305.82 grams cirium
THE STINK OF sulfur pinches my nostrils, and I draw my neck cloth over my nose and mouth. We’re not deep enough to need our Oxinators yet. I steal a glance back at Dram. He stares past me at the deepening darkness of the path. I sigh and press forward. He’s still upset with me.
A breeze teases the hair at my temples. I lift my hand, and Dram stops behind me. Turning my head, I close my eyes and stretch my senses. A draft of air indicates another passage to the outside—a passage that gulls and bats travel. I don’t hear the rustle of feathers or younglings, so we’ve not stumbled upon a nest. I tug my neck cloth down and sniff the air. The acrid stench of bat guano fills my senses.
My heart pounds. The echo of the light gun is going to reverberate to every bat in the vicinity, but it’s a risk we have to take.
“Marker,” I say quietly.
Dram loads a red bolt into his gun, points it at the ground, and waits, his eyes lifting to mine. I draw my knife and slowly nod.
“Mark,” he says. He fires, and the bolt anchors to stone with a piercing ring. He reloads his gun. Red again.
They come at us all at once.
“Dram—”
“I see it.” He lifts his arm and fires at the nearest bat. The creature cries out, a piercing screech that I feel all the way to my toes. It flaps above us, its torso impaled with a glowing red bolt light. Flash bats swarm in the illuminated cavern. There are less than ten. We may survive this yet.
“Just a hunting party,” Dram says, lunging with his knife. He spears a bat, and the furry brown body writhes on his blade, jaws snapping.
The snout and teeth of flash bats are overly large, jutting out beneath their extra set of eyes. Their jaws are like spring-loaded traps that snap over their prey with enough force to break skin and bone. Dram stabs his double-bladed dagger into the creature’s skull and twists his wrist. Its glowing yellow eyes slowly dim.
Two more drop, and our backs brush as we move into a defensive position. I thrust my knife at the nearest bat. Miss.
It careens toward me again, and I lash out, skewering it through the belly. Wings flap wildly, and I tighten my grip as the bat pulls me forward a step. It makes a clicking sound with its teeth as it gnaws at my blade. I shove my boot over the creature and drive another knife through its head, staring up at the remaining bats above us.
Dram works his blade free from a carcass. “I don’t think any more will—”
Another bat dives. I lurch back, but it tangles in my hair, thrashing, twisting, and flapping its wings.
“Dram!” I cry out as its claws scratch my face. I reach for it—
“No, Rye!”
Two rows of teeth clamp down on my forearm, and I scream as they penetrate the layers of my suit. The thing must be a baby, because my arm isn’t broken, but burning pain radiates through my veins. Venom. Only the females are venomous.
Dram has his hands in my hair. He’s wrestling the flash bat while I concentrate on not passing out. A second later, I hear a thunk and a crunch. He cuts the creature out of my snarled hair and lowers my arm in front of me. I steal a glance at the bat’s cloudy blank eyes, faintly glowing still. Its mouth grips my arm like a vise.
“Lean into me,” Dram says. “I’m going to pry its jaw open.”
I sway against him and force myself to just keep standing. He cuts part of my sleeve away. I feel his blade, cool against my forearm.
“Ready?” he asks. He levers his knife, and the bat’s jaw lifts. His arms shake as he forces it wide enough for me to pull my arm free. I shut my eyes against the sight of my streaming blood and sink to the ground, dimly aware of the bat bodies nearby. The pain eclipses everything. Dram kneels beside me where I quiver on the floor, moaning.
He draws my arm across his knees. I know what’s coming, and I shake, knowing it hurts as much as the initial bite. Dram meets my eyes, but then seems to decide against whatever he was going to say. Nothing he could say will make this next part any easier.
He presses his lips to the wound and sucks. A fractured cry bursts from my mouth. Dram hands me a piece of rope, and I bite down as he continues to draw the venom from my arm. He spits blood and green poison on the ground beside us, over and over, until my voice is hoarse and my cries have dissolved into a whimper.
“It was shallow,” he says, wiping his mouth. His voice sounds strained, like he’s been yelling along with me. “Come on.” He grips my arm and hauls me to my feet. “Let’s find some water posey.”
I stumble along behind him, trying to shut out the pain.
As much as it hurts, it doesn’t warrant Serum 129. There are too many perils down here to risk dulling my senses. We are too deep. I need to be able to climb hard and fast—impossible with shock inhibitors buzzing through my system.
“I hear water—” I point to the left, still too hoarse to speak.
Dram lets go of my hand to use his palm lights, and I stare down at the place where his hand was, trying to understand the sense of loss. When did his touch become so important to me?
“Stay with me,” Dram says, cupping my cheek in his gloved hand. “We’ll find some posey for the pain. Hang in there.”
We pass an outcrop of stone, and blue light fills a cavern, glowing up from a massive pool. Blue is not an orbie color. This water is safe. Dram jogs toward it and reaches into the water for the plants growing up toward the surface.
“Found some,” he calls. He’s not wearing his mouthpiece, but the cavern carries his voice. I sag against the wall. It will be bearable soon.
Dram cuts a frond of water posey, a plant that soothes skin and numbs pain. He slips his knife through the middle of the leaf, dividing it into two glistening green halves. Gently, he lifts my arm and draws back the torn sleeve. A ring of bruises surround the bite wound, from the force of his mouth pulling the poison out.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing the purple marks.
“Wasn’t your fault,” I say, watching as he wraps the leaves over my forearm. “It’s not like that bite is from your overly long teeth.”
“I was just following orders,” he murmurs, binding the wrap with gauze. “You were the one who led us past that tunnel.”
I look up with surprise. “It was your light gun that drew them.”
He raises a brow. “You’re the one who ordered the marker.”
“That’s my job!” He bites his lip, and suddenly I see what’s going on. “You’re arguing with me on purpose to distract me from the pain.”
“Maybe.” He ties off the bandage and pulls my sleeve back into place.
“Oh no.” The cavern is spinning, so I close my eyes. I can still picture the vibrant blue pool.
“Do you think the sky is as bright as that?” I murmur.
“We’ll find out,” Dram says, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
My heart stills. Maybe the venom reached it after all. His touch tingles down through every nerve ending. It pulses behind my sternum, like a secret.
“Posey-wosey,” I mumble. “Posey making me woozy.” It takes all my concentration to speak.
He grins. “We might as well rest a bit.”
“Wait.” The posey works fast. My mind seems to be heading up the tunnel without the rest of my body. “The venom burned your lips.” I run my finger inside the posey leaf and touch it to Dram’s mouth. He holds still as I smooth the juice along his bottom lip. He’s not wearing his goggles, and his blue eyes glow like the pool behind him.
“Rye,” he whispers. He reaches to take over the job himself, but I shake my head.
“Let me.” I spread posey extract along his top lip and feel his breath against my hand. It’s as unsteady as mine.
“You need to sleep it off.” He guides my hands back to my sides and unpacks a thin metallic blanket from his pouch, then he leans against the cavern wall and slides down.
I drop down beside him. He helps me unfold my blanket, and we huddle side by side, wrapped in the synthetic warmth. The sound of the water trickling into the pool lulls me until my eyelids feel as heavy as my axe. My head tips back and finds its way to his shoulder. The fabric of his suit rubs my scratched cheek, and I hiss with pain.
“Here…” Dram draws me across his lap and cradles me in his arms.
It’s like I’m floating again, far above my body, a kite with no strings. I wonder how much of it is the posey and how much has to do with Dram’s closeness. I savor the feel of his arms around me, of being held so close to his chest that I feel each one of his breaths.
“Sleep.” His voice sounds gruff.
“We can’t keep doing this,” I murmur. “Barely surviving nine.”
“We’re not out yet. We could still die in a variety of ways.”
I smile. We are morbid, the cavers of Outpost Five. But my smile fades as the reality of my life sinks in. Tears prick the back of my eyes.
“I want to live in a place where … don’t have to cut … flash bats … out of my hair.”
“Shhh, just sleep.” He threads his fingers through my tangled blond strands, as if he’s replacing the memory with something new. Something good. His voice rumbles against my ear where it presses against his chest, so I close my eyes and let myself drift.
Dram pulls me closer, lowering his head until his lips are beside my ear. “I won’t leave you. I won’t let anything steal you away.”
I am just far enough gone with posey to believe him.