A SPARTAN'S WAR

"I make them about two miles away and closing Skipper." Danny spoke, lowering the binoculars.

Radama lowered the set he was using and nodded. "I concur." He spoke.

Martin nodded and turned as Tarifa and Dysea came out of the cave with several others. He turned back to Danny, "Numbers?"

"Looks like thirty at least, maybe more." Danny replied.

Tarifa came right up to Martin and laid her hand on his arm. "Are they Acid Nomads?" She asked.

Martin nodded. "About three dozen of them, and they are heading straight here."

"May I?" Dysea asked holding out her hand.

Martin looked at her for a long moment, his nose twitching just a bit. Tarifa knew then that he could smell Dysea's excitement, and she held her face emotionless as she realized she'd had the same effect on Dysea as Dysea had on her. Tarifa did not want to mention that her own panties had been soaked through when Dysea had woken her, and she knew Martin could smell her. And now he could smell Dysea as well. She watched him gaze at Dysea in a way he did not look at her, and Tarifa smiled inwardly. The last few weeks with Martin had been an experience she would not forget, or ever regret. The sex between them was amazing, but always she could feel him holding something back. Looking at him now… Tarifa knew he had opened her eyes to so much more. She did not love him, that she knew for certain, but what they had shared had brought them closer than she would have thought. As she watched him stare at Dysea she felt a sense of satisfaction that Martin and Dysea had finally come together. And after waking this morning Tarifa hoped that perhaps they would allow her to explore them both before their time together was done. Martin held out the binoculars to her.

Dysea lifted the binoculars to her eyes and scanned the two long columns of Nomads that were approaching the cave. She lowered them just as quickly and looked at Martin. "We can not stay here." She said. "We will become trapped in the cave and they will only have to starve us out."

Martin nodded slowly. "I know. Luckily for us however, Radama couldn't sleep and he did a little exploring while everyone was catching some winks. He found a back way out of the cave; Jules and Anja are leading everyone there now."

"Where does it come out?" Tarifa asked.

"It comes out about a mile further north." Martin answered. "If we beat feet we can make it to Crawford before dark."

"Is it wise to occupy buildings?" Dysea asked, looking at Martin.

Martin met her emerald eyes and shrugged. "It beats staying out in the open." He replied. "It also beats staying in this cave waiting for them to find us wouldn't you agree?"

Dysea nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on him. His words had not been spoken in a demeaning fashion to her. They had been a simple statement of fact. Based on what Dysea had briefly seen and what Tarifa had told her… Martin and the others with him had every right to walk around arrogant yet she detected none of that from any of them. "Yes it does." She replied meeting his gaze.

"It will also allow my people to find us more easily if we are not underground." Martin said.

"Will they be looking for us?" Dysea asked.

Martin smiled, but it was a forced smile and Dysea knew that. "Don't you worry; we'll have you back to your people in no time." Dysea lowered her eyes as he took the binoculars back from her and lifted them to his face. She glanced quickly at Tarifa, who was watching her closely. The emotions that had surged through her when she had awakened in Tarifa's grasp had been nearly overwhelming to say the least, and that they had been inspired by another female was even a greater shock. Perhaps the greatest shock of all to Dysea was that a powerful desire to bed the High Elf Queen was coursing through her. Not to mention the strange emotions that swirled through her when the red haired female gazed at her.

"Ok folks, time to beat feet. Radama, take our two Queens and follow the others. Danny and I will bring up the rear." Martin spoke finally.

Radama nodded and sat up looking at Tarifa and then Dysea. "If you'll follow me Milady? Queen Dysea?" He said.

Tarifa took Martin's hand. "You're coming?" She asked.

Martin smiled and nodded at her. "I'll be right behind you." He replied. He waited until they had started back into the cave before tapping Danny on the shoulder. "Let's boogie Dan."

Dan nodded and rolled over, moving out in front of Martin as they headed back into the cave. Martin took one final look before following Danny into the cave. He paused for a moment as his eyes adjusted and then continued deeper into the darkened cave. The lights from their perimeter had been removed and repacked into their gear and Martin did a last once over of where they had spent the night before following the echo of Dan's footsteps in front of him. As he came around the corner he saw Tarifa and Dysea standing with Radama by a small opening in the rock wall. Dan was just squeezing through as Martin came up to them.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Waiting for you!" Tarifa spoke firmly.

"They would not leave without you." Radama told him sheepishly.

"Well I'm here… so let's go." Martin told them. "Radama go ahead and…"

All of them heard the shifting of the rocks around them and froze.

"What was that?" Dysea asked her emerald eyes darting around.

"I don't think we want to know." Martin spoke. "Radama… start squeezing through the passage, we need to…"

Radama was halfway through the opening in the cave wall and he was looking at Martin speak when suddenly Martin was no longer there. His eyes grew wider as he saw Tarifa and Dysea also drop from his view as the cave floor opened up beneath them with a loud grumbling noise and the three of them disappeared.

Martin felt himself hit the cool water after what he estimated as a sixty meter fall, sliding down the hole that opened up beneath him. He had bounced off several walls enroute to his forty meter drop into the water, all this zipping through his brain as he kicked for the surface of the water.

His head broke the surface and he spit water from his mouth, just as Tarifa's soaked head broke the surface of the still water two meters away.

"Tarifa," Martin barked, kicking his legs powerfully and stroking to her side.

Tarifa dragged her soaked hair out of her face, her legs kicking furiously under the water, and she coughed and spit out water as Martin grabbed her hand. Her eyes opened wide and she saw him.

"Martin where is Dysea?" She gasped, spinning around in the water. "She fell with me."

Shit!" Martin cursed. His eyes searched all around them, and he saw the small beach a hundred meters away. "I'll get her… go to the beach!"

"Martin!" Tarifa yelled her voice panic stricken. "Find her!"

"I will! Now swim!" Martin snapped. Martin took a deep breath and dove back under the surface. It was surprisingly light in the cavern they had dropped into, and the water was very clear. The water they had fallen into looked to be only thirty feet or so deep and he spotted Dysea quickly. She was struggling mightily, her eyes wide in fear, her cheeks bulging in her effort to keep from ingesting water and drowning. Martin kicked powerfully towards her, his SEAL training returning to the forefront. He had always been the strongest swimmer in his team, able to swim a mile underwater in only two minutes and thirty-nine seconds. He reached Dysea in twenty seconds, grabbing her around her waist. She clawed at his shoulders in desperation, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. Her blond hair floated all around her terrified face and Martin did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed her face in his hands and sealed his lips over her mouth just as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Dysea's lungs heaved inward, her nails digging so hard into Martin's neck that they drew blood. She expected to feel cold water fill her lungs, and her eyes flew open when instead she felt warm air fill them. She had never learned to swim, and when she hit the water it had stunned her long enough for her to sink nearly halfway to the bottom before she began to struggle back for the surface. It was to no avail, as her combat boots and uniform were heavier than she had the strength to balance, and she panicked as she continued to sink. Martin had placed his lips over hers just as she had given up, unable to hold her breath any longer. They were now on the bottom of the body of water they had fallen into, Dysea staring into his dark eyes as she inhaled.

Martin released one side of her face and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her tightly to him as he held her head in place locked with his lips. Her eyes were still wide with fear and he needed to calm her down quickly. Martin could hold his breath for six minutes, but that was when he was calm and not sharing the air with someone else. He pressed her body close to his and felt her arms encircle his shoulders tightly. He stared into her eyes and brought his hand from the back of her head to her cheek and caressed her cheek softly, enticing her to remain calm and breathe normally. Dysea realized quickly what he was doing, and she loosened her grip on his shoulders slightly, forcing herself to still her racing fear, her face becoming more relaxed as she felt Martin nod his head ever so slightly and she willed her racing heart to slow. She felt his hands move around to take hold of her waist and he lifted his eyes upwards. Dysea nodded and Martin pushed off the bottom and they rocketed for the surface.

Tarifa knelt in the water, her sapphire eyes searching the surface of the calm underground lake. She was soaked to the bone, yet the air here was not chilly. She felt her heart racing in anguish as she waited for Martin to break the surface. She cried out in joy as Martin breached the calm surface and she saw blond hair wrapped around him. She felt nothing but relief, at the sight of both of them, even when she realized their lips were locked tightly together.

Martin held her waist tightly as he treaded water, and he took his lips from over Dysea's mouth and she gasped and breathed deeply of the air around them. She held him tightly as she lowered her eyes back to his. "I… I can't swim." She said.

Martin grinned. "Yeah… I figured that out." He replied. "Just hold on to me." He lifted his head and saw the blinking light above them coming from the hole they had fallen through. Dysea watched as he reached into his vest and pulled out the small flashlight. He lifted it toward the blinking light and flashed off a message of his own. The light responded and then it quickly disappeared.

"Hold on." Martin told her as he began to swim for the shore where Tarifa waiteThe Master Chief pulled himself back up the rope quickly, and climbed from the edge of the collapsed floor. He looked at Danny who was wedged into the opening in the rock wall as he held out his hand. Tony took the hand and Danny eased back through the opening. The Master Chief turned his body and followed Dan the ten meters into the next tunnel where the others waited.

"Master Chief?" Julie asked.

"They're alive." Tony spoke. "They dropped into some huge cavern with an underground lake and were headed for the shore."

"Underground lake," Anja asked the relief at his words very evident in her voice. Only Julie seemed to notice this and she smiled to herself.

"The Great Fire caused many tectonic shifts." Radama spoke up. "We have found many of these caverns since then. All of them have had a tunnel leading back to the surface."

"The question is where?" Danny spoke.

"Skipper said to continue with the mission." The Master Chief told them. "He would move north and try to link up with us as soon as they could."

Danny nodded. "Then let's move. Those acid nomad fuckers might not be able to get across that cave in, but they might know where this tunnel exits and I don't want to give them the opportunity to find us. Chief I want you to head back there and drop the skipper two of the survival packs from the Raptor and then you bring up the rear."

Tony nodded and headed back through the crevice.

Martin lay on his back on the shore, breathing deeply of the fresh air as Tarifa fell to the ground next to him.

"Martin!" She gasped, taking his face in her hands.

Martin looked at her and smiled a crooked smile. "There's nothing like a cool sixty meter plunge into an underground lake to energize the morning uhu?" He said.

Tarifa's eyes narrowed and she slugged him in the shoulder. "You jerk!" She yelled. "I thought you both had drowned!" Tarifa turned away from him to where Dysea lay on the ground next to him breathing deeply as well. "Dysea are you hurt?" She reached out and helped her to sit up as Dysea looked at her.

Dysea saw the genuine concern for her in Tarifa's sapphire eyes, and it made her flush with warmth. She shook her head gently. "No… just scared. I… I never learned how to swim." She explained sheepishly. "I just sank to the bottom."

Martin sat up and took in their surroundings. The cavern they were in appeared to be easily half a mile across and a mile long. Martin could see the stalactites protruding downward from the cavern ceiling, extending as far as his eyes could view. The shoreline also extended in both directions out of the line of sight with rock formations every few hundred feet, some extending directly out into the water.

"Well this is neat." He spoke.

Tarifa and Dysea both looked up and their eyes did as Martin's were doing; taking in the area around them.

"High Elf researchers have discovered caverns such as this, but I have never been to one." Tarifa spoke. "The Great Fire caused many tectonic shifts to occur, and these caverns are the result."

"It is fresh water." Dysea spoke now. "And the temperature is not as cold as I would have thought it would be."

Martin nodded. "That means it's being fed from somewhere else." He got to his feet slowly, shaking the water out of his weapons and his small pack. "We need to move north and try to link up with the others."

Dysea looked up at him. "That was the light we saw?" She asked him. "The one you signaled?"

Martin nodded. "They were signaling us. I told them we were alive and that we would move north to meet up with them." He knelt next to the small packs that had dropped from the hole as he and Dysea had started to swim for shore. They had been inflated in such a way that the contents of the packs remained dry. Martin pulled his blade from his belt and punctured the air bags in both packs, deflating them. He pulled them open and began taking items from inside the packs. He transferred all the gear into one pack and hefted it to his shoulders.

"We got some dry uniforms and rations and stuff." He spoke to Tarifa and Dysea. "We'll move to those rocks and change, and I'll move ahead to get our bearings."

Tarifa and Dysea blew air into the chambers of their weapons, water spurting out of the barrels. Dysea looked at Martin. "Will these weapons fire if they have gotten wet?" She asked.

Martin grinned, "Oh yeah!" He answered. "C'mon let's get moving."