Diana
“Four hundred meters,” I whisper, looking at the blinking light on my communications unit. I hear my father breathe a sigh of relief from beside me, and I look over at him. Our eyes lock, and I smile.
This is it.
Only four hundred meters, and we’ll find what we’ve been searching for.
We’ll find what it’s taken us a lifetime to locate.
He motions for me to stay quiet, and we continue walking silently through the cave. A lifetime of treasure hunting with my father has taught me a lot. I’ve learned how to locate even the most hidden of items. I’ve learned how to move silently. I’ve learned to become invisible when it matters most.
Today is no exception.
Although it’s daytime, judging by the time on my communications unit display, the cave we’re walking through is dark as night. The light on my father’s necklace shines forward, illuminating the way ahead of us. If someone is hiding in the darkness, they’ll see us, but my father’s light can be turned off with the snap of his fingers. If we’re attacked, he’ll simply snap and the light will go out, plunging us into darkness once more.
I’m a fighter.
To be a treasure hunter with my father, I have to be. We’ve encountered space pirates and mercenaries. We’ve encountered do-gooders and evil-doers and everything in between. My fighting skills have gotten me out of more binds than I care to remember.
My dad and I look out for each other.
We have to.
It’s who we are.
We walk silently through the caves. This is one of the most beautiful I’ve been to, and I’m more than a little surprised. Dreagle is an ugly planet. It’s by far the worst of the worst, so it doesn’t make sense there is this beautiful haven on a planet of darkness.
The Dark Planet is one most people try to avoid going to. I don’t blame them. If my father hadn’t been hunting for the Lost Treasure of Dreagle, I never would have come here. I never would have dared risk it.
Dreagle is known for its shady dealings and “don’t ask” attitude.
It also, apparently, has a secretly beautiful underground lair.
“Two hundred meters,” I whisper, and we keep moving forward. We’re close. We can both feel it, and the anticipation is killing me.
After ten years, our hunting has come to this.
Ten years of searching, of seeking, of fighting.
Ten years of misery on this forsaken planet.
Ten years.
We’re so close I can smell it. The damp aroma of the cave mixes with excitement, creating a scent I’ll never forget as long as I live.
One hundred meters.
I step carefully forward, watching each step in the dim glow of my father’s light. The cave floor is damp, and covered with a thin, slimy film. It’s slick, but my boots offer me a firm grip as I make my way forward.
We get closer and closer, and all I can think about is the fact that this is it. We’re finally there. We’ve finally found the lost treasure. We’re so damn close.
“Are you ready?” I whisper to my father. I glance over and see him smile. He’s nervous, but excited.
“You know I am, princess.” He reaches for my hand and grips it tightly. I squeeze his hand back: a silent show of happiness, contentment. Dad and I have been through so much together and now, we’re finally reaching the treasure.
“I don’t see anything yet,” I murmur, and keep moving forward. My communications unit beeps. The treasure, if our instructions were correct, should be just up ahead. We continue inching forward, but then I stop.
“Keep moving,” my father urges me, but I shake my head.
“Something’s wrong,” I say, looking around. I have a gut feeling that we aren’t alone, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my treasure hunting days, it’s to trust my gut.
“You’re imagining things,” my father says, and he motions for me to keep following him. Reluctantly, I do, but I don’t like this.
The cave is too quiet, I realize.
There are no animal sounds, no bats resting. Any cave in Dreagle should, at the very least, have Heppalensia sliding around. The giant slugs are gross and unsightly, but I didn’t notice their absence until just now.
Every other cave we’ve been in on Dreagle has had these creatures. The only reason the slugs wouldn’t be here is if they’ve been disturbed. Someone has already been here, and very recently.
“Stop,” I whisper sharply, and my voice must sound scared enough because this time, my dad turns around and looks at me.
“Diana, what is it?”
“Something is wrong, Dad. This whole place is wrong.”
“What are you talking about? We’re so close, sweetheart.” He smiles, and I know he’s hopeful. I know this is the treasure my dad has been searching for his whole life. I get it. I really do.
But I also get that we’re going to be in deep shit if we keep going.
I step closer to him and lean in to whisper. “I don’t think we’re alone.”
The Lost Treasure of Dreagle isn’t a secret. People have been hunting it for years. They’ve spent their entire life’s savings to seek the treasure. They’ve lived for the treasure, and they’ve died for the treasure.
As far as I know, my father and I are the only ones who have ever gotten this close to finding the treasure. There are so many tales and myths surrounding its origins that neither one of us is sure exactly what we’ll find.
We just know that we’ll find it.
We’ve worked too hard, come too close, to give up now.
But something is seriously, completely wrong, and I think we need to stop and re-assess the situation.
“Dad, get down,” I tell him. I reach for him and grab him, pulling him behind a large boulder. The two of us squat down silently and I snap my thumbs, turning off the light on his necklace.
“I think you’re overreacting,” he whispers. His voice is quiet, but sounds so loud in the silence. Everything seems to echo. Everything seems like it’s on loudspeakers.
“Shh,” I whisper. “Trust me.”
There’s someone else here. I don’t know if someone is tracking us and I don’t know how long they’ve been aware of our presence. Maybe they’ve been on our tail for weeks and managed to get ahead of us. I’m not sure.
All I know is that the last time my gut told me there was a problem, we had a serious issue. I barely have time to think about it, though because suddenly, I hear footsteps. I feel my father’s body tense beside me, and I know he’s wondering the same things I am.
Who’s there?
Why are they here?
How did they find the treasure?
I sit quietly and let my hand go to the dagger at my hip. My father and I are both armed, both experienced with our weapons of choice. Treasure hunting isn’t for the faint of heart.
They’re wearing boots. I can tell by the way their heels hit the ground. Boots, and there are multiple people. Men? Women? A mix? I think there are at least five or six people. Still, I remain silent in my hiding place with my father.
His breathing is so quiet I can barely hear it, but my own seems to be screaming. The footsteps get closer, and I realize they’re coming from the direction of the treasure.
“Where are they?” It’s a man. I don’t recognize his voice. Should I? I listen carefully, but I can’t place his accent or his name.
“I swear, they were coming through here. I saw them through the lookout.” The second man sounds young and scared. He’s obviously a newer member of the crew. An older, more experienced member wouldn’t sound so afraid.
Fear is not allowed.
When you’re a hunter, you don’t get to act scared. Yeah, fear has its place. It can be great for keeping you alive, for helping you make choices, but you never let that fear show. You never back down.
This guy has made a huge mistake by sounding frightened.
“I’m sorry,” he continues, and inwardly, I cringe because I know what’s going to happen next.
“You’re sorry?” The first man growls. The other men who are with them murmur and mumble under their breaths, but I can’t make out the word. “Sorry isn’t going to get me my treasure hunters,” he growls. “Sorry isn’t going to get me the damn map. Now tell me again, where are they?”
He screams the words, and I sink down further, lowering my head.
They’re after the map.
My father reaches for my hand and squeezes. He doesn’t speak, but he doesn’t have to. Dad and I have done this enough times that I know whatever happens next is going to be bad.
They’ve got us surrounded and they don’t even know it, but if they saw us come into the cave, they’re going to be looking for us. We’re on their turf now, and there’s no way for us to get away. Any move we make is going to end in our deaths.
We don’t have a choice, but to take them by surprise.
“I-I-I-“ The man’s voice quivers, but it doesn’t matter because I know what Dad and I have to do. Father has been silently tapping on my wrist this entire time, quieting communicating with our secret language he learned back on Earth. Morse Code might be centuries old, but it works in a bind. Fortunately, Dad taught me well, and I know exactly what the plan is without him having to utter a word.
I also know that he doesn’t think we’re going to walk out of this cave alive because the last thing he says is I love you, Diana.
Before Boss Man can kill his cub, Dad and I leap out of our hiding places at the same time. The men have lanterns and lights, but we have the element of surprise when we jump out of the darkness. I throw my knife and it hits Boss Man in the neck. He drops the man he’d been holding by the scruff of the neck and falls to the ground.
The kid looks up at me. He must be all of 19.
“Run!” I shout, and begin fighting the man to my right. There are five total men. Boss Man is dead, and New Guy scrambles away, which leaves five. Dad takes two and I take this guy. He’s big, but I’m fast, and with a few carefully placed kicks, I have him on his back and my boot at his throat.
I hear my father fighting and turn to see how he’s doing when I hear the sound I never want to hear.
I hear the noise that makes me feel like I’m going to puke.
The gunshot rings out loudly, and my father turns to me. Crimson spreads across his chest: a dark shadow in the dim light.
“No!” I scream, and reach for him, but he just smiles softly.
“I love you, Diana,” he says, and then he falls to the ground.
The fighting stops, and a man steps forward. I’ve stopped worrying about the man beneath my boot, and he slithers out from beneath my foot. He grabs me, holding me in place, but I don’t have the energy to fight anymore.
“Looks like I’m in charge now,” he says. He looks at me and sneers. “Bring her back to the tunnels.” He kneels down and searches my father’s body, producing the map we’ve been so careful to protect. He takes it, and looks back at the remaining men. “Come along, then,” he says.
“Yes, boss,” they say, and I realize that every time I kill a monster, there’s one lurking in the shadows, ready to take its place.