Taking a deep breath, Egyn stepped out through the energy shield that hid the entrance to the observation compound. Lost in thoughts and memories of her childhood home – now a radioactive wasteland – she moved out into the thick underbrush of the woodland that surrounded the cavern. Pausing under the broad shade of a tree to check the maps of the surrounding area she located the first cave system a little over a kilometer to her south. The cave pinged on her Geomapper somewhere in the distance past a  blood-red forest and a series of orange hills in the center of the valley.


    Quickly checking the small survival pistol on her hip and the knives tucked in the cuff of each boot, she pushed her way into the wall of bushes and ferns that lined the edge of the forest, ignoring the full safety protocol that she would normally go through so that she could escape the pain and suffering in the compound behind her. Hearing the sounds of life consumed her as she moved deeper into the trees. She found her hand reaching for the holster on her right hip, but forced it away. Instead she pushed her hands into the two small front pockets of her jacket to quiet her nerves and to keep from accidentally touching potentially dangerous plants.


    Using her passive energy shield to silently push her way through the brush, keeping as far away from the known Echi tribal camp and hunting grounds. It didn’t take long for the city girl to get lost in the forest and she was forced to rely on her digital map with her Positioning Overlay that projected onto her tactical glasses to guide her. For five minutes she avoided game trails and streams to make sure that she wasn’t visible to any hunting parties that might be out looking for prey.


    Stepping through a thick wall of ferns, she emerged onto a sheer ledge overlooking a crystal clear cenote. Pulling back from the thirty-foot drop into crystal clear water, Egyn activated six drones attached to her backpack and using her datapad sent them to scan the cave system. Taking a second to let out a silent beath of relief, knowing that water sources could be critical if they brought in a lot of refugees. Within seconds the drones had dropped down into the water-filled sinkhole, leaving her to sit on the lip after setting the backpack drone control center safely against a tree several feet from the edge enjoying the smells of the deep clean water moved by unseen currents.


    Watching the datapad in her hands she watched as the three-dimensional model of the cenote began to take shape. It appeared from top to bottom as the four mapping drones slowly spiraled down. Reaching the water level, the drones shifted their small propellers to function in the water and continued their journey deeper. Switching to the second screen she confirmed that the other two drones were testing water quality and taking micro samples of the stone throughout the cenote to get a full picture of the environment and how it could be best used for their needs.


    Laying back onto the soft jungle dirt with her datapad held over her head, she changed the screen over to the cameras that her team had hidden throughout the  clearing that had become the first fixed location where the Echi had begun to build, creating a few non portable buildings that they used as a home base to protect the children and elderly. Switching between cameras she found some of the people she had become attached to, watching them prepare meat to dry or clean skins and feathers to make clothing. This had been her favorite part of this mission since they had managed to place the cameras and she was going to take full advantage of it while she waited for the scan to finish.


    She watched as an older woman worked a fist sized stone against a flat top boulder turning berries into a paste. Egyn wondered what that paste might taste like. After several minutes of watching the midday meal being prepared by the matriarchs of the small tribe, she felt her stomach begin to protest as her hunger grew. Sliding back from the ledge, Egyn moved back to where she had left her backpack and grabbed a homemade ration bar that she and Krituna had made a few days earlier.


    Enjoying the sweet and sour flavor of the bar, she tried to change views on her datapad, accidentally turning on the speakers as it tried to escape her hands. The sounds of a village at work echoed and bounced around the sheer walls of the cenote, making it drastically louder than the initial sound had been. Groaning inwardly, she slumped back onto the dirt and prayed to the lost gods that no one had heard her.


    For several seconds she remained motionless as she waited to see if she had alerted anything to her presence besides the birds that had shot up into the sky in clouds of flowing color. Hearing the drones buzz past her and click into her backpack, Egyn slowly stood up and collected her things. Pulling on her backpack, she turned to enter the forest again but was frozen in place by a pair of dark green eyes staring back at her from behind a star shaped orange fern frond.


    In the shadows she could barely make out the boney concave exo-skull with its serrated bone ridges that ran around the crown and over the center of an Echi’s head.  Barely able to see the flash of white teeth from the very humanoid lower face, it remained hidden while the rest of the body was covered by the orange paint and dark earth that covered his body. Glancing down at her wrist she checked the status of her cloaking field and saw the small red light on her wrist controls flashing red to let her know that she was uncloaked. For several seconds they stared at each other, both stunned by what they were seeing until Egyn decided to break the standoff.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Mentally reaching inside herself, she activated the special ability  that had become part of every Axves. . Because she had heard the limited language spoken by the local Echi tribe, her nanites were able to translate the words that she thought into the words of the language she needed.


    “Greetings friend, I am here in peace and do not wish you and your kin any harm. Would you be willing to step out and speak with me?”


    With a flash of confusion, the eyes shifted from a predator looking at potential prey to a look of panic mixed with reverence. Stepping forward out of the brush, the wiry framed man emerged from the orange brush, his spear held high in the air with the point held skyward in a gesture of peace and honor.


    “Goddess, you honor me with the vision of you. If it isn’t an insult, please tell me what your purpose is for emerging from the Under Heaven?”


    Stunned to realize that she was being worshiped as a goddess, she quickly thought back to the stories and myths that they had managed to record as the village storyteller had relayed them. Remembering the stories of the gods that lived beneath the earth and how they inhabited the deepest caves, she decided to play along in order to survive and maybe get information from this man that could make her mission easier.


    “Be at peace child of the forest, your clan has proven worthy of being closer to us and I have been sent to locate a cavern that can be used by us so that we may keep a better eye on you and bless you. You seem to be a scout and hunter, so you should know the caverns around your village and know which ones are the best options for what we need. Would you be willing to tell me where to look?”


    Giving a very shallow bow to Egyn, the Echi man pointed slightly to the west of the path that she had followed to get here. “Yes Goddess, there is a  cavern that is cut out of one of the mountainous  hills. It is completely dry and more spacious than we have ever been able to search. There are also caverns in the center of the valley, but those are often flooded during the wet times. If you need water, those caverns have the best water for weeks of travel, it is why we remain here. The food is also plentiful because the plants partake of the sacred waters as well.”


    Bowing deeply as she had seen the elders of the Echi tribe do, she smiled at the man and motioned for him to join her.


    “I know that you likely out looking for signs the beasts that feed your family, but would you be so kind as to direct me to these caves. I need to check them to make sure that they are safe for my people. If you would be willing to do that, I will give you a token of my esteem.”


    Clearly terrified by the prospect of working directly with a god, but also thrilled by the honor, he gave another shallow bow and pushed out through the brush with expert ease. Before he could disappear completely, Egyn dove in after him, trying to keep up a conversation so that she could at least follow the voice.


    “May I ask my guide''s name, so that I may tell my people of your help and provide you and your family with blessings for it?”


    Slowing slightly to allow her to catch up, he spoke softly despite the lack of the need for stealth. “I am called Dridvick, the seventh hunter of my clan and maker of things when needed. I am honored that you would ascend to this realm to bless me with your presence.”


    Smile at his uneducated beliefs that had kept her alive, she reached out as her foot slipped on the slick dead leaves beneath her and put her hand on his arm without thinking about it. As Egyn’s hand slipped down off of his sleeve and onto the bare skin of her arm a spark jumped from her hand into the young man’s arm, causing a noticeable drain in her energy reserves. Pulling her hand away quickly, she slowed slightly to let him get further ahead of her and give her space in case he reacted poorly to what had just happened.


    “I’m sorry about that, I hope that my touch didn’t hurt you. There seems to be a connection between us.”


    Seeing Dridvick’s shallow bow, she relaxed and continued to follow behind him as they pressed on. Still curious about what had just happened, she pulled out her medical scanner and tried to covertly scan him. Not sure what she was looking for, she took several scans, looking for some type of bioelectricity or metal in his body that may pull the energy that her body stored in the nanites that had been part of her body from birth.


    Finding nothing that explained the shock, she decided to run one final scan that was designed to check the health of nanites in the body of an Axves. With a small beep her scanner popped up with results causing her to stop and mentally panic as she read the results. The scanner screen was zoomed in on Dridvick’s arm where she had touched him, showing a spreading field of rapidly reproducing nanites, pulling excess minerals from his body to spread.


    Closing her eyes as she hoped that the abilities of these nanites wouldn’t be something visible or dangerous, she pressed the button that the doctor would use to test the ability of the nanites and confirm that they weren’t malfunctioning. Hearing a gasp of surprise, Egyn slowly opened her eyes to see the result. Where the man’s upper arm had been, open air remained, leaving his forearm functional but floating freely as Dridvick moved it and tested it. Slowly the bubble of the disappeared body parts continued to grow as they watched until she pressed the button to deactivate the abilities of the nanites.


    “I’m sorry if I surprised you, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t hurt you when I touched you. We can look into this more when we get to the cave.”