Keyla’s eyes lit up and she pointed the flashlight at something in the darkness of the cavern.

  Elion scanned the cavern. The vast space extended beyond the reach of Keyla’s light. Various tunnels opened up into the large room. Over the centuries, the sewer system had degraded. Some pipes were now completely blocked off by massive calcium carbonate deposits, stalagmites pointing down into the room.

  Searching for what Keyla had seen, Elion noticed signs of people having been in the space before; a discarded wrapper, scuff marks on the ridge of a stone, and soot marks on the wall.

  Nothing that made him as excited as Keyla appeared to be.

  “What do you see?” Elion asked.

  She pointed with her other hand.

  “There, on that far wall. Markings. I recognize those. Scavengers leave them to mark out paths through the caverns. If we can get over there, I can work out what route this is!”

  Elion still couldn’t make out what she pointed at, but he trusted her. “Let’s go,” he said, collecting the metal rods he’d stolen from her backpack frame and replacing them. “I’m sick of this place.”

  Keyla picked up Snickers, letting him lie across her shoulders, and Elion took the backpack. They worked their way across the cavern. Slick, angled surfaces provided little traction. Water dribbled down from a dozen places, hidden in the darkness overhead.

  They moved slower, more cautiously as they crossed the chamber. Occasionally Keyla lifted the light to make sure they were heading in the right direction. When they got closer, Elion made out a set of runes engraved in the wall.

  Keyla approached them and traced their outlines with her finger. The runes glowed softly.

  “These are the symbols for ‘main passage,’” Keyla said. “And for ‘acid pools’” Praxis confirmed this in Elion’s vision, translating the runes.

  > << Main Passage Ahead - Acid Pools >>

  An arrow indicated a tunnel several feet up. A few footholds had been carved out of the rock leading up to it.

  “What are Acid Pools?” Elion asked. “Sounds dangerous.”

  “They’re pools caused by the ruins,” Keyla said. “They’re just a collection of all kinds of toxic things dissolved into the rain water over hundreds of years.”

  “Why would anyone want to go there?” Elion asked.

  “I don’t know. My mom just mentioned them to me when talking about New Kairn Tol. I think maybe they extract things from the acid. But the point is, the Acid Pits are deeper into Kairn Tol, and away from Venya.”

  She started climbing up to the tunnel. Once she safely reached it, Elion followed. This tunnel was round and smooth, more pipe like, but no water flowed through it.

  “Are you sure we should be going to New Kairn Tol?” Elion asked. “That’s where Prator is. It might be dangerous.”

  “We need to go there to find my mom,” Keyla said.

  “Why? She washed down the river. We’re more likely to find her along the shore there.”

  “Because we need to know what happened to her,” Keyla said. “If destroying the Shard removed the infection from her, then I bet she’ll come back here. And if it didn’t, then we need to know how she got infected, so we can help her.”

  “Why would she not just go back to Aterfel?”

  “The last thing she said to me was that ‘Prator lied.’” Keyla said. “She’s not going to just let that go.”

  “So we’re expecting another fight then. Maybe we should recharge the rifles before we go further,” Elion suggested.

  Keyla wilted slightly. “Let me see yours,” she said, taking his gun from him. She checked the charge level. “It’s got about a quarter power left. Good for a handful of shots if you’re judicious.”

  “But if you charged them up—”

  Keyla sighed. “You’re right. It just takes a lot out of me, and I’m already pretty tired. I’ll just do yours for now.” She extracted the power unit from the rifle and closed her eyes. The teal light of Artefin power flickered around her. Strands of hair dangling around her face stood on end, charged by static. Light glowed from the slits in her eyelids, and between her fingers.

  A few moments passed. Keyla powered down, the light extinguishing. She gasped, and reloaded the rifle. “That’s the best you’re going to get right now,” she said, checking the charge again. “Two-thirds.”

  “Thanks,” Elion said, taking the gun back.

  *I shouldn’t have made her do that. It’s not worth wearing ourselves out.*

  Keyla led the way down the tunnel. As they walked, the air grew warmer and dryer. The tunnel sloped slightly down hill.

  In the silence, questions bubbled up in Elion’s mind.

  “This might sound like a dumb question,” Elion said. “But what did Dorian do exactly? I know it’s my family, but I’m a little in the dark about everything that happened before I was born.”

  “It happened before I was born too,” Keyla said. “My mother used to tell me stories about our history. I can try to explain…”

  “That would be amazing,” Elion said. “I still feel lost and confused half the time and I don’t even know what questions to ask.”

  “Things didn’t always used to be like this,” Keyla said, her voice changing as she launched into storyteller mode. “My mother lived in New Kairn Tol before The Breaking of The Sky. Life was peaceful, people worked together, and Aurelians enforced the peace. Your family, House Starhold, were the greatest Knights of Aurelia, and they ruled over Kylios for decades. They brought together Ascended of all Seven True Sentinels, and constructed the Celestial Sphere, the shield which surrounded the planet to protect us from the Tephalian Invaders.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Wait, slow down,” Elion said. “Who are the Tephalian Invaders?”

  Keyla laughed, a musical chord echoing down the tunnel. She covered her mouth. “We shouldn’t be too loud,” she said. “No sense in attracting more attention.”

  “Already beat one giant Sludge,” Elion said. “But I guess you’re right. Anyways keep telling the story, I want to know.”

  Keyla continued in a quieter tone. “Thousands of years ago Kylios was a thriving, powerful, technological center. Billions of people lived here, packed into gigantic cities across the planet. The outer planets were colonized, and Kylians sent probes out into deep, deep space. They contacted life; a strange race of creatures called Tephalians, with unusual abilities to alter reality.”

  “So they’re aliens?” Elion asked. “From another planet?”

  “They’re not human,” Keyla said. “They’re something else, something strange. The old records call them ‘indescribable’ and very few people actually ever saw one.”

  "So these aliens—I mean Tephalians—they invaded.”

  “For generations the Tephalians simply lingered in deep space, in their space crafts. They didn’t interact with humanity much, and seemed content to ignore us. But one day, about two-hundred years ago, they changed their minds. Without warning, their battlecruisers charged in and began bombarding our colonies, destroying everything.

  “Their ships did not respond to any communications. Humanity fought back, but the Tephalians were unstoppable. They reached Kylios and started bombing our cities. We call it The Cataclysm. Humanity was about to be wiped from the map when the Seven True Sentinels appeared. With their unique powers and abilities, they fought back against the Tephalian Fleet.

  “Humanity rose from the ashes, stabilizing. The Sentinels began sharing their ascendency powers with their followers, and order returned to Kylios. The Tephalians started changing their tactics, but the powers of the Sentinels pushed them back.

  “House Starhold, reigned from the Golden Throne of Erod. That was the greatest period of peace on Kylios since the Cataclysm, resulting in the culminating masterpiece of the Celestial Sphere. This massive powerful shield surrounded the planet and kept the Tephalians out, preventing them from landing or launching attacks. For two decades, humanity prospered beneath that shield. But then—”

  Elion guessed where the story was headed. “Dorian,” he breathed.

  “Yes,” Keyla agreed. “Dorian wanted the throne.”

  “Why break the Celestial Sphere, though?” Elion asked. “If it’s protecting the planet—”

  “He didn’t believe in the Tephalians,” Keyla said. “He said they were a myth, meant to keep us subservient.”

  Elion considered this. “Still, why break the sphere?”

  “He might not have done it on purpose,” Keyla said. “Dorian abandoned his Aurelian oaths and took up the Staff of Zelian. He led an army against Erod, and the Sphere shattered in the fighting. You can still see the fragments of the Celestial Sphere in the sky.”

  “What I don’t understand,” Elion said, “Is why he had to kill my parents. Why couldn’t he just leave us alone? We weren’t a threat to him.”

  “Dorian was the second born,” Keyla said. “As long as your mother lived, she was the true heir to the throne.”

  “But she was on the other side of the universe!” Elion protested. “Not bothering anyone!”

  “I don’t know,” Keyla said. “I just know what the stories say; that Dorian rages every day, searching for his missing sister. That’s why he hunts down Aurelians, destroying their altars and killing their families. He’s looking for her, so that he can truly claim the Throne.”

  “Then why did he kidnap Liora?” Elion asked. “He found my mother and he killed her, but he’s still coming after us.”

  “That’s how lineage works,” Keyla said. “Your mother was the firstborn. Her children have a closer claim to the throne than her brother does.”

  “It’s stupid. All for a meaningless title,” Elion grumbled.

  “Is your sister older or younger?” Keyla asked.

  “She’s older,” Elion said. “But only by fifteen minutes.”

  “Twins! Your sister is your twin? I’ve always wondered what that would be like.”

  “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Elion said. “You have to share everything, all the time. People expect you to wear the same clothes and stuff too.”

  “Well you don’t have to share everything. Since she’s older, she’s the true heir to the Throne now. Then it would be you, and then Dorian. So that is probably why he kidnapped her—” Keyla cut off as she realized the implication.

  Elion’s gut churned. “You think he killed her,” Elion said. “And that’s why he’s coming after me.”

  “Those warlocks didn’t seem like they wanted to kill you,” Keyla said. “They seemed more focused on capturing you. If you and your sister both formally renounced your claim on the Throne, then Dorian wouldn’t have to kill you…”

  “He killed my mother,” Elion said.

  “He killed his own mother too,” Keyla said softly.

  Elion’s limbs weakened. His knees shook, and he had to stop, lean against the wall for a minute.

  “Hey,” Keyla said. “I’m sure that your sister is going to be okay. Killing her wouldn’t do anything for him as long as you’re alive. He would have to kill you both to claim the throne.”

  They walked in silence after that, following markings on the tunnel walls at junctions, working their way closer and closer to whatever lay at the end of the ‘main passage.’

  Elion tried to reconcile himself to the fact that Liora could be dead. But he couldn’t. Something tugged at him; like a sixth sense, he thought he could still feel her. A twin bond, or just wishful thinking?

  Dorian could have killed them both, already. He could have just blown up the house with them inside. But he hadn’t done that.

  Liora had to be alive.

  As they hiked along, Elion started noticing more signs of life; scuff marks on the ground, partial footprints, or even a small pile of stones marking the path.

  “What do we say if we run into someone?” Elion asked, his voice hushed. “Will people out here be friendly?”

  “Shh,” Keyla held up a finger, stopping. “Do you hear that?”

  They listened in silence. Elion heard a faint throbbing, barely detectable above the sound of his own breathing.

  “That humming sound?” Elion asked.

  “No, there was something closer—”

  Elion listened but heard nothing. Keyla furrowed her brow, then continued walking.

  A few paces later she stopped suddenly. “There it was again,” she said.

  Elion didn’t hear it, but he waited, straining his ears in the silence, until Keyla continued moving forward.

  A dozen yards further on they came to a crossroads; a tunnel cutting across theirs at a right angle. Keyla shone her light down each branch.

  “The guide marking here is different,” Keyla said.

  Elion’s heart pounded nervously in his chest, peering down the dark tunnels. He did his best Gandalf impression. “I have no recollection of this place.”

  “Why would you?”

  “I was just quoting—never mind. It was a joke.”

  Keyla rolled her eyes at him.

  “It doesn’t say ‘main passage’ anymore,” she said, pointing to the runes carved on the wall.

  Elion looked.

  > << This way to surface>>

  “I guess we go that way? To the surface?”

  “The runes are different, too, like someone else etched them.”

  “Got a better idea? We could just keep going straight.”

  “No,” Keyla gave in. “I guess we’d better stick with the guide marks.” She led the way, turning down the right hand passage.

  What had once been an underground pipe had totally collapsed, massive boulders choking the passage. Someone had carved steps into one of the stones, a path leading up into a dark narrow cave.

  Elion and Keyla began climbing. Keyla led the way, her light shining into the darkness ahead. Elion felt his way forward, stumbling in the darkness behind her.

  “Light up ahead,” Keyla said, turning her flashlight off.

  Elion peered past her and saw a jagged opening in the distance, a tear in the darkness of the cave.

  “Do you think the warlocks are waiting for us out there?” Elion asked.

  “How would they know?”

  “Maybe they’re guarding all the entrances. Maybe they used my knife to track us underground.”

  “We’ll go quietly and scope it out.”

  Keyla kept her light off, and they crept forward in the darkness.

  They reached the end of the tunnel, and looked through a hole in a concrete foundation into the basement of a pre-Cataclysm building.