Stones and Secrets

“Well this sucks.” Phara kicks at the solid steel door keeping us trapped inside the holding cell.

“‘Sucks’ doesn't even begin to describe this situation.” Ristim points out, walking up next to her. He touches the door almost gently. I know he’s just looking to see if there was a way to get out of this. Which there isn’t.

“And of course they had to take my blasters!” Phara rants, turning away from the door, “I feel naked without them. Ugh!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ristim shrugs, “We’ll get them back when we escape, right?” He and Phara turn to face me. Silence stretches between us, thick and tangible.

“Right?” Ristim repeats.

“I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this one.” Emilyse sighs softly. She stands up, blocking my view of the others. Not that it really matters; they weren’t talking to me anyway.

“You’ve got to have a plan, Lyss!” Phara insists, taking a step closer.

“You always have a plan.” Ristim follows her, standing slightly behind her. Emilyse shakes her head, running her fingers through her short black hair. Her bright red-orange eyes look troubled, almost defeated. That’s not the Emilyse I’ve gotten to know over the past few months.

“I’m sorry--” She mutters.

“No!” Phara folds her arms, “There’s no way you’re giving up on us now! We’ve come too far--almost died how many times?--for you to just quit on us like that! There has to be a way out of here!” Emilyse doesn’t answer, just turns and walks in silence to face the rough-hewn walls. Phara throws her hands in the air and stalks off to the other corner of the room, obviously too fed up with Emilyse to do anything else. Ristim is left standing a few feet away from me, either too confused about their fighting or too bored with it to do anything other than stare at them.

No one asks for my opinion. To be fair, even if they had I wouldn’t have answered them.

“Gyaah!” Phara yells and punches the wall. Emilyse and Ristim turn just in time to see her fist make contact. Emilyse leaps forward in a futile attempt to stop her. The world seems to freeze for a few moments, Phara seemingly moving in slow motion as the wall explodes beneath her fist.

All three friends are blown backward, nearly across the holding cell to where I am standing. Chunks of stone fall to the ground by my feet, dust flying into my face.

As the dust settles, Phara picks herself up, cradling her right arm. I can tell it’s broken, even from across the room. She’s extremely lucky. It should have been far worse. Emilyse and Ristim also cautiously stand up, each with numerous cuts and bruises. Emilyse has a long cut on her face, dripping inky black blood onto what used to be a white shirt.

“That was so stupid, Phara!” She yells, rushing over to Phara’s side, ignoring her own injuries.

“Well it got us out, didn’t it?” Phara snapped, turning away from Emilyse, “That’s more than you were trying to do!”

“You should have died.” Ristim walks over, cutting off Emilyse’s encroaching tirade of fury, “How are you still alive?” Glaring, Phara allows Emilyse to look at her arm.

“Force field.” Phara shrugs with one shoulder, being careful to not move her broken arm, “Duh. What, did you really think I would blow myself up just to get out of this cell?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.” Emilyse says darkly, gently running her fingers over the break, “Ristim, do you have--” He doesn’t even let Emilyse finish, handing her a pair of chunks of wood from a corner of the room and a scarf, torn in half. She silently accepts them. Phara grudgingly allows her to splint her arm, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

“That was incredibly dangerous, Phara.” Emilyse chides, “Even with a force field you could have been much more seriously injured than just a broken arm.”

“At least we can escape now.” Ristim says, playing the peacemaker, watching as Emilyse helps Phara to her feet. Emilyse shoots him a dark look behind Phara’s back.

“Whatever.” Phara turns back to them, “Let’s just get out of here.”

“Yeah, okay.” Emilyse gestures towards me, beckoning me forward. I follow as they climb through the blast hole, taking care not to trip over the debris. Knowing me, I would be the one to trip. Not that anyone would stop to make sure that I’m okay any more than they did when the bomb went off.

The hole doesn’t lead outside. It doesn’t even lead into an off-hallway of the holding cells. Instead, we find ourselves following what seems to be a cave. The rough, cobwebbed walls catch the light from Emilyse’s wrist-light, casting tattered shadows across our feet. Darkness greets us, the end of the tunnel dissolving ahead.

“Where do you think this tunnel leads?” Ristim whispers a few minutes into the walk.

“Out of the holding cell.” Phara replies shortly. She walks a few feet behind Emilyse, keeping her distance, obviously still upset. Believe it or not, this is actually normal for Phara. She’ll get over it as soon as we get in danger again and Emilyse saves all of us. That’s what she does.

“Obviously.” Emilyse rolls her eyes, “But where out of the holding cell?”

“Shoot me if I know.” Phara shrugs.

“I hope we reach there soon,” Ristim intervenes, “I’ve never liked being underground.” The team lapsed into silence as we walked what felt like miles in near complete darkness. Our footsteps echoed down the tunnel, flitting across the craggy walls. The tunnel seems to go on for ages.

Slowly, the darkness seems to grow, creeping across the walls. The tunnel opens out into a large cavern. I can see something that looks like dark shapes looming ahead in the darkness. Is it just my eyes playing tricks on me, or is something really there? Emilyse, Ristim, and Phara all stop, squinting into the blackness. It’s impossible to tell if something is there at this distance.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Emilyse starts, regaining a bit of her old enthusiasm, “Let’s go see what that is!” The other two nod, speechless. I follow them silently. I almost feel like a ghost in the shadows, lingering behind my master and her friends. If I tried, I’m sure I could wander away and get lost, escape from them. But after that, what could I do? I couldn’t leave this planet without a spaceship, and if I stowed away on one I would be identified by its scanner right away. So, instead, I follow them closely, making sure to stay within the small circle of light.

The looming forms materialize around us into decrepit buildings. Houses that look old, but sturdy, form walls surrounding us. The group stops yet again, staring at the houses. Roofs had collapsed into the rooms, chunks of walls were missing, some surrounded by rubble. Cracks ran up and down the plaster. Some homes are just metal frames, walls and roof laying in shattered pieces on the ground. This town, what was left of it, looks like it had gone through a war. Whoever had once lived here is long gone.

“This is wrong.” Ristim speaks up, stepping away from the nearest building.

“This is fascinating.” Phara corrected, bumping him casually with her shoulder, “A whole forgotten civilization, destroyed centuries ago by a war, by the looks of it.” She sucks in a deep breath as her arm moves ever so slightly. Ignoring her pain, she steps closer, staring at the house. Her eyes trace its dusty edges before moving on to its neighbors.

“Why did they build their city underground?” Phara whispers, very much to herself, “What kind of people lived here? Why did their war start?”

“No, that’s not right.” Ristim shakes his head, “It doesn’t add up.”

“What doesn’t add up?” Emilyse turns to him, a slight frown playing across her lips.

“Some of the houses look like they were hit by a bomb,” He starts, gesturing towards one of the metal frames, “While the ones next to them look almost untouched.” Phara pauses, at him, incredulous.

“Ristim, I don’t know if you understand this, but that’s not how bombs work.” She says.

“Yeah, you would know.” Emilyse mutters. Phara glares at her. Emilyse smiles and shrugs in response, as if she couldn’t have helped it.

“And not all of the holes have rubble around them.” Ristim interrupts their fight before it begins. He’s on a roll now. I’ve never heard him talk this much before, even around Emilyse and Phara, basically his only friends. He continues talking, “It looks like someone just cut a shape out of the wall and made it disappear. But that’s impossible. Bits of rubble are missing--”

“Dude, calm down.” Phara interrupts him.

“We shouldn’t be here.” Ristim whispers intensely, the closest to anger I’ve ever seen him get.

“It’s not like we have much choice.” Emilyse points out. Ristim doesn’t respond, just stares sullenly at the ruined buildings around us. Emilyse, watching him, sighs again.

“We should keep going.” Emilyse says, “This ruined city can’t last forever. We still need to find an exit, right?”

“Keep going?” Phara sounds incredulous, “What, you think that we don’t need to rest? I have a broken arm, for heavens’ sake!”

“That’s your own fault.” Emilyse's face is deadpan.

“Yeah, but we’ve been awake for who knows how long! How can we stop Addalyn from taking your treasure if we’re too tired to move?” Phara argues.

“Addalyn can go and die--” Emilyse starts ranting, rage dripping from her eyes.

“But,” Phara interrupts, “You can’t personally see to her death when you’re passing out from exhaustion.” After a moment of silence Emilyse calms down.

“You’re right.”

“What?” Ristim bursts out, “This place is cursed! We shouldn’t be here at all!”

“It’s as good a place as any, Ristim.” Emilyse sighs, rubbing her eyes, “We don’t really have a choice.” Ristim falls silent again, nodding tersely. He’s not happy with it, but Emilyse is the leader of the group. He can’t really argue with her.

“Kritta!” Emilyse calls, sitting down. I step forward, bowing my head slightly.

“Make us a fire.” She doesn’t look at me, just waits as I crouch down and pull out the kit. Her friends watch me, disinterested in anything but the fire. It takes me ten seconds, tops, and there are a few happy flames radiating warmth. Putting the kit away, I step back again into the shadows, and out of the friends’ minds. They huddle around the fire, sitting down. I remain standing. Emilyse hasn’t given me leave to sit down yet. I doubt she will. She has as little to do with me as possible, and only ever talks to me when convenient. Much like most of my previous owners.

“Hey,” Phara speaks up, breaking the silence that had fallen like a thick blanket over them, “Does anyone want to hear a story?”

“A story?” Emilyse scoffs, “Why would we want to hear a story right now?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs, “I just thought, you know, we’re in a spooky setting, with a campfire…” She trails off, letting the other two consider her proposal.

“I don’t know if Ristim needs anything else to spook him even more--”Emilyse starts to say.

“I’m fine.” Ristim interrupts her, “I think a story would get my mind off… whatever this place is.” Emilyse looks at him, concerned. This is the first time I’ve seen her portray actual emotions, besides arrogance.

“That’s what you say now…” Phara says with a sinister grin. The firelight casts eerie shadows across her face, making it gaunter and more sinister looking.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Emilyse asks Ristim, placing a hand on his arm.

“Don’t worry about me, Little Lyss.” He smiles tenuously.

“All right…” She agrees, turning back to Phara.

“Yess!” She pumps her fist in the air, “I’ve always wanted to tell a story around a campfire.” Taking a deep breath, she composes herself, her face settling into a serious mask.

“Once,” she begins, the firewood crackling gently beneath the sound of her voice, “A terrible, evil species stalked the galaxy.”

“Here we go.” Emilyse mutters, “This better be good.” Phara glares at her, placing her finger to her lips to shush her before settling back into her campfire voice.

“This species,” she continued, “could not be detected. It would lurk in the shadows of civilization, watching the people among which it lived. Some say it had the powers to shape-shift, turning into whatever race it was living among. For years it would simply wait. Wait, observing the habits of the people. It could be your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend.” The flame flickers higher momentarily, lighting her face and giving her a decidedly malicious gleam in her eyes. She continues, placing her hands calmly on her lap, “And you would never know how dangerous they were until it was too late. When they would burst from hiding to decimate the people they had been living among. We called them the Cuckoo.”

Emilyse scoffs, rolling her eyes. We’ve all heard of the Cuckoo. A fictional species of boogeymen, meant to scare us as children into being good for our parents. I remember a few tales of them from my childhood, as distant as it is from me now. Phara doesn’t seem to notice Emilyse’s disbelief. She’s been pulled into the story, and, strangely enough, I find myself being pulled into it as well.

“The Cuckoo would leave nothing alive. They killed everything in their path; men, women, children, pets, plants. Nothing was safe from their fury. Our ancestors describe them as having skin of iron; they were indestructible. The Cuckoo destroyed world after world in patient succession. The universe was at risk of extinction.” Here she pauses, allowing a sliver of silence to sink into our souls, penetrating deeper than our bones.

“One day, they disappeared.” Her voice is softer now, gentle as a summer breeze, “At first, people thought they had gone into hiding yet again, planning to destroy another planet. When nothing happened, the universe let out a collective sigh.” Here, she sighed, relaxing for the first time, despite her arm being broken.

“The Cuckoo faded into memories, from memories to stories, from stories to legends, until now they exist as no more than boogeymen.”She shrugs, leaning back against a large chunk of rubble, “And yet, some say that the Cuckoo are still out there, hiding among us, waiting for the perfect time to strike in some remote corner of the universe.” Phara let the final word ring in the air, escaping with the smoke to the tops of the cavern.

“That,” Emilyse says, breaking the silence after a few moments, “was actually not as terrible as I expected it to be.”

“You expected my story to be terrible?” Phara feigns a wounded expression, placing her good hand against her chest.

“Yes.” Emilyse answers, face serious. For a moment, they stare at each other, sizing each other up. Then, a sliver of a smile plays across Phara’s mouth. In an instant they’re laughing at each other, all previous offences forgotten. Ristim watches them for a moment, soon turning his attention to the darkness around us. He stares at the houses, clearly troubled.

“Well, I guess it’s time to hit the hay.” Phara says, the last of her giggles fading away, “The sooner we fall asleep, the sooner we can find a way out of here.”

“I agree.” Ristim says.

“Well, I guess it’s unanimous then.” Emilyse shrugs, “Get some sleep, everyone!” The three smile at each other, Ristim more nervously than the others, before laying down and getting as comfortable as they can on the stone ground. Emilyse doesn’t specify what I should do, but her vague command includes me. So I, far from the warmth of the fire, lay down as well. But I don’t want to go to sleep. I’m afraid of what I’d see tonight, in the recesses of my dreams. Emilyse’s light blinks out, and I am once again left in echoing, choking darkness.

“Time to get up!” I’m awoken by Phara shouting. I sit up in a cold sweat, mind fixed on the nightmare that haunted me last night. The fire has burnt down to a few barely glowing embers, but Phara’s holding a torch in her good hand that illuminates our surroundings. Too focused on my dream, I barely notice as Emilyse sits up, stretching. Ristim bolts to his feet. It doesn’t look as if he’s slept all night. I don’t blame him. He was already spooked enough as it is by the ruined city. Phara’s story probably just scared him even more.

No one looks in my direction to see if I’m awake. I stand up, smoothing my clothes. People don’t pay attention to slaves, but they expect them to be neatly dressed when they do. Impossible standards, I know. But what can I do about it?

“Are we ready to get the heck out of this cavern?” Phara says waving her torch through the air.

“Yes.” Ristim says, standing at attention.

“And are you ready to kick Addalyn’s trash to next Tuesday?” She turns to Emilyse, who stands up languidly.

“Of course I am.” She says, reaching her arms up high above her, stretching, “Let’s get going.” They start off through the cavern, and I follow silently. We walk for a long time, passing through the city. It is far larger than I first imagined it would be. The darkness stretches around us, and for the longest time we travel in silence. How does Phara even know if we’re headed in the right direction? There could be a million ways out of this place, or only one. But it’s not as if I have a choice but to follow them.

Eventually we reach the end of the city and are walking in an endless field of darkness. Only without the grass. The cavern is still wide, darkness swallowing sound in every direction. It seems to go on for eternity.

Then, out of nowhere, walls close around us and we’re in another tunnel nearly identical to the one that led to the ruined city.

“How do you know that this tunnel will lead to the outside?” Emilyse speaks up, the first one brave enough to question Phara.

“I don’t.” She shrugs, torch bobbing up and down with the motion, “But what choice do we have?”

“What if there were other ways out that we missed?” She presses.

“There isn’t.” Phara sounds absolute.

“And how would you know that?” Emilyse asks.

“Because I couldn’t sleep last night. I went and explored a bit, trying to find a way out. This was the only one.” She turns around quickly, almost hitting Ristim in the face with the torch. He dodges just in time, one long, loose strand of hair flying free from his braid. I guess he got some sleep last night after all, otherwise he’d have seen Phara exploring. He looks shocked, though that might be because he almost got set on fire.

“Oh.” for once Emilyse looks speechless. She and Phara stare each other down, either a silent contest of wills or apology.

“Can we just get going?” Ristim is the one who breaks the silence. Both girls turn to look at him. He continues talking, “I’m getting tired of not being able to see more than a few feet in front of me.”

“Yeah, of course!” Phara turns around again, and we start walking again.

In the distance, I see a beam of light piercing through the darkness. The others see it too and start running towards it. Maybe this is really a tunnel out! Maybe they can get back to their lives as spoiled rich heirs. I don’t run. I start to walk faster, so they don’t think I’m running away, but I don’t have the right to run with them.

The light grows as we come closer to it.

“See?” Phara’s almost laughing, completely out of breath, “I told you there had to be a way out.”

“I never doubted you for a second!” Emilyse yells back. Ristim says nothing, only smiles brightly as the light rests on his face. Even I find a small smile flitting across my face as the small circle of light grows around us. I can’t believe we’re actually going to get out of this cave! It’s insane, but I find myself wishing for the threadbare bamboo mat that I call a bed back in Emilyse’s spare closet. That place is absolute trash, and I am treated like garbage, but it’s better than staying in a ruined city, sleeping on stone at night.

The circle of light reaches the size of my fist when it stops growing. When we reach the end of the tunnel. Phara pulls up short, the torch falling from her hand, sputtering and going out against the stone floor. The other two stop behind her, staring in utter disbelief.

The light is still there. Only instead of a way out, it’s just a hole the size of my fist. It leads outside, but not one of us could fit through it. I stop before the beam of light touches my toes. This can’t be.

“No.” Emilyse whispers, “No, no no!” She ends yelling, slamming her fists against the rocks. I bow my head. I knew it was too good to be true. We’re stuck down here until we die of starvation. Except for me, of course. I’d be the first one eaten. I am the most expendable, anyway.

Phara doesn’t say anything, simply falls to her knees in defeat. Emilyse rages behind her, kicking the walls with the same force she does her servants. Ristim stares, almost in shock at the cave-in blocking off our escape. I, also, can do nothing but stare, at this group of rich kids, at the rocks blocking our escape, and at my own hands as they begin to do something inexplicable. Without trembling, I lift my hands up to my hood and take it off. No one notices what I’m doing. But they should. I start unwrapping the scarf around my hair.

Emilyse catches the motion and stops destroying her foot against the stone. She just watches me. Never before have I ever done anything without authorization. I’ve made sure I’m the perfect slave, in the vain hopes that someday I might be set free. So I don’t know why now, of all times, I’m acting up.

“Guys…” Emilyse says, getting her friends’ attention. The others turn to face me too. My headscarf falls around my shoulders in a long, loose wave of black fabric. My hair spills out, tickling my face. Closing my eyes, almost on instinct, I begin to hum.

The light warms the side of my face, glowing in soft dots of pale blue in my waves of hair. I don’t need to open my eyes to imagine the look on my master’s face. I read the starcrystal in my hair, remembering who I used to be. Across my left shoulder, my age when I was taken from my home. Eleven. My status next on my right shoulder: student. And my name, my real name. Alaria.

I feel energized, almost as if the light from the starcrystal is filled with caffeine. It’s strange to have my hair loose again. It almost feels like it’s moving, lifting, shifting across my face and back.

A heat, a strange energy builds behind the skin on my palms, an insistent itch that won’t go away. I find myself opening my mouth, singing. Not words, more like a feeling. The feeling of my home. Where we are always surrounded by darkness. Where the starcrystal provides the only light. Where speaking becomes singing and people are named by the crystal.

My eyes snap open. They burn like my hands, a cold, ice-filled burn. I barely register the shock on Emilyse’s face, lifting my hands in front of me. The heat becomes almost unbearable, pushing against my skin until it breaks free.

A burst of light, blue and shining, shoots from my hands. The three friends duck out of the way, dodging it. It strikes the stone blocking our exit, blasting it apart. Sunlight streams in , enveloping us as tiny bits of stone, dust, really, launch out of the tunnel. I feel the light of the starcrystal fading, hear them cracking as they absorb the sunlight. They’ll never be able to glow again, but at least we’re free. At least they’re free.

The burning sensation drains out of me, leaving me feeling like an empty shell, a husk of what I once was. Slowly, methodically, I wrap my hair in my headscarf again. The others slowly get to their feet, watching me warily.

“How did you do that?” Emilyse is the first to speak. I smile, ever so slightly. This is the first time she’s ever talked to me as if I was a person, not an object. I stop, my smile freezing on my face, thinking about her question. How did I do that?

“I…” I start to say, voice rusty from years of not speaking, “I don’t know.”