Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

EURI

"If you're sure, Euri, then we'll go ahead without you three," Mets said through the video.

"I'm sure, Dad. We're already half-way to Slourend Four, so Shurwinn is twenty hours away, plus we've already booked the spelunking tour."

"Spelunking?" my other dad—the musical one—asked. "'Spelunking.' Nice word. Hey, Pey'o, we should go on an off-sphere spelunking trip. Crawl down dark tunnels on our hands and knees. Do some research for Eclipse Chasers Up The Rear. The innuendo is lyrical."

Ronnie and Shah snorted behind me while I rolled my eyes. Mets choked back a laugh and elbowed Muse with that "Stop it, the kids are watching," look on his face.

"Alright, we'll get videos of the sanctuary going up and send them to you. Borden and Nika will only be here overnight on their way to Five Spheres, so it's gonna be fast. Don't worry, we'll make sure your casita is safe and sound—"

Muse cut him off. "Tell him, Pey'o, we've got the media announcements going out tomorrow."

Oh, I knew exactly what Muse was talking about, but I put an innocent, questioning look on my face.

Mets grinned, "Big news. Watch tomorrow for an announcement from Known Cosmos Earth Press."

"What, that's all you're gonna give me? Watch for media? Wait, are you already publishing the animations? What is it, Dad?"

He shook his head, "Nah uh. Nope. Not our work, something way, way bigger! We're gonna soar, so you and Ronnie focus on making the best animation you can. We're about to blow up, and once we do, we'll have the audience we've been hoping for!"

"Cryptic, Dad. Alright. I'll play your game and check it out tomorrow. Gotta get going. . ."

"Get some video of the caving trip for us. It sounds like fun. We'll see you when you get back. Love you."

"Love you too, Dads," I closed the video.

Hah! Tomorrow the announcement would be going out that our Press was publishing the Rilla and Rawl graphic novel adaptations. Only, my Dads didn't know that I was currently aboard a starliner with the illustrator and writer of said books. Oh, Dads, I've already won the game, and you have no idea!

"As long as everyone stays in line, everything will be just fine," reassured Lem, our spelunking tour guide. There were ten of us: two leaders, one on each end of the line, and a couple in front of Portia, who was in front of me. Then a family of three behind Ronnie who was behind me.

Our tour included the rented clothing and boots we were wearing and hard hats equipped with head lanterns. I'd added cameras to our hats so we could get that first-person video footage capturing the real-life adventure of heading into one of Andromeda's most fascinating underground vistas: the Cavern of Lights.

Slourend Four had already worked a number on me. It was technically winter on the sphere, but we were in the jungle, and the air felt as though it was made of dew. This boy from the desert was having a hard time with air so heavy it seemed like a sauna, even if it was only eighty-five degrees. Moisture ran down my back and shins. Gross.

Ronnie put his hands on my shoulders and turned me back towards Lem, who was still speaking and giving instructions while Muller, the other guide, went down the line inspecting harnesses and ropes. Yep, we were all harnessed up and linked together in a straight line for safety. Not because we were climbing up, nope! Because we were climbing down.

Down into a hole in the ground, through caves in the earth, and into a whole new world. But I kept wanting to took at Muller because he was worthy of being looked at. He was as otherworldly as the rest of Slourend Four.

Pale yellow, kinky hair, colorless skin, and translucent eyes made Muller stand out amongst the darkly-pigmented peoples of Slourend, but it was his mind that kept drawing my attention away from his lecturing colleague. Muller's mind gave off little pings of something not-quite acrid. Like fresh-ground coffee beans, but bitter. It was hard to ignore.

Ronnie took my mind in mental hands and turned it towards Lem, putting up a barrier between me and Muller. I sent him a questioning feeling back, confused about why he didn't want me looking at Muller. Ronnie sent me an impatient feeling. Fine, he wasn't gonna explain it.

We started forwards towards a wide hole in the ground, and Lem climbed down, followed by the rest of the group. There were metal brackets built into the wall, so it wasn't difficult. Just like climbing a ladder, but it got dark, dark, dark fast! Then there were tunnels and narrow corridors. Sometimes we crawled. Sometimes we could walk upright. Always, it was wet and damp and cold.

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"The final push, team," Lem instructed. "Once we get through the Birth Canal, we'll be right at the opening of the Cavern of Lights."

Shah shook with silent laughter. Yeah, it was a day for cave entendre. One-by-one, the party disappeared into the Birth Canal.

Birth Canal is right, came Shah's mental voice. I'm crawling through a slippery vagina in the earth! She laughed into our minds, and I felt Ronnie behind me, chuckling softly to himself. This is priceless! Perfect Rilla and Rawl caper. Maybe Rilla will propose to Lake Mavwin in the Cavern of Lights . . .

The rope around my waist went taught and jerked two times, the signal that Portia was through, and it was my turn to crawl into the Birth Canal. I lowered onto my belly and started in. It was a slimy affair, and when I got through the fifteen-foot tube, I was covered in muck, head to toe.

Shah handed me a clean towel to wipe my hands and face. Her face was smeared with mud when I leaned down to kiss her lips, and her braided curly hair was matted with gook. We grinned at each other as Ronnie muttered into our minds, Frank is gonna be so mad she missed this. Then Ronnie was through, and I handed him a clean towel from my pack.

It was almost midday, the perfect time to see the Cavern of Lights, which was best viewed when the sun was at its zenith. We all had very thin backpacks carrying our gear, water, and lunch. Once the entire tour group came through the canal, we reassembled for the final march. We were in a narrow tunnel, but could stand upright. I couldn't see much of anything beyond Portia in front of me, and all of a sudden, a whoosh of air picked up.

"Gah!" Lem shouted as the front members of the party pushed backwards, and we all stumbled. Wind and dirt beat at me, and I covered my head with my arms. Something zinged into me from behind— Ronnie. He sent a wave of calm over the entire party, then pulled at me. I felt him directing me, and I knew what to do without thinking.

I breathed in, breathed in the wind, and I made it mine. I owned the wind in that cavern, and it belonged to me. Oh friend, divine, I whispered to it. Oh friend, you are mine. Be here with me now, and calm yourself. I felt the wind move within me. It settled into my belly, and all was calm. Ronnie sighed in relief behind me.

"Eyes? Everyone covered their eyes? You're all okay?" Muller asked from the back of the line.

Everyone murmured their agreement.

"Heh heh. Just the Cavern greeting us. Winds blow down from the surface sometimes. Bit brisk today, but no harm done. Just a little more dirt, that's all. We're nearly there. I can see the light already. Only ten more paces, folks, and your persistence will be rewarded," Lem reassured from the front of the line.

Woah, Portia said, and then it was my turn to step out of the dark tunnel and into the Cavern of Lights.

Woah, I agreed, mouth agape.

Glittering pillars of crystal greeted me. Quartz of pink, citrine, and translucent prisms surrounded us, all lit by sunlight creeping in from distant, high-above cracks in the ceiling. The Cavern of Lights wasn't vast; it was only around seventy-feet wide, but the ceiling arched two-hundred meters above our heads. Everything about it seemed to break the laws of physics. Muller unhooked the ropes from our waists so we could explore the cave on our own. I reached out and touched a citrine crystal embedded in the wall, marveling at the colors.

Dad has to come here, Ronnie sent. Can you imagine what this place would be like for him? What it would feel like if you could sense every mineral in here?

My right hand on the citrine, I closed my eyes and wondered what it would be like to be Borden Sloan, Shah and Ronnie's dad, the man who sensed minerals. I didn't really have to imagine, did I?

I reached my own senses out. It wasn't down here anymore, the wind. But it was above, on the surface. I could feel it dancing in the tree leaves, high, high, above us. Barely a whisper, just the faintest breeze in the midday sun high in the jungle canopy.

"Euridyne . . . Wind of Power . . . Friend of Mine . . . What hast thou wrought? Wrought in me?"

Another one of my musical dad's songs had come true. I was the Friend of the Wind.

I felt Ronnie smiling as Shah's mental voice said, I knew it, Euri. From the moment we first met you, eight years ago, I knew there was no one else like you.

I'm not so sure, Shah. I think Muller is like us, I thought back.

Then Ronnie dropped the shield he'd been keeping up between me and Muller, and I felt Muller's mind fully for the first time.

Thanks for the help with the wind. You're handy to have around, Muller said in our minds.

Shock, then peace. I wasn't used to meeting new telepaths. It was such a rarity. My mind quested towards him, getting the taste of Muller. It was that not-quite-coffee scent. Something pungent. Ronnie felt wry next to me and offered me a mental picture of something I couldn't identify. A furry black creature, not a cat. It had white stripes down its back. I didn't understand. Ronnie shook his mental head. I looked at Muller with my eyes.

I haven't met many telepaths, Muller, I said to him.

Yet, the three of you show up here, and suddenly the wind listens, he jibbed back.

You get to come down here, everyday? Climb through those caves all the time? I asked.

Mental shrug, Pretty good gig for an albino.

I snorted. Are there more of us— telepaths? Do telepaths like coming to the Cavern of Lights?

Eye roll.

I sent out a feeling of impatience. Don't tell me you're gonna be like Ronnie, Muller. Give me something! I kept the wind from ripping us to shreds.

He laughed out loud. Fine, Euridyne, yeah, people like us love the Cavern. We're drawn to it. Telepaths. Friends of the Wind. And more.

REALLY? There's more like me? "Friends of the Wind?"

He shook his head, You're the first windy one. But there was a little girl who had a squirrel follow her all the way in here. And once a woman who— well, when she touched the quartz, it started dripping water. Like there were tears dripping off the faces of the crystals. And you're the third telepathic group I've had in ten years of doing trips underground. There— you happy? You got all the secrets outta me. Secrets it's best that we all forget.

His mental presence vanished, and I heard to no more from him on the trip.

We unpacked lunch and replenished, then it was time to head back to the surface. The wind didn't speak to us again on Slourend Four, but it didn't have to. I knew it was there, whether it was rowdy or not.