A thunderous roar pummeled Corvan's ears as he shivered in the cold mist. He tried to crawl farther from the waterfall, but a dead weight held him fast. Looking back, he could see a piece of tentacle attached to his ankle, translucent black slime oozing from its torn end.

Shaking his leg, the tentacle finally let go, but the effort left him exhausted and he fell back against the wet stones.

Tilting his head to the right, he watched a dense spray whip through the heavy rope net strung across the base of the waterfall. One of bodies of the Broken was still visible just below the waterline but the Volisk was nowhere to be seen.

Twisting his face to the left, he looked along the river flowing out through a long tunnel. There was a path on both sides, each one lit by a string of evenly spaced lumiens. The dual lines of lights arced around a corner and disappeared from view.

The last lumien in the line hung directly overhead. Right now he needed a lumien seed or his heart was going to give out entirely. If he died, his father would also die, Kate would never be found, and all would be lost. Taking a deep breath, he rolled to one side, then pushed one shoulder off the floor. His hand slipped in a puddle of slime and he fell back hard, his head smacking against the rock. Stars floating past his eyes and his vision narrowed down to the one single lumien hanging above him. If he blacked out, he might never come back around. Somehow, he needed to get the lumien down. This time he would only eat that one and never let the lumien energy out of his heart again. "I promise," he muttered to himself, "just one more. Then I am done for good."

Summoning every bit of his remaining strength, he attempted roll to his other side, away from the slime, but the krypin rope attached to the side strap of his pack bunched up beneath him and pushed him onto his back. With a shaking hand, he was able to manipulate the control end, release the coil and lay it on his chest. Could he make it work and use the krypin rope to pull himself up to the vine?

The trembling tips of his fingers explored the handle of the krypin, fumbling with the controls until the rope tumbled loose and draped its twin ends over his body. With this double headed rope it would be easier to pull the lumien closer than try to pull his body upright.

Corvan's stiff fingers warmed to the task as he manipulated one of the krypin’s ends across the floor, up the wall to the ceiling, the wrapped it around the small bulb. Working the controls, he managed to anchor the end next to his head deep into a crack in the floor. Slowly he tightened the rope, the two ends pulling slowly towards each other came the lumien came away from the ceiling. Its vine was stretching and thinning until it snapped with a twang, dropping the lumien directly on his chest.

Trembling with anticipation, Corvan dropped the handle, grasped the blue globe, and held it to his mouth. Biting down, he punctured a small hole in the lumien's skin. A few drops of juice fell on his tongue, and he rolled the sweet nectar around in his mouth, inhaling the potent scent. It rose through his sinus cavities, igniting his senses in a sparkle of warmth. He bit a larger chunk of the fruit and more fluid gushed out, almost choking him as he gulped down the electric sweetness. Dropping his head back against the cold floor, he let the energy invade and warm every cell of his body.

Once his heart had relaxed into a steady rhythm, he lifted the lumien overhead and examined it. The skin of this one was thinner and hung from his hand like a wrinkled deflated balloon. The fruit was much sweeter this time, and its flesh satisfied his immediate need for life sustaining energy. He rubbed a hand over his chest. Maybe he didn't need to eat the seed this time. This time he could break the desire for more and be free of the need for more seeds. He squeezed the limp fruit. This one didn’t seem to have a seed anyway.

Sitting sat up, Corvan peeled back the lumien skin. A tiny lumien heart was tucked up where the vine had been attached to the fruit. Pulling it free, he tossed the empty skin aside and rolled the seed between his thumb and forefinger. His heart skipped a beat, and a sharp cramp pulled across his chest. Maybe he was wrong. It felt like his heart still heart needed a small bit of pure lumien energy. He moved it closer to his face. It was such a little seed, barely the size of an aspirin. Surely it would be fine to eat this one. It would be like medicine for his heart. He could eat this tiny seed and that would be it. "I promise," he murmured to himself. "Just this one and then no more."

Placing the small seed in his mouth, he crunched it between his molars, sending the energy zipping through his body until all his skin tingled with warmth. It felt great. His energy was back. He sat up and beathed deeply, but as he tucked the power away in his heart, a biting pain in his chest doubled him over in agony. The tiny seed had awakened a need for more.

Up ahead, the next lumien lay on the ground and the one beyond it hung in midair on the long singular vine. Corvan crawled quickly forward and tore the closest fruit apart, spilling its juice on the stones. Twisting the seed from the stem, he bit it in half and swallowed. This time he pushed the energy directly into his heart, but the pain only increased. With one hand gripping his chest, he yanked on the vine and pulled the next lumien off. Shoving the whole fruit into his mouth he sucked out the seed and swallowed it whole. The lumien heart burst in his stomach, sending spasms of painful energy throughout his body.

These seeds were too tiny to full satisfy his need. He would have to eat a lot more of them to satisfy his cravings.

When he pulled again, the vine broke off just before the next globe. The light inside the lumien flickered, then all the remaining bulbs down the line began blinking in waves of light down the tunnel, like the neon lights chasing around the motel sign in the city. It took just a moment before he realized what was happening: the severed string of lumiens was sending out an alarm.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Atiya had said they gave the death penalty for anyone caught eating lumien seeds. Grabbing the severed section of the vine, he ran back to the falls, bundled it up, then threw it toward the falls. It snagged the net and a long piece hung down on the surface of the water, its free end waving back and forth in the swirling eddies.

In behind him, the strings of lumiens on both sides of the river went dark. He turned to discover the glow of torches approaching from around the corner. He ran back to the falls but there was nowhere to hide. The paths on both sides of the water ended at the rock faces beside the falls. Looking through the mist overhead he could make out deep rounded pockets in the rock the falling water had carved out eons ago, then abandoned. Grabbing his krypin rope from the floor he sent one end up into the spray, wrapped the other around his chest and quickly pulled himself up and out of sight on a smooth curved ledge.

The lights grew stronger along with the voices of two women, one on each side of the river. The one on Corvan's side of the river came into view. She was dressed in a uniform similar to the one that Atiya wore and the borrowed one he was wearing. A crossbow was balanced in her hands, and he had doubt she knew how to use it. If she looked up and saw him, he would have to no choice but to drop into the water, hold his breath and swim away, but that would also put him back inside the net with the Volisk.

"The lumien vine is caught on the net," the young woman called to the other side.

"It doesn't make any sense." The other one replied. "The Volisk has never desired the taste of lumiens."

"Look, Leena, there inside the net, below the waterline. Do you see it?"

The light on the other side of the tunnel drew closer and a slender young woman in a similar uniform but with an insignia on one shoulder walked into view, a sword in one hand and a glowing fire stick in the other. The girl named Leena peered down into the water. "It’s one of the Broken from Kadir. Their lumiens must be completely gone if they are jumping into the water to find more. It appears the Volisk has dragged both him and his prize back into the net. It’s letting the body soften up before it feasts on the remains." She motioned with her light. "We must make a report. The gardeners will need to immediately repair the lights and I will recommend that we post a guard here from now on."

As soon as their torchlight faded around the corner, Corvan lowered himself onto to the path. He needed to follow the women away from this dead end before the lights came back on and any workers or reinforcements arrived. Creeping along the pathway, he stopped in front of the darkened lumien bulb that hung level with his eyes. He reached out, then shook his head and reluctantly pulled his hand back. Taking the risk was foolish and the pain in his body was already easing off. He needed to move on and live without eating any more lumien seeds.

With fresh resolve he followed the water channel around the corner. Just ahead Leena and her companion were framed against the bright light of a larger cavern. Corvan crouched behind an outcrop of rock at the water’s edge. The women talked across the water for a moment, then Leena moved on while the other took up position at the entrance to the tunnel on his side of the water. The only way to get past her would be under the water.

Easing himself into the cool water Corvan calculated the distance to where the guard stood, her back to him as she looked out into the brighter light. He should be able to hold his breath long enough without using any of his stored lumien energy. Taking a deep breath, he ducked below the surface and allowed the current to sweep him past the guard. The brighter light cut below the surface and Corvan tucked in closer to the shadows at the shore where the water ran slower. An angular shadow extended out across the river, and he surfaced beneath the arch of a low stone bridge. The bridge had been anchored out over the land on each side, creating dry alcoves hidden behind by stone support columns. Corvan wrapped an arm around one of the pillars and heaved himself out of the water and onto the ledge.

The warm air was heavy with the scent of flowering plants and over the ripple of water flowing past, he caught the sound of voices approaching the bridge. Laughter broke out from the group as they crossed overhead and Corvan crawled down to the far end of the alcove, then lowered his head close to the water in order to get a look at the path on the other side. A group of women came into view, walking toward a high gate protected by towers on each side. Corvan leaned out for a better look and almost fell out into the river. The large gate was set into pearl white walls protecting streets lined with buildings glistening in the fading light. A second high wall supported yet another tier of buildings that rose higher up the side of the cavern, to a row of houses carved out of the rock walls. Streetlights were flickering to life and lights were coming on inside the buildings as well. The entire city of white stone glowed with its own light.

More footsteps sounded on the bridge overhead and another group of women appeared on the road leading to the city. This group was older and dressed in working coveralls with green aprons. They were less animated than the first ones; chatting quietly with each other as they moved toward the city gate.

Corvan's neck was getting sore from peering out from under the bridge and he pulled back into the alcove. Blue light danced on the water on both sides of the bridge. The day was ending and judging from the gate and the high city wall, there were nighttime dangers here as well. It might be best to stay hidden under the bridge until it was dark and then find a way into the city.

Laying back he closed his eyes and relaxed. This new city below the falls of the abyss was nothing like what he had expected. He had been sure this would be a dark prison world full of Rakash who forced their captives to tend their supply of lumiens. Instead, this city seemed to be more normal and Kadir was actually the ruined prison city. Why would Gavyn think his parents were being held as captives down here? Why did Tsarek want him to come here to rescue his father? It didn't make sense.

Corvan tried to sleep but his mind wouldn't allow his exhausted body to rest. A few times, he found himself half-dreaming he was lying in a small, rounded room with a white light overhead instead of under the bridge. When it happened the third time he turned his head to discover a lighted hole in the shape of one of the medallions on the wall in front of him. As he watched it, a piece of the wall opened up and Kate stood before him in a long white dress, just like his vision from Tsarek’s crystal.

Kate raised a hand toward him, and he winced at the thought of being burned alive by her fire.