NZECTAMAL: THE FIRST WAR #2 -- The Cave

Ken stood where he was, peering into the gloom and waiting for his eyes to adjust. Sareena had taken her hands off his shoulder, but he could still feel her beside him. She hadn’t moved either.
“So, what now?” he asked her.
However, it was the man who replied. “We wait,” he said, his voice coming from so close Ken jumped in surprise. Apparently, while they had stood in the dark, he had somehow quietly come down to where they were. “I’m going to find out if there’s another entrance or anything that can show the Inc Army this cave exists,” he continued, clearly talking to Sareena. “Take the kids and get a little deeper in. Find somewhere at least partially hidden from that entrance so they won’t hear us talking, and just in case, here –hold on to this for me.” Ken could just make him out taking off a backpack and handing it over to her, and suddenly he realized that they were both wearing sturdy jackets and boots and carrying backpacks, and its meaning clicked.
“You’re not from Rainbow, are you?” He asked.
However, the man was already striding swiftly away. He turned to Sareena inquiringly but she merely took his hand and tugged him through the darkness. “Come on,” she said. “We have to move.”
Ken followed her guidance, walking carefully. His eyes had almost completely adjusted, but there was such little light in the cave it hardly made a difference. He wondered how she was seeing anything at all. The man had also not only walked through the dark, but had done so noiselessly. Ken, on the other hand, created a loud clattering of rocks whenever he took a step. They stopped, and a he squinted through the darkness, he saw that they had gone to where the blonde girl was, crouching near a wall.
“You too, dear,” Sareena said kindly. “Just take my hands, come on now. You,” she said to Ken, “put your hands on my shoulder.” He did so. She transferred the backpack she was holding to that hand and offered the other to the girl who took it and stood upright with a small whimper.
They moved slowly, both on either side of Sareena. The process was however made slightly faster with Sareena steering them through an obstacle free path and calling out warnings whenever Ken or the girl were in danger of hitting a boulder or a particularly low-hanging stalagmite. They didn’t go far before she called a halt.
“Alright, here should be good.”
Ken let go of her shoulder and tried looking around. The darkness was still too thick to penetrate. “How are you seeing in this?” He asked, perplexed.
“Just hold on...” she replied. It seemed like she was searching through one of the backpacks. “Aha –got it!”
Suddenly, the cave was illuminated by a dull white light. Ken blinked rapidly and looked around. They were in a relatively large alcove, partially obscured from the rest of the cave by a large boulder. Sareena was crouching over the backpack, holding a small lamp she had covered with a translucent white cloth. As she rummaged through the bag for more items, Ken noticed a small insignia by its side: a large telescope with the words FH written over it in red, surrounded by 12 small dots placed in a large arc.
“Forest Hill!” He breathed softly. “That’s the symbol of the Planetary Governing Council!”
Sareena made no response but calmly kept on retrieving blankets and other pieces of clothing while Ken stared at her in amazement. Forest Hill was the capital of the entire planet Nzecta, the hub of their technology and the seat of the planetary governing council –the 12 most powerful people of P. Nzecta.
“Who are you guys?”
She turned and tossed him a blanket. “Call me Sareena.”
“‘Sareena?”
“That’s right.” She zipped up the bag. “And you?”
“Oh... I’m Ken,” he replied. “Kenneth Sanders, but my friends call me Ken.” He was still staring at her.
She turned to the blonde girl who had crouched down once again, shivering. “And you, dear?” She asked kindly.
The girl looked up. In the semidarkness she was as pale as a ghost, and her blonde hair fell unkemptly around her face.
“Claire.” She replied softly, with a slight tremor in her voice. Ken turned his gaze from Sareena to her –it was the first time she had spoken since he had found her, soaking wet and crying profusely amongst the ruins of Rainbow Town.
“Alright, Claire,” Sareena said again, “Let’s get you changed out of your wet things, okay? I’ve got some clothes here that should fit just fine.”
At that point, the man stepped into the alcove. Sareena looked up at him inquiringly, and he nodded at her. Then he turned his gaze to the other two. “We’ll be fine for the night,” he said in a voice that had none of its previous sharpness and, to Ken’s surprise, now sounded quite fatherly. “There’s no other entrance to the cave, and except for a couple of cave toolers, we’re quite alone in here, which means we don’t have to fear some cave-dwelling nzectamal attack, either.”
Ken’s head jerked up slightly. He hadn’t thought of that at all. If there had been just one spidermonkey in the cave, they would have been toast. Toolers at least were small, non-territorial, and would stay away from humans if they could help it.
Sareena nodded. “That’s great,” she said. Then to Ken and Claire: “This is Nathan. He’ll keep us all safe.”
Nathan nodded grimly at the two. He wasn’t a big man –average height and average build. His hair, face and moustache could’ve belonged to any of the persons who worked at the planet’s banks. Totally unremarkable. But as Ken met his eyes, he saw there was something lurking much deeper –something he couldn’t place a finger on. Something that spoke of mysteries.
“Who are you guys?” He asked again.
Nathan smiled humourlessly. “If we told you,” he said, “you won’t believe us.”
At this, Sareena breathed out a small laugh and led Claire out of the alcove. Nathan’s smile turned briefly into a genuine one as he watched them go.
“That was her town that was razed, wasn’t it?” He said conversationally, taking his backpack and settling down at a corner.
Ken realized he had been standing ever since he came into the alcove. He quickly started spreading the blanket Sareena had given him on the ground which was thankfully, quite smooth. “I think so,” he replied.
Nathan nodded. “That’s a sad thing that happened there,” he said. “What about you?”
“I’m not from around here. Was just passing through.”
“Really? Quite a coincidence you found yourself here during the attack. How did you escape?”
“I wasn’t here. I saw the flames from a distance, thought they were gone when I arrived.”
“Hmm...” Nathan mused. “So you saw the flames, knew green soldiers were there, and still decided to come over?”
Ken wondered suddenly if he was being subtly interrogated. “Well, if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” he muttered.
Nathan chuckled.
Ken settled on the blanket and hugged himself. It was going to be a cold night. He missed his sleeping bag and his electronic devices, all in his saddle on Igu. If she didn’t come back...
He decided not to worry about the bird. It wouldn’t do any good now, would it? He turned his thoughts to his mother and sister instead. When they didn’t hear from him tonight, they would worry. He hoped they were fine.

The group ate beef jerky and a strange, dry-but-rich bread Ken had never tasted before, after which Sareena gave Claire a strange liquid from a vial to help her sleep. She dozed off almost immediately. Nathan and Sareena seemed to have come to an unspoken decision to take turns keeping watch during the night. The way they acted, Ken couldn’t help but feel like they had done this before.
“So, really, who are you guys?” he asked again after the meal. “Some kind of special soldiers from Forest Hill?”
Sareena exchanged a glance with Nathan, then turned and gave him a reassuring smile. “Ken, it’s been a long day, and tomorrow morning might be quite rough. Just get some sleep, okay?”
Ken opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and pressed his lips together. He watched them quietly for a moment, then the questions burst out again.
“You both pushed that rock like it was nothing! And it must have weighed a ton!” He pressed. Nathan and Sareena both froze. “When we were running, Claire and I could barely keep up with you, but you weren’t even tired! And just now, you didn’t really need the lamp to see, did you? You could both see when it was almost pitch black! And you’re carrying Forest Hill bags, and know so much about the Incredible Army and the green soldiers when the entire planet knows almost next to nothing! Who are you?”
A deep silence followed his outburst. Ken stared at them, breathing hard like he just ran another mile. Nathan dropped the bag he was sorting through and sighed deeply.
“Son –” he started, but Sareena silenced him with a glance and instead, came to crouch in front of Ken. She took both his hands in hers.
“Listen, I know you have many questions,” she said softly. “But I want you to understand that there are so many things we cannot tell you, not right now, and for a myriad of reasons. Let’s just focus on getting you and Claire somewhere much safer, okay? Please, just trust us, and understand.”
He looked into her eyes –clear, brown eyes that reminded him of his father –and nodded. She smiled at him and with that, left the alcove to begin the first watch.

---

Nzectamal: The First War continues on Monday 23rd October with 'The Emerald City Called Small'.
Follow me @petermarie to stay abreast with episodes.
Editing by @alphae

If you missed it, you can click here to read the synopsis, and
click here to read #1: Escape From the Rainbow

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