Harran and Kaka's name echoed throughout the apartment block. Zemlya sprang to her feet and made for the front door.

She pulled the door open and fell into Harran's arms. His arms enclosed her fully and urgently.

"What happened?" Harran demanded. "Did he hurt you?"

Her flimsy arms gripped his shirt as hard as they could, knowing what was sure to come next. "It wasn't Lua."

"Bastard," Harran sneered. "Let go. I let him off once but not again."

"Harran, please," she cried.

"No! He treats you like a doll! Plays with you when he feels like it then leaves you out of nowhere." He easily lifted her away from him and stalked to the bedroom door.

But she reached the door before he did. Fell to her knees before him. He stopped dead in his tracks. "If you hurt him Harran, he will ruin you."

"At least there'll be one less bastard in Dhulka."

"You're all I have." Her voice welled with desperation. "I don't want to lose you."

His heavy breaths was all she could hear for a moment. Then his arms were on her shoulders and his face was only inches away from hers. "You don't have to marry him." He was just as desperate. "You can claim infidelity. He was never faithful to your engagement anyway, everyone knows he isn't. He doesn't deserve you."

"You know that would never work. No one would believe me."

~~~

Lua was one step behind the bull each step of the way. But if anyone saw them, they'd only see the bull. Not that anyone was awake to see.

Apparently these cave crawlers, as Lua had come to call them, had created clothing that allowed its wearer to appear invisible. But Lua refused to believe it was anything but witchery.

The cave crawlers were a strange people, for sure. They slept when the sun was out and woke when it set. They couldn't wield fire nor water. They were small and slim and almost sickly looking, save for the bull who Lua thought was an abnormality. They had skin so pale, they seemed to have been drained of color.  But Lua had only seen a few. Perhaps others were different.

They neared the end of the corridor which led to open space and the glass dome that allowed a shower of sunshine. Lua felt himself being pulled towards it. He felt the urge to grasp the warmth in his fists and have it fill his whole being.

But alas the bull turned a corner that led down a flight of stairs. For a while they walked on and on, from one landing to another. And by the tenth landing, Lua felt the tingling sensation at his side roar with a burn-like sensation.

He lowered onto a step, his breaths labored. The bull was already starting down the next landing.

"Wait," Lua heaved.

The bull stopped short and turned round. "What is it?"

Lua hated having to admit his wound hurt so much he could barely stand without falling. Especially to the bull. Before he could let out a word, a man arrived at the opening before the bull. The man wore dark glasses and a dull orange jumpsuit.

"Harran?" The man said, a smile crinkling his wrinkly skin.

"Sir," the bull replied, an alertness evident in his voice. Lua held his breath."Getting off the night shift?"

"Aye, you know it." The man made an effort to reach up and slap the bull's back. "And you? What are you up to at this time of day?"

"Running errands. The usual." The bull was good at holding his shit together, Lua gave him that.

"Alright, I'll let you go boy." This time the man tapped the bull on the stomach, an easier reach. Then he began up the stairs, narrowly passing Lua. But by the last step he slipped and fell. The crash would be fatal.

Lua caught him in the last minute. And cursed himself, once we he realized what he had done. The bull moved quickly, took the weight of the old man from Lua.

"Dear Earth!" The old man yelped. He looked back at the bull. But if he'd suspected anything, only his eyes could tell and they were hidden behind black screens. The man found his footing again, looked about. But he didn't see Lua.

"I suppose I owe you my thanks," the old man said. But hesitation laced his tone. "If you hadn't caught me I'd have broken my back already. How will I ever repay this debt?"

"Nothing. I don't need anything." But the bull sounded too eager to not be suspicious. "It's only part of my job, protecting the people of Dhulka."

The old man seemed reluctant to part. He lingered a while longer then departed. But the bull had already begun walking and Lua was right behind him.

"Get ready to run," the bull said, his pace quickening.

Lua steeled himself and prepared himself for the agony that was sure to come.

Several footsteps echoed down from landings above. Loud and rough they came.

"Guard!" A male voice bellowed, bouncing back and forth between the walls. "Stay where you are!"

But the bull had already begun to run. And Lua was running by his side, each step an equivalent of a stab to his side.

Lua looked up to see five men racing down the stairs. They were as big and bulky as the bull but dressed all in black. The bull escaped into a corridor. Two men met them from the far end. The bull ran the opposite direction.

Lua's heart pounded in his ears alongside the stomping footsteps that seemed to come at him from all directions. It took tremendous effort to keep himself upright and his steps steady. But he'd only last so long and the bull would never know.

"Get in." The bull stood by a narrow opening. Lua stepped past him into the small enclosed space. "Wait here."

Lua fell against the wall. Though his vision flickered and darkness encroached his sight he refused to let his consciousness divorce him.

Then the bull was back, his chest raising and falling just as rapidly as Lua's. The bull rammed his fist into the side of the wall.

Beep.

The door slid close. The room wobbled and descended.

"You've gone and done it now surface freak!" The bull grunted.

"Was I just supposed to let the old man die!?" Lua retorted.

"We should never have stopped!"

Lua didn't respond. He didn't have the energy to argue. The tension in the air simmered and faded after a few empty minutes. He heaved a breath. "Where the hell are we?"

"Down. We're going down." The bull sighed and fell against the wall. "They're off our trail. For now."

"You'll be watched, won't you?"

"You'll be gone soon enough. There are things you don't need to know." The bull stared straight ahead, stoic. "But thank you."

Lua perked a brow the bull didn't see. "What for?"

"For protecting Lady Zemlya."

Lua thought back to the princess who had thanked him as well just before they parted. He regarded the bull now with a hundred new questions. A hundred new questions he didn't need to know the answer to. But this seemed trivial enough to have little effect. Or at least that's what Lua had convinced himself.

"Won't that bastard become suspicious of your relationship with the princess?"

"I am her guard and she is the princess. That's as far as our relationship goes."

Lua scowled. "That's cold, don't you think. She seems to like you alot."

It was none of Lua's business but he'd heard their conversation earlier. And it seemed as though the bull and the princess were a lot closer than he let on.

"That's because I'm the only one she can call a friend." The bull gradually let his guard down. "Making friends is diffult for her."

Lua snorted. He wasn't exactly friendly and yet the princess had managed to make him somewhat a friend. "Why? Because she's blind and scarred?"

"Exactly." Lua wasn't expecting that answer. "And that's also the reason why she chose to protect you even after knowing you were from the surface."

Lua let that settle in. Something alike guilt formed in the pit of his stomach. "She's an outcast."

"She's the best person I know, maybe even in the world. But when they look at her they see something like a monster. And the worst part is appearances fool everyone but her."

~~~

Makapa sat before the remaining Drait warriors that numbered around a hundred. Those who'd returned to Drait the day of the seige never came back. Makapa had become their leader by default when he was put in charge of defense that day. But he couldn't have been any less proud of such a position. He miscalculated by a mile and led his tribe to their doom.

He never once anticipated the Cadits would know of the sewer system that led directly to Drait. How the Cadits had come to obtain this knowledge Makapa could only guess. A spy perhaps. A traitor. But even that, he had never anticipated. Drait protected Drait.

The door of the building they were in swung open, revealing a dark sky decorated by a million stars and a full moon. A warrior had returned.

The men watched their fellow warrior stumble forward into the building. Daba, a friend of Makapa and Lua, stepped up to help the warrior forward. Makapa met them half way.

"Ram." Makapa took in the wounded man, blood oozed from a hundred tiny holes on his thigh. It was a miracle he hadn't already passed out from blood loss. "Lay him down."

But Ram took Makapa by the arm, an urgency burning in the wounded man's eyes. "The chief. We've lost our chief. Drait has fallen to the hands of the Cadits."

It had come to the worst, just as Makapa and every man in that room had suspected. Makapa recounted his last conversation with the chief. And though doubt clouded his mind, he knew Lua would be their only hope of saving Drait.

"How long are we going to stay here?" A warrior grunted. Zaki, a cold-hearted killer. One of Lua's most trusted men. "We can't just do nothing while those parasites take our home!"

Murmurs sparked across the building. Eyes followed Makapa's every twitch and every breath, awaiting his direction.

"The chief's," Ram coughed out. All sound ceased. And all attention fell on him. "The chief's eldest son. He lives. And he seems to have joined the Cadits."

Makapa was flabbergasted. Huo of all people had led Drait to ruin. But Huo had died. Makapa had felt the coldness of his body himself that day. A coldness so unreal it made so much sense. Huo could wield water. He was a Cadit.

"We shall wait," Makapa announced. "Three days. After three days we will return to Drait."

The warriors made no objection. They trusted Makapa knew best. But Makapa only hoped this was their best option. Lua had to return, he had to. If Huo could return from the dead then Lua certainly could as well.

A/n: hiii hello readers, um so what do you think of the story so far? And what do you think will happen next? Will Lua make it on time? And will the Cadits discover Dhulka?