Chapter 6

It felt like it took forever for Eoin to have the strength to stand. Ally darted to his side then back, hovering around the tunnel entrance, nearly dancing with impatience.

'Ready?'

'Almost. Jeeze, Ally, you're like a kid with a new toy.'

She laughed at his exasperated tone and dashed back to his side again. He sat up now, one knee up, the other out straight as it finished healing.

'Okay, okay! Help me up. WHOA! Careful!'

Seizing the offered arm, Ally hauled him to his feet so fast he stumbled. She caught him, unable to hold back laughter and impulsively kissed him.

Before she could dart away his hand snaked to the back of her head, holding her firmly as his lips claimed her mouth. Flushes of sensation bloomed beneath her skin where his hands touched, distracting her from the tunnel.

He pulled away far too soon, steel coloured eyes warm with humour. 'That slowed you down.'

Ally smacked his chest and screwed up her nose. 'Tease. C'mon!'

Hand in hand, they approached the cavernous circular entrance. The rounded shape of the hole they'd fallen down extended behind from where they'd landed and the heavy shadow from the heights of the walls meant it melted into the background, easy to miss at first glance. Ally watched for Eoin's reaction, delighted at the flush that made the tips of his ears bright pink. He gaped and twisted, staring back at the hole they'd fallen down then turned back to the tunnel entrance.

'It feels like,' he paused mid-sentence as he often did while his mind whirled away. Ally watched with an indulgent smile, envying his scientific mind. Though there was no reason she couldn't understand the concepts he worked on, the genetic make-up of her hunter nature simply meant it didn't compute with the ease and joy it did for him. She was born to hunt, to seek, and to protect. Eoin was born to study, to understand, to puzzle through things. She yearned to move, to cover ground, to see and meet all living creatures she could. Eoin could happily spend weeks in one of the labs back home while Ally considered the task tedious to the point of torture. As a hunter, she was happiest in nature.

It made their pairing all the more unusual, but the elders welcomed the unusual, for it brought the promise of change, of the long desired but yet to develop evolution of their species.

'I think…' Eoin began again before falling silent.

'Yes?'

He blinked at Ally's tone and looked at her properly, a wide smile spreading. 'Sorry. I think it's an exit, the hole we fell down. I'm not sure yet, but it feels appropriate.'

Ally looked into the pitch black depths of the tunnel then up the steep sides of the cavern. If you looked past the millennia of dirt and plant life that littered the sides of it, you could see a remarkably circular shape.

Too perfect.

She nodded to Eoin then dropped her pack to the ground and knelt to rummage through it. Removing a silver metal rectangle about the length of her hand, she placed her thumb into the indent on the top. Her eyes drifted as she focused then released a shock of electricity, directing it through her thumb. The rectangle of metal hummed to life, sides sliding down to reveal a spinning silver ball suspended in hard water. The torch began to glow, growing brighter and brighter, till they could make sense of where they stood.

Eoin's jaw dropped, Ally's too, as they both realized the enormity of the tunnel.

'I'm thinking you're right,' Ally said after a long moment passed.

The height of the tunnel appeared to match the width of the hole they'd fallen through, which made Ally curious. She set the glowing lamp down and walked back into the open space they'd landed in, peering at the rubble. Eoin joined her a moment later and his foot knocked a piece of sod aside.

'Aha!' Ally pounced on what it revealed, carefully easing the piece of rusted metal mesh from where it lay. 'Look! This must have been over the top.'

Eoin delicately took the mesh from her, spreading his hands beneath. He had elegant hands, pale with long fingers. Ally's hands were wide and strong, with chunky fingers and square nails. Night to day, just like their colouring. Often out in the sun, her skin naturally tanned to a deep olive, making her hair seem redder and her eyes startling in comparison. Eoin, however, had blond hair he wore short and pale skin that seemed to glow. He could tan, and turned golden while his hair would bleach almost white. It made them a striking couple. When she eventually reached full sexual maturity it would be interesting to see what their child might look like, but at only twenty five, it could easily be another ten years before that.

'I think you're right,' Eoin interrupted Ally's internal musings, and he straightened, holding the crumbling mesh high and peered at it. 'But then this couldn't have been an exit, unless they had a way to remove it easily.' Eoin lowered his arms and dropped the mesh to the side, walking to the wall of the cavern. Ally followed, watching as he worked at scrubbing away a section of dirt, pushing at a long tangling vine that hung close.

With a grumble of impatience, Ally wrenched the vine, ripping off a lengthy section that caused shale to rain down on them. Eoin jumped back with an exclamation then turned to eyeball her.

'Really?'

Ally stared straight-faced at him, resisting laughter. 'Tunnel,' she said succinctly.

Eoin hmphed and shook his head. 'Fine. Tunnel first.'

She kept her flat expression as he eyeballed her again, walking ahead to the tunnel. Seconds later she darted past, snatching up the lantern and bounced on the balls of her feet, raising her eyebrows at Eoin then grinned.

He gave an exasperated laugh, reaching for her, his arm around the small of her back and plucked the lantern from her grasp.

'Fine. But I get the lantern.'

'Yes dear,' she said teasingly.

Holding it high, he moved into the dark with her.