Page 2 of Dark's Savior

Beyond lay a large cavern, about a hundred and fifty spans across, as large as the training field back home but not as large as the First House. Ryziel stepped forward cautiously as a wind picked up the dust and rock and blew it back into the chamber, picking up in a whirlwind at the very center. There, it flew upward into an opening in the ceiling, an opening that Ryziel was absolutely certain reached the very surface above.

He was certain because the ship that lay before him now couldn't have gotten there otherwise.

Ryziel stepped inside the chamber, with Nar following close behind. It was more of a shell than a working ship, actually. By the light that fell on it, Ryziel could see that some parts were indeed missing, some fallen away, and others possibly taken by scavengers for some unknown reason.

Carefully, he and Nar examined in and around its hull. The urk scurried up one side, and Ryziel could hear him squeezing himself through a tear at the top.

"Definitely a tradership, by the looks of it," Nar said. "The inside is surprisingly well intact, save for the holes in the walls. Some of the console is fried but probably fixable, definitely out of fuel." There was a light banging then. "Engine is intact, but some parts will need to be replaced in the engine bank, and the firing mechanism is shot."

The ship was indeed in bad shape, judging by the look of it from the outside, with one wing torn to shreds on one side and several panels missing under its belly. The traders must have snuck onto the planet looking for precious minerals, only for the ship to malfunction possibly. Or something grabbed ahold of it from below, only for it to come falling down and landing in the deep dark. Landing, not crashing, he noted because otherwise, it would have been in pieces. The traders, with their ship damaged, had flown it down in hopes of hiding it and fixing it. But clearly, something had gotten to them before they could. They were long gone, but their ship remained. Yes, it was in more disrepair than he had hoped, but one thing was certain: it could be fixed. It would fly.

Ryziel placed a gentle hand on its metal siding and closed his eyes. This discovery couldn't have come at a better time, and he breathed a sigh of relief, though he didn't smile.

Only a few days ago, he had come to find out of his father's death and of his uncle taking guardianship over First House. No one had come to tell him. He had found out through gossip from the enforcers above. But that didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that his father was gone, and he could now return home. Return to challenge his uncle. And be by his brother's side.

Ryziel could see his brother now, a light in the darkness, smiling, with arms spread to welcome him. Ryziel opened his eyes slowly and dropped his hand. So long he had been waiting for this moment. For the chance to escape.

And his father was finally dead.

"I am coming, brother. And everything will be as it should." He backed away and tilted his head upward to look past the ship to the tunnel above and the light.

Chapter One

Lethe Maws

It had been raining for days. Only now did it begin to slow, the last remnants falling down into the earth, sliding over rock in waterfalls, and disappearing into the darkness below.

Aly pushed back the hood of her suit and wiped her brow, trying and failing to wipe away damp tendrils of hair from her face. She took up her mender once again and touched the tip of the tool gun to the bot, white sparks flying. The bot beeped and groaned to life, small blinking lights flashing sporadically.

"Come on," she whispered softly, placing her mender to another pinpoint on the bot's chest.

The bot jerked slightly then its lights beamed on, and it turned up its head. It clicked and beeped at her, and Aly gently placed it back on its feet. It wobbled on twig legs, looked at her with its bright eye, then went back to work as usual, as if it hadn't just fallen thirty feet off the side of the cave wall. Aly watched it go, still crouched on the metal grate platform, a chill taking hold of her as the bot climbed onward up the steep rocky incline. A soft light hit her from above, and she bent her head upward to see for the first time in days the moon peeking out from the angry clouds. Its light was dim but, being in the dark for so long, Aly could make out the beams of light just barely falling against metal and rock around her.

Aly stared at it for some time as if in a trance, her mouth falling open slightly, then closing and morphing into a little smile as bits of rainwater splashed her face.

Tonight, she'd go up to the cross bridge. Before the meeting.

She placed her mender back onto her belt and turned for the elevator car when her techband went off. Her smile faded and a small pang hit her chest as she let out a groan. She knew who it was before she even took the call.

"Smith, where are you?"

Aly raised up her techband so the hologram of a beastly face was eye level with her own. "Hello, Braxin. I was just leaving Level thirty-four, Section B—"

"I need to see you. Now." The hologram disappeared and the call ended.

Aly sighed. She didn't need to imagine why her so-called "boss" needed to see her. She had a damn good feeling she already knew. Returning to the elevator car, she waved her hand over the sensor and the door slid open. Water dribbled and sprayed down over the metal cage as she entered and pressed the button for level fifteen. The door closed, and the elevator started, moving upward with a whoosh.

Aly watched the landing she had just left fade away and looked around at the vast cavern before her. A big (really big) hole filled with twinkling orange, blue, and green lights scraping the edges of the surface and trickling down. Down into an unfathomably deep chasm.

There were other holes stretching for miles and caverns leading into deeper sections; a network of cave systems and tunnels leading into chambers and rooms, some as small as her unit back on her old ship, others as large as a small city. Vast, fathomless, dark.

Lethe Maws, her... troubling home away from home.

A wind picked up as she got closer to the surface, shaking the car slightly and pelting her with a mist of water and cold air. Her face felt the icy touch, but her body did not. If there was one thing that made working in the mines tolerable, it was the slipsuits; skin-tight and warm, like having an extra-thick layer of skin in the form of small, durable gray-blue scales. Her body stayed dry and warm but not uncomfortable.

She clicked on a light on the collar of her suit and checked her waistbelt, making sure everything was in place. The last thing she needed was to lose another tool given to her and have another reason for Braxin to scold her.

The belt was cinched tight and all tools accounted for. She checked her techband, and it, too, was secured tightly on her wrist. She definitely didn't want to lose one of those again.

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