Twin Suns of Arterra

16

I'm in a lift.

What am I doing in a lift? How did I get here? Where am I? Why am I lying on the floor? My arms and legs are so heavy. I can't lift them. I can't move. I'm stuck on the floor of this lift.

What was that? It sounds like metal grinding.

Stop! The lift is shaking! Something's wrong! I have to get up. I need to get out of here. Why can't I move? I need to move!

No... NO! The lift is falling! I'm going to die! Please, someone help me! Get me out of this thing! Oh God, I'm falling and I can't move.

Oomph!

It stopped. Why did it stop? Did it hit bottom?

Am I dead?

I hear noises. Something is coming. Come on, arm. Just move for me. Just my hand. I just need to move my hand.

Okay, then my finger. I need my pinky to twitch. If I can get that to move, I can keep going.

More scraping sounds. Something is definitely coming. I don't know what it is, or if I want to be here once it reaches me.

Move, pinky!

What was that thud? It sounded like feet! Whatever it was, it's here. It's right above me, sitting on the top of the lift. I hear it moving.

I need to move!

Arm, leg, anything! I need to move! I need to get out of here!

Something is banging on the top of the lift. Or is that my heart pounding? I can't tell anymore. I'm stuck.

"Bane!"

Blade? My lips won't move either. I have no voice. I must be dead.

"Bane, can you hear me?"

Yes, I can hear you, but I can't answer. I can't move. I'm so sorry, Camille I failed. I failed my mission. I can't save you. Blade, are you there? I failed, Blade. Something I wanted to tell you, but I can't remember now. It's lost. I'm lost. The thuds in my chest are slowing down. I think my heart is slowing down. I'm slowing down. It's going to stop, and then I'm going to stop. Slower... oh God... slower... ...

I'm dying.

Please don't let me die like this. Father, are you there? If I've ever needed you, it's now. Please, help me.

"Try this."

"Won't that choke him?"

"We have to try."

Something poking through the ceiling. It looks like a knife. Is that you up there, Blade? If not, I think my time is up. Something is here for me. Something—

Liquid.

Silver liquid is coming in through the roof of the lift. It's falling on me and I can't move out of the way. Falling on my face.

I can't breathe!

Help me!    

"Bane! You have to wake up!"

Something stung my skin, and I sucked in a breath. It hurt. Everything hurt, but my eyes were open. I blinked. I could move!

I lurched up onto my elbows, and the world around me tilted, but at least my body responded. I wasn't dead. A face peered into mine.

"You gave us a bit of a fright, Riftkin." Blade's voice teased, but her eyes were dark and there were lines etched around them. They matched the ones on her forehead, and those creased around the edges of her mouth. She looked worried.

About me?

I looked around, startled to see green instead of the metallic white of the lift. I was outside. Beside me, water rushed past. The river.

"I thought for sure I'd lost him."

Aaliyah? Her hand lingered on my arm, heat seeping through my skin. Behind her, other faces crowded, filled with matching concern. And beyond them...

Who were those people?

I'd never seen the likes of them before. Gaunt faces, streaked with a swath of crimson from temple to temple, covering their eyes. Below the eyes, dark lines ran down their cheeks like the tracks of tears, etched into their skin. Beneath their lips, a line of red streaked down their chin to their throat like blood.

Beside me, Aaliyah stiffened. I felt her hand go rigid against my arm as she leaned away from me.

"Blade," she whispered.

The marked ones closed in. We all had tattoos designating our regions, heritage and even clans, but these markings were not anything I'd ever seen.

Coolness chilled my skin as Aaliyah pulled her hand away. The lack of her warmth was immediate and overwhelming. The heaviness returned to my limbs. Panic filled me, leaving the taste of metal on my tongue.

Had my death been a dream or not?

Suddenly I was unsure. The familiar faces around me huddled closer, facing out at the marked ones who advanced in a circle around us.

"Who are you?" I heard Blade ask, and remembered what I meant to tell her.

Silk and iron.

One of the painted ones stepped forward. Her face was gaunt, but hard. She'd battled for existence. You could see it in her. Her dark hair was little more than stubble against her white scalp. Inside the band of crimson, her dark eyes found mine and locked on. A sense of familiarity washed over me. My mouth went dry.

I'd seen this face before.

Finally, she turned away. I felt the shadows of unconsciousness tickle the edges of my vision as she faced Blade, our obvious leader.

"Come," she said, beckoning.

"Not until you tell us who you are."

The painted girl glanced back at me again, her eyes debating something and then settling into resolution. She gave a nod so small it almost wasn't there at all, but I saw it. I saw her decide to say the words.

"I am Valyn Harba, of the Clan of the Lost."

Coldness etched its cruel mark in my chest.

This couldn't be real. I was dreaming, or I was dead.

I laid back and closed my eyes to let the darkness reclaim me.