Page 76 of Celestial Bodies

Klorin went to reach for it. His face twisted in pain. He was hurt; Dacias could see it. He needed to climb down.

“I’m coming down!”

Klorin hissed. “No! The rock isn’t sturdy. You could fall.”

“I’m not listening to you anymore! I’m coming down,” Dacias screamed.

Souzie gripped Dacias’s shoulder and pulled him back. “If the rocks are loose, you’ll both fall. Hold my legs, anddon’t drop me!”

The ground trembled again, the force pushing the ground further apart.

“Let’s go!” Souzie screamed.

Dacias gripped her ankles and lowered her down. He dug his heels into the ground, trying to brace himself.

“LOWER!” Souzie screamed.

Dacias bent forward, slowly descending her. Suddenly, her weight increased, and he gripped tighter, bracing his feet against the rubble.

“PULL UP, DACIAS!” Souzie yelled.

Dacias kicked at the ground, pushing himself backward. Digging in his heels, he moved one heel back to bury it in the dirt, then the other, and pressed against the ground with both legs again. The ground shook with fury. He feared the sides of the split would crumble and send them plummeting. He moved quickly.Push. Push, Dacias.

Finally, Klorin breached the surface and scrambled up, wincing in pain.

Dacias immediately picked Klorin up, cradled him in his arms, and ran to safety with Souzie beside him. The split opened further, and the edge they had just hung over crumbled like sand and fell away.

The three of them gasped for breath as the trembling subsided. They looked at each other. At once, they all began crying and held each other, falling to the ground as they kissed each other’s necks and cheeks.

Souzie took Klorin’s head between her hands and placed a hard, wet kiss on his lips. “You have some fucking,nerve.Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

Klorin shook his head. “Duly noted, Souzie.”

Dacias crawled over to his brother and pulled him closer for an embrace. He wept, the tears dampening Klorin’s shoulder. “I thought I lost you. I thought I lost you…”

He spoke the words over and over again. Klorin held him tightly. “I’m here, Dax.”

Dacias felt Klorin’s heartbeat against his, and the tears spilled out even harder. The weight of it all came crashing down, and he couldn’t catch his breath.

Klorin and Souzie embraced him, each shushing in his ear and kissing his cheeks. The embrace and affection eased his panic, and he resumed breathing normally.Klorin’s here. Souzie is here. We’ll get Julen out. We’re fine. Just breathe. You can do this. You’re not alone. We can do this.

Dacias inched away from them. He looked at the sky and took a deep breath. They had to move. Who knew what kind of quake would follow?

“How bad?” Dacias asked Klorin.

“It’s honestly a miracle. I think my arm is fractured, but that’s it,” Klorin responded.

“Can you shift?” Souzie asked as she looked at his arm and caressed his back.

“Yeah, but I’ll be injured in animal form too. I’m not sure how nimble I’ll be as a cougar, but I can avoid the injured limb. I’ll still be able to move and even run, but climbing won’t be possible. I need my full front half to do that.”

Dacias took another breath.Fuck, this is insane.He silently apologized to the Mother Planet.I guess I was being an ass, huh? Thank you.

Dacias got to his feet, followed by Souzie, and they helped Klorin up together.

They walked to the edge that peered over the slope leading to…Vinculux. Dacias’s blood went cold. Souzie cried out—a gasp at the vision of horror below.

A bleak structure carved out of a massive crag loomed before them. Thick at the base, the crag slanted to form a towering spire that reached the sky, its stone stained black with soot from the mines. It reminded Dacias of the ancient burial monuments that peppered the Rugirean coast. That’s what this place looked like—an enormous tomb. A wall encircled the perimeter, where hunched prisoners trudged about, carrying mining tools.

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