Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice by Robynn Sheahan

running
away through the warrens. She kept up the pace, going nowhere, or
anywhere she could be alone. She thought about the high tower but
wanted to be in the dark, to let the blackness settle over her,
covering the bottomless chasm where her heart once beat, and still
loved.
    She stopped running, composing herself. If
she didn’t get to the Medical Unit soon her absence would raise
questions. Questions she didn’t want to deal with. Cace waited for
her there, with his observation. He said the A and L were not
letters. He saw something else.
    What ? What had he seen ?
    Nev would be there. His crooked smile flashed
in her mind. He obviously wanted a relationship with her. She
pushed him away, though, keeping his affections at a safe distance.
He persisted, chipping away at her defenses.
    Is his attention a bad thing ? Will
there ever be a chance for Jaer and me ?
    She took in a deep breath, her chest
resisting the action. The tears had ended, but not the crushing
pain. She could imagine her eyes, puffy and red. “I’ll just stay
out of sight for a while,” she whispered in her exhalation. Erynn
glanced around, taking a tentative step forward. “Where am I?”
    Marks at an intersection before her indicated
she was in a lower level, station ten.
    But again, where ?
    Rough stairs a meter ahead led down a short
set of steps into the dark. She reached in a pocket and pulled out
the small light she carried. Shining the meager beam, she crept
down stairs that opened onto a flat empty space. She surveyed the
area. Several small recessed openings on the far side stood out as
deeper shadows against the dark. Erynn swept the light across the
floor. Discarded boxes and old food packaging littered the space.
She stooped to pick up a wrapper. “Why would this be down here?”
She swung the beam above her to the damp, dripping rock. “Maybe
they used this area at one time to store garbage before recycling.”
Her voice echoed around the closed-in space. Foggy breath plumed
out, swirling in the white glow from her lamp. She tossed the
crumpled paper aside.
    Cold penetrated her heavy flight suit. She
turned toward the stairs. Scraping, scrabbling noises came from the
far side of the space where the recessed areas were. Erynn whipped
the light toward the sound. “Meerats. I hope. Or maybe something
bigger.” Meervorines came to her mind. “Time to go.”
    A loud crash of tumbling rocks clattered to
her left, followed by a thick rasping breath.
    A prickling tingle began at the base of her
spine and reached with icy fingers to her neck. “Go. Now.” She
dashed up the stairs and into the tunnel without looking back.
“Well that was fun.” She continued in her rush to get to a more
populated area of the base. “Next time I go down there, I take a
staser.” She shook her head, slowed, and nodded to three women in
security uniforms turning from a side tunnel to walk in front of
her. “There won’t be a next time, ever,” she muttered.
     
     
    Cace chatted excitedly about his experience,
his face flushed, eyes bright. “I actually felt like I was with
you, flying. And then we were spiraling up, into the sky. Oh, and
everything was so beautiful, the colors so bright.” His forehead
wrinkled. “Is it because you see things from above?” He didn’t wait
for an answer. “When you flew so low over the lake and the waves, I
mean, I thought we would touch the water.” He held tight to the
helmet, swaying right and then left, as if he were still
experiencing the flight, soaring high in the air.
    Erynn understood. She glanced at Nev. He
watched her, a frown spreading across his features.
    Is Nev angry ? Did I push the limit
of what Cace can handle right now ?
    She kept the flight easy and the time short.
It could have been much wilder. When Cace stopped for a breath,
Erynn cut in. “What did you see over the lake, Cace?”
    Cace nodded. Those aren’t letters. They’re
symbols.” He let go of the helmet with one hand and reached