Lionel's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

The swarm scraped closer up the main tunnel. Lionel turned to run and Varro sagged in his grip. The scavenger's legs dragged. Fresh blood soaked through the dressing on his side. His breath came shallow and wet. Lionel had allied with this man in the vault, and now the man could not carry his own weight. The seed rode heavy on Lionel's back. Two of them could not outrun the claws below. "Leave me," Varro said. He pressed one hand to the wall to stand. His knees shook. "You carry the seed. I slow you." Lionel said nothing. He measured the tunnel with his eyes. The swarm needed the wide route to reach them. The narrow crack behind the fallen wall was clear now. The troll had climbed into it, chasing the lantern toward the outside. If the troll had cleared a path, that path ended at open air. "No," Lionel said. He hauled Varro's arm over his shoulders. "The oath is mine. You come." He pushed into the narrow crack. Stone scraped his damaged armor. Cool air moved against his face. Ahead, the troll's roar echoed off the walls. Green light pulsed from cracks in its stone hide. It had jammed itself deeper, still swiping at the servo-skull lantern wedged past its reach. A cluster of glowing fungi grew along the passage floor. Their caps threw soft light across the stone. Lionel ripped a handful free and hurled them past the troll, toward the far mouth of the tunnel. The lights scattered and glowed brighter than the trapped lantern. The troll wrenched around toward the new glow. It clawed forward, tearing at the walls, chasing the brighter light out of the crack. The passage opened. Past the troll's heaving bulk, Lionel saw a wooden door set in the far wall. An outer gate, built to open from within. Daylight leaked around its frame. But the troll blocked the whole width. Its shoulders scraped both walls. Lionel could not pass it and could not fight it in this space with Varro on his arm. He set Varro against the stone. He drew the bolt pistol from a fallen brother's rig. He fired once into the troll's back leg. The shot cracked loud. The troll bellowed and lunged toward the outer gate, ramming the wood. Hinges tore. The door burst open and the troll spilled through into the daylight, still chasing the scattered glow across the ground outside. The way was clear. Lionel dragged Varro through the broken gate and into the light. But the gunshot had carried. Behind them, the scrape of claws swelled through the crack. The swarm had heard. It poured up the narrow passage now, following the sound into the open ground where Lionel stood with the seed and a man who could no longer walk.