Chapter 19
Four Weeks Later
“Domus exists for one purpose,” Winston intoned, his deep voice echoing off the walls of Sanctuary.
“To protect the world above!” replied the congregation in unison. Their voices were loud, startling Alex in spite of the instruction Tabitha had given him regarding the ceremony.
Today was Commencement. Once every six weeks, the people of the community gathered in Sanctuary to acknowledge those who’d earned the title of Warrior.
He’d made it. Despite an overwhelming lack of faith from the citizens of Domus, he’d completed Tabitha’s training and was about to become recognized as one of them. Including Alex, three of them were being inducted today.
Without turning his head, he snuck a sideways glance at the other two initiates. He’d never met either of them. They stood shoulder to shoulder with him in the front row, eyes focused unblinkingly forward as the leader of Domus continued the ceremony.
Winston raised his black blade and held it just over his head, horizontally, like a salute. “We carry our blades unsheathed,” he declared.
“To protect the world above!” came the unified reply.
Alex sighed impatiently. Although it was almost certainly an important rite of passage for the two young men standing next to him, it wasn’t for him. He couldn’t care less about some title, he just wanted to get going after his dad.
Tuning out Winston’s droning voice, Alex allowed his mind to drift back to the day that had ultimately led him to where he stood now—the day at the thrall cages.
From that day forward, every citizen of Domus, including Tabitha, had treated him with contempt. Word of his cowardice had spread like wildfire, so quickly that by the time he got back to his shelter the guards were already gone. Their absence spoke louder than any words ever could. The message was clear: now we know of what you are made. Go ahead—try your luck in the tunnels again. You don’t have what it takes.
Their passive dismissal, their disregard for any danger Alex might represent, infuriated him. Of course it was ludicrous to feel that way; he wasn’t a threat, not to them, and certainly not because one of his long-lost relatives was some sort of evil genius. But that wasn’t the point. He didn’t need them to fear him, he needed them to respect him enough to want to help him, and that would never happen unless he proved himself worthy.
With his single act of compassion at the cages, he’d set back the timetable for his departure. He should have simply swung the blade, the same way he should have swung a right hook into PJ’s head at the volleyball net.
The one upside was that he now had free rein. He could go wherever he pleased and no one stopped him. Ironically, he only tested his freedom once. The day after his humiliation at the thrall cages he went into the city, but quickly found that there was nothing and no one there for him. Every attempt he made at speaking with any of the Domus people went unanswered. They either went about their business while ignoring him or pointedly walked away.
It fueled the fire that was already raging in his gut.
Alex intensified his training efforts. He spent every waking moment on the small, flat patch of rock near his shelter, working through his drills until his muscles could no longer handle the strain and he was forced to rest. Tabitha still came every day to work with him and they spent long, ten-hour sessions together, but that wasn’t enough.
Alex was worthy of their respect. And he would prove it.
He did prove it.
“We are warriors,” Winston announced proudly, bringing Alex back to the present. “Each and every one of us taught from birth to not just face our fears, but embrace them—to conquer them! We do this, we become this, because we must!”
“To protect the world above!” the congregation replied.
Tabitha’s demeanor toward him had cooled even further after the cages. The mutual attraction Alex thought might have existed had completely vanished, to the extent that Alex often wondered if he’d just imagined it.
Despite her lack of warmth, the two of them had forged a bond the likes of which Alex had never known. Through his training, he learned what she was like both physically and mentally and although there was nothing sexual about it, he knew her more intimately than anyone, and she him. He could feel her presence behind him now, standing on formality with the other initiates’ mentors. He didn’t have to turn around to know she stood ramrod straight, head held high, green eyes forward, absorbing every word Winston said.
Tabitha’s decision to submit his name for ascension to warrior status meant more to him than anyone else’s approval, even Winston’s. It was Tabitha who made him wish he’d made a different decision at the thrall cages. Not because he would have been proud of killing that poor, lost girl, but because Tabitha wouldn’t look at him with such disdain.
“And so I send you forth!” Winston now spoke directly to Alex and the other two initiates. “You have been given skills, the rest is up to you.”
Had he been given the skills? Yes, Alex could now fight as well as any warrior of Domus, but Tabitha had never taken him back to the cages. Like parallel parking when he had taken his driving test, Alex had been dreading the day and fully expected he would be required to prove himself there. But it hadn’t happened and they had never spoken of it again.
“As tradition dictates,” Winston said, “you will leave Domus immediately and begin your first tour as Core guard. As there are three of you ascending this day, all of you will go, as will your mentors.”
Alex heard a small, quiet, but sharp intake of breath from behind him. No one else was likely to have noticed it, but because it had come from Tabitha, he had.
She was surprised to be sent to the Core. Why? Didn’t everyone in Domus take a turn in the rotation? Surely she’d done it before. He almost turned so that he could get a glimpse of her face. Almost. But he knew it would be an enormous breach of etiquette, as much her shame as his if he did, so he remained still.
“I bid you farewell for today, assured in the knowledge that you go forth with confidence and in bravery, to do that for which you were born.”
Having been tutored by Tabitha, Alex knew what was expected of him next. He raised his blade as Winston had done previously, horizontally above his head and, in unison with his fellow initiates, bellowed, “To protect the world above!”
Sanctuary erupted in applause. Those who’d been seated to watch the ceremony came forward to offer congratulations and wish the initiates a safe first tour.
One by one, the citizens of Domus came and shook the hands of the other two initiates and those of their mentors. And one after the other, they shunned both Alex and Tabitha as if they weren’t there at all.
Alex snuck a glance at Tabitha, but she either didn’t notice him looking or was purposely avoiding eye contact. She stared straight ahead, her gaze fixed.
For himself, Alex perfectly understood why no one approached them. He had made exactly zero effort to cultivate any friendships after that first day back from the cages. He’d stayed exclusively near his shelter at the edge of the city. No one knew him. The only thing they knew was that he bore the last name of an abomination and that he hadn’t enough nerve to kill a thrall. They didn’t trust him, and that was fine—he didn’t care, he wasn’t staying in the Under any longer than he had to.
But he did care if his association with Tabitha was making life hard for her. She would still be here long after he and his dad were gone.
He began to bristle, ready to speak in her defense, but Tabitha was quicker.
She grabbed his arm in a firm grip. “Come,” she commanded tersely, her eyes hooded, unreadable.
“Where are we going?”
Shouldering through the crowd, she replied, “To the Core.”
The people closest heard her and went silent. Alex watched as they pretended to look away, but he could feel their eyes following them. He struggled to keep up as they elbowed their way through the thick press.
; “Is everything okay?” Alex asked once they’d left Sanctuary and begun the trek to the outer edge of the city.
“Everything is fine,” Tabitha answered without turning around.
Obviously it wasn’t. “Tabitha, I know I don’t have the right to involve myself in your personal life, but if there is anything I can do to help—”
Tabitha spun to face him, her face red with anger. “You’re right, you don’t have the right! You are my trainee, nothing more!”
Alex was stunned. Never, not once in the time he’d spent with her, had Tabitha lost her composure.
“Tabitha! Alex!”
Alex turned to see the other two initiates and their mentors hurrying down the steps of Sanctuary to catch up to them. He recognized one of them as Jonathan, the warrior who’d introduced himself so long ago on the first time he’d arrived in the Under.
“Jonathan, Gideon,” Tabitha greeted the two without warmth.
“You three,” Jonathan said, including Alex and the other two initiates. “Follow, but keep your distance until we have reached the tunnels.”
The mentors walked ahead, the presence of Alex and the other two initiates all but forgotten, their heads together as they spoke quietly amongst themselves.
Alex and his fellow initiates exchanged glances as they trailed behind, an awkward silence hanging in the air.
“I’m Alex,” he tried, hoping to break the tension.
Neither of them replied.
Both appeared to be close to his age, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years old. Seventeen, Alex thought to himself, remembering that Tabitha had told him that every citizen of Domus was trained to be a warrior at seventeen. Until then, they were responsible for the more menial tasks such as fishing and sewing.
“So I bet you’re glad to be done doing the grunt work,” Alex tried again.
The one closest to him, a tall, blonde-haired boy, turned to look at the other. Although he couldn’t see the boy’s face, Alex was sure the two were sharing a look.
“My name is Abner,” the blonde finally replied stiffly, his eyes forward. “And this is Phineas.” The other, a young man with jet-black hair, a hawkish nose, and a sour disposition nodded past Abner with a scowl on his face.
“So…” Alex said.
“We know who you are,” Phineas interrupted acidly. “Everyone knows who you are.”
Phineas’s demeanor and higher-pitched voice clearly conveyed what Phineas thought about Alex.
Not knowing what to say, Alex continued in silence for a bit before asking, “So are either of you nervous? This being your first tour at the Core and all?”
Abner gave Alex a quick glance. “No.”
Alex sighed. They weren’t going to make it easy for him.
“Look,” he said. “I know everybody knows I didn’t kill that thrall. And I know everybody knows what my last name—”
“Your surname is of no consequence to us,” Phineas interrupted testily. “We are warriors of Domus. As such, we perform our duty without question. We have been instructed to take our first tour with you as part of the guard—and so we will.” He glanced ahead, at the backs of the mentors. “At least there will be four of us that can be counted on to perform their duty,” he added snidely.
Alex’s eyes narrowed. Why had Phineas excluded Tabitha? Certainly she was more than capable. “Four?”
Abner gave Phineas a scathing look, glancing nervously at the mentors. “Alex,” he said quickly to prevent Phineas from saying anything else, “before we reach the tunnels, where we must be silent, do you harbor any reservations?”
Like getting eaten by a giant mole or attacked by a vampire? Nah...
But he knew what Abner was really implying.
“I’m not afraid,” Alex replied flatly. Neither Phineas nor Abner replied. “I do have some questions, though.”
Phineas didn’t answer, but Abner gave him an encouraging nod.
“I know there is always a group guarding the Core, but why? I mean, I know it’s supposed to be bad, I know it draws people in and changes them, but how? How does it work?”
Phineas made a sound of disgust, like he couldn’t believe Alex had asked something so basic.
“Tabitha did not instruct you in this regard?” Abner asked.
“We, uh,” Alex made a face. “We really don’t talk much at all.” He remembered when she confronted him over her sister, how he’d mistaken her intensity for attraction. He almost chuckled out loud at the thought. Over the past month, she’d proven to be a stern and severe young woman, only speaking to him when critiquing his combat form or technique.
Abner looked like he wanted to question Alex more, but apparently changed his mind. “We do not know what the Core is or how it works,” he answered candidly. “We only know what it does.”
“Pfagh!” Phineas spat. “We know exactly what it is! It is evil, pure and concentrated into a single, glowing entity, placed here by Satan himself to await the day mankind would be arrogant enough to invent a way to find it!”
Ahead, Gideon stopped. “Phineas,” he chastised. “You will maintain your composure.”
Phineas bowed his head once, his eyes hooded.
Alex was shocked at the fervor behind Phineas’ words, and made a mental note to stay as clear of the young warrior as possible.
Abner looked uncomfortable. “There is a faction among us,” he explained, glancing at Phineas, “the Edenites, who firmly believe what Phineas has said is true. Another faction, the Divinites,” at this, Phineas made a sound of disgust, “believe that God placed it here to hide it, to protect mankind from ever finding it.”
It was clear Phineas had drunk the Kool-Aid from the Edenite pitcher.
Alex looked from Abner to Phineas and back again, both of whom were watching him expectantly. As if vampires and giant cave-dwelling animals weren’t enough, there were cults down here too. Great. “Why do you call yourselves Edenites?” he asked Phineas.
Phineas leaned past Abner and sniffed, declining to answer.
“They believe the story of the Garden of Eden was figurative. That the Under represents the Garden, the tunnels the snake, and the Core…”
“The Core is the apple,” Alex finished, fighting the urge to shake his head at the absurdity of it all. “And what do you believe?” he asked Abner.
“I believe it contains power,” Abner replied. “The kind of raw power only found in nature, like a poison berry or a venomous snake.”
Again, Phineas snorted in disgust and muttered, “Naturalist.”
“But why guard it?” Alex asked, ignoring Phineas. “Why stay so close to something like that? No matter who or what put it here, it’s bad, right?”
“Why, to kill the weak of course!” Phineas replied fiercely, earning another backward glance from his mentor.
Abner smiled thinly. “The Core calls to all mankind,” he sounded almost as if he were apologizing for Phineas’ words, “as well as those who have already been seduced by its power. The Edenites have very strong views against those who succumb.”
“And what does that mean—to succumb to the Core?”
“Surely you felt it when you were last in the Antechamber,” Abner answered. “Did you not experience a feeling of comfort and warmth? It pulls you, beckons to you, without you ever realizing it was what drew you to it. A natural feeling of safety and belonging pulsates from it, but so passively that you believe it is coming from within yourself rather than from the Core.”
“But it is a lie, Satan’s Great Lie!” Phineas decried hotly.
With cold clarity, Alex did remember feeling it. He had wanted to go toward the red glow. He remembered feeling lost and confused, not knowing where he was, but feeling certain that if he had to go in any direction it would be toward the red glow: toward the Core. There had been no reason why, it had just been his instinct that it was safe.
Alex’s stomach dropped out. If he’d gone to it he would have been changed forever, and had the Domus warriors no
t been there it was very likely that he would have. The Core had been playing tricks on his mind from the moment he arrived in the Under. It must have been what had happened to his ancestor, Benjamin Croatoan, hundreds of years ago. The thought was chilling.
Abner was nodding at Phineas’s outburst. “On that, every faction of Domus agrees that the Core is a liar, indeed. It seduces you, draws you in, and then bends you to its will.”
“But how?” Alex nearly whispered. “How does it do that?”
“We do not know how,” Abner answered candidly. “The change is gradual, sometimes taking weeks to fully manifest and sometimes only taking minutes. Each person’s level of resistance is different.”
“Pfagh!” Pfagh seemed to be Phineas’ favorite word. If it even was a word. “If they had any desire to resist, they would never go near it in the first place!”
Alex didn’t need to be told that this was another Edenite view. “So that’s all it takes? You just touch it and become…?”
“Nocuous,” Abner nodded grimly. “Yes. Like a poison slowly seeping in through the pores of your skin, the Core’s influence takes over and alters you.”
A cold shiver ran down Alex’s spine. “So you stand guard to protect your people from going to the Core, to protect them from changing.” They were silent for a few moments as Alex absorbed the information. “In all the time you’ve been down here,” he asked, “hasn’t anyone ever resisted the change? After touching it, I mean?”
“It is impossible to resist,” Phineas answered condescendingly.
“He is right,” Abner confirmed. “No one has ever successfully fought the change.”
“But six guards?” Alex asked. “That seems like a lot. It seems like the more people who guard it, the greater the chance of losing someone to it.”
“It is not just humans who are drawn to the Core,” Abner told him. “Both Nocuous and thrall also answer its call. We believe that being in its presence provides them a level of comfort, and that it also feeds them, grows their power.”
“And that is our true purpose!” Phineas declared. “To kill the weak! To kill those who’ve succumbed!”
Jonathan’s deep baritone made them all jump. They hadn’t realized the mentors had stopped.
“Do not allow the zeal of this young warrior to lull you falsely,” the mentor told them. “There is no such thing as a weak thrall or Nocuous.”
They were now very close to Alex’s shelter, at the outer boundary of the cavern. The steps to the exit tunnel rose before them.
“Be on your guard, all of you,” Jonathan warned. “As of this moment, we are silent.”