Creator's End (The Skyward Saga Book 4) by A.R. Knight

Author:A.R. Knight [Knight, A.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946554284
Publisher: Black Key Books
Published: 2019-01-17T22:00:00+00:00

12 A Pair Above All Else

Level 39 announces itself with a blast of steam as soon as the lift door opens. Murky red lighting lines the floor and walls, serving as guides for Sax and the Flaum as they move between huffing machinery and hissing pipes, with the constant low whine of electric energy coursing through conductors above and below them. The noise serves as more than a reminder of the multitude of actions necessary to keep Astre’s Spire running on Rathfall; they serve as cover for whomever or whatever could be hiding around the next bend in the clogged level.

Which is why Sax has the Flaum lead the way, one midclaw positioned just so against the back of the Flaum’s throat.

“I’m not going to run,” the Flaum protests as they go. “I know you’d catch me.”

“I wouldn’t have to catch you,” Sax replies. “You wouldn’t make it a single step.”

“Then how’d you know I was running?”

“I’d smell it.”

Fear has a special spice to it, and the Flaum’s drenched in a coating of his species’ panicky pheromones right now. Without the leaden scent from the venting steam, Sax might choke on it. Flaums are legendary for their overactive glands, one of many reasons why Sax never commences an assault mixed in with the furry species; he could never concentrate under that olfactory attack.

The Flaum, though, is true to his word and navigates Sax through the winding maze until they end up at what Sax would take for an ordinary section of steel wall. The only thing out of the ordinary, really, are the spots of rust on the section they’re looking at. A quick glance wouldn’t give a moment’s thought, but Sax is bred for pattern recognition, to find a weakness and act on it.

“Which one opens the door?” Sax says, gesturing with his left foreclaw to the seven spots arranged in a Z pattern.

“No idea,” the Flaum replies. “If Fraykt wants to talk to you, he’ll open up.”

“That’s not good enough,” Sax says, and he’s about to test his claws on the door when it swings open on hinges.

Actual hinges. The last time Sax had seen those was on some dirt-water planet on a mission he’s otherwise scrubbed from his mind. Now he can’t help wondering how old this Spire really is.

On the other side is a moldy, old yellow Ooblot. Patches of the creature are crusted over, revealing its age as far greater than Sax’s own. It only has a sole eye-stalk, the other a rocky lump on its boulder-sized bulk, and it turns a red-washed iris towards Sax.

“Fraykt’s willin’ to talk,” The Ooblot patters lightly. “Without that one.”

There’s no question as to who ‘that one’ happens to be, and Sax tosses the Flaum aside. The creature doesn’t seem to mind, picking itself up on its claws and scurrying away back towards the lift.

“You’re the guard?”

“I’m Dol, and I’m Fraykt’s partner,” the Ooblot says. “Don’t make that mistake again.”

“Are you threatening me, Ooblot?”

“Yes,” Dol replies, then the Ooblot shuffles itself around and heads back into the recess.

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