Zara and Ravik . . .
Zara Graydon came back to consciousness in a moving transport vehicle, her head aching, wrists and ankles restrained, and darkness. The air was recycled and unpleasant. She had survived alone in the mountains for 3 weeks. She needed to let the Eastern Settlement know what Hammond was up to. But she got careless and they caught her. They found her hidden translator stone, so communication would be impossible with the Nyxari. They took her to a medical station… probably a lab. The instruments filled her with dread. It got colder and damp, mold and stagnant water joined the ozone smell. They threw her in a cell and she saw a Nyxari warrior prisoner slumped against the wall, scarred with burns from Hammond’s experiments. He was badly injured. His tribal markings were different from the clans she was familiar with.
When the guards came back to take the Nyxari away for experiments, Zara continued to search their cell. She took a loose bolt from the slab that was meant as a sleeping shelf and she hid it in her boot. When the Nyxari returned, he was terribly weak and in pain where they damaged his lifelines. She tried to clean the wounds and some sort of reaction occurred. He looked concerned and confused. His lifelines brightened slightly. She had to find a way to communicate, so she again said she was Zara. This time, he touched his chest and said “Ravik”. It resonated through her, low and melodic, and she actually felt the sound under her skin, not a label but a tether, pulling her toward something ancient and alive. A tremor went through the building again. Emergency lighting flickered and went out, plunging them into darkness. But the glyphs on the wall brightened with the power fluctuations. Ravik knew what this was and was filled with dread. Zara’s marking also responded. She felt the ruins awaken, she was understanding the data streams. Hammond’s experiments were forcing instabilities in the power grid. Pain ran through her head from the overwhelming input. Ravik grabbed her hand and their markings recognized each other as they balanced each other and the data stream became more comprehensible to her. And he was protecting her. But he is sworn to protect the secrets of the ruins. And apparently Zara is the key to unlock them all. Will they figure out how to work together to stabilize this? Will they be able to escape before Hammond tries something else with them?