Page 59 of Celestial Bodies

Dacias thought about the glen. “This way!”

He ran down a steep path and could hear Klorin’s feet pounding the ground behind him. The path grew steeper, and, for a moment, Dacias thought he might fall, but he heard a human grunt behind him, followed by Klorin and a guardian pummeling into Dacias.

The three rolled down the steep path before landing with a hard thud on the ground. Dacias shook off the pain and crawled over to the guardian, who lunged at Dacias, whipping out a blade and slicing Dacias’s cheek.

Dacias hissed in pain as he reeled back, but Klorin tackled the guardian, held his wrists to the ground, and headbutted the guardian three times.

He turned to look at Dacias. The sounds of the guardians calling to each other echoed above them. Dacias pointed in the direction of the glen and led the way.

Together, they ran through the brush. Dacias had journeyed to the glen several times, but always from Cupidor’s city center and never at night. He prayed to the Mother Planet that his memory wouldn’t fail him.

It didn’t. The glen appeared, and Dacias dove into the water. Klorin followed. Dacias swam the entirety of the glen, fully submerged, sensing Klorin beside him all the while.

Dacias could feel the fall, the water rushing, and the sounds filling his ears. He reached out and found Klorin’s arm. He tugged him in the direction of the rock shelter.

They passed the fall and breached the surface, gasping for air as they waded through the water to the shelter floor.

Once they reached the mossy rock, the brothers collapsed. Dacias rolled onto his back, gasping for air. His heart pounded. He heard Klorin groan and felt for him in the darkness.

“Fuck. What happened?” Dacias asked.

“I headbutted one of those assholes, and I’m still spinning,” Klorinreplied.

Dacias took another breath, trying to steady his voice. “No. At the house. What happened?”

He heard Klorin’s low grumble. “Ferrean must have had it planned all along. The minute you left, the guardians showed up. I tried to reason with them, but he had already filled their heads with some bullshit that you were smuggling secrets to Julen. Bastard.”

Dacias fell flat on his back again. His chest heaved as his body regulated itself. “What now?” he asked.

“Sleep?”

Dacias shook his head. “You might be concussed.”

Klorin groaned. “Mindel?”

Dacias thought for a moment as he stared into the darkness. “Not a bad idea.”

He heard Klorin release a sigh. “What a fine mess we’re in, huh?”

Dacias’s sardonic laugh echoed in the rock shelter.You can say that again.

25

Chapter 24

Dacias

Despite everything that had happened the night before, Dacias felt a sense of relief. Mindel gave them a change of clothes and led them to a tunnel hidden in the brush of the Cupidorean forest. The tunnel led to a system of cisterns with access hatches in Lapistra. Mindel informed them that a vast network of Lapistrean merchants sold goods on the black market to Cupidoreans.

While it wasn’t illegal to do business with Cupidor, the merchants banded together to ensure that Cupidor had to purchase through the black market, as it was far more lucrative. Mindel cursed the merchants for overcharging, especially since they didn’t report these black market sales and avoided Haligran’s taxes. The tunnels ensured that the delivery of goods went undetected by border patrol.

Dacias was delighted. The tunnel system would be the perfect way to get Julen out and much safer than escaping through the forest.

He tempered his happiness with the knowledge that they didn’t have valid Lapistrean UINs and that trespassing in the territory was punishable by death. They had to be smart and keep a low profile.

Dacias squinted at the glimmer of light up ahead, casting a ladder aglow.

“Is that an exit?” Dacias asked.

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