buoyed with hope as he watched Lynx lower himself down to the ground. The warrior landed and released the rope that he had wrapped around his arm and leg. He immediately strode toward them.

“Kyven,” he said. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“There’s some sort of animal down here,” Kyven explained. “It won’t get near the light. My light stick failed and it attacked.”

Kyven watched as Lynx dug through his bag and pulled out a small package of the healing ointments that Ciyrs had created when they were still on Uoria. The warrior jogged back to the hanging rope and looked up at the hole above them.

“I need bandages,” he called up. “There’s no way that Kyven will be able to wrap this rope around himself with the injuries that he has if they aren’t protected.”

“What happened to him?” Kyven heard Maxim yell.

The fury in his brother’s voice was obvious and Kyven felt the compulsion to comfort him even though he was the one who was hurt.

“He’ll be fine, Maxim,” Lynx said. “I have healing ointments. He needs food and rest, and he’ll be as good as new tomorrow. I just have to have bandages for him.”

A few moments later a black bundle dropped to the ground. Lynx grabbed it and carried it back to Kyven.

“Take off your shirt,” he ordered.

Kyven complied, shivering as the cold air from the cavern touched his skin. Lynx opened the box of healing ointments and dipped his fingers into it. He smeared the cool, thick paste along Kyven’s chest and then his back before opening the bundle. The warrior drew out long strips of black fabric and Kyven immediately knew what they were. As they coiled around his body to cover the ointment, Kyven felt like bearing the tattered Valdician robes was like a badge of honor.

 

When his wounds were dressed, Kyven led Emerie over to the rope and wrapped it tightly around her waist. He guided her hand up and instructed her to wrap her arm around the rope above her and grip it tightly. He coiled the rope around her leg and then touched a kiss to her forehead.

“Emerie is ready,” he called up to Maxim.

The rope moved quickly as Athan and Maxim both pulled. In an instant, Emerie was out of sight and Kyven felt some of the pressure on his chest lift. He knew that she was safe.

“You next,” he said to Lynx.

The warrior shook his head.

“No, Kyven,” Lynx said. “I came down here to make sure that you got out safely. Besides, I’m going to need all the help I can get getting out of this place.”

Kyven laughed and nodded.

“Alright,” he said.

He dropped his shirt back over his head and then reached for the rope. He wrapped it around his waist, grimacing at the pain that cut through him as the pressure tightened against his injuries.

“I’m ready,” he called up to Maxim as he wrapped the rope around his arm and held it firmly.

He heard Athan and Maxim grunt as they pulled on the rope, easing him upward. When he reached the edge of the hole he grasped onto it, climbing up and out onto the rocks again. He stood and Maxim immediately gathered him into a hug. Kyven pounded his brother’s back and whispered his thanks into his ear.

Lynx shouted up to them that he was ready and Kyven stepped into place behind Maxim, picking up the rope so that he could help the other two men pull the massive warrior up out of the cavern. As they pulled him slowly up, Kyven noticed that the beam of light rising out of the ground seemed to get brighter. He realized that Lynx had grabbed the ball of light before grasping the rope.

“Put the light down!” he shouted. “Leave it!”

He heard a growl from beneath the ground and knew that the animal was drawn to the darkness returning to the cavern. They pulled on the rope faster and the light continued to glow brighter. He heard the animal growl and Lynx shout. The rope tightened and the three men pulled with all of their strength. Finally Lynx appeared at the edge of the hole. He rolled the ball of light across the ground toward Kyven as Maxim and Athan grasped him by his shirt and helped to yank him over the edge and onto the rocks.

Kyven scooped the ball of light into his hand and rolled it over in his palm. He pressed his finger into a dip at the bottom of the ball and the light seemed to sink back into the core of the ball and then disappear.

“What is that?” Lynx asked.

Kyven lifted his eyes to the warrior and saw that the bottom of his pants were torn, but he seemed uninjured. He could still hear the rumble of the animal beneath them and he closed his hand around the ball.

“It’s a reminder,” he said.

“Of what?” Maxim asked.

“That if one family could face down their enemies when outnumbered three to one and still succeed, then we can be victorious over Ryan and whatever he has to put up against us.”

 

The End