Wrath of the Forgotten: Descendants of the Fall Book II, Hodges, Aaron [top 10 non fiction books of all time txt] 📗

place, if he was to be her slave? What was a prison even doing hidden beneath the Calafe’s Basilica to the Fall?

Eventually Lukys had fallen asleep on the low bench that lined the walls, though there was no way of telling for how long. Time did not seem to move in this dark place. He found himself wondering what had happened to Dale and Travis and all the others. Had they too been locked in this awful place? He’d tried yelling through the heavy iron door, but from the way his voice echoed in the tiny space, he guessed little noise escaped.

A shiver ran down his spine as he began to wonder how long he would be kept here. How much time would it take before he went mad in the absolute black, robbed of all sense of time, of hope? He had found a crevasse of water in his first moments within the cell, but his stomach was already starting to rumble. Would they feed him, or was starvation part of his punishment?

Lukys…

Lukys yelped and almost fell off the bench as Sophia’s voice whispered in his mind. He swung around, half expecting to find that the Tangata had snuck into his cell. But that was impossible—the first thing he’d done was run his hands around the walls in hope of finding another way out, and there’d been nothing. Slowly he turned towards the door. She was outside.

“What do you want?” he snapped, then cursed as his words echoed within the cell.

She must have heard him though, for laughter whispered into his thoughts. Careful, you’ll wake the dead with such noise. She paused, before adding: This would seem a good opportunity to practice Speaking...Lukys.

The hairs on the back of his neck lifted at her words. The dead?

That’s better. There was amusement in Sophia’s inner voice. It’s said that many of our ancestors perished in places such as this, in the time before The Fall. Perhaps their spirits do haunt these corridors.

The Tangata believe in spirits? Lukys frowned; even after a week with the creatures, he hadn’t contemplated the thought they might have a concept of an afterlife. A dozen questions rose unbidden in his mind, but he brushed them off. Now was not the time for scholarship. What is this place, then?

Another of our Birthing Grounds. The Calafe tried to cover it up, but my people are good at sniffing out secrets.

Lukys nodded to himself, recalling how the Tangata had managed to locate the entrance to the other ancient site, despite it lying buried in an empty plateau.

Why did you bring me here?

There was a pause before Sophia replied. We have been assigned, she said finally, as though that explained everything.

Frustration touched Lukys and he crossed to the door, placing his head against the cold metal. “But what does that mean?” he hissed out loud, trying to cast the thought through the iron at the same time.

I told you—it means you are mine, Lukys. There was a pause.

Lukys’s skin crawled at her words. So that’s it, then, he murmured, turning away from the door, his heart suddenly racing. You’re going to lock me here in the dark forever, taunt me and torture me, all because I killed your partner?

His words were followed by a long silence and he closed his eyes, thinking she’d left him again. Panic touched him and he realised he didn’t want to be alone down here, trapped, starving, lost. Better he had someone’s company, even if it was only to punish him.

A sudden clang came from the door as Sophia drew back the locking mechanism. Lukys leapt as a soft light spilled into his cell, first just a fine crack where the door opened, then growing larger to reveal a lantern. He swallowed as Sophia entered the cell, retreating the rest of the way to the rear of his little prison. But she made no move towards him, only watched him for a moment with those terrifying eyes, then sat herself on the bench. She placed the lantern down beside her.

I do not seek to hurt you, Lukys.

For a moment, Lukys did not understand the words she’d spoken into his mind. He blinked, hesitating. What?

I fought alongside Zachariah for many years, Sophia murmured. But such bonds are…complicated for our people.

Lukys frowned, the pounding of blood in his ears fading slightly at the calmness of Sophia’s words. He hesitated, glancing at his hands, recalling the conversation that had passed between Sophia and the Matriarch. In his fear, he hadn’t really taken in the words, but now he found himself wondering…

“The Matriarch told Adonis to take his best warrior pairs,” he said finally.

Sophia nodded. When we come of age, my people are partnered with another of our generation. We are required to serve five years as warriors, to ensure the safety of our people from…humanity.

“Then…he wasn’t your mate?” Lukys asked.

Mate? Still you think of us as animals, Lukys!

“No!” he gasped, raising his palms in a gesture of peace.

He hesitated when he saw the grin on her lips, and a peal of laughter rang through the cell. His racing heart slowed as he watched the Tangata. What was this creature playing at? Slowly he lowered himself down onto the bench opposite her.

We were many things, Sophia said finally. She leaned forward, her eyes fixing on him once more. But…our time together was coming to an end.

Lukys swallowed. “You…don’t seem…overly bothered by his death.”

To his surprise, Sophia looked away at that. He thought he might have glimpsed a touch of red to her cheeks, but in the flickering lantern light he could not be sure.

Zachariah was…passionate. She glanced at him. He loathed your kind, and joyed in his…role as a warrior. Alas, I never felt that same passion.

“Oh…” Lukys hesitated. “Well, I for one am thankful that you haven’t torn me limb from limb.”

The hint of a smile appeared on Sophia’s lips, surprisingly feminine. It was lucky you sparked Adonis’s curiosity, she replied. He is another who…dislikes your kind’s role