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

swum in was already deep, but clearly it had been deeper long ago. The thought that Lucian had been swimming in that dark water was enough to give him chills. These things, or at least their evolutionary descendants, likely lurked the dark, fathomless deeps.

“This is no place for people to tread,” Cleon whispered.

For once, everyone seemed to agree with him.

After half an hour of walking, they came to a stop and let Cleon stream a fire, which he locked with a Gravitonic shell. It was eerie to see fire floating like that, as it would in outer space in the absence of gravity. Yet it was fire, just like any other. They could use it to cook and warm themselves, and lend some semblance of life to this dark, cold underworld.

Fergus got out the cookpot and started warming up a soup.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Cleon said, after they had finished their meal. “But I’m tired of this running shit.”

Heads nodded all around. Everyone stared into the floating orb of flame.

“We should think about continuing on,” Fergus said. “I know everyone’s tired, but they could be right behind us.”

“Rot that,” Cleon said. “I’m going to sleep.”

“It’s best we keep our strength up,” Serah agreed. “Even you, Fergus. You can’t push yourself too hard.”

For a moment, he looked as if he were about to argue. Then, he let out a mournful sigh. “I know.”

Lucian was already nodding off.

“It’s best we put out this fire,” Cleon said. “Get what warmth you can, wrap yourselves up. Might get a bit chilly.”

Lucian did that, even if all he wanted to do was fall asleep. His clothes were still damp and would remain so for the foreseeable feature. To completely dry them, Cleon would have to create a bigger fire, which would not only use up his ether but attract unwanted attention. Then again, perhaps the things that lurked down here would stay away from fire, like the wyverns.

When the fire went out, complete darkness returned. It was a heavy feeling, just knowing there were kilometers of rock and dirt above him. Save for random drops of water, it was dead quiet. If any of them so much as snored, it might be heard for hundreds of meters. Then again, it would make it that much easier to detect someone’s approach.

“Ward is set,” Fergus said.

That reminded Lucian to set the group’s Psionic ward. Even if he was gaining more distance from the Queen, or whoever had been attacking him, he didn’t want to take unnecessary risks.

As soon as he shut his eyes, he was out.

He was shaken awake by someone.

“Time to move,” Serah said.

A light came on, so bright that it hurt his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted, he realized the light sphere wasn’t bright at all. It was simply so dark that even a match would have been blinding. Fergus lowered the intensity of the sphere and allowed Serah to lead the way into the darkness. Lucian got the feeling that she was guessing the direction as much as any of them. Everything looked the same down here.

Cleon apparently had the same thought. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“Down,” she said.

“And how do you know this way is down?”

Serah stopped, causing the rest of them to pause. “You hear that?”

Lucian strained his ears. He didn’t hear anything at first, but then he heard something like static. No, not static. Running water.

“Where you can hear water, it’s heading down,” Serah said. “Almost all streams eventually reach the Moon Sea.”

“The Moon Sea must be what, tens of kilometers below us?”

“Thereabouts. But that’s where Slave’s Run is. The place you asked me to lead you to in case you need reminding.”

“I didn’t ask. If it were up to me, we’d be out of the Blue Rift by now.”

“Quiet,” Fergus said. “I’ve had it up to here with the both of you.”

It was another couple of minutes before anyone spoke.

“Lucian’s been quiet,” Cleon said. “How’re you holding up back there, pal?”

“Just ready to get out of here.”

Cleon had a laugh at that. “It’ll be a while, my friend. Get used to the darkness. Might be you never see the sun again.”

“It won’t be dark forever,” Serah said. “The Moon Sea is the most beautiful site on Psyche, and few have ever seen it.”

“Few live to see it,” Cleon corrected. “And nothing’s more beautiful than the sight of home after a long journey, and nothing shines as bright as the smile of your girl.”

At those words, Lucian thought of Emma. He knew he shouldn’t think of her as his girl in any way. They had never been together. And yet he couldn’t help but think of her. Even if it wasn’t possible to see her again, it was nice to dream.

They at last reached the stream. As good as Serah’s word, it led steadily downward into the darkness. Whether it got them to where they wanted to go was another question entirely.

Serah broke the silence. “My hope is this stream will reconnect with another lake at a lower elevation. From there, we should be able to pick up the trail again. Hopefully with those men far behind us.”

What followed was hours of mindless walking. Even if there was an entire underworld around them, it might as well have not existed because of the darkness. The only world was the one revealed by Fergus’s sphere. And Lucian had to say the Captain was not looking his usual, healthy self. His face was coated with sweat, and he breathed heavily despite the downslope walk.

“Let’s take a break,” Lucian said. “Maybe I can light the way for a while.”

“Maybe you can relax the ward a bit, Fergus,” Serah suggested. “I doubt we’re anywhere near them now.”

“I won’t risk it,” Fergus said, sitting on a nearby rock and wiping his brow. “A bit of water and food and I’ll be good to go.”

They stopped to eat, but even after the rest, Fergus wasn’t doing much better.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard,”