Page 76 of The Souls Harvest
He obliges, saluting her by raising two fingers to his forehead before jumping into the hole.
Soon after the siblings’ argument starts again, fading gradually as if they’re moving further inside the dark space below us.
“Any broken bones, show-off?” I hear Mack teasing his sister.
“What the fuck was that? You could have hit us and taken us down with you.” The familiarity in Galen’s tone surprises me. It’s the one I thought he only used with me.
As the quarrel goes on and turns into a multitude of intelligible words, Tabitha nudges me gently, “Don’t be scared. The ladders look rusty, but they’ll hold. I’ll be right behind you, and the bunch down there will catch you if—”
I hold up a hand. “I’ll manage. Thanks.” I really am grateful, but the additional threat of a fatal fall is not something I wish to contemplate right now.
Tabitha nods, but still offers a hand to help me with the first few steps. I try not to look down. It’s so dark I can barely distinguish what lurks inches below me, and the helmet visor doesn’t help. At least the voices of Galen and the siblings reassure me.
The metal ladder—there are more attached around the edge of the portal—is sturdy, but sharp flakes lift off every time I grip the next step down. As much as the visor allows, I capture glimpses of the sky, so tranquil and clear that I struggle to imagine some civil war going on.War?Is this what the Chapter has been hiding fromus? For years?
The stench of sewage, musk and sickening dampness hits me as I leave the darkening blue sky behind. Heavy steps shake my ladder. Tabitha moves quickly, and in seconds, she’s on my right, balancing on her ladder with one arm stretched up. The night sky shrinks to a timid half-moon as she slides a massive, thick metal disk across the opening.
I’m in the dark again. But nolonger alone.
Chapter 30 - Walk of Knowledge
July
When I jump off the ladder and set foot on something slippery and creamy, I mentally bless the helmet Merya gave me. Loose strands of hair stick to my visor, and the air inside immediately turns clammy and stuffy, but at least I can’t see what just splattered on my legs.
“All clear?” Tabitha shouts from above me as I move out of the way just moments before a hard thump lands in the darkness, and the flashlight she’s holding reveals the mouth of a narrow tunnel.
Moved by curiosity, I lift my visor, look down and cringe.
“Just think about it as a pool of expensive, purifying mud,” Mack says, patting me on the back. “Although—I wouldn’t leave it on your skin for too long if I were you.”
When Mack lifts his helmet visor, the small trail of scars on the bridge of his nose and right cheekbone lightens like lines on a map in the flashlight’s yellow glow.
“I swear this shit can liquefy bones better than lye.” He casts his light on the dense layer of greenish substance stagnating beneath our feet.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I say, wrinkling my nose and scraping the back of my hand with the hem of Galen’s jumper sleeve, hoping he’s forgotten about his fancy piece of clothing.
“No need to peel your skin off.” Tabitha nudges me forward with a light push. “Mack trains his flirtatiousness on the stash of books hesecretlydevours when he’s not busy concocting new ways to keep us safe.” She casts a motherly look at him, and Mack retreats a couple of steps back, lowering his head. “But he’s not harmful, am I right, Fumo?”
“Fumo?” I ask, turning to Mack, who’s fallen quiet, trying to ignore his blushing cheeks that contrast sharply with his deep blue eyes, the same eyes as Merya’s.
Tabitha winks at me before signalling to the group ahead of us to make a move for the darkest core of the tunnel. “Mack’s nickname. Now go. We’re safer-ishhere, but heat detectors can still spot us.”
I smile beneath my helmet, remembering what Tabitha has just said about him keeping them all safe. “Well, thanks for saving my skin, Mack. I’m very fond of it, and I like keeping it on my muscles rather than melting away,” I say to him with a little bow.
He stops blinking and arches one brow, then the other, crossing his arms over his chest.
I place one hand on my hip and flick his helmet with the other, feeling a rush of familiarity when his eyes brighten with an invisible smile. “I know you’re smirking under that thing. Don’t get too comfortable now. I haven’t forgotten what you said about my head.Come on, I don’t want to be left behind.”
I nudge him, pushing his elbow, and start floundering behind the head of the group.
Merya, now a human crutch to make Galen’s walk quicker, leads the way. She is protected by Jyn to her right and a dark wall on her left, which she uses to stay upright and balanced. But her gait looks confident, and the slippery ground, whatever it looks like under the thick layer of gloop, doesn’t seem to slow her down.
“Where are you taking us?” I ask nobody in particular. My breath is dense. I can almost touch it when I stick two fingers between my neck and the rubbery padding of the helmet, seeking some relief.
Mack chuckles behind me. Tabitha’s reprimand didn’t last long, and he’s acting cocky again now that she’s no longer close enough to hear him. I turn my head without stopping, shrugging my shoulders in a silentWhat?
My boots have disappeared under layers of mud, turning my legs into heavy trunks, but Mack quickly catches up with me despite the weight of his backpack and the little array of weapons dangling from his shoulders over his chest.
