Kaelor Vex's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

The panther led Kaelor deep into the swamp. Then it stopped. A wide patch of blue flowers glowed in the muck, their petals bright as lamps. The beast sat and looked at him, waiting. Kaelor held his hammer and studied the ground. He saw no path, no gate, no sign. He did not know what the animal wanted. "Show me," he said. The panther only stared. A voice cut through the reeds. "Great. A talking cat man. This planet keeps getting better." Kaelor spun, hammer raised. A woman stood ankle-deep in the water. She had wild red curls and green eyes, and mud soaked her boots to the knee. She did not run. She crossed her arms and glared at him like he was the one out of place. "Put the club down," she said. "I've had a rough day. I fell through a hole in the air and landed in a swamp. On the wrong planet. So unless you know the way back to Earth, we've got nothing to talk about." "I have never heard of Earth," Kaelor said. "And this is my world, not yours." "Lucky you." She waded closer, eyeing the flowers. "Why's your cat staring at the weeds like they owe it money?" Kaelor lowered the hammer. "It brought me here. It wants something. I cannot tell what." Ruby snorted. She stepped past him and crouched by the blooms. Kaelor started to warn her off. Then she pressed her palm flat against the wet earth between the flowers. "There's a seam here," she said. "Feel that? The ground's got a line in it. Straight, not natural." Kaelor knelt beside her. She was right. His fingers found a thin crack, hidden by mud and roots. He had walked past it blind. He dug. Ruby dug beside him, cursing at the cold. Together they scraped away a slab of packed clay. Underneath lay a flat stone. His house mark was carved into its face, the same red symbol from his hammer. The panther rose and pushed its nose against the stone. It sank an inch, and a low groan sounded beneath the swamp. "A door," Kaelor said. His chest tightened. "My family sealed this. It leads somewhere. To people who kept faith." Ruby stood and wiped her hands on her pants. "So your cat wanted a second set of hands. Great. You're welcome." Kaelor looked at her. He needed allies, and this stranger had found what he could not. "You want off my world," he said. "I want my throne. Help me open what lies below, and I will help you find your way home." She eyed him hard. "You'd better not be lying, cat man." "I do not lie," he said. "We'll see." She spat in her palm and held it out. Kaelor clasped her hand. The stone door groaned again, and cold air breathed up from the dark below.