Here's the next installment of our Metallum Nocturne story. If you need to catch up on any of the previous episodes, click here.
Episode Thirty-Five
Elle made a pained noise, which made Claire realize she was squeezing her hand tightly. She checked back to the opposite side of the cavern, expecting to see Abe's light, but it was no longer visible.
"We have to run," whispered Claire.
"What? I can't see."
"There's something on the path behind us. It's big." She scanned the area for a pathway to escape. When she checked back to the creature, it was bounding towards them. "Run!"
Claire dragged Elle over the ridge, hauling her up when she tripped over the rock. The scratch of claws on stone and a low growl had Claire running as fast as she could. She checked over her shoulder to see how close—
The bottom dropped out.
Claire's arms pinwheeled. The rush of crashing water grew louder and then she plunged beneath the surface. It was icy cold, almost making her take a breath. She kicked off the bottom, pulling herself upward until she broke free and into precious air. She searched for Elle, fearing she'd gotten knocked out on impact, but saw her paddling through the mist in the wrong direction.
"This way!"
Elle listed about, so Claire continued to give her audio clues until she could grab her arm and help her towards the edge of the wide pool. Staying in the frigid water wasn't an option, so they crawled onto the gravelly beach. Claire checked the ridge for signs of the creature, but saw nothing.
"Fuck. My light's dead," said Elle, frantically clicking the button on her headlamp.
"It's okay. I can see. Nothing's nearby." Claire put her hands around Elle's calming her. "I'll be your eyes."
"I hate this," said Elle, eyes darting as she shivered.
"At least the air is warm."
"How can you see?"
"I think it has to do with the dark metal," said Claire.
Elle turned her head suddenly. "What was that?"
Claire followed the direction. "I don't see anything."
They waited on the water's edge, the waterfall thundering into the pool about fifty feet behind them. A low mist hung over the surface. Once Elle calmed, they searched through the pack to find all electronics ruined by the plunge.
"Hopefully we lost the creature," said Claire. "I don't feel like it's nearby."
"Feel?"
"I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew it was there before we turned off the lights," said Claire.
"I think you've got more stories to tell me once we get out of here," said Elle.
"I probably owe you that much."
"You had me at Kentucky warlock," said Elle.
"Stay here. I'll creep up and check ahead. Hopefully the plunge put us off its radar."
Staying low to the ground, Claire crawled up the slope until she reached the edge. The cavern spread out away from the pool, the opposite direction of where they'd come. She didn't see the creature, so she returned to Elle and explained what she saw.
"I see three options. Wait here, head back the way we came and risk running into the creature, or go deeper and hope to find a passage that circles around," said Claire.
"Waiting here isn't a good idea. While you were climbing up, I was feeling around. There are scratch marks on the stone. Things that we don't want to meet come here for water," said Elle.
"I'm not inclined to go back the way we came, so option three it is. Take my hand. I'll be your eyes."
Claire led them away from the pool, keeping her head on a swivel. Not having the glaring headlamp interfering with her ability to see in the dark made keeping an eye out easier since she wasn't restricted to the beam of light. A pair of small flying critters exploding from a hiding place startled them both, but after a brief chuckle, they continued, leaving the waterfall cavern and heading into a series of crisscrossing tunnels.
"Leave a small pile of rocks to mark which passage we've taken so we can come back. Might help if Abe tries to track us down," said Elle.
Leaving the cairns slowed them down and Claire hated the way the rocks clinked together. She navigated randomly hoping to move as far away as possible from the cavern with the creature. After a half hour they came out into a wide space with a light blue glow.
"What's that?" asked Elle.
Climbing onto a rise, Claire looked over a giant field of translucent stalks waving in an unseen wind.
"Ghost-eyes."
"Why are they moving? I don't feel a breeze," said Elle.
A grin rose to Claire's lips at getting to explain something that her new friend didn't know.
"At the center of the fungus, a viscous liquid moves through dozens of capillaries at different speeds and directions, creating the illusion of wind. Each one only moves a few millimeters, but collectively it makes their movement appear more substantial."
"It's beautiful."
They stood on the ridge, still holding hands until Elle looked down.
"I guess I don't need this anymore."
She released Claire's hand which had grown sweaty from the long embrace. As they waded into the ghost-eye field, Claire spotted other luminous fungus along the wall and countless benign insects buzzing through the stalks.
"The ghost-eyes are an ecosystem unto themselves," said Claire, running her hand across the velvety tops. "They only grow in the Undercity due to the heavy faez concentration."
"You sure know a lot about them for someone who's never been in the Undercity."
"A library is a girl's best friend," said Claire.
Elle stood a few feet away. The faint bluish glow and strange shifting stalks made it otherworldly. Her lips were parted, contentment across her smoothed brow.
"Lovely place for a picnic," said Elle, shifting out of her pack. "Hungry?"
"Ravenous."
"Are we safe here?"
Claire paused. "I don't feel any danger and most predators avoid ghost-eyes for reasons no one understands. Probably messes with their advantage of darkness."
A smooth boulder near the back of the field gave them a good view and kept the cavern wall to their back, which after the frantic escape, was a relief. Elle unfolded a padded blanket across the hard rock and handed over small impact resistant containers with cheeses, nuts, olives, and crackers.
"Strangest and probably coolest place I've ever had charcuterie," said Claire as she shoved a chunk of asiago cheese into her mouth.
"Be a good time to tell me all about your Kentucky warlock and what the dark metal is doing to you," said Elle, pumping her eyebrows.
Claire hesitated. "Is this Elle the reporter asking?"
Elle shuffled a handful of almonds around in her palm. "If you want it to be. Otherwise, it can be Elle your friend."
"Seems dangerous to have a reporter for a friend. How do I know who I'm talking to?" asked Claire.
"No different than any friend and the secrets they keep," said Elle, tucking a piece of blonde hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail in the escape. Wisps created little halos around her brow.
"Come here. Let me fix that."
Elle sat between her outstretched legs. Claire slipped the black band from her blonde hair and using her fingers, straighten out the knots that had formed. As she worked, she told Elle about the events in Kentucky with Grayson and his dead daughter, followed by the strange things that had been happening to her that she assumed was from the dark metal in her flesh. The only thing she left out were the concerns about the Night Mother and only because it was pure speculation and she feared it'd sound crazy if she talked about it.
"Let me see it again," said Elle, breathlessly as she shifted around opposite.
Claire pulled up her shirt revealing her striped ribs. The bands had grown. There was barely any skin between them. Elle ran her fingers across the dark stretches.
"It's hard, but supple," she said, glancing upward with her lips parted. "Do you really think its dark metal?"
"I do."
Elle flicked her fingernail against the metal, recoiling after the clack. "Ouch. Hard as rock. But it doesn't feel that way when I'm touching it. How far does it go?"
Claire pursed her lips. "It's like I'm being overtaken by vines." She pulled down the front of her shirt, showing the extensions that had climbed past her breastbone. "The others are heading down my hips and starting on my thighs. At this rate, I'll be covered completely by the end of the year. I'm afraid of what happens when it's on my face."
"It's quite beautiful, actually," said Elle, still running her fingers along the metal.
"I don't know what it's doing to me."
Elle pulled her fingers away. She tilted her head. "I'm sorry, Claire."
"I don't think the original patron died," she blurted out. "This is definitely off the record. But I think this happened to him too, so he had to give up being patron. Which means he was disfigured by the dark metal."
"Why do you think so?"
Claire explained what she found in the diary.
"That's heavy," said Elle, leaning back.
"I should harvest so we can get out of here. It's going to take a little bit."
Claire was glad she'd memorized the spell rather than bringing a copy because otherwise she'd be screwed due to falling into the pool. She waded into the center of the stalks, examining them to find the thickest one. The enchantment itself was simple, but it required repeating and waiting to confirm the stasis required. She was used to using faez over a long period of time, but the spell took a lot out of her. She was able to cut the stalk an hour later, depositing it in the sealed and warded ziplock bag for later. When she was finished, exhaustion set in and she stumbled back to the rock, sitting down in front of it and leaning against it for support.
"You okay?"
"Harder than I expected. My Merlin scores weren't that high, but that was unusual. I can manage a bath of liquid metal with constant faez adjustments for hours. I feel like I just ran a marathon," said Claire as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"You rest. I'll keep watch," said Elle from her perch.
"Wake me at the first sign of danger," said Claire as she leaned against the rock, her eyes closing of their own accord.
