Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) by Melanie Nilles Page B

blaze! {"Who gave them
weapons?"} He'd kill the fool himself, if they weren't dead
already. Kalas passed his finger over the trigger of his weapon and
hurried around the next corridor.
    {"No one, Rikku . Something came out
of their hands."}
    {"How?"} Was that the purpose of the
marks on their hands?
    {"I don't know. They took out the
guards in a second but let me go."}
    {"Let you go?"}
    The young warrior hesitated.
{"They…threatened me to die or run."}
    Obviously he had chosen to spare his
life rather than try to recapture the two. Surik could deal with
him later.
    {"Where are they headed?"}
    {"I don't know."}
    No, probably not; not if he ran
away.
    {"Find them and bring them
back alive! "} The
Inari were no use to them dead.
    Surik would be raising
spikes when he heard. Luckily, Kalas didn't have to tell him to his
face. The Nakor Kan Rikku would likely kill the messenger.
    Rather, Kalas intended to recapture
the Inari and prove his value to those still unsure about joining
him. One of the lesser of the Nakor clan could pass on the news to
Surik.
    {"Yes, Rikku Ronur Kalas."}

A Cold Dark Night
     
    Something flashed past Raea's right
shoulder. That was too close!
    "Elis."
    Next to her, he whirled and fired
back. "Keep going."
    Raea ducked through the open door into
a dark vertical tunnel. Inside, she grabbed the rungs along the
wall and climbed up a few steps. When Elis didn't follow, she
halted and glanced down. "Come on!"
    He backed into the tunnel with her and
closed the hatch, shutting them in pitch black. Following the
squeak of him turning the metal wheel a few times, the light of his
Starburst marks brightly lit the dark vertical tunnel and metal
sizzled in the glare. She closed her eyes until it
stopped.
    A bump on her ankle startled her into
nearly falling.
    "Climb," he said.
    Right. Their only way out now was up.
Man, she hoped they weren't trapped. There had better be an exit at
the end or they were so screwed a nail would be jealous.
    A touch of resonance gave her some
light from her hands to see her way up the metal rungs along the
wall of the tunnel.
    The clang of metal echoed through the
tunnel from their steps, while Elis's hands brushed her lower legs
occasionally. One slip and she'd fall a long ways, taking him with
her; she couldn't spread her wings in that narrow space.
    Look up , she told herself to keep from thinking of the danger below.
A lot of muted clanging rang from below, but no Risaal followed.
"What'd you do?" Her whisper echoed back in stereo
surround.
    "Welded the wheel so they can't open
the door."
    That explained the bright glow of his
marks moments ago. "Good thinking."
    In the faint glow of her hands, she
made out the shadows of a wheel above. A door! They would be out in
the open soon. Then they could fly away from all this.
    They'd have to inform someone of the
Risaal, and the stolen artifact would be enough to put the
doppelgangers in prison, so they couldn't bother her and Elis
again. She should have done that with Pallin when she had the
chance; but in hindsight, the Shirukan probably would have sent
others sooner. As it was, she had been lucky the rebels of
Naviketan rescued her when the Shirukan had come again.
    Who could she trust with any power to
stop the Risaal? Everyone would think she'd been watching too much
TV.
    She reached the door and, with one arm
wrapped around the top rung, stretched her other arm to the wheel
to turn it. Warm from the resonance, she hurried to open the hatch
to what she hoped would be fresh air and freedom.
    After a couple rounds, the wheel
stopped. She pressed her hand to the door, ready to shove it
open.
    "Wait." Elis's hushed voice froze her
motion. Now what? "Listen. Do you hear anything?"
    Raea listened for a second, but heard
only her heart pounding in her ears. "No."
    "Be careful and open it
slowly."
    Raea pushed up. The door was heavier
than she expected, but it moved. She peeked out of a sliver of
opening to a fading orange at the western