Stardust (17 page)

After all, she had taken his heart. She deserved to know just who came with it.

As Darton neared the beginning of the lush landscape, an explosion rocked the mountain behind him, causing the sand on which he was standing to shift. Great cracks appeared on
the pathway behind him
. He felt sure the explosions were not caused by the charges he and Aurora had left in the first cave. They were not nearly powerful enough to cause that great of a quake. His brow contorted in confusion as he moved. Something was definitely wrong. He urged Siara to quicken their pace.
“
Come great one. We must hurry.
”

The great cat did not immediately follow. Instead she stood perfectly still, her golden hair quivering in the wind. Lifting her head, she let forth a low-throated growl. It was a sound Darton had never heard his companion make.

“
What is it girl? What do you see?
”
Darton scanned the land, worry for Aurora eating away at his insides. Hurrying through the sun-baked sand, he reached the start of the lush vegetation.
“
Aurora,
”
he called.
“
Where are you?
”

His heart grew heavy. She could not have gone far; she had
been mere minutes ahead of him.

“
Siara, find Aurora.
”
He feared he did not have time to spare and finding her was of supreme importance.

* * *

Aurora woke slowly, a deep ache in the side of her head. For long awful moments she could not remember where she was. The surrounding darkness and smells reminded her of The House of the Unloved. She felt tears well in her eyes and refused to give in to them. No, she shouted silently to herself, she could n
ot be in that place again. Her U
ncle Darvek had come for her.
Her eyes flew ope
n, suddenly remembering all which
had happened to her within the last few moons.
Her uncle had died and she had escaped the cruel overlord Bartok. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. And she had encountered Darton.

Darton. Where was he? Had he too suffered during the great quake of the world? Aurora remembered walking toward the lovely shade tree and then remembered nothing else. The ground had rolled
and dipped and she had fallen –
and kept on falling. She sat up straight, finally realizing she lay upon hard black rocks of the underground. Squinting in the gloom, she made out the shapes and images of walls. She appeared to be at the end of a long tunnel with a faint light in the distance. Perhaps there was a way out of the damp pit. Crawling on her knees, she moved toward the light,
the ragged surface of the stone tearing at her tender flesh.

“
I would
not venture far.
”
Talena
’
s soft voice stopped
her.
“
I fear we have company.
”

Aurora followed the direction of the turin
’
s gaze, gasping at what she saw. Before her stood the most hideous creatures she had ever encountered.
Not even in the scared books of the Craton had she viewed
such life forms. From the waist to the head the beings reminded her of an Arg
onian pit viper. The large skulls
flared outward, a shield of bone protecting
the scaly, pinkish skin. Y
ellow eyes were mere slits of color. The massive arms were covered with the same reptilian skin of the face. But the bottom half of the creature was human. The well-muscled thighs covered in sun-darkened skin held the body upright. The obvious maleness was encased in a brief skin. The larger creature that stood in the middle of the small group held a gleaming steel blade in its four-fingered hand. Aurora had no doubt the shaft would be lethal upon the touch.

“
The fair-skinned one has awakened from its slumber.
”
The snake creature spoke in words of understanding, surprising Aurora with its intelligence.

After the first word of warning, Talena had burrowed herself next to Aurora
’
s middle for which she was grateful. She must have all her wits about her at this time and dealing with an overexcited turin would only add to her problems. She must make good her escape and see to Darton. He could be hurt and in pain. She gave no thought to her own safety.
“
Yes, I have awakened. How did I come to be under the land?
”
She eased to her right, taking herself from the creature
’
s direct view.

“
We have experienced a series of small quakes during the last cycle of our moon. This is the most fierce by far. I regret you were introduced to our planet by such a dangerous occurrence. My name is Slamock, leader of the planet Krossos.
”
He bowed his head in introduction.
“
What is yours, beautiful female?
”

Aurora rose to her feet, disliking having to lift her head to look at the tall creature.
“
My name is Aurora, daughter of Dante. Palermos is my home.
”

“
I have heard of your beautiful planet. It is said to hold the Mountain of Life and to
be filled with many such
lush creatures as yourself.
”
One thick-scaled finger came out to touch her cheek.

Aurora refused to flinch at the touch of Slamock
’
s slimy hand. Instead, she lifted her head proudly, returning the bold yellow gaze with a defiant one of her own.

“
You have fire burning within those violet eyes, Aurora. I may call you Aurora might I not?
”
H
e laughed as if he had made a great joke. The guards surrounding the leader of Krossos chortled loudly.

“
Enough.
”
Slamock silenced his guards with a wave of his hand.
“
We must leave these caverns before another angry god beats his fist against our planet. Come my fair beauty, we will travel together.
”
He held out his arm, offering her his protection.

“
I must return to the surface.
”
Aurora shuddered at the thought of touching the cold scales.

Slamock
’
s eyes hardened into cold, pale blocks of ice as if he could read her unspoken thoughts.
“
You will not find my touch as repulsive as you think, my dear. Guards seize her.
”
Without a backward glance, he moved away into the darkened tunnel.

* * *

Darton watched in horror-stricken silence as the ground opened up and swallowed Aurora. Just as he rounded the curve of the great mountain, the planet once again trembled beneath his feet. Before he had an opportunity to call to her, Aurora disappeared inside the cavernous pit created by the thundering movement of the land. Urging his frozen limbs into action, he moved forward, dropping to his knees as he peered through the inky darkness. Once his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he could see Aurora moving about below. Opening his mouth to call out to her and assure himself that she was unharmed, Darton drew back in shocked surprise as his eyes made out other shapes. Sitting upon the hard dirt in the now blazing hot sun, Darton could not begin to fathom the true meaning of what he had just witnessed.

Those
‘
things
’
in the pit below were the most hideous looking creatures he had ever laid eyes on. And what did they mean to do with Aurora? Moving cautiously, Darton peered over the wide crevice. His body tensed as he saw Aurora being led away by the underground dwellers. He cursed himself and his slowness. He had been minutes from taking her from the pit when the creatures had appeared. Now he must follow them into the darkness. He took a long deep breath, gearing his mind and soul for the moments that would come. He did not like the closed in dampness of the inside. He had experienced this dislike since he was very young. His earth mother, Strong Wind, had told him that one day his fear of the deep place
s would pass. She told him
he would reach inside
himself and find the fear which
had gripped him and overcome it.

For Aurora he must find that strength now, but he knew he would only pretend his bravery. Last night in the cave of the waters he had endured the closeness only because of the lightness from the stone. And Aurora
’
s distracting presence. But now he could not risk using the light. And Aurora would not be near enough for him to block out his fear with her mind-stealing beauty. He would be trapped beneath the cold, hard ground.

With a calm he was far from feeling, Darton waited until the creatures had departed before making his move. Making a mental note of the exact tunnel into which they disappeared, he unsnapped his pack and took out a length of rope from within. Securing his pack once again, he tied one end of the rope to the lone tree still standing along the rocky cliff and whistled softly for Siara. Stroking the big cat lovingly, he spoke reassuringly.
“
I must lower you first, my friend.
”

Siara tried to back away as he tied the rope about her.
“
I know, I know, my beauty,
”
Darton soothed in a low voice.
“
I do not wish to go into such a horrid place either. But for Aurora, we must both put our fears aside.
”
Once he lowered
the big cat safely to the bottom, Darton began the arduous task
of getting himself safely to the bottom.

The lower into the bowels of the planet he went, the harder his heart pounded.

When he reached the bottom, with both feet planted once again on solid ground, he drew a deep, steadying breath, the sweet air from above filling his lungs one last time. He could not allow his fear to jeopardize Aurora
’
s life –
or his own. Moving forward on silent feet, he motioned Siara to follow. When he reached the tunnel where he had last seen Aurora, his feet almost stopped. Through sheer force of will, Darton kept moving, deeper and deeper into the pitch black darkness.

Feeling his way along the cold stone wall, he walked slowly, measuring each step carefully. He drew a shaky breath as he spied a sliver of light ahead, then just as quickly released it. Standing within the circle of light, glowing eerily from the torch on the wall, stood one of the creat
ures. A guard. Darton drew back
, pressing himself as close as possible to the wall and into the enveloping shadows. Siara stopped obediently beside her master, her tail twitching with leashed energy.

“
How do you kill such a being as this?
”
Darton muttered to himself, his brow puckering at the thought. He would love to have had more time in which to study his enemy. It would have made disposing of them a much easier task.

Siara rubbed her large head against her master
’
s leg, purring low in her throat.
“
Of course. You are right.
”
Darton smiled grimly in the darkness. It
w
as an old warrior
’
s rule.
“
Cut off the head and the body cannot function.
”

Sliding a steel blade carefully from its sheath at his waist, Darton moved forward. With soft, indistinguishable footsteps he ad
vanced and
severed the thin head from the creature
’
s hulking body. He wiped his knife clean before sliding it back in its sheath.
“
That wasn
’
t so hard.
”
His smile of satisfaction turned to horrified shock as he watched Siara crumple suddenly into a lifeless heap at his feet. With a grunt of helpless rage he turned, intent on squeezing the very life
’
s breath from the one responsible for such brutality.
Even as he saw the raised weapon he
felt the pain of its glancing blow as it cracked against his skull. His last thought was of Aurora as dark oblivion engulfed him.

* * *

Aurora walked behind the snake creatures, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness of the tunnels. She cursed under her breath in frustration. Just as she memorized the way within the twisting caverns the guards would make another turn, throwing her into confusion. Soon they reached a tunnel with a great entrance at the end. She could see soft glowing lights of red, blue and yellow. If she had not been so frightened, she would have marveled at the beauty in such a dark place.

Slamock motioned with his hand and the guards released their hold.
“
Welcome to my home, Aurora. I hope you will become quite comfortable with me here.
”

Aurora rubbed the reddened patches on her skin caused by the scaly creatures
’
hold.
“
How can I be comfortable in a place as this? There is no sun,
no water and no beauty of flowering plants.
”