Page 31 of The Delver (The Vrix #2)

She leaned against him and hummed in agreement.

Urkot continued onward, his chest brimming with delightful warmth. He’d always had an easy camaraderie with his friends. They’d jested and teased each other for all their lives, and it had only brought them closer, had only made them more willing to fight for each other, to bleed for each other.

For a long time, he’d thought that was enough, that it was as close as anyone could get to another. Callie had shown him otherwise. She had shown him something he’d never dared to expect for himself.

You are not unworthy, Urkot .

Those words from the celebration drifted up from Urkot’s memory, carrying all the weight and solemnity with which Ketahn had spoken them. They’d been true all along, but it had taken Callie to prove it to him.

He was worthy. And he’d claimed what he’d wanted all along.

Her.

Gradually, the vibrations grew stronger, and soon the taste of fresh mist danced on the air. And then he heard it—the rush of falling water. It was soft at first, becoming louder with his every step. The mist tickled his fine hairs and dampened his hide.

The tunnel curved sharply before opening into a spacious chamber where a large waterfall flowed from above, filling a wide pool that itself fed a stream.

The cavern walls and floor were covered with vegetation, including thick-stemmed flowers with luminous bulbs growing along the banks of the stream.

Their white glow rivaled that of the glowworms.

Tiny flying bugs flitted about, some of which would undoubtedly end up caught in the worms’ snares.

“This is something straight out of a fantasy book,” Callie said with awe. “There’s an entire eekosistum down here.”

“An… eekosistum ?” Urkot asked, sweeping his gaze around in search of it. She’d made it sound like something large…

“You’re already looking at it,” she replied with a chuckle.

“It just refers to all the life in a certain environment. The living things down here exist in their own little ecosystem…their own little bubble. They’ve adapted to the conditions to create a sort of community that’s entirely unique from the creatures on the surface.

Even with these bugs, you have a balance of predators and prey, with the plants as the basis of the food chain. ”

“So…the Tangle is its own ecosystem?”

“Yep. Same with the swamp. And there can even be smaller ecosystems within a larger one, adapted around points where conditions differ.

Like even within the jungle, a different ecosystem might form around, say, a lake, where unique food sources and environmental conditions allow for other creatures to thrive.

“But the balance can be very delicate. The introduction of something new, like a new animal, a new plant, or a new weather pattern, can sometimes disrupt an ecosystem enough to destroy it entirely. We’ve seen them get altered drastically on Earth, like when humans bring different plants and animals to new areas, or when our activity changes conditions in the environment.

And unfortunately, that disruption can eliminate entire species. ”

He let out a thoughtful hum, studying their surroundings anew. Though human words were often confusing to him, he couldn’t deny that he was intrigued by the way Callie saw the world.

He also loved listening to her speak.

“Sorry for rambling,” Callie said after a brief silence. “I just find these things fascinating.”

“Me too. Thank you for helping me understand.”

“Any time, big guy.”

Urkot strode to the edge of the pool. Callie carefully withdrew her legs from around his waist, turning as he crouched and held his lower hand out to assist her down. Her boots landed softly on the vegetation below.

“Is the water safe to drink?” she asked.

He drew in a deep breath, flooding his senses with the crisp scent of the mist. “It is.”

“Finally.” She knelt and bent over, cupping her hands and plunging them into the pool.

Urkot lowered himself beside her, and they drank their fill of the cool, pure water.

When Callie finished, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, shouldered off her pack, and took out her waterskin. As she filled it, Urkot stood up and surveyed the chamber.

“Stay,” he commanded.

“Yes, sir,” she said with amusement.

Tough as it was to step away from Callie, even knowing that she would be within sight the entire time, he strode to the nearby vegetation to collect food.

Threadleaf plants, which grew along the walls, had stringy leaves but were bulbous near their bases, and were edible from root to tip.

Whiteroots, long, white-stemmed mushrooms that grew in thick patches, had a subtle, earthy taste, but were quite filling.

But best of all were the shadowberries, small, plump fruits with dark blue skins that grew in clusters underground near sources of water.

Their juice was the perfect balance of sweet and tart.

These were foods that the vrix of Takarahl ate daily. Foods that had seen them through their darkest days, when Zurvashi had denied most of her subjects fresh meat.

He gathered his harvest on his lower arm, keeping it tucked against his abdomen. In vrix, he softly said, “Thank you, Rootsinger, for your bounty. May your song endure forever.”

Callie had packed the waterskin away by the time Urkot returned to her. He lowered himself to the ground and laid the food out on the vegetation between them, telling her the name of each.

She picked up a bunch of shadowberries by the stem. “I guess it’s time for a game of rushin roolet .”

“A game?” Urkot leaned toward her, unable to mask his eagerness. He’d always enjoyed games, especially when he competed with Callie. “How do we play?”

“It’s a game I would play myself. I assume you’ve eaten all these before?”

Cocking his head, he nodded. “Yes.”

“So you know they’re safe for you to eat. Rushin roolet is a game of chance between life and death.” Callie gestured to the food between them. “I don’t know which are safe for me to eat, or which could poison me.”

Both his mandibles and his shoulders sagged, and something heavy and cold sank in his stomach. “I do not like this game.”

Yet he knew she was right. Though humans could eat most of the same foods as vrix, they could not tolerate sweetfang root, a discovery Ketahn had made when Ivy had fallen terribly ill after consuming some.

Her sickness had been so severe that Ketahn had feared he would lose her.

Who could say what else might harm humans?

Callie chuckled. “Me neither, but without the food analyzer, there’s no way to really to know without trying.” She pointed at the whiteroots. “Those are mushrooms, so I’m not touching them. Unknown mushrooms are dangerous to fuck around with back on Earth.”

Urkot growled low, reaching out to take the shadowberries from her. “You will eat none of it.”

She pulled the berries away from him. “We don’t know how long we’ll be stuck in this place, and the food I have in my pack will only go so far. I can try a little at a time and wait.”

“Callie…”

“The injections they gave us should protect me against the worst effects.”

“Should,” Urkot repeated with a huff. He didn’t like that word any more than he liked this game.

“Look, I analyzed that root that made Ivy sick. The toxins it contained really should’ve killed her.

Within a week, she should’ve been suffering organ failure.

Instead, she was sick for a few days and completely fine afterward.

Every time Ivy tried a new food, she was taking a risk, paving the way for us before she even knew we were still alive.

But that’s what life is. That’s what survival is. ”

She looked down at the berries. “Our bodies have changed, are changing , to better adapt to this world.”

Urkot caught her chin and gently guided her face to his. “And if you get sick? I do not know healing, Callie, and Diego is far.”

She curled her fingers around his wrist and smiled. “Had I not brought this up, you wouldn’t have known any differently. I wanted you to be aware just in case. Besides, most of the food we’ve eaten has been completely safe. All things considered, human and vrix diets are shockingly compatible.”

He grunted. “I still do not like this.”

“I’ll take it slow, okay?”

When he grunted, her smile widened, and something warmed inside him.

That warmth didn’t ease his tension as he released her chin and watched her pluck a berry off the stem and lift it to her lips.

He much rather would’ve had those lips pressed against his hide, against his mouth, instead of a piece of fruit that could cause her harm.

Those alluring lips parted, and she slipped the berry between them, biting down. She hummed in surprise and appreciation.

His insides felt knotted and tight. It was a strange conflict in him—he trusted her, trusted her knowledge, but that trust did nothing to diminish his worry.

And she’d been right. If she hadn’t mentioned rushin roolet and reminded him of the risk, he wouldn’t have thought of it.

He would’ve failed her as a mate because, to him, these were all safe foods that he had eaten countless times without a second thought.

They sat together, the remaining berries in the bunch resting on Callie’s lap, and let the waterfall’s sound and cool mist envelop them as they waited.

“No tingling, no numbness, no cramping or nausea,” Callie said after a time. “And as much as I do have a craving for another one of those berries, I’m going to wait. I’ll try the threadleaf later, or else if I do get sick, I won’t know which one caused it.”

She passed the shadowberries to him. “Eat, Urkot.”

Though he knew there was a chance that she’d be affected by the fruit, he couldn’t help his relief. He took the berries and returned them to the pile on the ground, instead taking up the mushrooms. If the shadowberries were safe for Callie, and she enjoyed their taste, he’d save them for her.

After he’d eaten, they bundled the remaining food in scraps of silk and packed them in Callie’s bag, drank some more water, and continued onward. The glowworms grew scarcer, and the tunnel dimmer, as Urkot and Callie left the waterfall behind.