Machine of Fire and Blood

NINETEEN

Calaithe blinked her eyes slowly, wincing in pain. She'd hit the dirt floor of the cavern beyond the door hard. As soon as she and Adithreel had been dumped into its depths, the door had slammed shut and the sound of hundreds of tons of water sloshing back into place overtop of it could be heard. At least it was holding the water at bay. Calaithe wondered how long they'd be able to breathe, though, considering the fact that they'd been sealed in far below the lake. She couldn't see anything. It was pitch black. The only thing that let her know that she was in a wide open space was the fact that the sound of her and Adithreel's breathing was echoing through the space.

"Are you okay?" Adithreel questioned, somewhere to her left.

Calaithe nodded even though her couldn't see it. "Yeah, I think so."

She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. There was a weight starting to form in her chest. She was right back where she had started. In a big cavern, in the dark, deep beneath the earth, trapped. Trapped. A flash of panic shot through her and she felt her breath catch.

"Where are you? I will come to you," Adithreel called.

"Here," Calaithe replied, trying to steady her breathing.

She could here Adithreel shuffling through the dirt. She clapped her hands lightly, making a sound for him to follow. After a moment, she felt his fingers brush her arm. She reached out her own hand and wrapped it around his. Her breathing calmed slightly at his familiar touch. She turned toward where he sat. Even though she couldn't see him, she could picture his face perfectly in her mind. His forest green eyes, his strong jaw, the scar below his left eye. Her hands itch to reach out and trace the features of his face.

"I am sorry. This is my fault," Adithreel murmured.

"Adi, this isn't your fault. Ayall and I met before I even met you. She predicted Kade's death back in Hyward."

Adithreel sighed. "I vowed that if I ever saw her again I would make her pay. But I did nothing back there. There was nothing I could do. What use is my training when my opponent is a Goddess?"

"Would you kill her if you could?" Calaithe asked.

"Yes," Adithreel answered immediately. "I know I should not hold onto such hate, but I... I.."

Calaithe considered that for a moment. She thought about the anguish she felt over Kade's death, over the fact that she wouldn't get to grow old with her friend, that he barely got to enjoy his freedom, that he was unable to see his parents again before he died. How would she feel if it had been a person—or Goddess—that had killed him, just cause she felt like it?

"I would want her dead too," Calaithe concluded.

"But instead, you and I are trapped in a hole. What should we do?" Adithreel asked.

Calaithe shook her head. "I don't know. We must be deep in the earth. We could try asking Maia for help."

"She will not be much help. I thought this was earthen too when I felt the earth, but its not. There is steel beneath the dirt. I suspect the entire chamber is made of steel, and I suspect it is thick. I tried calling out to her but I got no response."

Calaithe frowned and dug the fingers of her free hand into the dirt. Sure enough, a few inches in, her fingers hit steel. It was cold and smooth to the touch.

"This is not how I thought I would die," Adithreel said. "Without the earth beneath me or the sun on my face."

"Funny, this is exactly how I thought I would die," Calaithe replied. "It's just happening a bit late."