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

Lucian didn’t like either of those options. “Well, if they realize the trail ends around here, they’ll find us easily. And judging from those lights, we’re severely outnumbered.”

“I agree,” Serah said. “Only problem is, they went the direction we were supposed to go. And they are really pushing themselves.”

“So, we just go back the way we came and take one of the other passages,” Lucian said. “Or we might even surface and make our way back to Blue Rift.”

“There’s the Zephyr,” Serah said. “It’s likely this is the same group of soldiers that was chasing me, or maybe the forces chasing you and I combined. That means the Zephyr dropped them off near the entrance of the Darkrift. That ship will be parked out there, waiting for them to return with Lucian in tow.”

“Perhaps we could take it on,” Lucian said. “If most of the soldiers and mages are down here, then it might be a good opportunity to strike.”

“Are you fraying?” Fergus said.

“Rot that,” Cleon said. “No way in hell I’m fighting the Zephyr if there’s even a chance the Sorceress-Queen herself is on board. Which she probably is since someone was attacking your ward last night.”

“We need to act fast,” Serah said. “They’ll be coming back any time.”

“There were several other paths back the way we came,” Lucian said. “I say we run, skip a few of them, and pick one at random.”

“Sounds like a great way to fall down a hole,” Cleon said.

“Well, we’re running out of options, so unless you have an idea . . .”

Fergus held up a hand, quieting everyone.

“We must put distance between us and them. That’s the number one priority.” He looked at Serah. “What do we need to do?”

“More or less what Lucian said,” Serah said. “Find a path and hope they don’t follow it. Lucian, stream a dim sphere. Something that might be mistaken for a ghost eel. We’re going to travel upstream from where we came, at least for a bit. We can’t make fresh tracks.”

“That’ll be cold,” Cleon said.

“Better than being dead,” Serah said. “We should get moving. I’ll try to find another tunnel we can use, but no promises.”

Lucian streamed the sphere, so dimly that he could see nothing beyond a meter in every direction. In less than two minutes, everyone was packed and ready. Not half a kilometer away, his enemies were hunting for him, and the only thing that kept them from being detected was Fergus. Fergus, who was fast tiring from maintaining the concealment ward nonstop.

They lowered themselves from the cliff and into the cold stream. Lucian was grateful the water didn’t go above his knees, but the going was still slippery and miserable. It didn’t take long for his boots to soak through and his feet to go numb. There was nothing to be done about that. Lucian brightened his sphere because they were just slipping too much. If they were being followed, they’d have no way of knowing. The pitch blackness, combined with the light of the sphere, made it impossible to see into the darkness behind. They wouldn’t know they were being pursued until the lights were on them.

Serah led them up a tributary of the stream, where another tunnel branched off from the main one. With luck, they wouldn’t be followed this way.

A few more minutes of walking, and Serah found another trail running alongside the new stream. This one would be rougher going. They had to crouch multiple times just to fit under the ceiling, and also to climb over various cave-ins. Lucian’s greatest fear was reaching a dead end and having to go back, and then running into the Queen’s men.

He was relieved when the trail opened again, at what appeared to be a large underground lake, far bigger than the one they had camped beside. Lucian couldn’t say how he knew they were in a massive space. It was something he felt.

“Put the sphere out,” Serah whispered.

He did so instantly. At first, he couldn’t see anything. But once his eyes had adjusted, the lights were back, only far in the distance. How far was that? A kilometer? Half that? However far, it was too close.

“You think they saw us?” Cleon asked.

“I don’t know,” Serah said. “It’s clear they’re on the other side of this lake.”

“Head back?” Fergus asked.

“Let’s sit still for a while,” she said. “How’s your ward, Fergus?”

“Weakening,” Fergus said. “We need to go in the opposite direction, even if we backtrack. I can probably keep the ward this strong for another few hours. It’s either that or weaken it, which makes detection more likely.”

“I remember this lake,” Serah said. “They’re following the exact path we need to be on.”

“Well, how are we supposed to get past them?” Lucian asked.

“We don’t,” Fergus said. “Our best move is to gain some distance and camp out a few days. Let them continue their mad chase.”

Lucian had to say it made sense. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do was nothing at all.

“That means finding a safe place to hole up,” Serah said. “We can’t go back to where we were before. After missing us the first time, they might investigate the fissure more closely.”

The lights were getting closer. Shouldn’t they have been going the opposite way?

“I think they might have seen us,” Cleon whispered.

“Time to move,” Fergus said.

They backed into the tunnel from which they’d emerged, but not before an explosion of rock fountained from the ground beneath. Someone stumbled in front of Lucian, causing him to trip up.

“Run!” Serah said.

Fergus streamed a light sphere, illumining the entrance of the tunnel. One fireball, and then two, shot across the still surface of the lake. Cleon raised a Thermal shield, which absorbed the missiles. More fireballs flew their way.

Lucian ran after the others right into the tunnel. He reached for the Binding Aspect, not accessing the Orb so as not to draw too much ether. Even with Fergus’s ward,