The Southern Calt pt. 3

Trapped in the tunnels, Akashi desperately searches for a way out...

Before we start, here’s a link to part 2!

Thanks so much for all the positive reception on this story! Let’s go ahead and hop into part 3…

---

“So…” Akashi began as they trekked through the tunnel. Celie looked at him from the corner of her eye. Since the incident hours prior, she had taken on a gaze of stone and a silent demeanor that left only the sound of sifting sand creaking through the cracks. She waited for Akashi to continue. He rubbed the back of his neck with a free hand then adjusted his rifle. The strap that secured it over his shoulder was beginning to ache. He shifted the weight to his shoulders and sighed.

“So?” Celie’s voice croaked in response. 

“Are we going to talk about what happened?” Akashi reached carefully with his words, drawing them out and watching her reaction. Stone.

“Nothing to talk about. Everything’s fine.”

“Yeah… I was worried you might say that.”

“You should’ve been worried if I didn’t. Look, you look out for you and I’ll look out for me.” The words That’s not how it's supposed to work out here floated across his lips, but he stayed quiet. He shook his head. Commander Saquoa’s shuffling footsteps behind them reminded Akashi they were still a team. A squad. Even if they were from Sant and he from Cain. They were in this together, after all.

“No sign of the end, huh?” The commander whispered to them from behind.

“No ma’am.” Celie replied. “Tunnels and tunnels, far as the eye can see. See another split coming up, 50 yards out.”

“Pace, check for tracks when we get there. We’ll choose our next step then.”

“Heard.”

When they arrived Akashi knelt down and touched the ground. He pulled his hand away quickly, startled. Saquoa looked over his shoulder. “Problem?”

“The sand on the floor… It's wet.” Saquoa stared down next to him. Her breath caught in her throat for a second and her next breath was quick and shallow.

“Could be a spill.” She finally said. Akashi looked around the tunnel. It didn’t seem like a spill. He looked up at the ceiling.

“The sand is falling through slower here.” He boosted himself up on his toes to touch the top of the downward sloping tunnel. “Ceiling’s wet too. Sand’s more like grainy mud. Something’s up here.” Saquoa took in a deep breath,

“Pace I -”

Celie craned her head around the next corner, then jerked back. The ferocity with which she moved made Akashi and Saquoa’s conversation run silent. She began gesturing at Akashi and Saquoa.

“Something’s around the corner” Her hands fluttered in the air in the sign language of the collective. Soldiers were required to learn it, but few did. Scouts knew it best, and Akashi hadn’t had anyone speak to him with it since Shiv died a lifetime ago. 

“Identify?” He responded. She shrugged, her shoulders hitting her ears. “Monster?” He asked in the discomforting motion that had endless possibilities. She shrugged again. “Switch.” He demanded. She took a step away from the wall. Akashi took her place. He twisted his body around the corner and looked down his rifle’s scope. He adjusted it slightly. It took only a moment to get a clear view of what had scared Celie.

A fair distance down the next tunnel was a collection of five soldiers. They were dressed in combat armor that would’ve blended into the desert. They had face masks and goggles covering their eyes, making them unidentifiable, but they were humanoid. Slightly further down the way was a strange creature. Like a large insect with a gaping maw and a bright red outline that left its black and gold carapace shimmering in the dim tunnel light. The soldiers were dragging it along with chains, yanking the monstrosity along. One of them held an electric prod, and jammed it in the creature's side, piercing the flesh just below its carapace. The insect's wings expanded out, pushing against the walls, knocking the lights off the ceiling. It let out a guttural crackling screech. Its leg kicked out and pierced one of the soldiers’ chest, throwing the body into the wall before another spindly leg jutted out and flattened the body against the tunnel.

“Get control of the servant!” A soldier yelled, “Rayyan’s gift mustn’t be squandered!” Akashi turned away from the corner. 

“We’ve got a problem. Who’s Rayyan?” The yelling covered up his own whisper to the squad.

“Rayyan… Rayyan Rayyan Rayyan…” Saquoa whispered. Her face looked almost blank. Celie gave her a confused look, then answered.

“Rayyan. Insect god, lord of draught, he who brings the swarms unto the world. He’s one of the ancients. Same realm as Oran Koh and the Dragon Mother. We were in the same debriefing six months ago boss, I -”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Akashi waved it away. “All this makes sense though. We got a bug about the size of this damn tunnel coming our way. And five soldiers - there were five - four now. Nasty thing took it out like that.” Akashi snapped his fingers. Celie’s mouth fell open.

“A summoning from beyond the realm… they’re taking this seriously.”

“From beyond the realm…” Akashi mulled the words over. “How did you know?” He looked at Celie with confusion.

“We have another route, but we’d be in their line of sight…” Celie moved on from the question. She pointed down the tunnel away from the great insect.

 “We don’t even know for certain if they’ll come down this tunnel or not… they might pass.” Akashi reasoned, catching up to the topic change. He snuck his head around the corner again and watched the struggling soldiers drag the beast along. “But if we make the wrong move, we’ll be trapped. Cornered by that big bug.”

“Let’s look at our options.” Saquoa announced. The two scouts turned to her and watched her absent mindedly check the cylinder of her revolver in the dark. “We can either take our chances and run up the tunnel away from it before they can make it this far -”

“But risk them seeing us, and having to turn our lights out leaving us barely able to navigate…” Celie interjected,

“Right… or we could start backtracking now -” 

“And leave us cornered if they come this way… same as if we wait for them here…” Celie said.

“Also true. Or we could ambush them.” Saquoa said. She mulled over the idea. Akashi glanced back to the impending doom.

“Looks like suicide to me. They’re getting closer.” Akashi’s voice dropped to a whisper. The creatures thrashing against the tunnel walls had gotten louder. “If we’re gonna decide, we need to do it soon…” He pulled back, leaning up against the wall. He looked to the other two, and gestured, “1, 2, or 3?” Celie put out her light. Saquoa nodded and switched to signing.

“1” She pointed to Celie, “You. Point. Now.” Celie nodded, and darted forward. 

Akashi and Saquoa backpedaled, their guns focused on the creature and the soldiers. They were lucky. They melted into the dark of the hallway, the soldiers none the wiser. Their enemies continued behind the squad, but they were moving much faster and creating more space. In the distance they could hear the chittering howl of the creature and screams of men. Once or twice they heard what Akashi thought might be gunfire, but his heart was beating too loud in his ears and he couldn’t stop to analyze the situation. 

Over time, the tunnel began to darken. Lights flickered, and junctions lacked bulbs entirely. The ground lay with a thick layer of wet sand, and slight rumbles led to droplets of water slivering through the cracks. The air was heating up, and all of them felt it. Celie kept her flashlight trained ahead, while Akashi and Saquoa looked back. The air felt stale.

“Where do you think this water’s coming from?” Akashi said to no one in particular.

“Broken water line.” Saquoa replied oddly quickly.

“Oh… yeah, maybe. How deep down do you think we are?” Akashi asked her.

“Can’t say. Don’t want to think about it… I thought we could make it to an entrance but… we just keep going further and further down. I don’t know what to think about it anym -” 

“Hup.” Celie cut through the conversation. Akashi and Saquoa stopped and glanced back at her. She gestured, “Listen” Akashi knelt down and put his hand to the sand. The cold damp grains of sand were shuttering to a rhythm. It was growing in intensity. He ran his fingers along the floor until they touched the wall.

“It’s loose.”  He signed with one hand. Celie nodded.

“Time to move.” She gestured back. Saquoa dropped her head and thought for a moment.

“If it got loose…” She whispered, “We may not have a chance.”

“It won’t hurt to try. Let’s pick it up and keep moving. We don’t have a choice.” Akashi replied.

“Agreed…” Celie hesitated before becoming absolute. “We’ve gotta go.” They all returned to their positions and began moving faster. 

The sound of the creature approaching in the dim light became a constant. It increased steadily, and as they traveled deeper into the tunnels, the wall's shook all around them. Whether it was the creature or the weight of the sand, unceasing as it pressed against the outside of the walls, they couldn’t be sure. They just kept moving through the deep. Until Saquoa stopped.

“I need the light.” Celie passed her back the flashlight. She shined it down where they had come from. “Fates above…” 

In the distance she and Akashi saw the insect skittering towards them. Its body was pressed to the ceiling and its legs were driving into the walls. With every wrenching step it took, the creature's sharp pointed feet pierced the metal, letting water drain into the tunnel. It let out a howl when the light reflected off its thousands of little beady eyes. The pincers opened and crashed shut with a screeching roar. In a sudden resolute decision, Akashi dropped to one knee and took aim with his rifle. “Move. Move now.” Saquoa commanded. She put her hand on his shoulder. “Pace, there’s no time for this.”

“I have the shot, ma'am.” Akashi responded. She tugged on his shoulder

“Forget the shot! Move, soldier!” Akashi ignored her, adjusted his rifle, aimed down and fired off a bolt of energy. The rifle bolt illuminated the air as it traveled down the tunnel. The shot seared into the mouth of the insect. It fell to the ground, and the tunnel rumbled. Akashi lost his balance and fell. Saquoa grabbed him and jerked him back up, “Gods above, what were you thinking?.” She held him by the cloth of his uniform, “Unbelievable. They didn’t teach you to follow orders in that shithole Cain, did they?”

“It’s dead isn’t it? I didn’t see you doing anything. We can’t run forever. This tunnel is going to end. Then what?” Akashi snapped, pulling himself away from her. “I can’t stand the idea of losing anyone else out here. If I have the shot, I’m going to take it, I’m going to keep us alive.” Saquoa scoffed. 

“It was a good shot…” She mumbled. The sound of rushing water was beginning to echo towards them.

“It’s not.” Celie said. Her voice was a dry draw of awe.

“What’s not?” Akashi asked.

“Dead. it’s not dead.” Celie stepped between the two, she took the flashlight from Saquoa and shined it on the massive insect again. It was 20 feet away rolling off its back and back onto its spindly legs. Its screech was broken and angry, but it pushed on.

“Looks like we don’t have a choice except to run, huh, Pace?” Saquoa glared at him.

“Guess not.” He looked to the tunnel floor for a moment. Saquoa grabbed him by his wrist, reaching across Celie. Celie stepped back, turning her body away from the monstrosity that was beginning its scurry. The three were in a dead sprint through the tunnel, the insect coming up quickly behind them. Akashi stumbled through the halls, trying to keep up with Celie.

The tunnel continued straight with a split to the right. Celie lunged around the corner, landing on her palms before her legs kicked up sand, propelling her forward. Akashi followed on her heels, pressing firmly into the ground to stop himself from hitting her as he skidded around the corner. Saquoa slowed as she came up behind them. She craned her revolver around to fire off a stray bullet. Akashi could hear a harrowed screech echo off the walls, followed by the familiar crunch of the creature’s spindly feet biting into the metal walls. Saquoa winced as she rounded the corner in an awkward half jog.

“It’s still coming.” She panted out. She felt her foot skid in the wet sand and her ankle twisted. She fell forward onto her forearm and her revolver skidded away. Akashi turned around, reaching his hand out to her.

“That’s one more reason to keep on moving.” He yelled. She reached forward to meet him. The sound of the insect was getting closer. Its crunching rhythmic pounding shook the tunnel. “Come on, we’ve gotta go!” He threw himself at Saquoa, grabbing both her hand and her arm and dragged her body forward. Saquoa struggled to get up as he pulled her. Every time she got her footing, the force of his pull forced her back into the wet sand.

“Let go! I’ve got it!” She yelled. 

“We have to keep moving!” He yelled back.

“Pace!” Celie yelled from behind him, her voice echoed from an unknown distance away. He looked back at her, but he couldn’t make out her figure in the dim light. As he squinted to see her, he felt Saquoa’s hand tighten in his. A gut wrenching scream filled the tunnel as the rumbling and skittering came to a climax. He swung back around just in time to see the creature pass them and continue down the tunnel. As it passed, Saquoa’s body jerked again before going completely limp. She let out a wail as her hand lost all pressure on his and her body crumbled back into the wet sandy metal. She let out a deep guttural wail. Celie ran back, her feet heavy on the ground.

“Oh no… oh no oh no oh no.” Akashi gasped, sweat dripped from the floodgates of his hairline. Saquoa’s legs were trampled. One of her feet was pierced straight through. Her right calf met the same fate. Blood seeped from her lower body. She fell into shock, she became unresponsive other than the sudden wails of fear and pain she would release from her tight lips every so often. Akashi dropped to his knees in front of her. Celie began ripping fabric from her arms, pulling her armor away to reveal the fatigues beneath. She pulled away the fabric and began wrapping the wounds.

“Don’t worry, boss. We’ll get you out of here.” Celie said. She applied pressure to her calf - the blood was pooling the worst there - and she spoke with a calm, even tone. “Pace.” He didn’t respond. He stared down at the ground, whimpering, his face contorted in a disgusted, horrified terror. 

Another one gone, the words flooded his mind, looping over and over. 

“Pace.” Celie said again. He still didn’t respond, “Pace!” He flinched, and looked at her, “Pace. Focus. Cover me while I take care of her wounds.” He nodded, and readied his rifle. He steadied it and looked all around them. Nothing but the receding sound of the bug and the unsettling noise that was rushing water. “Shine a light on her for me too.”

“I can’t do both.” His throat was dry. The words seeped from his lips in a way that it felt like it wasn’t his own.

“Figure it out.” Celie said without malice in her voice. She was to the point and strangely calm. Akashi nodded. He took the flashlight from where Celie had dropped it in the sand and propped it up with one hand, and took aim with his rifle in the other. His hands were shaking. The light flicked about and as he tried to look down his rifle’s sights, he found himself unable to see much of anything. “I need you to stop shaking.” Celie said.

“Trying.” He said.

“Doesn’t matter what you’re trying to do. You need to just do it.”

“I’m trying.” He repeated,

“If this is you trying, then she’s going to bleed out.” Her tone became impatient. He took a deep breath. As he slowly tried to breath out, he felt his hands steady slightly, but his shaking didn’t entirely subside. “Better.” She said.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t.” As the two of them fell silent, Akashi listened to the monster making its way through the tunnels. He could hear it getting further and further away. He took solace in thinking he may never have to see it again. Saquoa let out a quiet groaning whimper. Celie put a hand on her chest while taking care of her officer’s bandages. She spoke up, breaking the unsteady silence between them, “You know this is your fault, right?” He winced. Of course he knew. “You’ve been brash, foolish… not following orders - trying to fight this thing. Acting on instinct like that isn’t smart. It’s how you get people killed. Rumor had it you were the best of the scouts in the Calt, but if you ask me… you're unhinged at worst.” Akashi felt the words pierce through him, his shame welling up in his chest and warming his throat

“And at best…?” he whispered.

“An idiot.” At that same moment, Saquoa let out a wail of pain. Celie tightened a bandage as she screamed, “If you would think clearly, follow orders, and get a grip when things get tough… maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation. But no. You walk into the open without thought. You shoot at massive creatures when a commanding officer tells you to hold fire, and you try to drag people instead of letting them stand. Then when all of these mistakes lead to the consequences - these consequences - you break down. So here we are in the dark. With nothing but each other. And if you can’t shape up now and get it under control…” Celie sighed. She looked right into the light, her brown eyes turning a hazel in the flashlight’s glare, “I’d rather carry the boss through this maze alone and leave you for dead. When your commander asks where the hell you are, I’ll tell him just that too.” She couldn’t see his face in the dark, but she could feel their eyes meeting in that moment. Akashi was afraid she was right. Still, he couldn’t help but remember the way she was acting before they saw the creature. It must’ve all been bluster. It must’ve been fake. She was scared and she didn’t want him to know. Now there was no hiding it. Now there was no reason to. 

“I’ll make this right.” He finally said.

“First we have to make it out alive.” Celie replied. She turned back to her work, and continued treating Saquoa’s rules. Akashi began to feel himself calming down. He started to take stock of the situation.

“It’s not filling fast, but we can’t wait for long. The tunnels are starting to flood.”

“Slowly.” Celie grumbled.

“Did intel have anything on water passages in the desert?” Celie shook her head.

“None. None that we had access to at least.” Akashi nodded and tried to wrap his head around that. 

“Why would they send us here without that intel if higher-ups knew?”

“Maybe they didn’t…” Celie said. Saquoa let out a wail as Celie treated the hole in her foot with some sort of salve she pulled from her emergency kit. “You’re alright, boss.”

“I doubt that. Between Cain and Sant, we have some of the best tech on the continent… they had to know… right? Right, commander?” Akashi looked to Saquoa. The tunnel went silent. The only sound between them was water seeping through the holes and Saquoa’s strained breathing. Akashi waited for an answer. It never came. He turned away and looked down his scope in the direction the creature had gone. 

“You know… it blew right past us.” He announced, picking up a new thread.

“Interesting that you would call this blowing past.” Celie grunted.

“I don’t mean like - well -” 

“He’s right.” Saquoa groaned out, “I was just in the way…”

“Come on, boss, that’s not fair -”

“I could’ve moved faster, sure, but what you did was stupid. None of us have ever been in a situation like this - ” Saquoa gritted her teeth and held back a wail. Celie tightened the wrap on her foot. 

“Sorry, boss.” Saquoa looked at her but stayed silent. She bit the inside of her mouth, and blood began to pool around her chin.

“My point was…” Akashi began again, “... it wasn’t after us. It kept running. We were just in the way and that means, coincidentally, we were on the right trail to getting… somewhere, right?”

“By the ancients… You’re right.” Celie said.

“Like a fly trapped in a bin. It’s looking for the way out.” Saquoa added. Akashi nodded.

“If we can follow the trail it leaves behind, maybe we can get out?”

“He just might be onto something…” Saquoa groaned. “Let’s form up.” Saquoa said. “Give me a moment to gather myself and then… we’re on that monster’s trail.”

“You got it, boss.” Celie said. Akashi smiled. Hope flooded through him for the first time since they had started their descent into the tunnels. 

The tunnels were flooding, they were on the trail of a god’s chosen creature, their commander was injured, but they had a plan. Akashi looked down his scope one more time, looking back on where they came. Where the soldiers would’ve been. They were the least of his concerns, but he didn’t want to completely ignore the possibility that they were a threat. As he looked through it, he noticed something he hadn’t before. It couldn’t be right. No, how could that be right? They were too deep. Too far away. When did it start? There was no way it was always on.

His scope was recording. The small blinking green light told him another thing though: It was transmitting everything he saw.

---

Hey friends, thanks for reading! I really hope you’re enjoying this serial! Things are definitely heating up in the world of Astra, and I’m having a ton of fun laying the tracks. Stay tuned for next week where the squad goes deeper, looking for their way out!

If you have any thoughts, feel free to share and otherwise I hope you had fun!

See you next week!