The Rifts of Psyche by Kyle West (i love reading .txt) 📕

this point, Lucian’s Psionic ward had dissolved, meaning he had the ether to spare for a Radiance ward.

Now, the tunnel was completely black. It was hard for Lucian to tell the time, but by now, it must have been dark outside. They had been walking for hours with not so much as a break.

“When do we set up camp?” Lucian asked. His voice was louder than he thought, even with the rush of the stream.

“Keep moving,” Fergus said. “We only camp once we’ve found a good spot.”

“What’s a good spot?”

“That,” Serah said, pointing. “Can you brighten your sphere, Lucian?”

Lucian did so, increasing the amount of ether. Across the stream rose a steep ledge that looked climbable. But it wasn’t the ledge Serah was pointing out. There was a fissure entering the rock face, shadowed in darkness, that the sphere light couldn’t quite reach.

“That looks promising,” she said. “We can get some shuteye. Even as bright as Lucian’s sphere is, it won’t reach in there.”

“Sounds good to me,” Cleon said. “Will there be room for everyone?”

“I can go check it out,” Lucian said. “The rest of you can wait here.”

“I can boost you,” Serah said. “Wouldn’t want you getting yourself killed this early.”

Together, they crossed the stream. Lucian was surprised at how much force the water exerted. Though the water only went up to his knees, he kept slipping. It was easier to be pushed around in this low gravity. A waist-high stream might be enough to carry him off.

“Careful,” Serah said.

The stream emptied in a small, dark pool that looked deep, and it seemed that the pool joined another fast-moving stream, where the trail picked up again. Lucian only had eyes for the cliff, though. He dropped his pack and instantly felt much lighter on his feet. He scaled it easily, only a few flecks of rock crumbling away from his efforts. There was no need for Serah to give him a lift with her magic.

Once he’d reached the top, he found the ledge was quite narrow. He headed for the fissure running into the wall, his sphere light revealing an empty chasm about two meters deep. It was tall enough to cover even Fergus’s head. It was about twenty meters long and a quarter of that wide. It would be the perfect place to hole up. Assuming they slept as far from the pool as possible, no one could see them from the trail. All they had to do was clear their tracks.

Lucian returned to the cliff and waved up the others.

The packs were easily moved to the top with antigrav auras streamed by Serah. She tossed them up one by one. Then, the rest climbed hand over hand, finding the ascent as easy as Lucian.

They could only hope that this ledge didn’t attract attention. It didn’t look out of place from the trail, but would an enemy pursuer take note of the fissure and want to investigate it? Then again, they had to sleep somewhere, and this was the best spot they’d found.

Serah was the last one up, after she had erased whatever tracks led here. Lucian only lowered the brightness of his sphere once she was on top of the ledge. Together, they walked to the fissure, where Fergus and Cleon were already setting up camp.

“No one will ever know we’re here,” she said. “Especially once that sphere goes off.”

Dinner that night was dried meat, pickles, and crimson fruit. There was no fire. They had brought no fuel with them, so they were limited to what they could find or whatever Cleon could stream.

“My concealment ward is as strong as any I’ve ever made,” Fergus said. “If another Radiant is trying to sniff us out, he’ll be sorely disappointed, I assure you of that.”

“I got rid of the tracks heading here, too,” Serah added. “Not that there’s much on this rock, anyway. There’s a fording up ahead, so they’ll just assume we crossed that.”

“Let’s hope so,” Cleon said.

Fergus nodded at Lucian, his signal to dissolve the light sphere. When it winked out, the darkness was absolute, seeming solid enough to press up against him. His heart raced a bit. It only reminded him of being at the bottom of the Ocean of Storms.

He reached for his Focus, using it to insulate him from the panic. When his heartrate slowed, he closed his eyes. He longed for someone to be close to him, just so he could be reminded he wasn’t alone. He thought back to his first night on Psyche, where he and Serah had slept under the rubble. Now, though, there was no rubble to be the excuse that pushed them together.

In time, Lucian fell asleep after streaming his Psionic ward for the night.

27

When Lucian opened his eyes, he could see a light floating in the distance. Then another. And another. A long line of light spheres drifted across his vision. At first, it seemed like a dream. But as he opened his eyes more fully, he could make out shapes moving among those lights. Human shapes.

They had been found.

No one else seemed to be awake, though he could hear someone snoring nearby, who he thought to be Cleon. When Lucian touched a hairy leg, the wiry man seized up as if electrocuted.

“Quiet,” Lucian whispered.

Since Cleon actually did remain quiet, he must have seen the lights, too.

“Wake Fergus,” Lucian whispered. “I’ll get Serah.”

Lucian crouched and snuck over to Serah, who was breathing softly on the other side of the fissure. Thankfully, she already seemed to be awake.

“I see it,” she whispered.

The lights were getting farther, meaning they had been fooled by Serah’s misdirection. How long before they realized something was wrong? Before too long, they would head back here.

Once the lights had completely disappeared down some passage or another, someone heaved a sigh of relief.

“We’re not out of this yet,” Serah said. “They’ll double back once they realize the trail’s gone cold.”

“What do we do, then?” Cleon asked.

“Two options, as I see it. Stay