Page 24 of His Human Librarian

“Oh.” I turn and grin at him. “Are you sure you didn't see any animals or beasts?”

“No locats or fire goats, nothing, but I did see the crates left exactly as I found them. I'll show you.”

We go inside.

I switch on a flashlight and catch sight of the walls and ceiling of a large entrance that is without adornment. My boots crunch on fine rocks and hard dirt. The air smells stale. “It looks pretty rough,” I say, “not like somewhere where rituals were held or beings lived. Do you agree?”

“I’ve only been here briefly, because I didn’t want to interfere but so far, I don’t see anything that looks as if this was living quarters or where rituals were held. I believe this is simply astorage area. But the cave is deeper. The crates are at the back of the cavern.”

We walk deeper into the cave. It’s a bit creepy and quiet.

“If you find more artifacts after this, further back in the cave, or in another cave, you can always tell us and we will return.” And then I see the crates and force myself to remain calm and not rush up and open the first one I see. They are both made of smooth, white stone. “I expect that your archeologist will be very interested in the motifs carved into the front of both of these. These crates will later provide many clues to the origins of these artifacts. And you already opened both of these?”

“Yes, I had to know what was inside, but I did not touch them.”

I drop my bag on the ground and open it up. “Let me get some of the equipment set up first. This mobile stand is used so I can record the opening of the crate it has motion sensors so it will move with us and document our first contact with the artifacts. I’ve been doing my best to document this area as it is originally found, in case any of this topography changes. I’ve learned that you never know what could possibly happen.”

Sten nods, with a pleased look on his features.

We work together and soon we’re ready.

I rub my hands together. “We’re ready.” Finally, I start to kneel in front of the first stone crate, ready to lift the latch…

And then the whole inside of the cave begins to rumble. “No,” I yell. “Is this a…?” A sinking feeling rushes through my stomach as I sway on my feet. And then I'm thrown against Sten, and I can hear the grinding crash of rocks.

A scream flies out of my mouth.

“It's an earthquake. Watch out! Run for the outside!” he shouts.

Sten grabs my hand and pulls me with him. We make it out from where we’ve set up the perimeter for the crates. Small rocksand soot rain down on us. I can see the exit but the ground shakes harder and larger rocks fall blocking our way outside to the light.

We both pivot to continue forward, but before either of us can get any further, I'm flat on the ground, and then he's on top of me.

And the whole place comes crashing down.

Chapter 9

Taylor

My eyes open and I see nothing but utter darkness.

I suck in a sharp breath, and it takes me a moment to even understand what happened. Where am I? And then I let out a whimper, because it all comes racing back. I'm in a cave on Tarvos, and we must have been through an earthquake and subsequent landslide.

There is a huge pressure on top of me and I can barely breathe. “Sten?” I gasp and shift slightly and then push harder.

He falls with a thud on the ground next to me.

I place both my palms on his warm skin. “Sten?” I sigh with relief, because I can feel his chest rise and fall with each breath.

Then I do a quick check of myself, shifting arms and legs, realizing I'm not really in any pain, maybe some jabs from what I guess is the ground underneath. Bruises from the weight of the huge male who’d landed on top of me.

I pat myself because I can't do much of anything if it's completely dark. I find a light source clipped to my hip. I always have more than one handheld light source because I’ll always need another or someone else will need one. I unhook it and flash the light on Sten’s face first and confirm he's completelypassed out. The good news is that I don’t see any visible head injuries.

This man saved my life.

He's bleeding from different wounds on his body though and I need to check on him further.

But first, I need to see if I can get us out of here and get Sten some real help. And then I need to fix his wounds with my med kit. I’m able to sit up, which is good. Neither of us are fully covered by rock. And I’m pleased to discover my backpack is still on me. It's been crushed beneath the weight of both of our bodies, but not so much.

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