Miltic Episode One of Volume One

The Underworx (Sandra)

The Underworx

Gabby

Excitement tumbles through me, my heart hammers at the foreign emotion. When was the last time I felt this jubilant? I can't remember. His sweaty hand grips mine as we hide in the shadows from unseen predators. If the story of how he got his mechanical legs is true, then Defective robots aren't something I would like to run into.

"I see nothing," I whisper into his ear. He place a finger over his mouth and then cups a hand round his right ear. Oh yeah, he's deaf in the other ear. How does he expect to hear anything? I hold my breath. Listening for the tiniest difference in the sounds already around us. Then, it hits me, a small hum, growing ever closer, occupied by the hiss of steam. The hairs on my neck and arms prickle to life. Oh lord, its coming this way.

Stillan tugs on my hand as he tries to pull me out of the shadows and toward whatever I perceive in the distance. My instincts scream it's not okay. I hold fast. Not inching anywhere outside of the protective blanket of darkness. His grey eyes turn on me and he frowns. "Get a move on, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise on my father's grave."

Something about the intensity of his stare propels my feet forward, out of the shadows. I follow him as he sidesteps in and out of the shadows, making so many twists and turns around small rundown buildings, that I know longer know east from west. If that concept of direction even applies to this world.

We enter a small building, it may have been a home at one point; the rumble of a fireplace stands off in the corner. Stillan walks over to it and lets go of my hand. How could this thing help us? He crouches and lifts the grate that held wood logs back when it was all still functional, a hole large enough to fit the average human lies underneath it.

"The Underworx is down there. I will go down first to make sure that it's safe, and so I can catch you. You don't have fake legs like me. Your legs would break from the impact of the fall."

"Okay." I don't know what else to say.

He hovers over the hole before sitting on the edge. His legs disappear into the darkness. He shoves all, his body getting swallowed as well. A crash echoes up through the pit. "Okay, jump, I'll catch you."

I inch toward the hole. How do I know he isn't lying? He could let me fall to my death and then he doesn't have to worry at all about helping me get back home.

A hum sounds from the doorway of the house. My back tenses. "Organic!"

"Sandra? What's going on?"

I swallow hard and peer back over my shoulder. A man, glinting silver and gold, stands in the door way. Its mouth a long gaping vent. Steam rolls from the spaces. Red light beam at me. I can't move. It steps forward with a hiss and clunk. "Organic in need of repair!"

"Sandra, you need to jump! You can't let that thing get a hold of you. I won't be able to save you from down here."

It takes another step toward me. Why can't I move? This is a dream, right? That's why I can't move. I gasp for air.

"Organic!"

"Organic!" Another voice calls. Soon the air fills with their cries.

"Jump, Sandra!"

I step off the edge and fall into the hole, just as the first robot reaches me. Its fingers nearly grabbing hold of my hair. I scream as my brain catches up with the sense of falling. I land in a heap on top of Stillan. He groans. This is the second time in a few hours I've used him as a landing pad. I breathe again as I stand. Claustrophobia sets in at the thick level of darkness down here. "Thank you for letting me fall on you, again," I say.

"Organics!" The things call into the tunnel.

I tense.

"It's all right. Their mechanics won't let them fall down here. We're safe."

Water splashes as he moves around me. How does he know where he's going, or what direction he's headed? Can he see in the dark too?

"I can't see anything." I waver on my feet, unsure of where to step or what I might run into.

He rustles with something in his jacket before two tings ricochets throughout the pipe line. Light cuts through the never ending darkness, banishing it to the edges of the tunnel. They float aimlessly next to us. I've never seen anything like it

"They're called light orbs. I'm guessing by the look on your face that Earth hasn't figured out this technology yet? It still amazes me how slow your world is even though time moves faster there."

We travel forward again. "How do you know where we are? There's no markers anywhere to tell us where to turn," I ask as we turn down a different tunnel for the second time. He doesn't even hesitate to think about it.

"I've been walking these pipes since I was six. It'd be sad if I didn't have them memorised by now. We only have two miles left before we reach Madis's place."

I glance around, no rats or anything stare at me from the fringes of the shadows. "I expected it to be more dangerous and scary down here."

Stillan laughs. "Other than other hideaways, nothing much comes down here. There's no food source. If someone dies down here it gets picked up before the pests can get to the body. So the only danger down here are thieves and small gangs, but I'll hear them before they us."

I frown. "You're deaf in one ear though."

"Yeah, and my other ear compensates for it."

I nod. The lights floating above us flicker. "How did you lose your hearing?"

"You sure are a nosey girl. A gun went off near next to my ear when I was young and trying to protect my brother. The healer said my hearing should've returned within a few weeks. It never did."

Could his hearing loss be psychological then? "Is that the same brother you were looking for earlier today?"

He nods. "Yes. I haven't seen him in ten years. Maybe you met him? My magic showed he lived across from you."

Only one chapter left before the end of episode one. Want to know what happens next? Preorder Miltic Volume One here and get more of the story on September 30th. Viewbook.at/MV1