Agatha

Ididn"t feel the impact. One second, Norsuk and I were looking up at the huge chunk of stone plummeting towards us. The next, everything went black, the air crushed from my lungs under immense weight.

Hot panic choked me. I was buried alive, entombed under jagged rock and choking dust. But even as my heart raced, I realized I could still breathe. The vacuum suit had held its seal.

But Norsuk... Fear spiked through me. Could he breathe? Was he even alive under the rubble?

I tried to get up but something heavy pinned me down. Craning my neck, I saw a slab of wall bisecting my torso, broken in half over me like I was a human chopping board.

The smart armor. Norsuk had said it could block weapons, turn away crushing blows. Apparently that included tons of falling rock.

Grunting, I shrugged against the weight, willing the suit to give. For a terrifying moment, nothing happened, the fabric rigid as steel. Then, with a pneumatic hiss, it relaxed just enough for me to squirm free inch by inch.

"Norsuk?" I called, voice muffled.

Dust obscured the faceplate, making everything hazy. "Norsuk, can you hear me?"

Silence. Heart pounding, I scrabbled at the rubble, tossing chunks of mortar aside with increasing desperation. My hands were clumsy in the bulky gloves, fingers skidding off jagged edges. But I didn"t let up, focused only on the next rock, the next pile of debris.

Finally, a glint of tarnished gold showed through the dust. I zeroed in on it, shifting stone until Norsuk"s dirt-caked face emerged. His eyes were closed, mouth slack. Far too still and pale.

"No, no, no." I pawed at his neck for a pulse. But the suit made it impossible, too thick to feel anything but my own hammering heart. Choking back a scream, I bent over him instead, pressing my faceplate near his mouth.

No fog. No hint of breath.

Despair crashed over me, cold and final. This couldn"t be happening. I couldn"t lose him, not like this. Not when we"d just found each other across the void. There had to be something I could do, some way to bring him back...

My gaze caught on the air hoses snaking from my life support pack. The ones feeding precious oxygen into my helmet. If I could just...

Shaking fingers groped for the connection, yanking and twisting. The coupling popped free with a hiss, suit pressure equalizing. I clamped a hand over Norsuk"s nose and jammed the hose between his lips.

His chest rose as I adjusted the valve, filling his lungs with filtered air. Not too much—I didn"t want to rupture anything. But enough to hopefully restart his breathing, shocking his body back to life.

I stopped after a few seconds, watching his chest fall. Seconds ticked by. But other than a twitch of muscle, Norsuk stayed horribly still.

Biting back a sob, I tried again, sealing my hand over his nostrils. This time, I forced a longer burst into his lungs, shoulders burning with the effort. Black spots swam in my vision, the world graying out. But I couldn"t stop, not until he breathed on his own. Not until I saw those amber eyes open once more.

"Come on, you stubborn bastard," I choked out. "Don"t you dare leave me. Not now."

Even as I said it, Norsuk convulsed under me. Hands batting weakly at the air hose like he shooed a bug. I jerked back, heart in my throat, as he jackknifed up and hacked up what looked like half the cavern floor.

"Gah," he coughed, face purpling. "What in seven hells was that?"

Relief crashed through me, so intense, it hurt. I sagged back against a rock slab, limbs watery. Norsuk was still sputtering and spitting grit. But he was alive. Breathing and beautiful despite the dirt and epic bedhead.

I could have wept at the sight. Would have, if we had time. But even as I reached for him, dizziness rolled over me. The world spun, colors bleeding together.

"Whoa. I don"t feel so good..."

The hose. Stupid. Numb fingers groped for the severed connection, trying to slot it back. But it kept slipping, my coordination gone. Blackness pressed in from all sides, dragging me down.

Dimly, I saw Norsuk lunge for me, face alarmed. Felt his hands on my suit, wrenching the hose from my slack grip. A snick as he secured it, then blessed air hissed into my helmet.

I gulped oxygen greedily, feeling like a beached fish thrown back to sea. Slowly, the world sharpened back into focus.

Norsuk hovered inches away, face tight with worry. "Agatha? Talk to me. Tell me you"re all right."

"I"m... I"m okay. Peachy," I rasped.

He didn"t look convinced. Cursing, he fumbled with my helmet seals. After a moment, it released with a hiss and click. Blessed cool air washed over my sweaty face.

Norsuk tugged the helmet off and tossed it aside. His gaze roved over me, taking in every scrape and bruise. I felt flayed open under that piercing stare, stripped to my bones.

"You sure you"re not hurt?" he demanded. "Nothing broken or bleeding? Tell me the truth, Agatha."

Swallowing hard, I cupped his stubbled jaw. "I"m fine, Norsuk. I promise. The suit protected me."

Some tension bled out of him, though his eyes stayed stormy. "I thought... gods, I thought I"d lost you. When that wall fell?—"

"I know. Me, too." I stroked his cheek, marveling at his warm, solid realness so different from the cold press of stone. "But we"re alive, both of us. That"s what matters."

He turned into my touch, catching my palm in a fierce kiss. For a moment, I let myself melt into it, letting his presence chase away the lingering dread.

But the respite was short-lived. Another tremor jolted the floor, nearly tossing us sideways. I yelped, scrabbling at Norsuk"s arms for balance.

"Hells," he gritted out, wings flaring. "This whole place is coming down."

I followed his gaze to the gaping hole where the portal chamber had been, now choked with rubble. The ceiling was a cracking ruin, boulders raining down in a deadly hail.

It was only a matter of time before the roof collapsed entirely. Before countless tons of earth sealed this cavern into a tomb.

We didn"t have long. Minutes if we were lucky. Seconds if we weren"t.

"We need to move," Norsuk said, echoing my thoughts. He pushed to his feet, wobbling only slightly as the ground heaved. "Find high ground, or at least stable shelter."

Nodding, I let him haul me upright. My legs felt like jelly, knees threatening to buckle. But I locked them through force of will, refusing to slow us down. Norsuk had already saved my life more times than I could count. I wouldn"t be the reason he didn"t make it out.

"The lake," I panted, pointing to the distant shore. The choked water roiled and frothed, waves slamming the crumbling banks. But the area around it looked marginally more stable than where we were, lacking the sinkholes and canted angles. "We might be able to?—"

I broke off with a yelp as a fist-sized rock whizzed past my face, nearly singeing my cheek. Norsuk snarled something vicious and yanked me closer, folding me into his body. I went without protest, tucking my head under his chin.

"New plan," he bit out. "Forget the lake. Right now, our only option is up."

I craned my neck to stare at him. "Up? Norsuk, you can"t be serious. You nearly killed yourself getting us out of that deathtrap, and now you want to?—"

"Want has nothing to do with it. I can get us out, Agatha. I have to." His arms tightened around me. "You trusted me before. I need you to trust me now."

I swallowed, seeing my own desperate terror mirrored in his eyes. But beneath that, like an ember, was something else. Something fierce and determined, an unshakable certainty.

Norsuk believed he could save us. Despite the odds, despite logic screaming the impossibility of it... he never doubted.

And at that moment, looking up into the face of the man I loved more than my own heartbeat, I realized I believed it, too.

"Okay," I whispered. "Okay. I trust you, Norsuk. Always."

Something in his expression eased. Bending swiftly, he captured my lips in a hard kiss. It was desperate and messy but perfect, a stolen moment amid the chaos.

Far too soon, he wrenched away with a groan. "Hold tight and pray," he rasped against my temple. "And no matter what... don"t let go."

Then with a mighty heave, we were airborne. Rising like a shot through the crumbling cavern, debris screaming past. My stomach dropped, a scream lodging in my throat. But I swallowed it, fingers digging into Norsuk"s shoulders.

Higher and higher, he flew, dodging rubble with uncanny skill. I felt the strain in every line of him, the trembling effort to stay aloft. His breathing was ragged in my ear, hot and labored.

The cavern roof swelled to meet us, cracks spiderwebbing the surface. Norsuk put on a fresh burst of speed, aiming for a jagged rent limned in weak light. A way out. Escape.