A Strand of Reality - Chap. 2

Chapter 2

Raelei shuddered - she had seen the flicker of fiery anger that had surfaced in Alaric’s golden eyes. Whatever it was that had caused it - it couldn’t be good. Raelei hesitated, should she ask him what it was? Alaric interrupted her thoughts. ‘We have to go,’ he commanded. Raelei grabbed their rations, and hurried after him as he strode away, brushing past the straggling miners. Swiftly Alaric ducked into a shadowy alcove, turning to face Raelei. ‘What’s going on?’ She questioned a trifle impatiently. Alaric stared impassively at her; ‘We have to get our equipment.’
‘We?’ Raelei queried. ‘Yup - you’ll be helping me work on the 34.6 digs. We’ll be working with Dracia.’ He replied. ‘Dracia?’ Raelei squeaked, a cold tendril of fear curling itself up in her stomach. ‘Isn’t that the laserbeam containment system you use to create implosions and explosions?’

‘Yes.’ Alaric raised an eyebrow, vaugly impressed. ‘and it’s even more lethal when beginners use it. Usually every one working with them dies. That’s why beginners in a Dracia team have been outlawed for as long as I can remember. When the mines first lost group after group with beginners using it, they changed the system and only used experienced workers, that is, until today. So, since you know so much about it – can you use it?’ Raelei shivered, and shook her head. Alaric had spoken matter-of-factly enough, but the stony look etched on his face spoke volumes more than any words. 'My life training was as a scholar – not a miner.'

'Right.' Brushing past her, he lead the way down a maze of tunnels, until he came to a abrupt halt in front of a guarded door. Six Tiejed dressed in their usual red sash around their left arms stood in two lines in front of the glowing red door. The first in line stepped forward, standing practically nose to nose with Alaric. ‘Let’s see your orders.’ He snapped viciously. Alaric pulled them and shoved them under the Tiejed's milky-white eyes. The creature snatched the paper and read it swiftly. Without another sound he rapidly turned on his heel. Marching through the saluting soldiers, he punched the code panel. The doors slipped apart with a tiny, shuddering sigh.

Seconds later the guard was out again holding a hand-sized cube of gelatinous material and a dusty brown bag. Thrusting the lot at Alaric, he shouted something in a queer hissing language - the language of the Tiejed. Instantly a group of twelve Tiejed d`clan popped out of seemingly no where and surrounded Alaric and Raelei. Ghostly silence curled around the muffled tramping of the group’s feet. Level after level slipped by as they made their way down to the very end of the tunnel’s honeycombed system.

Raelei stared at the walls that surrounded the tiny group of beings on every side but one. The flickering light that emitted from the ball torches the guards had on the ends of their stun spears permitted her to see all corners of the dead-end tunnel. In the glowing yellow light the walls of the cave were an eerie blood red hue - in the shade the shimmering agate-like rock turned to an inky, velvet pools of violet, deeper than the eyes that studied the walls with a swelling fear. Turning away from the foreboding colors, Raelei instinctively caught the laserdrill Alaric threw at her. As silently as the stone that surrounded them, he started to bore holes in the rock around them. Raelei peered at him, watching to see how he did it. After a moment of intense study, she followed his lead closely, mimicking his movements like she was his shadow. Hole after hole was drilled into the surrounding rock, the only sound that could be heard was the sizzle of the drills as their lasers bit into the steel hard rock.

After much time Alaric chucked his drill into the soft dirt below their feet, and Raelei followed suit, sighing with relief - Thank Joire that was finally over! As much as she was used to silence from the long hours of study she put in every day of her life - the hopeless silence that filled the tunnel was mounting to point where Raelei felt like screaming, just to shatter the intense quiet.

‘I’ll fill the holes with the Dracia.’ Alaric tersely clipped out; ‘I’ll check your drill holes as I go. If the holes aren’t perfectly angled the Dracia will cause an implosion instead of an explosion. If that happens the roof will collapse and kill us all.’ Raelei nodded as a chill of understanding flooding her. ‘That must have been what happened to all the other groups.’ She thought with a shiver.

Meticulously Alaric tapped the putty-like Dracia into each drill hole. Each charge had a tiny, wire thin device sticking out it. When Alaric had finished, the walls looked like they had sprouted a stubble of hair that had a blinking red light at each tip of the fine wires. Carefully, Alaric gripped the palm-sized box with a similar red light on it. Spinning on his heel, he strode up the tunnel with Raelei gliding on his heels. Five hundred meters up the tunnel Alaric pressed the detonation control. All was eerily silent for a moment - then an echoing roar enveloped the mines.

Raelei flinched as the earth shook under her feet - an ice cold feeling of dread weighted down her limbs. For an instant, the image of a blood red sky drifted in front of her eyes. She shook her head vigorously, refusing to let the terror that caught her in its snare each night creep into her waking hours.

* * * * *

‘Not again!’ Alaric clipped out. Raelei stared at the grubby piece of a paper in Alaric’s hand. In faded type, the same orders of yesterday loomed menacingly. She had held onto hope that they would only have to work on excavation - as they had all of yesterday after the detonation work. Raelei grimaced as she rubbed her aching shoulders - it was back-breaking work, but even hauling rocks to the packing trucks by hand was better then working with Dracia. In sleep walking motion she grabbed the rations and followed Alaric: first to get their tools and then down the levels of the mine once again.

Without a word Raelei grabbed her allotted drill and started drilling. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck as she worked, mingling with the dust and sweat from yesterday. The temperature grew higher and more humid then what she had experienced before - it rose and made the tunnels stiflingly hot. Raelei felt her dress clinging to her as she moved on from drilling hole upon hole. Glancing at Alaric she saw that his dust black tunic and trousers where soaked with sweat as well. Raelei felt her drill bite, and stop pushing forward, banishing all thoughts. She frowned, pushing against the cross shaped hand piece, but it still didn’t move. She lurched forward when the drill jerked deeper with a start.

* * * * *

As the laser worked into the shadowy red rock, a thin shell of melted violet lava hardened into a cylinder - covering up the narrow abyss that ran along the tunnel. As Alaric and Raelei's drills bit into the rock, the thin covering of stone trembled - swaying out in the middle. As the tunnel sides bowed out the weight of the mines above pressed down, threatening to collapse down at any moment.

* * * * *

Glancing around at the blinking wires, Alaric was sure that all was in order. Striding down the tunnel with Raelei and the posse of guards Alaric waited until they where far enough away - then detonated the charges. They listened for the familiar roar of exploding rock - and heard a muffled growl that made Alaric freeze. Raelei felt her face whiten when she saw his reaction, and she choked as dust and rock flew down the tunnel just ahead of the rolling chunks of stone that plummeted down from the roof as it collapsed in. They turned and ran for their lives.
Raelei ran, her breath sobbing out as she tried to keep ahead of the engulfing tide of boulders. Terror pushed her faster then she felt she was going - time slipped by as if it had frozen everything but the pounding surge of stone that was catching up all too fast. She stumbled on - running in a losing race, when she felt a stone turn under her foot. Two blurs, Alaric and the guard, rushed by as she catapulted forward, twisting in the air to land on her back with a thud.

Red dust puffed up and settled in her hair - Raelei didn’t notice. Searing pain gripped her ribs like a vice as she struggled to draw in a breath. Through blurry eyes, Raelei stared up at the rocky ceiling, trying to will away the burning torture. Dimly she realized that the horrific roar of the tumbling stones had stopped. Focusing on taking each breath as it came, Raelei let the pain loose instead of fighting it. At last she could draw in her breath freely. Carefully, she tested each bone and muscle, checking for bruises and breaks. When she found she could move without stabbing torture, Raelei sat up thankful to be alive.

Her thankfulness blossomed further when she saw that the cave-in had stopped a few feet away from her, but soon turned to utter horror when she realized that she couldn’t see the guards, or Alaric. They had been buried alive.

Raelei sprung to her feet - racing to the rocky pile that stretched out in a gentle slop. Fearfully she scanned the ground and the massive boulders, afraid of what she would find. And when she spotted a bandaged hand protruding from under the rocks, her terror struck in full, blinding force. Heedless of any danger of renewing the cave-in, Raelei started feverishly lugging rocks away from Alaric. When she heard a muffled groan she worked all the harder, slinging dirt, pebbles, and stones away with all her might. Pieces of dirty skin and dusty black material showed through the heaped cobbles as she slowly uncovered Alaric’s chest. When she had cleared away most of the rock, Raelei heard Alaric moan. However, a quieter, more ominous sound issuing from nearby caused her to jump violently. A deeper groan, a whispering of a warning - the rock fall may come down further. Even as Raelei decided to pull Alaric out before he came around or got crushed again, she was rushing to his shoulders. Surging adrenaline caused her to have strength she never knew she had. Within the space of a couple of heartbeats, Raelei had pulled Alaric completely free of the rock fall.

Dropping to her knees beside Alaric, Raelei anxiously laid her trembling hand on his forehead. Cold sweat mixed with pulsing blood made his skin grimy. Raelei quickly checked him all over to see how badly he was hurt. She was relieved to find that nothing was crushed or broken, but he had a multitude of cuts and scrapes - as far as she could tell, the worst one was on his face. Blood pumped furiously from the rip, gushing down his ghostly face to mingle with the dusty red earth. Quickly she grabbed the flowing sleeve of her dress, and ripped it off at the right shoulder. Gently pressing it onto the cut, she noticed that, although the wound went through his left eyebrow, and stopped down under his check bone, somehow his eye was missed. Holding the bunched up material on firmly, Raelei stared, blanching marble white as the bloodstain grew from just the sized of her hand to seep the entire cloth through until it dripped blood. Without a hesitation she ripped off her left sleeve.

When Raelei lifted the dripping cloth her breath sucked in sharply - gleaming white bone showed through the ruby-red blood. This, she thought grimly, has got to treated, or... She didn’t even want to think about it, but she knew all to well the dangers of blood loss, infection and gangrene. Helplessly she stared at the gaping wound - somehow it had to be held together. Alaric stirred uneasily, breaking Raelei’s thoughts. She’d have to deal with treating the wound later.

* * * * *

Neon colors surged before his eyes in waves, flashing with each throb of pain. Alaric groaned - the deep, comforting blanket of obliviousness slipped away as he soared into the agonized alertness. Shapes blurred in a haze as he tried to find out what was going on. Staining to see, Alaric recognized Raelei kneeing over him. When clarity came back to his eyes he could see the worry etched on her face. Pain, piercing all over like lightening rods stabbed at him. Alaric focused on Raelei’s face - concentrating on her violet eyes shaded by long, dark lashes to keep the torture at bay.

When she spoke, her voice was so low he had to strain to hear it. ‘You have to be treated - do you have a doctor?’ Alaric laughed, a short, derisive sound, and then winced as his ribs protested violently. ‘I take that for a no.’ Raelei paused, a shadow of dreaded knowledge flitted across her face. In that moment, Alaric saw she knew what pain was. ‘How can I get you to the barracks?’ She asked, as she tried to bind his head up. Alaric stared up at her, suddenly realizing that his head was in her lap. Shock, quickly follow by discomfort flooded him. He never let anyone this close to him – ever.

Raelei calmly asked her question again, snapping Alaric back into focus. ‘You can’t.’ He answered tersely. ‘Oh?’ Something in Raelei’s voice alerted him. Gritting his teeth, Alaric forced his screaming muscle to obey him. With a struggle he finally sat up - only to be greeted by a thunderous Fisjo standing above them.

Quicker then lighting, Fisjo took the situation in, and smiled a twisted, evil grin that made Raelei’s heart pound. ‘Get him on the hovercraft.’ He snapped as he strode away. The Tiejed shifted Alaric on and strapped him in securely. Raelei marched along besides the floating cart. In no time they had arrived at the barracks and roughly dumped Alaric on his bunk.

The barracks where eerily quiet as the ancient bunks stood in the dim, musty light, devoid of all life. The only sound to be heard was Alaric’s muffled groans as Raelei tried to make him comfortable. All the movement had caused Alaric’s cuts to bleed even more vigorously. Raelei swabbed at the blood with mounting panic - how was she going to fix him up? ‘Alaric.’ Raelei stared into his golden eyes, pain-filled - trying desperately to keep him alert. ‘Where is a medical kit?’ As Alaric stared at Raelei numbly, she felt her heart sinking. Just as she thought it was hopeless, that there wasn’t anything to she could use, he manage to gasp out - ‘Under my bed.’

Raelei dove under the bunk sorting through dust and piles of red-hued rocks. At first she couldn’t see anything that faintly resembled a medical kit. Frustrated, she swiped her hand about; banging it on something that clanged. Prodding the wall she found a rusty tin cunningly tucked in a hidden nook. Pulling it out, she stood up, flipping her hair back. A quick examination proved that all the ‘medical kit’ amounted too was a grimy bandage, a bottle of precious water and some black plastic gunk. Raelei poked the stuff in despair - and scowled as the gooey stuff clung to her finger. Shaking her finger didn’t get it off - as a last resort she scraped against the tin, and softly smiled. It wasn’t much but maybe, just maybe, it would work.

Carefully placing the tin on Alaric’s bunk, she pulled the water out. Unscrewing the bottle, Raelei was glad to see that he had fainted again. She wouldn’t hurt him if he couldn’t feel it. Gently Raelei brushed back Alaric’s soft black hair, and got to work. Washing out the cut, she pulled the torn skin together. With one hand holding the wound closed, she grabbed the bandage with the other. Carefully she picked up a piece of the plastic and spread it over the cut to hold it closed. When she had finished, Alaric had a line of black plastic down his face, but Raelei was glad to see that it was holding the wound shut. ‘Hopefully,’ she thought, ‘that’ll help it heal without infection.’

* * * * *

Alaric groaned as he soared back to reality. His face felt stiff like it was held in place. Struggling to open his eyes, he reached up to touch his face. Raelei gently grabbed his hand; Alaric stared at her, alarmed that she was too close, once again, for comfort. ‘You can’t touch - I’ve covered your cut up.’ Raelei stated softly, mistaking his tense alarm for questions. ‘Oh.’ Alaric pulled his hand away, a gasping hiss escaping from his lips. Lowering his arm he tried to relax as Raelei fussed over him straightening his clothes. Suddenly she froze - staring at her hand. Blood dripped off her fingers. Alaric watched as she was galvanized into action. Raelei grabbed his shirt and tore it up the side seams. Too late to stop her, Alaric watched as she stripped away his clothes until he was left in the remains of his trousers that stopped half-way up his thighs. Cuts, bruises and blood covered most of his skin; Raelei just got to work.
There was no time for Alaric's dazed mumbling – she had a job to do.

* * * * *

Cautiously Siivilss approached the looming blue control room. He hoped that Fisjo was in a good mood today. Then again, he thought with a dry click, if Fisjo was in a good mood, he won’t be after he hears my news. A tremor of nervousness rippled his scales as he waited in front of the thick metal door to be admitted. The door slid open with a hiss, so similar to the word danger in Tiejed, that Siivilss felt his two hundred and fifty degrees Celsius blood drop past hibernation temperature.

Stepping into the dark, it didn’t take long for Siivilss to see that Fisjo wasn’t very happy. His heart sunk - this wasn’t going to be pretty. Fisjo tapped his long, rapier claws on his Lanthril desk as he sat there imperiously. ‘Come on!’ He hissed, ‘What are you waiting for?’ Siivilss gulped, then plunged right in. ‘I have come to report that the cave-in has been cleared sir.’ Fisjo graced the staunch soldier with a tiny click of appreciation. Then his demeanor changed. ‘Well it’s about time!’ He muttered with displeasure, snaking onto his feet, and coming to stand at Siivilss’ side. ‘It’s taken you a whole month to clear that blockage!’

Siivilss nodded. ‘Yes sir it has. It took so long because there where these pillars in the way.’
‘Pillars?’ Fisjo narrowed his eyes - staring at Siivilss with a menacing light in his ghostly white eyes. ‘Yes sir.’ Siivilss had never come closer to stammering with fear then he had now. He swallowed hard, barricading his terror away. ‘There is some sort of structure in the way. A row of twelve parallel supports stand before a wall of Lanthril that is covered in carvings. The team deduces that it was this structure that caused the cave-in, sir.’

Fisjo tapped his chin thoughtfully. ‘This structure is made completely out of Lanthril you say?’
‘Yes sir.’
‘Good.’
Siivilss blinked. This wasn’t the reaction he had expected from Fisjo - but, inside he shrugged, it didn’t really matter as long as he wasn’t in trouble. ‘Dismissed!’

Fisjo watched as the soldier marched out. Sitting down abruptly, he spoke. ‘Magnuson’ The word drifted out darkly and penetrated the room. With a crackle the transmitter sprung to life. ‘Sir, the mining is turning out five percent more Forshae as we’ve hit a vein in the forty-second tunnel, level three.’ Fisjo finished the standard report with a click. ‘One more thing before you go.’ Purred a black silk voice that concealed a hidden danger. Fisjo waited motionlessly. ‘How is the boy?’ Fisjo’s eyes narrowed angrily. ‘He is fine.’ The words choked him, but they wouldn’t for long.

A malevolent gleam sprung to his eyes. Fisjo didn’t even register the snap of the broken transmission. The shadowy darkness of the control room was nothing compared to the darkness etched on Fisjo’s face as he gloated over his plan. He had enough. He’d kept Alaric alive too long. At the risk of Magnuson's wrath, that was about to change.

....~*~....

Author's Note ~

Please rate&review, I really want to improve my writing. If you don't have time to reveiw, please rate - and be harsh! Thankyou for your time. :)

A Strand of Reality - Chap. 3  (13+) When danger overtakes - can Alaric face the reality of death? #848365 by Italics