Soul of Eon (Eon Warriors #8) - Anna Hackett Page 0,16
creatures danced around in the air.
Thane and Kaira walked on, the insects whirling and dancing above, the grass swishing around their ankles.
“Those must be their nests.” Kaira nodded at the small mounds dotted across the valley. They were brown, and marked with streaks of the same pink as the butterflies on the sides.
They kept walking, and Thane’s gut cramped. Cren. The mating fever was growing. He breathed deep and fought it back.
A faint vibration rumbled through the soles of his boots. “Do you feel that?
Kaira stilled. “Yeah.”
One of the nearby butterfly nests burst open. Another creature flew into the air. It was bulky, with a pyramid-shaped body that also glowed pink. Its wings flapped so fast they were a blur.
Below its body was a massive stinger.
Cren.
He grabbed Kaira. “Back up.”
The insect made an annoyed buzzing noise.
“Is it Kantos?” she asked.
“Likely.”
Another nest burst open on the left. A second, flying insect with a stinger rose into the air.
More nests opened.
“Kaira…run!”
They both sprinted down the valley.
The angry buzzing noise grew behind them.
Thane chanced a quick glance backward.
A flock of the stinger creatures were flying after them. The butterflies had scattered.
“They’re coming!” he roared.
“There’s nowhere to hide,” Kaira yelled back.
The valley was long and wide. Full of nothing but grass.
Cren. Cren. Cren.
One creature darted forward, its stinger extended.
Thane spun and jabbed it with his sword. The creature darted to the side, and flew at him again.
He skewered it, and bright-pink fluid ran down his sword.
“Come on,” Kaira yelled.
Together, they sprinted as fast as they could.
But the buzzing was growing, and several of the creatures swung around in front of them.
Thane and Kaira bumped into each other. The insects had formed a huge circle around them.
They had nowhere to go.
“Oh, fuck,” she whispered.
“Just hold on.”
She leaned into him, her gaze meeting his. “I don’t want to die.”
The insects buzzed closer.
Then all of a sudden, the ground crumbled away beneath them disappearing from under their feet.
“What the—?”
They both tumbled straight down, into the earth.
Chapter Seven
They crashed to the ground and rolled. Kaira groaned.
Thane leaned over her. “You okay?”
“Nothing’s broken.” At least, she was pretty sure nothing was broken.
She let him pull her up.
They were in a tunnel, and she looked up through the hole they’d fallen through. She could just see a patch of blue sky and that horrible buzzing sound was starting to grow louder.
“They’re coming.” Thane gripped her arm. “Let’s go.”
They ran down the tunnel. It looked naturally-formed to Kaira. The walls were banded with glowing and glittering strips of rocks and minerals. They maneuvered through a few gentle twists and turns.
They came to a junction. Several tunnels speared off in different directions. Cobwebs hung from the rocky ceiling, but they looked old and broken—not fresh.
Good. Hopefully, whatever made them was long gone.
“Are the bugs following us?” she asked.
“I’m not detecting them.”
Her belly clenched. Why weren’t they following?
Thane studied the tunnels. “I believe the Kantos base is in that direction.”
They headed off into the tunnel to the left. More cobwebs decorated the walls and roof, and these ones were thicker, and looked newer.
“I don’t like the look of those,” she murmured.
Thane grunted.
They shoved through several of them and the filaments were sticky, clinging to her gloves. Then she spotted a large chamber ahead, that seemed to glow with a brighter light. They stepped closer, and she saw that there were holes up above, letting the light down.
A pool of still water sat in the center, a brilliant aqua color.
They moved closer, and Thane crouched and touched the water. She assumed he was using his helian to test it.
“The quality appears fine. It’s drinkable.” He filled up the bottle, and handed it to her. “The pool’s deep. I can’t sense the bottom.”
She drank, detecting a faint sweet taste to the water. She handed the bottle back to him, then walked over to examine the walls. They were covered in moss. She touched it, and a blue color shimmered across it, leaving a bioluminescent glow on the tips of her gloves.
“Thane, the walls are really wet. There’s moss growing on it.”
He strode over to her. “Let’s find a way out. There are more tunnels on the other side of the pool.”
They skirted the water and tiredness tugged at her. She had no idea how much time had passed since their abduction, but the lack of sleep was starting to wear her down.
“You all right?” he asked.
She glanced up to see Thane watching her carefully.
She nodded. “Just tired. It’s been a wild ride.”
“I’ll get you home.