Libby stood in front of Ciaran with a keypad in her hand. She gestured at the corridor and led the way. Ciaran followed without asking questions. He wagered Libby had no reason to lead him to a trap.
They went down multiple levels in the dark dungeon. The stench of damp soil, mold, and some kind of black mud engulfed Ciaran. But Libby didn’t seem to mind.
A small group of creatures with lizard heads and fox tails exited a small room along the corridor as they approached. Ciaran pushed Libby behind him and pulled his guns. Before the creatures could retaliate, their bodies copped several beams from Ciaran’s gun. They convulsed on the floor, turned into puddles of black liquid, and evaporated into thin air.
Libby raced toward the end of the corridor to a small, black, heavy-looking door. She tapped it. A small window opened from the inside, and a pair of eyes stared out. The conversation was carried out in a stream of native language, and Ciaran guessed that she was trying to get the other creature let her inside the room. He thought Tadgh was most likely in that little cell.
His prediction was correct.
Ciaran entered the room. The creature hadn’t expected Ciaran. He glared at Libby, spat out some profanity in native language, pulled out a knife and rushed toward her. Ciaran grabbed the creature and, with a slight twist of his wrists, he broke the warden’s neck. The creature dropped to the ground, wriggling in pain before it died, and its body evaporated into thin air.
Libby proceeded to another doorway and pulled at a heavy oak door. It squeaked open, revealing Tadgh inside, sitting on the floor, chained to the wall.
Ciaran rushed over. “He’s not conscious. Do you have the key for the chain?”
Ciaran looked at Libby. To answer his series of questions, Libby just shook her head.
“All right, I’m going to beam this.” Ciaran pulled his gun and nudged Libby aside.
Tadgh groggily opened his eyes. “Ciaran!”
Ciaran said, “Are you okay? How bad did Kyle beat you up? Do you think there’s any internal bleeding? There isn’t much I can do here. We have to get you back to Eudaiz.” Ciaran checked Tadgh’s pulse.
Tadgh yanked his wrist out of Ciaran’s hand. “I’m okay. But you look like shit, big brother!”
“Thank you for the compliment. I’m sure you spent your last moments thinking about my pretty face,” Ciaran said and signaled Tadgh to look away. He fired at the lock on the chain. In a couple of shots, the lock melted and gave way. Ciaran helped Tadgh stand up.
“Are you okay, Libby?” Tadgh stretched his legs.
“Look like you know each other. Let’s get out of here,” Ciaran said.
“I just know her name. She helped me when the son of the bitch pounded on me,” Tadgh said. Then he narrowed his eyes. He grabbed Libby’s chin, tilted her face up, and stared at her bruised forehead. “Kyle beat you, too?”
“Yes. Because she tried to help me. You do realize that she’s a Black Rock creature without much grasp of English, Tadgh? Let’s get out of here before we get caught again.”
“I’ll make him pay ten times,” Tadgh muttered and strode out of the cell.
Libby led them through dark corridors that appeared to be abandoned. At the end of the corridor, she reached a small door. She looked at Ciaran, gesturing for his gun.
Ciaran nodded. He beamed at the lock.
Ciaran’s and Tadgh’s jaws dropped. In front of them was what appeared to be a capsule park. It was much like the parking lots on Earth. The capsules were all private size, and Ciaran could only hope they hadn’t been equipped for combat. If so, Eudaizian civilian areas wouldn’t stand a chance.
From inside the premises, a group of vampirish creatures charged at them, fangs bared. Saying nothing, Ciaran pulled his guns and sprayed in their direction. In no time, he had cleared up the pursuit.
“We’d better hurry—there will be more of them,” Tadgh warned.
Libby held up a keypad. She ran across the park. Light flashed from a capsule the size of a four-seat car. Unlike Eudaiz, where everything was computerized and centralized, this one was a private vehicle with a private lock. Just like the old-fashioned way on Earth.
Libby gave the key to Ciaran, then she stepped back and gestured at the door.
“You’re going with us, Libby,” Ciaran told her.
She shook her head.
“You can’t go back in. He’ll kill you, Libby,” Tadgh said and tugged Libby’s elbow to nudge her into the capsule. She jerked back.
“Go,” Libby said.
“We can’t leave you here,” Ciaran said.
Libby shook her head again. “Go!” she said.
“I hate to force a lady, but sometimes a man has to incur wrath in doing so,” Tadgh muttered. He scooped Libby up and carried her into the capsule. He jumped in to lock the way out. Ciaran slid into the driver’s seat as if it had been made for him.
“Are you sure you can drive this thing?” Tadgh asked. While Ciaran loved speed, Tadgh had severe tachophobia. Apparently, Eudaizian energy hadn’t cured his brother’s fear of speed. Ciaran raised an eyebrow at his question.
“Sorry. Of course. You can drive anything that has an engine and a steering wheel,” Tadgh muttered.
Libby wriggled out of Tadgh’s hold and cried out loud. “Leave me,” she said.
“I’m afraid we can’t. You saved us. We can’t sit back and let you be killed,” Ciaran said.
“There are others!” Libby cried.
“You mean your family?” Tadgh asked.
Libby shook her head.
“Dead,” she mangled out the word.
“You family is dead?” Ciaran asked.
She nodded.
“So why do you want to stay here?” Tadgh asked.
“Others,” she said.
“You mean there are other girls like you here?” Ciaran asked.
Libby nodded. Her pale skin had become paler, almost gray. Tears rolled down her face. It surprised Ciaran that her tears were like human tears. Clear. Huge tears rolled out from the girl’s sad eyes.
“All right, if we take the other girls as well, will you leave with us?” Ciaran asked.
Tadgh grinned. “We can certainly squeeze a few more of her friends in here. Let’s go kick those bloody Black Rock asses,” Tadgh said.
“Where to?” Ciaran asked and gestured toward the navigational board. Libby reached up from her seat and typed in the address. ‘KHANUILAY.’
Ciaran started the engine. The capsule came to life, moved up and hovered a moment, and then zoomed in the direction he assumed led to a place called Khanuilay.