Chapter 38
Thirty-Eight
Ellie
Ellie watched him leave, and she was alone in this massive cavern. But the longer she sat here, the more she started to wonder about the place.
It wasn't hot, strangely enough. She had a feeling that had to do with the ocean surrounding it, and how much of that water was still very cold.
The cave seemed to have been both naturally carved out of the cliff side by the waves themselves, and then clearly helped with tools made by humans.
She could see some of the carvings that had been left behind, but worn away by time.
Walking along the edge of the waves, she trailed her fingers along the walls. So many people had been here for years on end, it seemed. She placed her hands where theirs must have gone. For a moment, it almost felt like she could hear them.
The voices of people long ago. They still lived here, like ghosts. All the people who had spent countless years worshipping, walking the same path she did, running their hands along the same walls and perhaps even wondering at those who had come before.
Humans were perhaps doomed to wonder about the past more than they thought about the future.
She followed the lines all the way to the back of the cave.
There was a small path there, leading into the wall of the cliff and who knew where else.
She glanced over her shoulder to see a storm rolling in.
It wasn't a big one, just enough to stir the waves so that they were taller as they entered this space.
The whitecaps crested and spat foam up onto the same spot where she and Proteus had been sleeping.
A small spark of fear bloomed in her chest. What if this cavern flooded during high tide?
She had no idea how long Proteus and she had been here, but she doubted it was long enough to see a true high tide.
Perhaps it was smarter for her to follow this path, just to see if there was another place where she would be safe.
She convinced herself quickly. Ellie stepped onto the stones and into the darkness beyond.
It was, after all, just a staircase. She kept her hands on the walls on either side of herself, making sure she would know if there was a room on one side or if the walls suddenly dropped off.
There wasn't any light to guide her, so she had to use her hands to see.
But this was only a path. One that led out of the heart of this small mountain and into the world beyond.
Ellie lifted her arm up to her eyes at the first spear of sunlight that hit her. It was hard to see beyond it. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and she had to wait a while until the bright white light revealed something other than painful sparks.
The remnants of a garden unfurled before her.
Though everything was dead, it wasn't hard to see what it had once been.
The beds were broken by time. They had once been wooden, it seemed, and most of that wood had rotted.
Earth spilled out of them. At some point, moss and some other types of plants had grown between the stone paths under her feet, leading her to more broken garden beds.
Brambles were all that survived now. Massive brambles that were covered in thorns.
She had to walk carefully, considering she was still nude. The thorns would tear at her skin and leave red lines that would make it very obvious she had gone exploring, but she wanted to know more about where she was.
The sun hadn't risen too high on the horizon yet, but she realized she was in some kind of canyon. So perhaps it never got as hot as she thought out here. The air was cool on her skin, but not so cold that she was shivering.
The brambles covered most of the area closest to the cave. Almost hiding the sight of it from anyone who came into this canyon. But as she moved past them, it opened up into a much larger space.
There were tiles on the ground. She looked down at her feet, slowly moving in a circle as she traced the design that someone had left here with obvious care. It was a massive sun, she realized.
Bright yellow tiles still held their color. The circular center had long ago broken, but the spindly waves that rotated around it were still very easily seen. They shone in the sunlight. Glistening with color.
She smiled down at it, wondering who the artist was who had created this in a canyon of all places.
Ellie looked up, seeing how high the walls were that surrounded her. They were easily bigger than any space she'd ever been in before. She got dizzy looking all the way up there, imagining what it must be like to live that high. Or even to look down.
She had to brace herself against a wall with a laugh.
There was no way she could stand on the edge of that cliff and look down.
Staring into an abyss was one thing. Water held her up then, and she at least would feel the salt pushing back on her, even if she couldn't swim.
But gravity would take her swiftly at the top of this canyon.
There were small, sparse plants dotting all up and down this area. But then...
"Is that green?" she whispered to herself. Taking another hesitant step forward.
Her feet sank into sand. It appeared there was only dirt very close to the mouth of the cave, but she was so curious to see what was green.
A voice in her head screamed to go back to the sea.
She was safe there. Safer than anywhere else, because she knew Proteus would return.
And there were actual people living here in the sand.
She had to be careful. If she wasn't, then maybe she would see one of those snake people for herself. And what would she do then?
They were hunters, that much she was certain. Only the hardiest of people could survive out in the sands like they did.
And they wouldn't like seeing her here.
But the hint of greenery, the whisper that there was life here that she could feel and touch and see... It made her too curious.
Her footsteps were nearly silent on the sand. No one would know she was here. Glancing behind her nervously, she noted that she didn't even leave footprints behind. It was like any hint of where she had been was swallowed up by the desert.
No one would know she was here. She could explore for just a little while longer.
False bravery settled in her chest, and she kept walking. Every step made her feel a little safer. Every breath brought her a little closer to the bright green plant that was hanging on the wall.
She finally reached it, peering at the strangeness of it. It was bright green. That much she hadn't made up. Tiny spines covered the entirety. She carefully touched a finger to one, and it pricked her skin immediately.
"Ouch," she muttered, bringing her finger to her mouth to suck at the blood that welled there.
What kind of plant was covered in spikes? How strange.
She looked it over, trying to see how it was attached to the wall. The base was rather bulbous, and it appeared to be attached by a rather large circular... bubble, she supposed. It certainly looked clear enough. She reached down for one of the many sticks on the ground and prodded it.
Strangely, it leaked.
Clear fluid.
"Huh," she muttered, her brow furrowing.
Something slithered in the ground at her feet. Ellie froze, watching the sand mound over a very small creature that poked its head out of the sand.
It looked sort of like a mouse. They'd had a mouse problem in Tau for years.
More years than she'd been alive. But she remembered the tiny, little creatures with whiskers just like this one.
The mice in Tau had been soft, though, covered in a velvety fur that she had enjoyed petting very much until someone caught her and killed the little creature. This one had no fur.
Leathery and smooth, it darted out of the sand and attacked the plant.
She shrieked and stumbled away from both the plant and the mouse.
It was only the size of her middle finger, but the mouse.
.. thing attacked with such violence it was startling.
Not a single drop of liquid was wasted once the creature got to it, though.
She watched it drink every drop that it could, clawed hands violently tearing at the plant that seemed to be healing itself even as the mouse drank.
It continued sucking down the liquid until it was so fat that she thought it might have to roll back underneath the sands. How strange. Its belly bulged with...
"Water," she whispered.
Water was so rare in this desert that just the scent of it summoned creatures. Ones like the mouse, who were probably genetically capable of smelling it.
But if the scientists were creating humans that were spliced with animal DNA, then surely... surely they had started on other creatures first? Was this mouse proof of that?
Maybe this new version of their world was filled with creatures they wouldn't ever understand. Maybe everything here wasn't what they knew at all.
As she watched the mouse drunkenly cross the sand, a thought occurred that she should grab it. Bring it back to the others in the domes. Maybe they would know what to do with it and be able to test to see if there was anything interesting about it. Like genes that shouldn’t be there.
Perhaps it was just a mouse, and there was nothing strange about it at all. But the more she looked at it, the stranger the creature seemed to be. This wasn't an ordinary mouse, and proof of that might be helpful.
Then reality reminded her that she was being foolish. Of course she couldn't bring it back. The domes were underwater, and she had no idea how far away they were. This mouse wouldn't survive the trip, even if she had some kind of oxygen cage to bring it in.
She crouched down, watching it burrow into the sand and said, "I wish I had proof you aren't what you are supposed to be."
Her words were too loud. The discovery of something new had made her forget that she was supposed to be wary of her surroundings. At the sound of her voice, a low growl moved through the canyon on the breeze. She might not have heard it at all if it wasn't so silent where she was.
Her blood went cold. Ellie slowly lifted her head to see the creature that had frozen in the mouth of the canyon.
It looked almost like a dog. She'd seen pictures of them in Tau and knew they stood on four legs, had a tail, and a canine looking muzzle for a face.
Some of that was accurate with this creature.
But it had six legs. With hands instead of paws.
The beast lifted its head, sniffing the air with eyes that almost appeared sightless. Or burned out of its skull. It also had no fur, although she could definitely see there were some scales on its body.
Then it curled its lip, revealing rows upon rows of teeth.
"Oh, fuck."
She turned and bolted back the way she had come. Perhaps not the smartest move. She had read once that dogs loved to chase things, not that she ever had an opportunity to meet one.
A howl erupted into the air, and she moved her body even faster.
There was so much space here. She had never been able to run as freely as she could right now.
Running inside the cities was on a small track with a ceiling very close to her head.
There wasn't the endless, vast nature that there was here.
It felt as if she was moving in slow motion. The sand grabbed at her feet, slowing her down and tripping her as she made it to the sun mosaic on the ground. How had she gotten this far from the cave?
Hot breath touched her legs as she scrambled to her feet, and she heard the sound of its jaws clamping shut where her leg had just been.
Ellie ducked into the brambles, not caring that they tore at her bare skin. All she knew was that the scent of her blood made the animal even more enraged. Its snarls rang in her ears as she tore herself free and ran down the stairs.
She almost tripped. Almost killed herself falling down the long stairs that would lead down to the sea. She kept her hands on the walls, trying to take the stairs as quickly as she could without breaking her neck.
"Come on," she said as she bounded down them two at a time. "You're fine. You're fine."
But she wasn't. The beast behind her had freed itself from the brambles, and she could hear it rushing after her.
Finally, she broke free into the cavern with the sea. She ran straight for the stairs toward the water. Who cared if she couldn't swim? She'd rather die drowning than in the jaws of some animal that would take its sweet time eating her.
She turned to see the beast falling down the last bit of the stairs and landing on the hard stones. It stood, shaking its head, and then its gaze was back on her.
"Shit," she hissed, backing away with her hands raised. "Good doggie. Nice doggie."
It was neither. She didn't make it to the sea before it leapt at her, all teeth flashing and hands reaching out for her.
Clawed fingers caught it long before it could touch her. Proteus emerged from the sea like the god he was, all rage and flashing teeth himself as he brought the creature to the ground and eviscerated it.
The attack was over in seconds. She stood there, hands shaking and her entire body quivering as she stared at the animal that lay dead at her feet. Whatever it was, whatever monster those scientists had made, it was nothing like anything she might have seen before.
Proteus dunked himself in the water again. She thought he was maybe leaving her again, which made fear spike in her chest again. But then she realized he was washing the blood off of himself with quick, efficient movements before he reached for her.
She collapsed against him the moment she could, her eyes still locked on the body that was slowly surrounded by a pool of bright red blood.
"Here," Proteus said. "I had gotten you this wetsuit while I was gone. There's a sunken city around here too, but... We go. We go now, Ellie."
She had never agreed with him more.