The Ones Below

“Soft flesh…” The creature clicked the words out, but it was unmistakable talking. In human.

A long, thin arm with too many joints pointed at them, the other still clutching the egg.

They’d been discovered. Kaia was already on her feet, an arrow ready in her bow. Elian scrambled to his feet as well, reaching for his knife while unable to take his eyes off the strange being. Its antennae straightened again, and the ants spread out, moving toward them. Were they trying to… surround them?

An elbow jammed into his side, and Kaia hissed, “Run!”

Her arrow hit the bug person straight in the chest, bouncing off without drawing blood. 

The ants advanced slowly as he grabbed Kaia’s arm and they took off down the tunnel they had come from. A quick glance behind them as they reached the first of the smaller caverns showed the ants closing in. He froze, stopping so fast his feet skidded on the ground, and he struggled to keep his balance. One of the bug people was suddenly right in front of them, blocking their path. An arrow shot toward it, aiming for an eye, but the creature moved its head so fast the arrow flew past it, hitting the stone wall instead. The next moment the bow fell to the ground as the creature knocked it out of Kaia’s hand before slamming her into the wall.

No!

“Soft flesh,” it repeated, face close to hers. “Cycle come. Cycle change.”

A long three-fingered hand clasped her throat, pinning her to the wall as she clawed at its arms, hissing and spitting. But not even Lykar nails could scratch that skin. That’s why humans used magic. Mages with fire and lightning. But there were other ways.

The joints are vulnerable where the plates overlap. The dry voice of one of the older soldiers rose in his mind, and he used it to push away the throbbing heat in his hand that threatened to take over his world. His fingers clenched around the handle of his trusty knife. His awakening aura withdrew. For now.

With a strangled cry, Elian jumped in, aiming for the joints on the arm holding Kaia. For the pipelike, thin neck. But no matter where he hit, the blade simply slid off.

“The eyes!” Kaia wheezed, trying to reach them with her nails, but the creature’s arms were a lot longer than hers.

Elian raised his arm, but just before the hit, the eye closed, making the blade slide to the side. A vicious hit to the side of his head sent him flying, the knife rattling away on the floor. Struggling back up on his feet, he launched himself onto the creature's back.

“Get off her! Bloody bugger!”

 Pulling back with his whole weight, he tried to make it let go, only to be slung to the ground again. This time he fell close to Kaia’s feet. They were kicking in the air, sometimes hitting her assailant, who barely took notice. Her skirt got pulled up a little, revealing her thigh and the knife she had strapped to it.

The dragon blade.

The one that was said to cut through anything.

Wiping blood from his nose, Elian grabbed it, struggling a bit with the clasp before he got it free. Without thinking, he stabbed it into the creature’s leg and was rewarded by a shriek and dark blood gushing out from the wound. Kaia was flung to the side, coughing as she gasped for air, as the long arms reached for him instead. Up close, the eyes were multifaceted, coldly hypnotic.

Within reach.

With a sickening crunch, he buried the blade deep inside the black pool, twisting it even as dark blood flowed down the pale cheek and chest. 

Die bugger! Die! 

The creature fell to its knees. The three-fingered hand reached for Elian’s arm, but didn’t grab hold. Its mouth opened and shut, but no words came out. The liquid black in the uninjured eye turned dull. Grey. Dead.

Breathing hard, Elian pulled the knife out, letting the bug person tumble to the ground.

“Are you okay?” He stumbled to Kaia’s side, helping her up.

“Fine,” she nodded, though she looked a lot paler than usual. She gingerly touched her neck, then picked up her bow. Thankfully it was still whole. His knife too, so he put it back in his belt, keeping the dragon blade ready.

“We should leave. Fast.” He looked at the ants, standing in a half circle, completely still. Waiting for orders.

“No objections here.”

They backed away from the ants until they reached the exit from the small cave. There they turned and ran. Their steps echoed through the empty tunnels until they came to a halt, breathing heavily, when they emerged into the main mining shaft.

“Which way?” Desperately, Elian looked for a blue cross, but didn’t see any.

Kaia’s ears turned, and her eyes widened as she looked behind them.

“They’re coming.”

“This way!” Trusting his gut, he took off to their right, with Kaia soon overtaking him. Was the tunnel going upward toward the exit, or down, deeper into the mines? At this speed, he couldn’t tell. Despite the width of this tunnel, it was claustrophobic. Suffocating. A glance behind showed that the ants were closing in. Behind them were larger shapes. Crickets, ready to attack from a distance.

“In there!” Kaia grabbed his arm and pulled him across the wide tunnel, into one of the narrow ones. “The living areas are our best chance.”

The glow in this tunnel was weaker, slowing them down. The skin on Elian’s back prickled at the thought of the bugs catching them in here. 

Burn them. 

A scraping followed by rattling and the clicking of mandibles told him they weren’t alone in this tunnel. 

Burn them.

Elian’s legs tried to run even faster. The throbbing in his hand and the swirling aura rising inside him made him dizzy. It was getting harder to breathe. Next to him, Kaia stopped, placing an arrow in her bow with a fluid motion. Pointing ahead of them. Not behind.

“We’re surrounded.”

Crap. Bugger crap. Now he too could see shadows and shapes coming nearer. Large shapes.

“We wouldn’t be able to outrun them anyway,” he admitted. “We need to hide.” Or fight, but that wasn’t really an option.

His gloved hand clenched into a fist. Fire would kill them. Magic would kill them.

He looked at Kaia, her ears turning back and forth, upper lip pulled up to reveal her canines. Arrow at the ready.

Fire would kill her too.

A loud creak made him jump, turning back. A part of the wall had moved, revealing a smaller side tunnel. They both stared at it, dumbfounded. Was this some sort of trap?

“Quick! In here!” It was a female voice, with a peculiar accent. Clearly impatient.

Throwing caution overboard, they ducked inside it, startling as the slab slid back into place behind them with a definite thump. They were safe. Or trapped.

“Hurry!”

A faint light came from the soft layer of moss that covered parts of the walls and ceiling. Enough for Elian to make out a round, freckled face and two short but thick red braids. A young dwarf woman. Relief flooded through him as he stared at her, mouth open. Someone here was still alive. He’d started to lose hope.

He didn’t get a chance to say anything before she waved for them to follow her as she jogged deeper into the tunnel. She was short enough to stand and walk upright, but Elian and Kaia had to bow their heads and hunch down uncomfortably to trot after her. Scraping sounds coming from the stone blocking the entrance made them quicken the pace until they caught up.

“Thank you!” Elian huffed as they turned a sharp corner. This place was a maze, but the girl seemed to know the way. At least she kept turning, choosing pathways without slowing down even for a second. She barely looked back to see if they were keeping up, braids bouncing as she ran without speaking a word. Not until they reached a small chamber, approximately the size of a garrison bedroom, did she stop and turn to face them. Hands on hips.

“A girl-wolf and a human. What in the blazing blazes are you doing here?”