Page 30 of Alien Healer's Touch

"Possibly," Kavan agreed. "These networks often intersect with subterranean rivers."

Suddenly, the floor beneath my feet shifted. Not a tremor this time, but a crumbling sensation. "Kavan!"

He reacted instantly, grabbing my arm and pulling me back just as the section of floor I'd been standing on dropped away into blackness with a cascade of rock and dust. We stood frozen on the precipice, peering down into an abyss the fungal light couldn't fully penetrate.

"Structural failure," Kavan assessed, his voice grim. "Time and seismic stress have weakened these lower levels." He scanned the area. "We cannot go back the way we came; the passage behind us looks equally unstable."

Our only option was across the newly formed gap. It wasn't wide—perhaps three meters—but the darkness below was absolute.

"Can you make the jump?" I asked, knowing his strength and agility far exceeded mine.

"Alone, yes. Together..." He looked at me, then back at the gap. "The landing on the other side appears narrow and potentially slick."

I followed his gaze. The passage continued beyond the gap, but the ledge looked precarious. "What choice do we have?"

"None," he conceded. He moved to the edge, testing the crumbling lip. "This will require precise timing. As before, feel my movement through our connection. Leap when I leap."

He secured his grip on my arm, positioning us side-by-side at the edge. I focused, tuning into the hum of our bond, feeling the coiled tension in his muscles, the infinitesimal shift as he gathered himself.

Now.

The impulse came through the connection, a silent command. We launched ourselves across the gap together.

For a heart-stopping moment, we were suspended over the abyss. Then our feet hit the far ledge. Kavan absorbed most of the impact, stumbling but keeping us both upright. The rock beneath us held.

We didn't pause, immediately moving deeper into the passage, away from the unstable gap. The air here felt different—still ancient and heavy, but with an underlying resonance, a faint thrum of dormant energy that made my markings tingle persistently.

The passage widened abruptly, opening into a vast chamber. The transition was startling. We stepped from the narrow, crumbling tunnel into a space constructed of unfamiliar, smooth, metallic material. Geometric patterns, similar yet more complex than the glyphs in the passage, covered the walls and floor, emitting a faint luminescence of their own.

"Kavan," I whispered, stunned. "What is this place?"

He stood beside me, equally awestruck, his fungal light source paling in comparison to the chamber's own soft glow. Water dripped from the high ceiling, echoing strangely off the metallic surfaces, forming shallow pools on the floor. We seemed to be in some kind of artificial structure, buried deep beneath the surface.

"This is..." Kavan slowly turned, taking in the scale of the chamber. His lifelines pulsed, reacting to the ambient energy. "This is not a natural formation. It is ancient. Nyxari, but... different. Pre-Division."

He moved forward, touching a wall panel tentatively. Unlike the weathered stone of the passage, this material felt cool and impossibly smooth beneath his fingertips. The geometric patterns etched into it pulsed faintly where he touched. "I've seen images of such places in the elders' records, legendary facilities sealed away after the war. I never expected to encounter one."

I looked down at my arm. The silver markings beneath my skin pulsed in perfect synchronization with the patterns on the walls, creating a dizzying sense of connection, of belonging. "The patterns," I said, my voice hushed. "They match my markings exactly."

Kavan nodded slowly, his golden eyes sweeping the chamber, moving from the intricate walls to the strange, silent equipment half-hidden in alcoves. Much of it showed signs of damage – panels were dark or flickered weakly, crystalline structures were cracked, and water damage had corroded surfaces. Yet, the underlying complexity, the sheer alien sophistication of the design, was breathtaking. "A satellite facility, perhaps," he murmured. "For research... or healing."

My gaze was drawn deeper into the chamber, following an insistent pull from my markings. They brightened as I walked toward a recessed area along the far wall, ignoring the puddles splashing around my boots. "There's something here," I called back to Kavan, the energy intensifying as I approached. "My markings are reacting strongly."

He joined me, holding the glowing fungus higher. In the alcove stood a pedestal made of the same luminous material as the walls. Atop it rested a formation of interlocking geometric crystals, perfectly intact, untouched by the decay affecting the rest of the chamber. It glowed with a soft, inviting interior light.

"A memory crystal," Kavan identified it immediately, reverence deepening his voice. "A repository of knowledge. The elders possess a few fragments, but functioning ones like this... they were thought lost forever."

My hand moved toward it, seemingly of its own volition. The markings on my wrist and palm flared brilliantly, painful and exhilarating all at once. The crystal pulsed in response, its internal light brightening, swirling.

"Should I touch it?" I asked, the question feeling distant, my focus narrowing entirely onto the object before me.

Kavan hesitated, his healer's caution warring with the awe of this discovery. "It responds to you. In ancient times, only those bearing compatible markings could access such crystals." He paused, his gaze flicking towards the high, unseen ceiling far above, perhaps estimating how deep underground we truly were. "But the knowledge it contains... the effect it might have... it is unknown."

A loud drip echoed nearby, water splashing onto the metallic floor. A reminder that while this place felt timeless, our situation was precarious. We were trapped, deep within the unstable heart of Arenix, in a place built by ancestors whose knowledge might save us, or shatter us entirely. The crystal pulsed again, waiting.

KAVAN

The memory crystal pulsed before Selene, its pure light a stark contrast to the scene surrounding us. Her hand hovered near its surface, markings blazing, her focus absolute despite the water dripping steadily nearby – a constant reminder of our precarious position. Caution warred with the undeniable pull of discovery.

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