Subterra Heart

Chapter 29: Marina Ritty

This whole adventure had been rather unpleasant for Marina thus far. The disappearance of her sister had left her feeling ill, and the new knowledge that Tess was not only badly injured, but also stranded outside of Heart did nothing to lessen this. Connor's sudden appearance had been a shock to the system, and there was much that he was not telling her. His poor physical state alone was rather unnerving, and now she was trusting him to lower her through a deep, dark hole that led Founders-knew-where. Not that she would have trusted herself with this task either, but this certainly took the cake for nail-biting life experiences.

The rope swayed and batted Marina's shoulders against the sides of the well each time Connor let her down a few more inches. It was a jolting drop each time, and it left her heart hammering in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut. There wasn't anything to see anything apart from the faint circle of light above her where Tess's shae band that Connor had borrowed still lit the bare room. In some ways, Marina supposed that she was lucky to not have to do any of this work herself. She didn't trust her arms and legs to cooperate with her enough to make the climb on her own. As it was, she didn't think that there was much she could manage outside the white-knuckled death-grip that she had on this rope.

Another heart-stopping drop followed, and then Marina's shoulders quit knocking against the rock walls. She dropped again, and this time, she let one eye squint open. Below her lay the undulating blue glow of a kuar-coated lake, and above was a mass writhing kuar-worms which clung to the cavern ceiling. Marina's rope disappeared up through the well hole that she had descended from. The rope jolted again, and again, and again as Connor dropped her lower and lower towards the glowing lake.

A corner of rocky land extended out near where the rope would land. Marina lifted one foot off of the knot and reached for it with her toes. The ground was sharp and cold against her bare skin. It was a stretch, but she managed to land on the dry rock without getting herself or the box wet.

"There we go," she muttered to herself, dusting off her hands. The palms were sore from gripping the rope so tightly. She went straight to work untying the knot that secured the box. Marina still didn't like the idea of Connor climbing down with only one arm, but if he insisted on doing something stupid like that, she at least wanted to avoid having the box get dragged into the lake.

"You all good down there?" came Connor's voice from above. Marina hastily finished undoing the knot and tugged the box free of its rope wrappings.

"Yes – yes, I'm fine," she called back. "Where is Tess?"

"I left her at the far-left corner," called Connor again. He grunted and swore. Marina's stomach clenched for a moment, and she glanced up. He must have been starting to try and climb down.

"By the Founders, Connor, do not try climbing down here with that shoulder of yours!" she called up to him. Connor answered with silence at first, quickly followed by a strained "I'm fine." Of course he was trying to climb down. The stupid, stupid man was going to get himself killed. He had better not fall. Marina toyed with her mask and wrenched her gaze from the ceiling with a quiet huff. 

The far-left corner. Even with the glow from the kuar-coated lake, it was too dark to see clearly.

"Tess!" she called, "Tess, where are you?" There was no answer, so she flicked on her shae band's light, hitched the box up against her hip, and started off in the direction where her sister should be.

"Tess?" she called again. She was nearing the cavern wall, and still there was no sign of Tess. Marina's jaw was clenched tightly, and her shoulders were tense. That little tidbit of information that Connor had dropped earlier – his comment about Tess and bloodrot – was bearing down on her mind. She'd been forcing herself not to think of it, but no one could simply "get better" from bloodrot. It just didn't happen. Connor must have been wrong about that. Or else...