The torches, maxed out, burnt non-stop.

Iman and Suleiman stood with the sled chain on, both strapped and ready, sipping on the rest of their O-2, with hand-lights shining on their backs.

Fry was in the front of the group, an umbrella torch in her hand, looking nervous as the clicking around them grew louder.

Jack rolled under the upturned sled, becoming a turtle in a metal carapace. She’d been giving a little hand-light that lit beneath the dark sled just in case one of the creatures tried to swing one of their blades at her from the undersides.

Shazza was positioned on the left side of the sled, umbrella torch in one hand and Johns’ shotgun in the next, looking so uncomfortable with the large thing everyone realized she wouldn’t be much use with the clunky thing.

River, who held the last cutting torch, had smiled at Shazza and offered a trade, which the elder woman smiled thankfully and took the small, light pistol, passing the smaller, petite girl the Big Gauge.

Kaylee went to the rear and stood there with River, holding the cutting torch so that Johns and Riddick would have some light on them, and so the younger girl could get a good grip on the shotgun and be able to concentrate on just shooting the Hun dan creatures that got too close to the mercernary and the murderer.

Riddick smirked as he looked River over.

With torn clothes, bandages, and the professional way she held the shotgun, she looked like she’d been through war and was ready for a ravishment---which he’d give her---once they were off this gorram planet.

Riddick, having no desire to see what horrors would surround them, had put on his goggles. There was only one path anyway: straight ahead.

“As fast as you can.” He ordered those in front of him.

River nodded.

Kaylee frowned in worry, looking back at Johns and him strapped to the heavy power cells. “You sure you two can---?”

“As fast as you can.” Riddick repeated, leaving no room for discussion.

The mechanic nodded and took in a deep breath, obviously summoning courage for what they were about to do.

“Let’s do this!” Fry ordered from the front.

“I wonder if she would always be in such a hurry if she had to drag anything.” Johns murmured in complaint as they began to run as fast as they could, dragging the heavy power cells behind them, following the others.

Riddick smirked, having wondered the same thing.

Suleiman and Iman moved well as a team, dragging the sled with Jack speed-crawling beneath, her hand-light betraying a presence beneath yet protecting her at the same time.

Fry kept a couple of paces in front of the two Chrislams, umbrella torch held high in front of her, leading them through the den of hungry creatures.

Shazza swung her umbrella torch around the sled, trying to protect herself and both sides at the same time. Dark eyes on the shadows around them she kept a strong hold on the pistol. So far she hadn’t had to use it, and everyone was very glad about that.

Kaylee was in the rear of the sled, keeping light on River, herself, and on Riddick and Johns. She held the cutting torch up with her uninjured arm, and kept sending Riddick and Johns quick glances over her shoulder to make sure that they were keeping up and relatively covered by the light.

River was running backwards, ignoring the mercenary and the murderer, eyes behind them, ready to shoot anything that tried to jump them from behind. She looked like a tiger crouching in the shadows, ready to spring on its prey.

Riddick tried not to be distracted by how damned beautiful she looked backlit by the flame of the cutting torch.

Predators leaped from the rims of the canyon, circling above.

The hatchlings, young and foolish with hunger, streamed right for the survivor’s faces only to veer off at the last second, shrieking in pain as the flames charred their skin.

Feral sounds filled the air.

“Don’t look.” Riddick ordered, already figuring what was happening above.

Thin blue liquid spattered the fleeing survivors.

“Do not look up.” Riddick reinstated his previous order as more blue liquid splattered down on them.

Fry disobeyed, looking up into the sky and stumbling, gasping in horror. “Blood. Gou shi! It’s blood!”

Above them, fanning as far as the eye could see, was a ceiling of predators. At the cusp of light they dove and weaved and darted, slashing each other in a rabid desire to sound out the humans below. It was like looking at a bucket filled of angry eels.

“Keep going!” Shazza ordered harshly when Fry’s stumbling caused them to pause for a moment. “Better their blood than ours!”

Chastened, Fry kept her gaze down and sped up, once more leading them and keeping her attention on the path ahead.

“Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going!” Riddick’s voice whipped them like the Devil’s coxswain, and apparently caused enough fear for Iman and Suleiman to speed up as well, and it took the mercenary and murderer an extra bout of energy to try and keep up with the fast runners ahead.

More blue blood rained down upon them, followed by entrails dropping from the sky.

“So dark the clouds around my way I cannot see,” Iman’s voice was heard singing the prayer shakily from the front. “But through the darkness I believe God leadeth me.” He stumbled suspiciously in the front and paused in his song, although he continued to pull the shed.

“I gladly place my hand in His when all is dim,” Suleiman continued from where his teacher had left off, finishing the prayer. “And closing my weary eyes, lean hard on him.”

Whole corpses began crashing down all around them, victims of the in-fighting occurring above.

Iman and Suleiman had to slalom through the ghastly mess and try keep up with Fry all at the same time.

Once again, Iman stumbled, but no one seemed to notice it, other than Riddick, but the murderer pushed it aside and concentrated on dragging the power cells and keeping up with Kaylee’s light.

In front of them the passage narrowed into a choke-point, and suddenly Fry stopped.

“Riddick? RIDDICK?”

He looked up, annoyed at her for stopping their course once more, but kept from snapping at the blonde when he realized what had caused the halt this time.

“Wo de ma he ta de fen kuang de wai sheng dou!” Johns cursed when he looked up and noticed as well.

Ahead, a clot of dead predators blocked the canyon.

“What?” Jack’s nervous voice could be heard asking from beneath the sled. “What is it?”

“It’s a fucking staircase!” Riddick snapped at them, pissed that they were all so scared of a bunch of dead predators when they should be more frightened of the live ones above them. “Go over it! GO OVER IT!”

Steeling themselves, they began the climb. Kaylee seemed to want to close her eyes tightly yet was forcing them open as they climbed over the bodies of the slaughtered predators, and River kept sending quick glances backwards to make sure she didn’t step on anything that could slice open her bare feet.

Suddenly there was a cry as some corpses crumbled and Jack tumbled out from out of the sled, sliding past Kaylee and would have collided with Johns if River’s hand hadn’t shot out and grabbed the young girl’s wrist, halting her rapid descent down the mountain of predator corpses.

“Jack!” Shazza called out as she realized what’s happened.

Suleiman stopped his ascent and turned to look back in worry.

River’s eyes were above them. “Get back under!” she ordered before giving the girl a jerk in the right direction.

Riddick looked up, wondering what had River’s attention when the Predator swooped by, kamikazying onto the sled, its bone-blades piercing the metal.

Jack screamed once more from where she was hidden beneath the sled.

A shot rang through the air and the predator screamed, collapsing dead on the sled, forcing it completely down, trapping Jack inside.

“Jack?” Kaylee cried out. “Jack? Are you okay?”

“Y-yes.” Came a trembling voice from inside.

Smoke arose from the end of the shotgun as River quickly passed it to a stunned Kaylee and pulled out her sharp hunting boomerang. “Hold onto the sled tightly.” She ordered Iman and Suleiman before pushing the predator away. It was still connected with the sled, pulling it back, and the Chrislams grunted as they kept a hold on the sled.

With the boomerang River sawed off the predator’s blade sticking into the sled and watched with detachment as the dead creature tumbled down the hill of its siblings’ corpses.

The young woman then put back the hunting boomerang and grabbed the shotgun from Kaylee. She froze and looked behind them once more, eyes moving rapidly in the darkness before they closed tightly and she aimed blindly, three shots firing into the night.

Right behind Riddick and Johns three shrieks filled the air as the silent predators fell to the ground from where they’d been about to pounce on the unsuspecting murderer and mercenary from behind.

“Keep moving!” River screamed, jolting everyone from their stunned stances into continuing their trek up the mountain of corpses.

As they made it over the top of the corpses and began their quick descent, Riddick couldn’t help but smirk as he replayed the last events quickly over in his head and decided that he was going to keep her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaylee wanted to cry out in happiness when finally…FINALLY…the canyon widened, opening up like some door to Heaven. As the horrible sounds fell behind them, Kaylee looked upon the sweat-sheened faces of the survivors and recognizes the same faint hope in their expressions that she knew was showing on her own face.

They’d just survived the Seventh Circle of Hell. Maybe, maybe they would actually survive this.

But right as she thought that, the torches began to spit and sputter…

…and an odd patter was heard against the metal of the sled.

Blood fell anew, in overwhelming quantities.

One torch died yet thankfully somehow came back to life.

River stopped dead and held out her palm, collecting the colorless blood in her hand, going pale.

“No, no, no, no!” Fry screamed from in front.

Kaylee didn’t understand. What was going on?

“It’s rain…” Shazza’s voice was choked.

Kaylee wanted to cry, she wanted to scream and shout, yet kept all her emotions in check. It wouldn’t be fair to Jack if she let the child realize how fucked they were right now.

“Get moving!” Riddick ordered from behind them, and they hurriedly did as told.

Rain fell from the heaven with such fury it remind Kaylee of the story Sheppard Book had told her about while he was on Serenity, the story about a flood that covered the whole earth. The water soaked them to their bones, flowing over the rocks and the ground, making it a slippery journey for them…as if they needed more complications!

They continued to run, slipping and sliding on the mud, until they were forced to stop. The umbrella torch Shazza held died and wouldn’t relight. She moved back next to Kaylee.

“So where the hell’s God now, huh?” The question was obviously aimed at Iman, who refused to answer the barb, yet Riddick continued on anyway in his harsh, deadly, and extremely pissed voice. “I’ll tell you where He is! He’s up there PISSING ON ME!”

“Riddick?” Fry called from in front. “How close?”

The murderer shed his goggles and looked around in the darkness.

Kaylee prayed to every deity that luck was on their side.

“Tell me the settlement’s right there!” Fry ordered in a desperate voice. “RIDDICK, PLEASE!”

The words that escape Riddick’s mouth chilled Kaylee’s blood.

“We can’t make it.”

“Hao yun bu lai, huai yun bu jwo!” Johns muttered under his breath.

“We can make it.” River announced, causing everyone to look up at her. “Just not all of us…not together.”

“What are you talking about, daughter?” Iman asked, his voice seemed pained, as were the features of his face.

“Together we are large, they find us easier, and they scent your blood.” River was speaking slowly, purposely, obviously trying to make sense for them to understand her. “Wolf, fox and this girl can make it to the skiff and bring the light to your darkness.”

Kaylee looked up, understanding what she was saying. “You want us to hide and wait for you to return.”

“How do we know you three won’t just leave us here to be bait so you can just escape?” Fry demanded as she drew closer.

“This girl would never leave the sun behind.” River told Fry, eyes narrowed, obviously reading her thoughts and not liking them.

Kaylee put a calming hand on River’s shoulder. “I know you wouldn’t leave me, River, I trust you.”

“Well, I say I should be the one to go with Riddick and Johns.” Fry announced, voice filled with authority.

“The canary is pretty, and knows how to fly,” River announced testily. “But she is prey, not a predator.”

Shazza stepped forwards. “River’s right. She should be da one ta go with ‘em.”

“What?” Fry turned on the other woman.

“The girl’s proven she can shoot.” Shazza turned to their self-proclaimed leader. “She can keep ‘em safe ‘til they get to the skiff and come back ta get us.”

“They aren’t coming back you Ben Dan!” Fry cried in desperation. “Why would they risk themselves and come back for us when they are safe and sound in the skiff?”

The Australian shook her head at the pilot, eyes narrowed. “Because not everyone would risk da lives of everyone else’s just ta save their own skin.”

Fry took a step back, looking as if she’d been slapped.

Behind them, the awful sounds returned.

“Wanna make up yer minds?” Johns snapped.

Iman looked around. “Where would we hide?”

Riddick looked around them in silence before getting out of his harness and disappearing into the darkness. Moments passed in silence before he spoke. “Get your asses here now.”

Surprised, everyone hurried towards where his voice was, and were surprised to see the crevice he’d found in the canyon’s wall.

“The kids first.” Riddick ordered.

Suleiman helped Jack out from under the sled and into the darkness of the crevice before joining the young girl.

“Inside…inside…” Riddick sounded impatient, and Shazza, Fry and Iman hurried in as well.

“I’ll come back.” River told Kaylee, eyes boring into hers.

“I know.” Throwing her arms around the younger girl, Kaylee hugged her tightly. “Be careful Mei-Mei­.” Feeling River nod, Kaylee let go and ran into the darkness with the others and watched as Johns and Riddick lifted the shield, muscling it slowly over to the crevice before sliding it over the opening.

The cutting torch Kaylee had given Shazza before hugging River sputtered and died, leaving them in darkness within the deep, dark crevice.

“They’re coming back, right?” Jack asked with a tremble from where she sat next to Suleiman, who was sitting straight, eyes closed, lips moving wordlessly in what Kaylee could only guess was a prayer.

“’Course they are.” Shazza reached over and squeezed the girl’s hand. “They’re gonna come back ta get us an’ we’re getting’ off this gorram planet.”

Fry made a snort of disgust from where she sat closest to the entrance.

Kaylee shot her a glare before turning to Iman when she heard his deep intake of breath. “Iman?” She asked, placing a hand on his arm. “Are you alright?” Before he could answer she noticed the dark liquid that covered his leg and cried out in horror. “You’re hurt!”

“I---.” But Iman couldn’t react fast enough to keep Kaylee from jerking up his pants leg, she’d done just that, revealing an ugly gash in the skin above his ankle.

“When did this happen?” Kaylee gasped. “And why didn’t you say anything?”

The sound of tearing caught her attention and she turned in time to see Shazza tearing at the stomach of her shirt and passing the cloth to Kaylee for a bandage.

“Thank you.” The mechanic gave the other woman a small smile before beginning to bandage the bleeding limb.

“One caught me before we got to the mountain of unclean bodies.” Iman admitted sheepishly as the young girl tended to him. “But I did not wish to burden anyone with the knowledge.”

“Badly done preacher.” Kaylee chastised softly, finishing bandaging the wound and wincing when she noticed his blood already beginning to tint it dark red. “When we get rescued we’re taking you right to a doctor if’n the bleeding doesn’t stop.”

“Allah has predestined all of our lives,” Iman announced slowly when she pulled away and sat down once more. “If it is my time to die, then I accept that and will go happily, knowing that Suleiman is alive and well and my family name will live on through him.”

Kaylee paused, blinking. Turning to look at the handsome young boy who’d finished his prayer and was listening to something Jack whispered softly to him, her gaze retuned to Iman. “Is Suleiman your son?”

The holy man lowered his head. “Ali, Hasan and Suleiman were all my sons. They’d been abandoned by their respective parents and I took them in, adopted them, and while I want like any parent to be angry at Allah for allowing their lives to end at such a young age and in such a violent way, I know that is was His will for a good reason, and in the years to come I will see how their deaths served the greater good.”

Kaylee wiped at a tear that fell down her cheek as she listened to him. She couldn’t understand that feeling, that faith.

She looked up at his pained face…

…Wait!

LOOKED?

Weren’t they supposed to be in the darkness?

“There’s light in here.” She whispered, looking around them and noticing the soft glowing above.

Iman tried to stand but fell back down when he tried putting weight on his injured leg.

Suleiman, seeing Iman’s distress, stood instead and grabbed onto the rocky side of the crevice, climbing slowly upwards to discover blue-white lights clinging to rocks. He plucked a few and looked at them as the glowed in his open palm.

“What are they?” Fry asked, standing as well and looking up at him.

Suleiman chuckled as the lights seemed to wriggle in his palms. “Larva.”

“Glow worms?” Jack asked, intrigue in her voice as she stood up as well, brushing off her rear.

“Catch.” Suleiman looked down at her and smiled, letting one of the larvae drop down into her hands.

“Wow…” Jack whispered as everyone circled around her to get a better look at the odd creature glowing in her palms.

“How many bottles we got?” Shazza asked Fry’s favorite question. “Empty ones?”

There was a small beep that caused everyone to jerk and look around them…all except Kaylee…who knew where the beep had come from…

…The sole of her heel.

The mechanic couldn’t keep the smile off of her face.

Serenity was almost there.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With it just being the three of them, River, Riddick and Johns had made it to the skiff rapidly and with few attacks from the creatures. The young woman looked out in the darkness, putting the shotgun down on the ground as Riddick and Johns connected the power cells to the skiff.

Suddenly the skiff came to life and lit up, bathing them in its saving wonder.

River smiled.

Standing in the hatchway, drenched in light, she looked out into the dark rain. As soon as they finished fixing the skiff they’d go back and bring the others then they’d be off the planet and would meet Serenity in the air.

She could feel her brother’s worry.

And never before had she been so happy to feel Simon’s constant worry.

It meant he was near!

The skiff’s engine purred to life and began to warm up, readying for the take-off that would be their salvation.

“Git in.” Johns ordered. “We’ve gotta close the hatchway.”

River frowned as she turned to him. “The others---.”

“Are as good as dead.” Johns announced from where he stood, the shotgun in his hand. “Now git inside so we can be off before we’re dead too.”

“Not leaving until we have the others.” River narrowed her eyes at him, unable to believe that he truly would leave the others to be torn apart. Johns hadn’t been programmed by the Academy to be an unfeeling beast, so what excuse did he have?

“Hey Riddick!” He laughed at her before looking behind him at Riddick, who strolled pass leisurely. “She actually meant it when she said she’d go back.”

“Not a smart move.” Riddick announced in an indifferent voice, leaning against the skiff’s wall, folding his arms over his chest, watching her intently.

A feeling of dread and betrayal stabbed at River, yet despite the fact that her body begged for her to express her pain with tears, she kept her eyes dry and her expression cold. “We’re not leaving without Kaylee and the others.”

“Listen, princess,” Johns announced with a sneer. “Your little friend is pretty but not pretty enough to get me to go back out there.”

“Then wait, here, safe,” she spat the last word out, glad when he bristled angrily at her. “I’ll go get the sun and the bleeders.”

Johns pushed away from the wall and slowly went towards her, tsking. “You’re mistaking us for people who actually give a fuck for anyone other than ourselves.”

River’s eyes narrowed and her foot shot out, connecting with his jaw and sending him flying backwards violently, but before she could advance on him, Johns had reacted and had the shotgun pointed at her, halting her advance.

“Definitely not a smart move.” Riddick commented from where he stood.

River ignored him, hate-filled eyes focused solely on Johns.

“Now, princess, that wasn’t very nice of you.” Johns mocked as he stood, moving his jaw slightly with a wince. “This skiff isn’t big enough for all of us. It won’t take off with the ‘mount of people hiding back there.”

“There are puppies back there.” Didn’t he understand that?

“Puppies?” Johns scowled, looking at the murderer for a second in confusion.

“She’s talkin’ ‘bout the kids.” Riddick supplied, still watching them with detached interest.

“Oh, OH.” Johns snorted, turning his attention back on the seething female. “Yes, well, this is like the jungle princess. Only the best, the strongest, survive.”

“Then why are you still here?” River snapped.

His eyes flared his rage as her insult hit home hard. “I wanted you ta come along but looks like that won’t be happenin’.” Johns glared, pumping the shotgun and aiming, readying to shot. “You shoulda listened ta Riddick when he was warnin’ ya about smart moves.”

“Oh,” Riddick’s voice was dark velvet. “I wasn’t talking to her.”

Johns’ turned in confusion towards the murderer in time to feel searing pain in his wrist and drop the shotgun. Sinking to his knees, the blonde grabbed at his arm, bone-shiv stuck deep within the middle of his wrist. “He chu-sheng za-jiao de zang-huo!”

River blinked, surprised at the change of events and more than a little confused.

Riddick pushed away from the wall and leisurely walked to the shotgun and kicked it away from the mercenary. He went to the blonde and grabbed hold of the handle of the shiv, and goggles met furious blue orbs as he pulled it up and out, slicing off half of his wrist.

Johns screamed and clutched his wrist tighter as blood spurted out crazily.

Wiping the shiv on Johns’ shirt, cleaning it of his own blood, Riddick placed it back in its hiding place in his clothes and turned, going towards the shotgun.

Picking it up, the murderer aimed it at the vividly cursing mercenary. “I was warning you that it wasn’t a smart move to threaten my woman.”

River continued to blink, feeling incredibly stupid.

“Remember that moment?” Riddick asked Johns, who was bleeding profusely from his open wrist.

It hit River hard from behind, causing her to fall hard on her feet, eyes wide.

…

Circling the crevice, it looks up and down, glad that its brethren have yet to notice what it has. Blood. A lot of it…coming from deep within the crevice.

It circles around, before landing before the metal and sniffing around the edges, mouth salivating as the blood within reminds it of how the taste of human flesh is so much nicer than that of the others of its own kind.

Human flesh is so soft, seems to melt in the mouth.

With that in mind it claws at the metal that blocks it from its food, and hears the gasps from within.

More than one human?

Oh! The feast it will have!

It hisses when a light from within touches its skin, and it jumps back, burnt. The light will burn it if exposed, yet it is sure that if it is able to pull away the metal and quickly grab the one bleeding, the burn will be worth it…

…

River gasped, desperate for the air her lungs lacked, as she was released from the vision and looked up into Riddick’s dark goggles. He once more had a grip on her upper arm, bringing her back to the present, anchoring her to reality, and smoothening the transition.

Without thinking she threw herself at him, pressing her face into his chest, his mere presence driving away the demons as he held her close while her body shook violently and she felt as if she’d be sick.

For a moment, for a brief instance, she’d been one with the creature, seen as it’d seen, sensed the stomach-clenching hunger that drove it to feast the way its kind did.

“We must leave.” She whispered against Riddick’s chest. “The sun is in danger of eclipsing.”

“It’s crazy to go back out there.” Riddick told her in a flat voice, his chin resting on the crown of her head.

“This girl has never been accused of being sane.”

He chuckled darkly, deep within his throat, the chuckle reverberating throughout his body, shaking her slightly as well, and she bathed in the feeling and sound for a moment before taking in a deep breath and pulling away, looking behind them to see that Johns was still alive and glaring up hatefully at them.

“The wolf let the fox live?”

“Gotta save bullets.” Riddick announced before pulling two hand-lights that he’d found in the skiff and passing one to her.

She smiled up at him before throwing her arms around his neck and bringing his face down to hers, lips crashing in a kiss very different from the one she’d given him half an hour ago.

Heat rose from her stomach as he wrapped her in his arms and pressed her fully against him, losing herself in him, in his heat, in his desire.

Blushing, River pulled away and cleared her throat, pulling out her hunting boomerang. “Let’s go.”

Riddick smirked at the choked sound in her voice before nodding and turning to look over his shoulder at Johns. “I wouldn’t try to steal and fly this skiff while we’re gone if I were you.” His smirk grew darker. “Not that you can do anything with your hand only hanging together by a thin slice of skin.”

“Fuck you Trash Baby!” Johns spat venomously from where he was on his knees, clutching the bleeding remains of his wrist.

“Not my type, Johns,” Riddick chuckled as, with one hand at the small of River’s back, he led her out into the shadows. “Not my type.”