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  But this time, he had a plan.

  After allowing them to gaze at it longer, he said, “I wondered if it might be from the First Generation.”

  Darius’s mouth hung open with amazement. “I’ve never seen metal with this type of curve. In fact, it has a different texture than almost anything I’ve worked on.”

  “Do you think it might be a weapon?” Raj asked, leading them with his question.

  “It is clearly not from any of our people.” Darius furrowed his brow. “Of all the things I have repaired, and even the discoveries I have made in these caves, or in the deserts, I have never seen something this intact. Maybe you are right, Raj. It could be a weapon. Or it could be something else.”

  “Raj, be careful with that,” Neena cautioned.

  Raj smiled through his anger. Of course, he knew the object better than any of them. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry,” he said. Biting his lip, pretending to be deep in thought, Raj carefully repeated what Bryan had instructed him. “When I looked it over, it seemed to me like this part was a handle. And that made me think that this other end might do something.”

  Darius’s eyes traced the object as Raj described its parts. “That is certainly possible.”

  “I guess the question is whether it will do something again.” Raj kept his voice curious; the way adults liked to hear children speak.

  “That is a good question,” Darius said.

  Raj hid his rising hope.

  “Maybe you should take ahold of it, Darius,” Neena said protectively.

  Raj nodded. If he hadn’t been playing a role, he might’ve argued, but instead, he passed off the object. Darius took hold of it carefully, turned it in his hands, and took a few steps back from the others, just in case.

  “Do you think you could figure out what it is?” Neena asked Darius.

  “It is certainly possible,” Darius said.

  Looking back along the dark tunnel, Neena asked, “Do you think we should tell other cavers?”

  Darius thought on it for a long moment. “I don’t want to give them hope, only to dash it later. There is a cove about a klick from here, about the size of a few hovels. Perhaps I can work on it there in secret, for now, until I can get a better understanding of what the object is, or what it might do.”

  “But the guards might see it, or someone else might find you, while hunting rats,” Neena suggested.

  Darius pondered that. “I’ll work on it at night, so no one will bother me. I’ll tell the guards I’m working on some tools. They shouldn’t question it.”

  “Good idea,” Kai said.

  Keeping his tone innocent, Raj asked, “Do you have tools up here, in the cliffs?”

  “I have a few I brought to help with repairs,” Darius said. “That will give me a start in looking at it and cleaning it out.”

  An aura of hope filled the room, as everyone gazed back at the object.

  Seeing the looks on their faces, Darius tempered their expectations. “I am a practical man. I have seen many pieces of metal, and none of them have done anything but provide patches for our existing tools. Still, this is the most unique piece I have ever seen. I cannot tell if it is intact, but I do not see any parts obviously missing.”

  “It would be incredible if you could fix it,” Raj marveled.

  Looking over at Raj, Darius said, “In all my years in the caves, I have never found anything like this. It is an amazing discovery, Raj.”

  Raj smiled, making no effort to hide his elation. “Thank you, Darius.”

  Chapter 53: Bryan

  “Keep your head up, sir,” Jameson instructed, putting the flask to Gideon’s lips and tilting it.

  With effort, Gideon craned his neck and swallowed the water, while Jameson dabbed away at the water on his chin.

  Bryan took a few steps back from the entrance.

  “Bryan.” The word startled him enough to turn around. “You have news?”

  Forgetting his embarrassment, Bryan took up by his bedside. “The boy has Darius working on the object.”

  After the healer left, Bryan relayed what he had learned to Gideon.

  “Excellent.” Gideon nodded. “I’ll admit that I am surprised by the boy’s loyalty.”

  “It is fortunate,” Bryan said. “At the same time, I do not have much hope for the object. I think we should continue with our plans to fight the monster. As soon as we spot evidence of it, we will forge ahead.”

  “Have you seen any signs of it?”

  “I am still waiting on the reports from our scouts. They should be back soon.”

  “How is the drilling coming?”

  Bryan informed him on the activity of the Center Cavers, as well as their throwing prowess. “Some have demonstrated a surprising aptitude. In fact, I think we have enough people to triple our fighters.”

  “Another bit of good news,” Gideon said, a smile teasing his lips.

  “Another idea struck me, while we were preparing to fight,” Bryan continued. “And that makes me feel even more excited about our chances at success.”

  “What is your idea?”

  Bryan paused, putting a plan he’d been conjuring into words. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the old carcass in the caves, and the way that creature burst through the wall. A while ago, Darius suggested that the creature injured itself, while smashing through the rock in the tunnel.”

  “We can’t prove or disprove that theory,” Gideon reminded him.

  “But we know that the creature avoids stone. And we know that sound draws it.” Bryan paused, getting to the crux of his idea. “What if we could lure the monster out where we wanted it to go?”

  Gideon’s face flickered with interest.

  Demonstrating his intent, Bryan reached into his pocket and pulled out a single Watcher’s horn, turning it in his hand.

  Gideon nodded, starting to realize what he was saying.

  “My thought it that we could use our horns to bring it near the rock spires,” Bryan suggested. “We’ll station fighters at different points near them, use our horns, and lure it out. Before it gets to us, we’ll move, so that it dashes itself against the hard stone.” Bryan watched Gideon, selling his plan. “If we do it right, the beast will injure itself while we finish it off with our spears.” Bryan couldn’t help his smile. “We’ll use its instinct for sound to draw it to its death.”

  Gideon cocked his head, following along. “And of course, we know it has a weak spot.”

  Bryan agreed. “Fighting the beast outside the colony will minimize damage to Red Rock and reduce the risk to our men. Of course, we’ll have men in several formations, readying us to repeat the process, if we need to. What do you think?”

  The cove fell silent, as Bryan’s words hung in the air.

  “I think it is a worthy idea,” Gideon asked, after a pause. Ruminating on it further, he said, “In fact, I think it sounds like a promising plan.”

  Bryan’s face lit with pride.

  “How much more drilling do you need?” Gideon asked.

  “No drill will account for experience, but given the time we have put in, our fighters are capable.”

  “You say we have about two hundred people ready to go?”

  Bryan nodded.

  “In that case, it sounds like you are almost ready,” Gideon said. “Wait for the report from your scouts. If or when they confirm the monster is near, we will enact your plan.”

  Chapter 54: The Watcher

  The last rays of daylight faded from the sky, casting an ethereal glow over the desert sand and the enormous rock spires in the distance, as The Watcher waded through the desert. For the past few days, he and his companion had scouted for the monster in the desert, but they’d seen no evidence of it. Eventually, they’d volu
nteered to return to the cliffs, while some others stayed out, searching.

  It was time to give Bryan an update.

  He wished he had more definitive news.

  Perhaps the monster was gone, like some of the more optimistic Watchers had speculated.

  Getting closer to the colony, they passed between the first towering, massive spires, clutching their spears. The Watcher stroked his beard. Despite his lack of news, a part of him had enjoyed the feeling of trekking through the desert, with only the wind at his back and his spear at his side. It reminded him of his younger years as a hunter, long before he was a Watcher.

  Plodding heel to toe, the two men scanned the desert, keeping to the beaten path, staying on course for the colony. The Watcher saw no prints in the sand. Of course, he didn’t. Over the past few weeks, the drifting winds had taken away the last remnants of the Red Rock hunters, just as it had taken away the prints of the scouts from their trip out. The desert felt abandoned.

  Empty.

  A gentle wind rustled The Watcher’s clothes, causing him a hint of nervousness.

  A strange anxiousness hit him, as he looked into the horizon, spotting the cliffs far past the rock spires.

  Deep shadows crept from the bottom of the rising, natural rock structures on either side of them, creating alternating bands of light and dark in their path. Despite the late hour, the temperature was still hot, warming their skin. Feeling a thirst, The Watcher reached down and grabbed his flask, tilting it toward his mouth.

  And stopped.

  “What’s that?” he asked, pointing to the next swath of shadow.

  The second Watcher froze.

  About fifty feet away, something lay in the sand. The Watcher held a hand above his eyes, trying to make it out.

  Hearts pounding, they headed for the dark shadow, their spears aimed. They got close enough to hear the buzzing flies and smell the stink of blood before they realized that it was something dead.

  “By the heavens,” exclaimed the first Watcher.

  “Is that the wolf we saw on the cliffs, before we left?” the second Watcher asked.

  “I think.”

  The wolf’s eyes stared vacantly into the heavens. Its tongue dangled through its yellowed teeth.

  Only its head remained.

  Lacerated, pink skin and tendons hung from its neck, which was jaggedly cut, and sitting at the cusp of an enormous, deep hole.

  Looking farther, they spotted another hole, fifty feet away—a darkness deeper than anything they’d seen from the cliffs.

  A primitive fear crawled through their hearts.

  Turning to his companion, The Watcher swallowed. “The Abomination is back.”

  Chapter 55: Darius

  Four flickering torches cast wavering shadows over the small, dead-end cove as Darius worked at night. Taking a momentary reprieve, he cracked his weary neck and looked around at the craggy walls and the high ceiling. The small, humid cove wasn’t quite his hovel—and he was missing some of his tools—but at the moment, it was the best workshop he had. And he was far enough away from the other colonists to have his privacy, but close enough that he could reach them with a short walk.

  Darius stared back at the object, which he’d propped up on a jutted, round rock.

  He didn’t realize how much he’d missed his work until he was away from it. Working on a new project always gave him joy.

  The object was fascinating.

  A part of him was jealous. In all his years of exploring the caves, he had never found its equal. He felt like a young man, hearing stories of how his father pulled scraps of metal from the desert, back when there were such things to find.

  And now he had a bigger story than his father ever did.

  Thanks to Raj.

  Dabbing a small amount of water on his rag, he worked the cloth over the object’s surface, carefully removing some old dust and dirt from the crevices. Not for the first time, he felt like a tradesman from the First Generation, working on some device that no one else could imagine. But he also felt a small fear. What if he triggered some strange, dangerous power?

  Darius worked carefully on the object for most of the night, cleaning it until he found no more dirt or dust on its surface, or in its edges. He was almost starting to think it was just a spectacle to be looked at when he noticed a discoloration at the end of a tube-like piece of metal. The tube sat on the top of the main shaft. Darius frowned. With his thumb, he scraped away at the brown substance, removing it easily.

  Not a discoloration. Dirt.

  Darius kept cleaning the wedged debris, picking most of it out, revealing a thumb-sized hole that went far back into the metal shaft.

  His heart pounded.

  He felt as if he uncovered something special.

  Darius held the object away, peering at the hole. Deep inside, at what looked like the tube’s end, a few other metal pieces seemed as if they were fashioned in a strange pattern. In fact, it looked like those pieces were newer than the rest of the object.

  What if some ancient repair person, like him, had worked on it?

  Or modified it?

  Reaching out to the jutting rock, he found a thin, long knife that just might fit into the hole, sticking it inside as far as it could go.

  At first, nothing happened.

  And then Darius felt resistance.

  He pushed a little farther, gently nudging something inside.

  A click emanated from somewhere deep inside the object.

  Darius’s old heart leapt in his chest.

  What was that?

  Chapter 56: Neena

  “Neena!”

  Neena looked up from the bedroll she was dusting off to find Darius striding toward her. Her brow furrowed. Rarely had she seen him move so fast. She looked around for Kai, who was across the cave, speaking with another group of colonists. Nearby, Raj and Samel smeared sleep from their eyes, waking up.

  “What’s going on, Darius?” she asked, when he was closer.

  Darius ambled with his cane in front of him, weaving around the last few bedrolls between him and her. “I think I made a discovery with the object,” he said quietly.

  Neena immediately leaned close. “What is it?”

  Sensing something important being discussed, Raj crept away from Samel and listened.

  Darius looked around, ensuring that no one else eavesdropped. “For most of the night, I cleaned dirt and grime from the object, certain that it was too old to function. And then I uncovered a tube on top that contains some other, working pieces.” Darius regained more wind. “It seemed as if something fit inside the tube—almost as if someone had modified it. And so I took a knife and started poking around in the hole.”

  “What happened?” Raj asked, spellbound.

  “When I put the knife in a certain way, I heard a sound,” Darius continued. “And then the knife got stuck.” He paused, watching Neena and Raj carefully. “At first, I was positive I wasn’t getting it out, until I turned the whole device around and touched a smaller piece of metal on the handle. Something clicked, and the knife fell out.”

  Taking an intuitive leap, Raj said, “You think something goes in the tube?”

  Darius nodded. “Yes. But that’s not it.”

  Neena and Raj waited.

  “There is a small piece of metal on the side of the device, a bit lower than the tube,” Darius said. “After some cleaning and finagling, I was able to turn it.”

  Neena and Raj hung on his words.

  “It only turned an imperceptible amount, but I heard a winding noise. And then it got stuck. I think if I can fashion a tool for it, I might be able to wind it further.”

  “What do you think the tube and the winding metal mean?”

  “I’m no
t sure, but I have a guess.” Darius paused.

  “What is your guess?” Neena asked, unable to stifle her curiosity.

  “I’m starting to think the object propels something.”

  “Propels?” Neena asked.

  “Hurl something through the air, the way you might throw a spear,” he explained. “I’m not sure how it works, yet, but when I looked inside the tube, I saw patterns in the metal that seem as if they might fit something snugly. Obviously, the knife was not the right fit for the hole. But if I could fit something in there tightly, and wind that other piece, something might happen.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Raj asked, waiting for another revelation.

  “I have a few extra, damaged spears from Red Rock,” Darius said. “If I slim them down to about half the size, and put a metal piece on the handle end, I might be able to match the pattern in the tube. Once I fit one in, I’ll wind the metal piece, hit the part on the handle, and see what happens.”

  Neena and Raj stared, unable to believe it.

  “I think your initial thought might be right, Raj,” Darius continued. “This object could be more important than anything we’ve ever discovered.”

  Raj glowed.

  Neena couldn’t help her smile. “Whether this object works or not, it is certainly the best news I’ve heard in a long time.”

  “This might be the hope we’ve been waiting for,” Raj piped up.

  “We’ll see,” Darius said. A genuine smile crossed his face—the widest Neena had seen in a while. “You certainly came across something incredible, Raj.”

  Neena regarded Raj. “I still don’t agree with you crawling under that dangerous passage, but I agree with Darius. And for that, I am proud of you.”

  “Thanks,” Raj said.

  Neena turned back to Darius. “Keep us updated. Let us know what you find out. Maybe this will be the thing that turns things around for the Right Cave. The heavens know we need it.”