Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(48)
Author: Erica Stevens

"We don’t have much time, let’s go," I said crisply and hurried to the door at the end of the hall. I pulled the small rectangle handle down to open the door.

I frowned as I stared at the ground before me and then at the wall across from me. "What the…."

"You have to step forward," Jessica said. "I was stuck here for a good ten minutes before I figured that out. It’s going to take you for a ride and a pretty amazing one, but it will be fine. Or at least it was last time. Just stay on the same pathway."

Those weren’t the most comforting words after the events that had just transpired, but I didn’t see any other choice as I studied the polished white floor before me. Taking a step forward I watched in amazement as a step molded itself out of the floor and around my feet before me. It was like an escalator but unlike an escalator it was only one stair that rose up a good ten feet before it began to slide forward.

There wasn’t anything holding me to the step but I felt secure on the single two by two piece I was standing upon. I could hear the faint clicking of the mechanics running the "escalator" and as it began to move forward I could clearly see the gold encrusted rail running beneath it that drove it onward.

The walls around me gave way and when I looked back I could see Betty on a stair behind me. I kept my face impassive as I began to move into a wide open room. Other Tintagelians began to appear on steps above and below me as they slid across the cavernous room. There were a few Tintagelians that were moving parallel and even perpendicular to me. The rails running the system were so faintly hued that it almost appeared as if some of the steps were floating through the air.

Massive white crystals reflected the light filling the room as they flipped through pictures of a planet that none of us had ever seen, and that had ceased to exist centuries ago. Even so I found the rolling hills and shimmering water displayed within those crystals captivating as they played through the stones like a movie of a time long forgotten.

Despite my best intentions I found myself more than a little amazed by the world surrounding me. I didn’t understand how a species that could create such wonder could commit such atrocious acts. Even as this thought was crossing my mind the stairs began to move over what I assumed was the center gathering area within the massive room.

Royal purple vines twisted over railings that marked what appeared to be a large dining area beneath us. Large sage and orange flowers bloomed from the vines and I dimly recalled that they were the flower of the Tintagelians, the lalitus. Through the center of the massive room ran the clear blue river that provided water to the entire ship. Drifting along the top of the water were dozens of the large red olinade fruits. Looking at them now I recalled that biting into them brought a surge of juice into the mouth. Juice that had a coppery tang to it, much like the blood that pulsed through the prey we all sought in one form or another. It was the only fruit my species ate, perhaps the only other thing, besides blood and souls that they consumed while aboard the ships.

This part of the ship didn’t have black walls like the holding area; they were a blue so clear that it made me think of the pictures I’d seen of the Caribbean Sea. It almost seemed as if I could dive right into those walls. The ceiling was ablaze in a yellowish orange glow that reminded me of the sun and as I turned in the other direction I spotted the receding night. It took me a moment to realize that from within the ship the top of it was a massive dome that revealed the open sky, instead of an impenetrable wall like we saw of the ship from the ground.

Beneath me Tintagelians went about their day as normally as any human would have. They greeted one another but where there may have been laughter and loud calls between humans, these were simply nods and quiet exchanges between the Tintagelians. No smiles were exchanged as heads bowed and they moved by one another.

A bell in the distance brought my attention back to the room beneath me. Though no one spoke, excitement rippled through the crowd as they all moved toward the river. I kept my head up as I tried to appear indifferent, but my eyes kept drifting to the spectacle beneath me as they all lined up at the edge of the river.

Another bell went off and from somewhere in the ship I heard a low rumble. I didn’t know what had happened but the water in the river began to go down like someone had just pulled the plug from a bathtub. The olinade swirled down to the concrete looking bottom of the river bed and fell onto their rounded sides.

From somewhere within the ship, the sound of something opening reverberated throughout and a small rumble began to shake the step beneath my feet. In a torrent of red, a wave of blood rushed through the empty basin beneath me. Like a fishing bobber, the fruit popped back up to the top as the blood followed the route of the river throughout the ship.

Saliva filled my mouth; my stomach rumbled as the Tintagelians dipped large goblets into the blood and lifted them to their mouths. The olinade danced and swirled throughout and a light bulb went off in my head as to how the fruit had acquired its sweet, coppery taste. Revulsion swirled through me but I couldn’t shake the pulsing hunger that the scene beneath me awakened.

This level of greed and gluttony was what I had expected all along as they gulped down their goblets and went back for more. Some dipped down and took hold of the softball sized olinade with both hands. They wiped away the pink juice that trickled from the corners of their mouths as they eagerly ate it.

After the initial rush of blood the viscous liquid settled down to a few inches off the bottom of the basin, a few inches that was quickly consumed by the thousands lining it like pigs lining a trough. With the fourth goblet load by each Tintagelian the blood was nothing more than streaks along the side of the trench beneath me.

The faint grinding of gears reverberated through the ship again and fresh water flowed forth. Water that served as nothing more than a device to wash away the blood, and as a reminder of the once fertile land that The Ancients had ravaged.

I lifted my eyes from the room beneath me as they all resumed their day again and the walls surrounded me once more. Relief filled me as the step came to a halt at the beginning of a hallway. I stepped off and searched up and down for any enemies, but there was no one about.

"It was very calm from here on out," Jessica said in a strained voice. I knew how she felt. My body fairly vibrated with the need to feed that being in the container had awakened, but the river of blood had fanned the flames of hunger to nearly uncontrollable levels. I felt sorry for anyone that got in our way between here and the Hallowed room. "This way."

I stayed close on her heels as she turned to the right and led the way down the hall. We slipped around another corner and doors began to roll out before us in an endless aisle that reminded me of the cabins I’d seen on cruise ships. There were even more rooms here though and I didn’t think anyone would make it off alive when this ship went down.