Chapter 58: Volume II: Chapter 25: Trapped

Chleo grabbed another rock from Merk, rolling it back under her legs to her dad. Twenty minutes in, maybe thirty, who was she kidding an hour could have passed for all she knew, and Dai had made some progress. It wasn’t enough. Chleo watched as Will slouched more and more as the minutes passed, rolling rocks Dai dislodged back farther down the line and out of the way. They were running out of room and out of time.

She checked the void again, stretching Dai’s glow as far as she dared. After feeling the light respond to her during the collapse and not having much else to do but roll rocks backward, she started testing it. As Dai whittled the pile lower, Chleo fiddled with the edges of her view. She massaged and edged the light through the cracks in the rocks. The farther she pushed the light, the less it lit the edges of the tunnel. If she pushed far enough, the outlines of the walls and ceiling blurred to nothing, and it gave her a quick view on the other side of the pile.

Merk shouted in concern when she tried it. He could see Dai’s glow fading as Chleo pushed it through the rocks. Her dad’s hand gave her calf a sharp squeeze in warning. She pulled back as fast as she could, cursing herself for being careless. Her friend’s light was under her control, and she was using it like a new gear kit. Dai sent a cautious look back over her shoulder, eyes tight with fear. Chleo’s stomach twisted knowing it was directed at her.

After a short break to make sure nothing was wrong, Merk let Dai get back to work. Chleo refused to experiment with her light again, berating herself for acting like the lab coats they were running from. She cringed at the thought of Johnson.

She turned her attention to her own flickering spark. It lit, lapping the air like flames before stuttering to nothing. Sometimes it would stay dark for seconds, others minutes. She worked on understanding the pattern, then holding it when lit. As long as it touched her skin, she found she could stretch it, mold it, use it as a feeler. As soon as it disconnected, she lost control, and it drifted off like smoke.

After trying to keep it lit for longer periods of time and admitting defeat, she started trying to harden it like she did before. At the very least, it would let her help Dai. It took some time, but she managed to recreate the feeling, then the reaction.

When she could manipulate her own light well enough, she switched back to Dai’s. The foreign but familiar light was harder to direct, but she managed, chiseling it behind rocks and levering them loose to help Dai pull them free. If she noticed, Chleo couldn’t tell.

Chleo drifted Dai’s glow through the hole they made, taking care not to push too far and keep a thread connected to Dai’s skin at all times. She tickled the other side. The walls near Dai fuzzed on the edge of blurring. Chleo snapped the light back. They were through, but it was too small for anyone to fit.

Chleo pulled the next rock from Merk, moving to roll it back to the others. It smacked against the last one. She moved her attention to the rocks shining blank around them sorted so those in the back could still fit through.

“At me,” she said, a tired sigh slipping out. Manipulating the glow was working muscles she didn’t know she had.

Dai’s hand slipped, surprised at the announcement. Chleo watched her turn in the void, craning to see around Merk and failing.

“Already?” she asked, sweat dipping down her face. Wiping at it, she leaned back examining the pile. “There won’t be enough space,” she admitted. Chloe watched her worry her bottom lip.

“I—” Chleo started. The fear on Dai’s face flashed through her mind. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to continue, “I think I might be able to help.”

“What?” Merk asked. “There’s no way you’re fitting around me, avida.” He laughed.

“No, I…” she didn’t know how to explain it.

“Do it,” Dai said, voice small. Chleo felt her skin crawl, worried she’d push too far, worried she wasn’t enough. She had no idea what she was doing. What if she couldn’t keep her glow connected and hurt Dai? She didn’t even know what would happen. It was a bad idea. She shouldn’t have mentioned it.

“Dai, I don’t think—” she started to take it back.

“No,” she interrupted. “You’re right. I need help, and you’re the only one who can.” Her voice turned soft, comforting. “You can do it Chleo. You’ve been helping the whole time.” She took a nervous breath and pushed it out. Chleo watched the determination melt back onto her face. “I trust you, Chleo.”

A pang of guilt hit Chleo. She should be reassuring Dai, not the other way around.

“Use mine, too,” her dad said, giving her calf a comforting squeeze.

“What’s going on?” Merk asked. They ignored him.

“I haven’t tried combining them yet,” Chleo said wondering how her dad and Dai understood what was happening when she was so lost, “A-and earlier when I tried something new, I almost…” She choked on the rest.

“It’s ok,” Dai soothed. The pang of guilt was back. “Chleo, I know you would never hurt me.”

“Seriously, what are you lot talking about?” Merk asked again.

“It’ll only make the strand stronger,” her dad assured as if Merk hadn’t spoken, “and give you a little farther reach.”

“Ok,” Chleo said, soft, unsure.

“Pretend you’re twining two strands together,” he said. “The tighter the twine, the stronger the string.”

“Right,” she said with more confidence.

Chleo led a bit of her dad’s green into Dai’s blue. She twisted and spun, focusing both colors into a single point and pushed. They buzzed, vibrating, building, building, until they snapped. The colors melded into one, their built up energy shooting forward into a single string. She jumped to reel it in. The end tugged out, flapping and flying randomly into the void, held taut by the ends she anchored on her dad and Dais’ skin.

She had no way to control it. Thrilled by the discovery, Chleo held the string tight trying to guide it to the rock pile. She refused to harden it until she could guide it. After the fifth try, she shot it a mental glare. She never had this much trouble guiding her wat-…

A smile pulled at her lips. Right. She focused on the end of the string feeding more of the bluish green light to the end, letting it unfurl like liquid metal into a familiar form. The light formed the perfect kite.

She tugged on her dad’s thread. It sucked some green away dipping the kite level with the rock pile. Adding a little more blue, it edged to the right. Perfect.

Chleo worked the kite through the hole she and Dai made. Creating a pick at the end, she wedged into a crack and levered a rock out. It tumbled down the other side and out of view. She checked the anchors and glow levels on her side. Everything looked normal. She let out a relieved breath and started to work on the next rock.

Eventually, the hole grew large enough for Dai to squeeze through. With her on the other side, Chleo’s range grew. She worked on clearing the rocks farther down the tunnel, while Dai pulled enough from the pile for Merk to join her.

Chleo checked on Will before she followed. She watched Eelock’s hand reach down to nudge his shadow awake. His outlined wobbled to its knees. She sighed in relief. He was still conscious.

They crawled forward, only encountering a few more obstructions. Chleo and Dai cleared them quickly, none as large as the original cave in. The tunnel opened, growing wider until they came to a dead end. Dai nudged the the wall and the panel fell free. They climbed down into what amounted to a concrete broom closet.

While the others joined them, Chleo grabbed Dai and her dad’s feeler. She softened the end keeping it molded as a kite and guided it toward the door. It slipped through the cracks like smoke, reforming on the other side. The feeler hung in the void, only a kite shaped spot connected by a thin string visible.

She started widening the end, keeping an eye on the anchors attached to her dad and Dai. The wall and door came into view, then the floor and a broken chair, before she had to pull back.

“I think it’s clear,” she whispered to Dai, still not sure how everyone would react to her new abilities. Dai’s fear from before was warning enough. “I couldn’t sense everything, but it seems abandoned.”

“How can you tell?” she whispered back, confirming Chleo’s instincts to keep things quiet.

“Broken chair, something stringy gathered in corners and across the chair legs. I think they’re cobwebs.”

“You can’t tell?” she asked surprised.

Chleo shook her head. “All I can see is blank space interrupting the glow. You and the others are made from it so I can see you, but everything else is just an interruption in the light. I’m guessing what’s there based off the shapes.”

“You’re using our glow to see. No wonder you pushed it so far,” she muttered.

“Sorry.” Chleo’s ears burned in embarrassment.

Dai put a hand on her shoulder. “I meant what I said, Chleo. I know you would never hurt me.” She gave it a comforting squeeze. “Tlafkas are rarely strong enough to steal someone’ light completely, but let’s not test it, eh?”

Chleo latched onto the foreign word, rolling it around before testing it out. “Is that what I am, a Tlafka?” The consonants hung on her tongue, rough and awkward.

“You don’t know?” Dai’s brow furrowed. Her mouth opened to say more.

“We ready?” Eelock interrupted. He was helping the queen down, Will leaning against the nearest wall.

“Sep, Sen.” Merk cracked a smile.

“So formal.” Eelock shot him a smirk.

“When the company demands,” Merk said both of them turning to the queen. She had pulled a first aid pouch from her belt and was looking over Will’s injuries.

Without looking away, the queen rolled her eyes. “Your both ridiculous,” she said, trying to hide her amusement even as worry wrinkled her face.

Chleo’s mom and dad hovered at her side, staying close but giving her space. Dai gave her shoulder one more squeeze and nudged her in their direction before sliding over to join Merk by the door. With all the Neons in the room, it was almost like Chleo had her sight back.

“I could demote him if he’s offended you, Your Highness,” Eelock offered, a teasing glint in his eye.

“Even trainees get better food than whatever Mic considers rations. You won’t see me complaining. Cake is not considered a meal.”

“Speak for yourself,” Dai muttered.

“And you, Eelock?” the queen asked plunged a small needle into Will’s back. “Will you be demoted too?” A blue liquid shined out of the syringe-shaped blank space. It disappeared under his skin swirling through his shadow. Chleo shrank back, rubbing the spot where Johnson injected her.

“My position is quite permanent, I’m afraid,” he said with a laugh. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

The queen hummed, her lips quirked in a smile.

“Mic?” Chleo's mom asked. The longing and hope on her mom’s face cut sharp edges in her shadow.

“Didn’t I mention?” A sheepish look crossed her dad’s face. Chleo almost laughed at the familiarity before their situation came crashing back down.

“Time to go,” Eelock said. “Lexy?”

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The queen checked Will over one more time before nodding to herself. “We’re good to move.”

Will grunted his agreement. Chleo stepped closer and took his hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze. Warmth flooded her. Eelock nodded.

“Melody, I’m guessing this is your plan.” Eelock looked to her.

“Sep, Sen.” Her lips quirked. He rolled his eyes.

“Take lead with Dai. She’s point. Fill her in on the way. Merk you’re rear guard with me, injured in the middle, Lexy with Will, Jack with Chleo.”

“Ready, break,” her dad muttered to her mom. She muffled a laugh. The sound made Chleo’s heart soar. She missed having her family together.

They all moved into position.

Dai and her mom broke out of the closet first, blades and stunner ready. “Clear,” Dai said, just loud enough for them to hear. Chleo’s dad led her into the room. The space was large. She couldn’t make out the walls, losing them in the void as they crossed to the other side. Will staggered to her left, hand still firmly in hers. She helped him steady form one side while the queen helped him from the other.

“Chleo?” Dai asked in a hushed voice.

The shadow of Chleo’s mom looked at Dai. Chleo couldn’t make out her expression, but she could almost sense the question. They both ignored her. Chleo edged a feeler from Dai’s glow through a crack by the door like before.

Three sparks lit in the void to the… she focused trying to orient herself… right. Three sparks to the right. She couldn’t tell how far, still trying to understand the dimensions in her new world.

Chleo flashed Dai three fingers, cocking her head in the sparks’ direction. “Neons,” she muttered. Her mom’s shadow turned its gaze to her. This time it was harder to ignore.

Dai nodded, tapping her mom’s shoulder to get her attention. After a few quick instructions, they skulked out, lions stalking prey. Chleo kept the tether between her dad and Dai as long as she could only letting it sever when her dad’s anchor started to shudder. She snapped the connection, leaving his half of the feeler in the hallway. Dai’s blue glow waned to a spark.

Chloe watched the spark glide farther into the void, then pause. It stagnated for ten agonizing heartbeats, then jolted forward. A stunner buzzed in the hall. All four sparks pulsed brighter.

They dance in and around each other, until one blinked out of existence. Then another. Chleo watched the blue dot hover around an immobile pink. It paced away, then back, before moving toward their room. Chleo reached her dad’s feeler out, connecting with Dai as soon as she came in range. The hall flashed into view her mom a few paces behind, nothing but a shadow cast in Dai’s unique blue.

“Clear,” Dai said propping the door open. They followed her out.

“Trouble?” Eelock asked from the back.

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Chleo’s mom answered.

They turned a corner and the pink dot flared larger, outlining the corridor. Chleo studied the figure laying unconscious on the floor. His features slack, light poured from his body outlining two others slumped against the wall nearby, their glows snuffed out.

“Who are they?” Eelock asked as Dai checked around the next corner.

“Johnson marked some of the Neons for disposal a few months ago,” the queen answered. “Melody found a way to smuggle them out and set them up in the old mining tunnels the Royals dug before figuring out there’s nothing here. They’ve been terrorizing the compound ever since.”

“Let me guess, one of them goes by Tilly?” Merk asked as they followed Dai and Melody down another stretch.

“You know her?” the queen asked surprised.

“We’ve met.”

“Lovely, host,” Will added. Chleo watched his mother’s arm squeeze him tighter out of instinct.

“You too?” she asked, a small crack breaking through her tight control.

“She had us before you did,” Chleo said. It came out sharper than she’d intended. A pang of unease settled when she remembered who she was talking to.

Instead of scolding her like she expected, the queen fell silent. Will shot her a look she couldn’t make out before giving his mother’s arm a comforting squeeze.

They continued on following her mom’s directions. More sparks appeared as they went. Chleo would pass a warning on to Dai, and she and her mom would scout ahead, returning when it was safe.

Chleo turned another corner and a spark blinked into existence at the edge of her view. She opened her mouth, a warning on her lips when another appeared. Then another.

“Dai,” Chleo muttered. Three more sparks appeared. They wound through the void, coming closer. “I think we’re about to have company.”

More sparks joined the others. She began to lose count.

“Which way?” she asked.

Chleo pointed toward the sparks. Dai’s glow cut off a few meters down the hall. She wasn’t sure if she was pointing at a split in the passage or a wall. The line of ever-growing sparks twisted in a new direction. Chleo’s finger followed their progress. She caught her mom exchange a look with the queen.

“I haven’t explored all of the mines,” her mom said turning back to Dai. “If we go right, we’re blind.”

“Chleo, how many?” Dai asked in front of everyone, giving up all attempts to keep her abilities quiet. Chleo watched Merk and Eelock shoot her curious looks.

“Over twenty and more appearing,” she answered, trying to ignore the eyes on her.

Dai nodded. “We go right,” she said before striding forward. The two passages jumped into view, blue light dancing over their edges. Chleo gathered it and shined it in the right direction. More of the passage appeared. It stretched out of sight.

The lead sparks hit a spot in the void she guessed was the juncture just as Eelock finished turning the first corner. Chleo let out a sigh of relief.

“What? No,” she muttered to herself, dread dropping in her stomach. The arm her dad used to guide her tightened, more of a formality with his green glow lighting the space around them.

“What is it?” Dai asked.

“They’re following,” she said. “The sparks paused for a second then took the same turn as us.”

Eelock quirked his head, turning to examine the passage behind them. Merk mirrored him.

“Might want to pull your hornet, Will,” Merk said, fingering his own. Chleo ached for her watch.

“How far out?” Eelock asked. Chleo stared at his purple visage in the void, not expecting the question. She thought about how long it took them to get to the junction.

“Thirty seconds, maybe a minute if we speed up.”

They increased their pace. Will’s hand squeezed hers. She listened to him wheeze in pain as his mom helped him keep up. Chleo tried to help, but the faster they went, the harder it was to discern the shadows dotting the floor. She misread some loose gravel and almost went flying. Maybe her dad’s arm wasn’t as much a formality as she thought.

They came to another juncture. Dai chose right again. Then another. If they could spiral back around, maybe they could get back on course.

She cursed. Dai’s blue crashed into a dead end. The other’s cursed a minute later. Interesting, she could see farther in the void than they could out of it.

“Is there enough time to go back?” Dai asked.

Chleo furrowed her brow and focused. She tried to picture where the last juncture was in the void, then compared it to where the sparks were.

“No,” she said, a sigh working its way in the back of her throat. She really wanted to just sit down and rest.

Her mom cocked her charger, frustrated. “How do they keep following us?”

Her dad exchanged a look with Eelock. “Tilly,” they said at the same time.

“She put a tracker in Chleo,” her dad groaned. “It’s how Jones found you.”

“How many?” Eelock asked.

Chleo answered without hesitation, “Forty or more. That’s not counting if they have non-Neons with them.”

“Wonderful,” Merk grumbled.

“Relax, we’ve been in tougher spots,” Dai said spinning her blades as she moved to join Merk and Eelock.

Chleo’s mom followed. “That doesn’t mean we want to give them competition.”

The queen and her dad, readied their stunners moving half a step in front of Chleo and Will.

Eelock looked back over the group. Turning back down the hall, he started forward. “If they want to meet us so bad, let’s go greet them.”

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