Page 9 of The Brightest Night

I turned, grasping the rope and pulling with all my might to get the cab into the cave with me, leaving the elements raging outside.

The storm fell back, the sounds of its lament muted by the stone surrounding me.

Thank you. Fucking thank you.

My knees buckled, and I slid to the ground, falling on my ass, back against the cab, chest heaving as I sucked in air that was a fraction warmer than outside.

One moment.

Just one to catch my breath then I’d make a fire and scout the cave to make sure it wasn’t already occupied.

I doubted that the wards were the only danger in these parts.

The cave ran deep. Tunnels coming off tunnels. I’d stay close to the mouth and hope for the best. Building a fire came with the issue of a lack of fuel. No wood. No kindling and nothing to light it with even if I found some. So no campfire for me.

My dreams of getting warm shattered, I fought lethargy and the weight tugging at my eyelids.

There might not have been any fuel for the fire, but maybe there was fuel for my body in the pack. I rummaged around in the bag, my fingers prickling as a little of the numbness retreated, and found a few brown blocks wrapped in silver paper. They smelled sweet and tasted like sugar and nuts.

Energy. Good.

I scarfed two, wincing at the burning, tingling pain in my hands as the blood rushed back to the surface, and flexed my fingers to speed things up.

I pulled Kai from the cab. His anatomy was familiar because I’d worked on upgrades myself, one of which was a backup power core inside a box built to shield from electromagnetic spikes. I’d even added room for extra memory as part of the upgrade. We hadn’t used it yet. Expensive piece of kit, but I’d gotten it on a discount, and fuck was I glad I had.

All I needed to do was get the backup core online.

I laid Kai on his back and pressed the spot beneath his sternum to open the power panel, hissing at the mess of charred and melted circuits inside. Shit. I needed something to pry them out.

What could I use?

Rex!

The tip of one of the spider legs made the perfect tool to remove the damaged circuitry. The caged core was beneath. Fuck, I needed the right tools to connect it up.

A sob of frustration clawed up my throat.

I flexed my frozen fingers some more, my chest tight. Was I going to die here surrounded by the inert remains of my friends?

No. Do not think like that, Nova. You’ve been in binds before. You find a way. Always.

Thunder rolled beneath the screech of the wind. No…not thunder. An engine. I stood slowly and hurried toward the mouth of the cave, peering out into the white as the sound grew louder. Twin beams of light bounced around in the blizzard.

Fuck. The magimech had found us.

No.

Wait.

It couldn’t be them.

So who? Friend or foe? Had to be friend if they were hiding in this region from Divinos. And they had a working mobile. Which meant they couldn’t have come through the barrier.

At this point, there was nothing to lose.

I stepped out of the cave, waving my arms. “Hey! Over here. Help!” My voice, small and insignificant, was ripped away by the elements.

The lights moved away.