Muse 9 (ONC 2020)

Chapter 14

Disturbed, I stared at my attacker. The facial features, although thinner than a human's, were still recognizable as once having belonged to the human race. The skin was rough and ragged, a dull, dark color that wouldn't catch the eye, blurring the edges of the figure. The build was definitely humanoid, the hands having long, skinny fingers with thick pads on the fingertips for climbing.

A simple, albeit crude, tunic was worn by the humanoid over ripped leggings. It had no boots or anything else on its feet, which had similar thick pads to those on its fingertips on its toes and soles.

Suddenly, its hand reached up, snatching for my throat. I fell back at its fingers scratched at my skin, my hand drawing the dagger from my greaves and bringing it up defensively as the humanoid's arm went limp again. In my astonishment at the striking resemblance it bore to a human, I had forgotten it wasn't exactly dead yet.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

The humanoid gasped. "Arteri." The voice was feminine. "We are the Arteri."

We?

I spun away from the dying Arteri just in time to avoid the one leaping down from above. This one had more masculine features, compared to the one I had shot, and he felt his comrades' neck gently after landing by her side before opening his mouth in a silent scream at me.

I brandished my knife at the Arteri as he lunged at me, his edges blurring as he moved. Rolling to the side, I came up and slashed at his legs as he flew past me, twisting around in order to reach me. My blade connected with flesh and I felt blood spill over my hand as he hit the ground, his momentum carrying him into a roll.

Jerking to my feet, I pelted toward the heart of the Drain, turning and firing back at the Arteri. I could hear droning whispers fill the air the closer I got to the light and I pressed myself harder, forcing myself as fast as I could go.

The Arteri had to be mutants.

The light grew brighter, the pulsing stronger. I clutched my dagger and my rifle tightly as the tunnel walls widened out in a circular space surrounding the heart. I could clearly see the pulsing red light before me.

An Arteri landed on my shoulders, knocking me forward. I twisted as I fell, landing on the mutant's legs as he tried to escape from underneath me. Lashing back with my blade, I stabbed him in the leg and wrenched my dagger to inflict as much damage as possible.

I shoved to my feet and ran, jumping to avoid the Arteri grasping for my ankle. I was almost there. I was almost there.

I glanced back and my eyes widened as I saw the mass of blurred shapes streaking towards me, some crawling rapidly on the walls. There were too many of them. They would overwhelm me.

My only chance was to grab the Orphoid somewhere in the heart.

I bounded towards the light as I slung my rifle over my shoulder and, without much of a choice, dove straight toward the heart.

[----]

Disconnection.

That's the first thing I felt when my body touched the red glow. Like the entire outside world of the Drain, the Grid, and Kycene above had vanished and it was just me, inside the heart. I was adrift from everything, cut loose, disconnected.

My motion slowed, my body suspended in the light. I had no idea how this heart of the Drain worked, or what, exactly, it even was, but that didn't matter. Hovering before me was a tube.

The tube was black and long, capped at both ends by crimson stones. It was imbedded in the center of the heart, the scarlet flesh beating around it.

It was like I was floating, gently sliding forward towards the heart. My dagger still in one hand, I stretched out the other, reaching for the tube.

That had to be the Orphoid.

Seconds expanded into minutes, minutes blossomed into hours, hours bore the fruit of days. And still I floated, moving forward ever so slowly. It felt like an eternity before my fingers touched the soft mass of the heart.

I froze completely, the little bit of motion my body had acquired draining out of me. Straining all of my will, I tried to flick my fingers towards the tube but to no avail.

The light flickered around me as the pulsing heart expanded over my fingertips before contracting.

Sable Huntris.

I couldn't help it, but the only thought that went through my mind, slowed down like everything else, was Oh, stark, not this again.

No one has reached the heart before.

But you are not done.

Your past lurks above, waiting to drown you.

Are you ready?

I forced my mouth open. The word didn't sound as strong as I would have wished, but still, I spoke. "Yes."

Then go. The Arteri send you forth.

My hand grasped the tube.

[----]

As I touched the smooth surface, the light around me shattered and I was thrown backwards out of the sphere of the heart. I must have passed out, for when I awoke, I was lying on the ground near the wall, the tube firmly held in one hand, my dagger in the other.

The Arteri were nowhere to be seen.

Pushing myself up onto my feet, I staggered and caught myself against the wall. After a deep breath, I forced myself onwards, heading back the way I'd come.

When I reached the narrow tunnel, I glanced back at the heart. The light was still there, although fainter. Slinging my rifle down, I turned and stumbled down the tunnel, back towards the tower.