Godwalker (Galactic Heritage Book 2) by Matt Coleman

Author:Matt Coleman [Coleman, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2024-04-17T00:00:00+00:00

28

Trapped beneath the rhodium sands, I knew it would only be minutes before my lungs began to feel like they were going to burst. As I held my breath, clinging to life, thoughts of Benny and me as kids surfaced. How the two of us used to compete to see who could remain underwater the longest. It drove him crazy that I could always beat him. Again and again, he begged me to play the game in hopes of beating me, checking my time on his Swatch watch Uncle Phillip bought him during one of his ammo-buying trips. It was a black, water-resistant wristwatch with a plastic strap. The tail of the second hand was green and the inner workings of the watch were visible from the backside.

Strange how I couldn’t stop seeing those details.

We’d been swimming in the pond on the back of the property several months after my tenth birthday. I’d outlasted him four times that day, once by two minutes and thirty-eight seconds. I’d held my breath that last time for a full three minutes and eighteen seconds. I refused to compete a fifth time after he passed out and nearly drowned before I could drag him to the surface.

But this wasn’t a game. I was drowning in rhodium sands that were as pliable and soft as dry quicksand.

My lungs began to burn, and a thumping started in my ears.

Maybe holding my breath was automatic—a desperate attempt to stay alive as long as I could. But I was struggling and about to gasp for air when hands grabbed my arms and yanked me up and out of the sands. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but hands pawing me as they rolled me onto my stomach and bound my ankles and wrists.

They dragged me a short distance and when they let go, I began to sink. Several hands secured ropes under my arms and around my chest; this kept me from sinking. I heard a latch being undone, and then creaking, like a metal door being opened. The rope tightened as I was dragged a short distance. We stopped and they shoved me into a hole. I slid feetfirst straight down and hit a soft surface.

And then.

Footsteps. Mumbling. Movement.

Playing dead, I didn’t dare move as arms came around me. I was dragged a short way and dumped haphazardly against a wall, ending up on my side, uncomfortable and helpless. But I opened my mouth, barely, and exhaled slowly, and then I took in a long slow breath.

Wherever I was, it was cool and damp and underground.

The Cholom’s lair.

Tiny granules of rhodium sand clung to my closed lids and ears— it was all over my body, and created an itching sensation that was intensifying. But I remained motionless. Seconds passed before two more hard thumps and dragging sounds filled the space around me.

Twice something heavy fell on top of me. I knew they were bodies.

Opening my eyes to slits, I saw Brina’s head on my chest and Ian lying prostrate across my legs.

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