The Challenge

Ciana ran, blood pumping, leg surging sprints over the dry dead land, bloody trails imprinting the earth with each stomp of her dirty bare feet.

The sky cast an eerie glow behind billowing clouds of dust, the air thick and heavy as debris flew wildly amongst the crumbling ruins of rubble and dirt.

A rumbling of vehicles sounded in the distance, and she heard Adel, gulping and wheezing, scrambling to keep up as the wild storm swirled around them.

“Hurry Adel!” she screamed over the wind, “do not stop!” Ciana gestured him forward frantically.

Adel panted as he braced against his knees. “I am hurrying Ciana.” Sweat blurred his vision as he looked up. “I can’t go any faster in this damn body!” Flicking his hand toward his wasted legs. “Look! Have you ever seen such a pathetic specimen?”

“What did you expect Adel, the planet is dead!” She charged him, “I warned you of this, look around you? Where are the plants, the animals?” Poking him impatiently, “where is the food and water to nourish these bodies Adel?”

Adel frowned, blinking against the onslaught, “what about the Citadel, we could have chosen better from there surely?” he yelled brokenly.

Ciana's sigh was lost in the wind, “we don’t have time for this, we could not start at the Citadel, I told you, that is where we must end.” Ignoring his misery, she ran on, and he followed.

Picking up the pace as the wind nudged them fiercely from behind, the sun was a distant glimmer hidden behind the storm front. They ran together, blinded by grit, guided only by the magnetic pull of the ground below, a pulsing energy merging with their own.

“There!” Ciana yelled just as Adel felt his body collapse. She pointed toward a small rocky area, “that is where we shall find access.”

Adel dropped to the dirt, “I can’t” he coughed “what is this feeling?” His hands circled his throat, “I can’t swallow Ciana, I can’t breathe, it hurts, everywhere hurts.”

“We need water Adel” she advised wryly “before these bodies shut down on us. Once we find the tunnels we will have time for healing, you will feel better.”

“How does anything survive on this hellish planet” he moaned, rolling in the dusty earth, swatting her hands as she tried to drag him up.

“GET UP ADEL!” she yelled. “We have to finish this!”

Ciana held out her hand, encouraging “you can do this Adel.”

Adel crawled up, lurching to his feet he extended a bony hand to grasp hers weakly, slowly now, they limped their way over the barren landscape.

The entry was tight, a sliver of space protected by stone on either side. Bone and flesh scraped as they shimmied like worms down into the dark below, their long-matted hair catching painfully around them. Adel felt panic choking his gut, focusing on Ciana calmly moving ahead of him, a sob escaping as the earth opened out and they dropped into a vast hidden underworld.

Murky amber bulbs glowed weakly, weaving in a flickering line down a long tunnel. Ciana led the way whispering over her shoulder, “remember, we are Collectors, and we are just back from the city ruins.”

The air was fetid, like rotting flesh and garbage, riper as they moved further along. Dank veins ran off the main tunnel into blackness, “what is that?” Adel jumped, highly attuned to every scurry and scratch.

“Shoosh…” Ciana warned. “It is only the inhabitants of the tunnels Adel; humans live down here.” And he shuddered.

They came to a junction, opening into a huge cavern, stalactites dripping sharply from the roof. Ciana and Adel looked about, squinting in the shadowy light. People gathered hunched and ragged, some huddled in despair, others curled alone.

Ciana touched his arm, tilting her head to the furthest corner “let’s get you some water Adel, there is a spring.”

The pool was tiny, bubbling up from deep within the earth, enclosed by a metal cage. A stoop shouldered guard observed them as they approached. “What are you doing back here?” he questioned gruffly. “You had your rations this morning, now be on your way.”

“Please” Ciana implored, “we are back from the ruins through a huge dust storm, we need water.”

“You know the rules, one per day.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at them. “so – what did you find?”

Ciana felt down into the pockets of her worn pants, “not much today, the storm set in too quickly and the patrols were about.”

The guard grunted deeply “hmm, it is the Feast of Thanks again, better not to be out, lest you disappear, every month someone goes.”

“The Feast of Thanks?” Adel repeated softly to Ciana. “What is this?”

The guard eyed him sharply “are you dim?” Looking Adel over closely, “the feast for the Elders in the Citadel.” He nodded at Ciana “Is there something wrong with this one then?”

“Ahh, it is the dust I think, and exhaustion, we ran the whole way back” she explained. “This is why he needs water, please…is there anything we can do?”

His head nudged slightly, and he uncrossed his arms to hold out his palm “show me what you have, bring it out.”

Ciana fumbled about, “this is all, there was some other stuff, but we dropped it when the patrols came by.” She placed a golden heart-shaped locket into his hand.

He held it up for closer inspection, tarnished with age and dented in places, it glinted softly, a small green gem imbedded into its centre. The guard pursed his lips, silent for a time, then nodded closing his fist around the locket, bending to unlock the cage “Go on then, be quick, one cup each and no more.”

Adel groaned with pleasure as the cool water slid down his throat, Ciana too murmured happily and the guard rolled his eyes, warning “that’s enough now.” He rattled his keys to chase them away.

Ciana led Adel across the cave, locating the darkest corner before she slid to the ground tugging him down beside her. “Sit Adel, we need to rest before we journey on to the Citadel.” She rested her head, closing her eyes.

“Why do people disappear when they have this feast Ciana?” his quiet words penetrated her meditation.

“Well, I don’t really want to think about it Adel,” she answered reluctantly. “but I guess these Elders need something to feast on, and the universe knows there are no animals left on this planet, and not much of anything else either.” Ciana squeezed his hand tightly.

Adel wiped at his face, examining the wetness of his fingertips “what is this now?”

“They are called tears Adel, you are sad, and scared, emotions you have never felt before” she explained gently.

“I don’t like this place Ciana! I don’t like this Earth.” He said ferociously, swiping at the tears, “I want to go back, now!” Adel wrenched his hand from hers, grasping his head in despair.

“It is tragic Adel; they were gifted the most beautiful planet and now it is destroyed.” Ciana touched his shoulder, “let me heal you, it will help I promise.”

“No, no” he shook his head, “I just want to go back.”

“NO,” she was emphatic. “We can’t give up now Adel, we could win this challenge. No one else has made it all the way from the ruins to the Citadel.”

Ciana centred herself, focusing her energy out into the Cosmos she bathed in the light and drew it back to her spirit. A warm golden aura radiated softly around her as she touched her hands to the top of Adel's knotted black hair. She tilted his chin, dirt smudging the rough worn face, sad green eyes open and awash with tears. Slowly they brightened as a calm peace fused to his spirit, and Ciana continued her healing down his gaunt frame to the tips of his torn and blistered toes.

“Does that feel better?” she smiled at him.

Adel tilted his head. “Yes, I do feel better – I will stay.” He smiled tremulously, “thank you.”

The cavern suddenly plunged into black, fearful whispers echoing and dancing about in the stale air, bulbs flared then died again, shimmering weakly until finally they came back on with a dull hum. A woman limped in from one of the corridors, bent, twisted and covered in filth.

“Listen up!” She shouted fiercely. “Half rations today and tomorrow!” Yelling over the moans of protest, “it is the time of the Feast, and not safe to gather scraps at the Citadel as you know.” Her beady eyes surveyed the room carefully, “unless someone here is volunteering?”

“Only food collectors are allowed unlimited access to the Citadel.” Ciana whispered, watching fascinated as heads and gazes turned downcast at the woman’s words.

“I didn’t think so…” The woman cleared her throat “unfortunately we have another issue that must be addressed.” Her voice rising, “the power is failing, someone must go and check the connection.”

Horrified faces looked up, “this could well be a trap, if they have discovered where we have tapped into the line then they may be waiting.”

Ciana flew to her feet. “We will go and check the line,” all eyes turned on her, the woman perplexed.

Ciana stepped forward, “it makes sense” she stated. “We are skilled at avoiding the patrols. Who better than us?”

The woman mulled this over before nodding. “It is agreed, the Collectors will go.” Pointing to the corridor from where she had entered “away with you then. And be careful.”

Adel stumbled after Ciana into the gloomy tunnel and retched. “THIS STENCH!”

“Keep up Adel.” Ciana moved swiftly ignoring the squelch of squalid muck underfoot. “This is it, once we reach the Citadel, we have made it!”

They wound upwards through the earth, filth clinging and crusting as they trudged through the slimy corridor, further and further up, ending at a crude stairway forged into the stone. Ciana cautiously scaled the stairs. “It opens out into another small cave,” she called. “Come on Adel we are nearly there.”

Adel surfaced after Ciana, squeezing through yet another narrow crevice out into the daylight. “Oh. It is so bright!” he faltered covering his eyes.

“Take your time, let your eyes adjust.” Ciana advised, looking around them.

She chuckled on hearing his gasp, the massive dome of the Citadel rising above them, intricate honeycomb panels of glass, glittering in the sunlight, rising miles into the air.

“It is huge!” he exclaimed. “Why don’t they care for everyone in such a place?”

“There are only enough resources to grow for the rich and privileged Adel, that is why the others live below, but soon it will all dwindle…” Ciana waved him closer, “come, we can go now, join with me.”

Adel looked confused “but what about the power Ciana, the others need it to survive?” He indicated the large wide tube now running above ground to the Citadel. “We need to fix it.”

The sound of booted feet stomped nearby. “Hear that?” Ciana asked, “there are soldiers patrolling, we must go now!”

“NO.” He insisted, crossing his arms stubbornly. “We must help first; I cannot leave until we do.” And Ciana grinned widely.

“You realise we could have fixed it at any time…” she said touching the line, feeling the buzz of power pulsing as it lit up beneath her fingertips, a bright flare zapping along the length of the cable. “It is done.”

Ciana joined their hands. “Now come, it is time to leave these bodies.”

Encircled together they looked high, their ship a mere pinprick in the sky. “You have passed Adel” Ciana praised. “The Master will move us to the next level now.”

They connected to the power above, their spirits merging, an incandescent glow twining tightly, energy mingled, shifting, light and free in a spinning kaleidoscope of brilliance, pulsing, higher, they flew together.