It feels shorter than before
I slide up on the wall, trying to make myself as thin as possible as I round the corner of the starting area and into the left most tunnel
The path quickly changes to stone, each of my steps echoing slightly. The echo clashes with the beating in my ears, both growing faster and faster the closer I get
The room suddenly juts open
It is a very small room. There are numerous stained chains on the walls, some coiled around the necks and arms of five individuals, a large dry pool of blood next to the left most prisoner
"Gods, what took you so long?" Rider says irritated, hunched around Ms. Eve's neck
Mary is hunched over next to her, her hair matted and covering her face
My mind goes blank, filled with a deafening ringing
I want to go to her
But I don't
I rush over to the oldest of the orphan's, seated in the corner
My mind feels contradicting, full of echoing thoughts and an absolute silence
There appears to be three locks per person, one sealing the arms above the head and two on either side of the neck
They seem tight enough to be uncomfortable, thought thankfully, not enough to do any real damage it seems
I'm never gonna cut the chains. I try fiddling at a lock with the tip of my grey blade, but my shaking hands misses the key hole
I notice a sealed metal door on the other side
That probably isn't the armory, they wouldn't put it right next to the prisoners, right?
We're fine
My breath becomes cold and pale in the air
Emotional triggers to magic? I mean, I've experienced this before, but I guess it hasn't really clicked completely yet...
No! Not now!
I will my mana into my blade, slowing down
A spider web of white grows along the edge as I saw it against the shackle of the lock
Because of course, out of all the stupid things I had to get obsessed about in my past, lock picking couldn't be one of those
I push myself more and more, growing the web bigger and bigger
I try talking to him in the mean time, trying to calm my own nerves
"It's not too cold, is it?"
He lets out a quiet, scratchy response, "No, I will be fine. Thank you, good lords and the holy one above, thank you for your aid. I-"
"Well, don't thank me just yet, we still have to get out of here. Hey, I'm sorry, but what was your name again?"
Furry frost builds on the shackle, my blade is surprisingly almost halfway through now
"Shi, Kienan, it's Kienan." He looks around sluggishly and points at a wall. "Hammer, there."
"Right, couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" I say half-seriously. We both let out a soft, tense chuckle
I snatch the hammer from the wall. It has red stains around the head, I don't even want to think what this could be used for.
Wrapping my white cloth around it, I tap away at the butt of my blade like a chisel, breaking through the shackle and nicking Kienan's neck a little
He doesn't even flinch
I move over to the other lock on his neck, making sure to not nick him again
Tap, Tap, Ching!
His neck is free
This is going a little too smoothly
Tap, Tap, Ching!
The chains fall loudly onto the stone ground. He rubs his neck sorely as I hand him the hammer and blade
He looks at them, then me, then the tools again before taking them from me
Grabbing the locks on Mary and the other boy's hands, I paint them a stark white for Kienan to chisel through
The jolly and drunk voices faintly echo towards us, it doesn't seem like they have moved any closer
Chink!
I grab the remaining two locks around the boys neck as Kienan frees his hands
Rider is grasping the locks around Ms. Eve's neck, his hands glowing red and orange as flames lick the sides, sweat practically forming large drops off his forehead.
He seems to be melting the locks one at a time
Ms. Eve's hands are already free, I can see burn marks around her wrists as they slowly rub Rider's back. She whispers to him quietly as she tries to calm him down
Her face is tightly knotted in worry, though strangely, it feels mainly directed towards Rider rather than the other orphans
Chink!
Mary falls into me as Kienan frees her hands, hugging me tightly
Kienan crouches by the other boy's neck as he starts working on the locks there
I try to sooth Mary the best I can. Like before, she is sticking very close to me, her arms wrapped around me the best she can. I can feel her heart thump through her thin chest
Pushing more and more, I try to freeze the remaining shackles until they are as brittle as dry straw. I am conscious to not let the white spider webs creep onto her pale skin
Feet scramble against the stone. I look over to see Ms. Eve shakily slipping onto the ground, slowly crawling towards the exit
"Where are you going Ms. Eve?" Kienan calls worriedly to her
I can see her heaving dress, causing i to sway ever so slightly, swaying the torn fragment of her dress
Her eyes look large, like a cornered animal. Rider is at her side
"And what? Wait for them to come back?!" She says hysterically, her voice raising dangerously
I snap the remaining lock around Mary's neck, the chains fall to the ground with a thud. Simultaneously, Kienan breaks the final chain on the other boys neck
"Alright," I say hurriedly, "Let's go."
I release Mary and crouch in front of her. Familiarly, she quietly crawls onto my back and locks her arms around my neck
This feels a little too perfect
Just as I am about to leave, Kienan stops me
"Wait, we can't just leave her here with then"
"Who? I thought we had everybody."
I look around quickly before landing on the fifth and final prisoner in the right corner, I had completely blocked her out of my mind
At least I think it is a she. Thought similarly bound, she has thicker, black chains and a metal a muzzle on her face
She wears what used to be a lavender dress, but it is torn and stained a reddish brown, almost making it red. It seems like she's around the same age as us
But what is most shocking is her strangely familiar features. Black and dark purple shadows shift across her skin like a second skin over her seemingly pale skin around her head, a pair of ethereal horns jut out of her forehead
There is a strange animalistic fervor radiating from her, but also a strange tinge of familiarity and recognition in her appearance
"No!" Rider almost screams, "Leave her! You heard what Ms. Eve said, we have to go, now!"
Rider sweeps Ms. Eve's body and to my surprise, awkwardly carries her into the dark of the tunnel and disappears
My whole body practically is magnetized towards the exit. I look, back quickly towards it and then towards the pleading Kienan, the other boy also on his back
"Fuck fuck fuck," I whisper to my self, momentarily setting Mary down and jogging over to inspect the girls restraints
Her eyes look deep into mine. They are a deep crimson, clouded by dark hues of purple
The metal is porous, almost like stone, and it radiates a strange feeling aura
"It's deepslate." Kienan says to me
"What?"
"Deepslate, fire can weaken it. Set a flame next to it and I can try cutting it away"
I nod to rider, snapper my fingers until a flame appears
I press it onto the collar while Kienan taps away into it. Once I place the flame near, it began to sizzle and pop, my grey blade cuts into it surprisingly easily
We can hear yelling in the distance
Kienan and I's eyes dart towards the exit before each other, we quickly turn back to the shackle around her neck, he hits my blade faster and more frantically
Finally, the blade breaks through and shatters the shackle, sending the mask falling to the ground
The black shadows quickly spread to the rest of her body. She thrashes around, tearing the chains out of the wall
She gets down into a low stance, and just... stares at us
We stay for an impossibly long second, there is some form of recognition in her eyes
She dashes down the exit and through the hall, I can hear Rider yelp of surprise echo back towards us
Kienan hefts my gray blade and tries to toss it over to me
"No, keep it for now, we don't know what's ahead"
I unbuckle the sheathe and toss it over to him. "Better to not cut yourself as we run for our lives"
Kienan quickly ties it to his cord belt. He quickly picks up and carries the other boy as he shakily runs down the hall. I precariously sling Mary onto my back and go running after them
We easily catch up to Rider and Ms. Eve, who is limping, slowing them down
"Hey, how many do you think you could carry?"
Rider looks puzzled at me
"What the hell did we literally learn yesterday?" I say, a bit exasperated and tired. I can feel my reserves start to drop
Then a spark of realization crosses his face
"Certainly, Ms. eve and Jael at least."
He stops and get's down into a crouch, trying to motion for The young women and boy to get on his back
Ms. Eve seems concerned, but she still hoists off the boy from Kienan's back, precariously climbing onto Rider's, grabbing his shoulders tightly
Rider tries to lift them up, planting his feet before toppling
Extraordinarily, his arms and legs familiarly tense as he seems to regain his footing
"You think you can last long?" I ask him
"I should be asking you that," he responds with a grimace
"What about Kienan?"
I hadn't thought about that, doubt I could carry him, and Rider seems to have his hands full
What to do, what to do. Eying around the tunnel, it seems luck might be on our side
"Hey, can you get me that sheet of metal off the wall?"
Kienan silently nods and wrenches sit off the wall, setting it on the ground
"Make sure my blade touches the metal, and hold onto it, Make sure Mary doesn't fall either"
Rider nods in recognition. He drops the sheet onto the ground, walking over to me and lifting Mary off of my back
Mary clings onto me a little, reaching out to me and letting out a soft "no" as Kienan carries her over to the sheet
The same principles as yesterday should work, right?
Once they're settles onto the sheet, I set my my hands onto the sheet. I don't know if I have tried to use two different magics at the same time yet
I will my mana out and into the sheet
"Rider, go. I'll catch up soon. I hope" adding the last part under my breath
Rider goes stomping into the darkness, but my focus is held elsewhere
The jolly voices turn quickly sour, into voices of rage as sounds of fighting resounds through the tunnels
Metallic scraping joins the chorus as slight breezes shoot out the bottom of the sheet. Feint blue strands go this way and that across the sheet, erratically crawling around, avoiding the two passengers sitting in the middle. Finally, they grab onto the tip of my gray blade, the crystal shinning brilliantly, humming loudly
The sheet shoots up slightly, sucking the mana out of me as gales lift it off the ground
I tense my legs, trying to harness that electric stress as before
Thin blue arcs of energy come from my legs as they begin to buzz
"Here we go"
My foot digs into the ground as I kick off, pushing the sheet as I go running after Rider
I catch up to him quickly. He gives me brief look before looking on again
I want to think, but it;'s like most of my thoughts and emotions just bottle up, waiting to burst
After a little bit, we make it to the main room
It is a horrible sight, there are two men lying bleeding on the ground, puke and blood bubbling from their mouth
The demonic looking girl stands bathed in fresh blood
A pair of fresh faces appear from the far passage, brandishing crude metal weapons
Rider quickly lunges over the bodies and past the girl
Right as he makes it to the exit tunnel, the burly man from before appears into view towering over them, blocking their way
Rider unceremoniously drops Ms. Eve and the other kid, quickly drawing his sword. It bites deep in the burly man's leg
Rider clenches his fist. "Red hot hand of iron!" He yells, his hand bursts into flame. He drives it into the mans groin with enough force to feel like it should leave an indentation. Red hot curls lick his pants, setting them alight
He doubles over in shock and pain for his jewels
Rider scoops up Ms. Eve and the boy, running for the exit. I follow suite and push the sheet after him
I see the girl out of the corner of my eye. One of the two other men summons black rotted tendrils of plant growth, trying to grapple the demonic girl. The other's guts spill out from a deep gash. I almost lose my breakfast just at the sight
The sheet slides over the body, my blue arching lightning singing the dead men's flesh as I jump over it
The exit is just right there, we are almost home free.
For the first time, I can see Mary's eyes. They are staring intently into my own, red, tears all dried up
Just as Kienan and Mary cross the threshold and into the exit tunnel, I feel a burly hand grasp at the collar of my shirt and yank my back
I push at the cart with my feet, sending it flying through the tunnel
"GO! Get to safety!" I yell at them, still in the air
"No!" Mary yells.
Horrifyingly, she jumps out of Kienan's arms and lunges off the sheet and bellyflops onto the ground with a yelp
For a split second, I can see the fear and guilt in Kienan's eyes before he disappears, hurdling into the darkness
The man slams me into the ground. My back arches with pain as I gasp for air
He slams his fist into my stomach
A man's blood curtailing screech fills the room, my vision is beginning to get blurry, so i am unable to find the source
Something heavy slams above me. I blink to adjust my vision
The demonic girl scratches furiously at the burly man, biting and tearing away at him
She screams with bloodlust, but the man grabs her by the throat and slams her into the ground next to me
"You bunch of little bastards!"
Rider's sword is still lodged into his leg. He tears it out, sending a chunk of flesh of and plopping to the ground
Strands of skin on his leg wriggle and flail, crossing and stitching together
He hefts the sword, practically a tooth-pick in his hands, ready to cut us in two
I grab onto the girls scruff, slashing my hand across my body, dragging us backwards. The sword slams into the ground at our feet
The girl jumps up and dashes towards him. She assaults him with a flurry of punches and kicks. I can notice the man physically cringe with each hit
I sit up, frantically flipping through my notebook, looking for anything
The girl screeches into a lunge. The man bodies her and sends her flying towards a wall
My body begins to drag myself backwards, away from the man
He smiles at the girl, but then, he finally notices Mary lying crumpled on the ground
"Oh, you poor thing, let me-" He grunts loudly with exertion, "-Help you!"
He begins to bring the sword slamming down to the ground
No
"Twi-twisting and-" I nervously swallow involuntarily
My voice is Shakey as I read off the incantation quickly
"Twisting and spiraling grime, come from the soil. Pierce thy foe with: earthen spikes!"
I make a fist, as if grabbing something invisible, and I yank at it
A set of three jagged spikes of stone burst out from the walls. One pierces him in the arm, halting his overhead cleave. Another pierces his throat and another his gut. He shutters as he coughs out spurts of dark red blood
It is weirdly quiet, my shallow breaths seem to be the only thing to fill the room. This was quick, but I do not think I will forget
I am jolted back to reality by Mary shakily crawling to me
"Where are you going?" she quietly sniffles, then louder, "Where are you going?!"
"I'm going home, how about that?"
"Ok." She says quietly
I help Mary up to her feet, before getting up myself
The demonic looking girl stares at us
I go over to her, Mary hiding behind me, and reach out my hand to help her up
She snarls at me, my hand recoiling away
"Leave," she says with a scrunched nose, her voice sounding strangely familiar
She gingerly scrambles back to her feet and disappears into the torch-light of the right most tunnel
"Let's leave"
"Ok"
Mary grabs my hand as I turn around
The burley man is still twitching on the spikes
My head feels fuzzy just trying to think of a reasonable explanation for that
But I would get my answer quickly
"Isn't that oh so endearing."
His arm slides off a spike with a squelch. He tears his neck free while breaking off the remaining spike
The remaining strands of flesh seem to dance in the air with a mind of it's own, grabbing each other as his wounds begin to close on their own
I let go of Mary's hand. Frantically, I flick my wrists at him, sending cutting winds at him
They nick him all over, tears of red dripping from all over. But it does not stop his march
I try to grab a hold onto that electrifying stress, managing to toss out an arc of lightning in his face as emotion begins to spill through me
It seems freeze him in his tracks, if only for a second
My body goes on autopilot, scooping up Mary and sending surging energy into myself, my legs beginning to familiarly buzz
I dash with electric speed, pushing more and more
I have to get out of here
I have to get her out of here
I run and I run, but I can hear the man's stomps terrifyingly close
No matter how fast I run, it feels like I am never fast enough
My stomach lurches as I feel my reserves of mana drain dangerously low
The arching lightning sputters and fizzles, until they snap out. I slow down
No, no, no! Not now! Not now! Not now!
I can feel my stomach bubble and churn, creeping up and burning my throat
"Gotcha!"
I get a chill down my back, my hairs standing on ends
My legs seem to cramp
But as I drive my foot down, I dash forwards once more, though much faster than before
The sounds of the burley man's stomps disappear from behind me
I quickly catch up to the others. Kienan is awkwardly trying to order Rider on how he can carry Ms. Eve, himself, and the other boy. He is the first to notice me
"Run!" I yell
My breaths become more shallow once again, my body slowing down. It seems Rider is feeling the same, as he picks up Ms. Eve and books further down the tunnel
Kienan does the same, scooping up the other boy
We are much slower than we probably need to, but that doesn't seem to matter
Far in the distance, light begins to faintly pierce through in the distance, the exit must be close
We are saved
But a shadow clouds that thought
The women, the burly man called her captain I think while she was stitching him up, clicks her tongue
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. And where do you think you are going? I haven't even said hello yet," she says with a smile
Now that I look at her in the light, her skin is a varying patchwork of differing hues of skin color. I can now notice feint stitches seemingly holding her, it is faintly noticeable at a glance
She begins to chant in a low sing-song, what feels like a kind of scripture
"Thus he said "Take and take what thy desire, take the life as thread as did I. Defile the life to take from the lifeless, for they are nothing, so they are yours."
Pale blue-green threads unravel from her wrists, her hands falling lifelessly down to the ground. They poke and prod at the ground, humming with a pale gold light
Rider rushes towards her yelling. "Red hot hand of iron!". His hand once again bursts into flame, though strangely with a feint metallic smell. He looks like he is beginning to smoke
The woman effortlessly drives his foot into his chest, sending him to the ground. She flicks an arm towards him, the blue-green thread wrapping around his neck
I frantically reach for my booklet, fiddling with it before it drops out of my hands
My mind races, it seems every thought is useless in the sight of this women
Rider's head starts to become red as he scratches at the thread around his neck
The thread goes limp
The woman seems to freeze
She is split in two. Her upper half slips off her legs, which seems to stand by themselves in dismay
"There you are!"
Ms. Misha stands revealed in the light, effortlessly holding a heavy looking battle axe. A red spray stains her white gown
There is a loud pop somewhere above me, before Fallen appears into view
I take some slow steps forward, before collapsing by Rider's side
My whole body practically gives way
My mind is a chaotic chorus of thought, every single criticism and contradiction of how I could of done better
All my sealed emotions flood my body and drown those thoughts. Tears beginning to streak down my face as a sore pain envelops me whole
"Good gods! Just what have you two gotten yourselves into?" Fallen rushes to our side
"No," I sniffle and gasp, "We're fine... them... first."
Fallen looks at me for a second before reluctantly walking towards the others
Ms. Misha glares at us, her nose scrunched up. She jabs her axe into the ground and marches towards Ms. Eve. She forcefully lifts Ms. Eve up, much to her protests and squirming
"Easy, easy! Do you want to break her other leg too?" Fallen scolds, but Ms. Misha just brushes him off, carrying her out of this god forsaken church
Slowly, the rest of us get up and follow her. Fallen is now holding onto Mary and the other boy's hand, helping them up the rickety steps that we came down god knows how long ago
There is any eerie quietness, filled by our shuffling and breathes
But before I take the final step out of this mess, I stop. A strange heat emanates from behind us
I turn around, Kienan does so as well
Rider is still crumpled on the ground, heaving and gaping
We walk down the stairs and back towards him
The smell of burning flesh fills the small space
"Hey, Rider, are you..." I ask first
It is not over
In an instant, his skin turns to black as he bursts into flames
Rider let's out a painful scream as the ground shakes from the force exploding from him
Chink, chink, chink, chink!
Silver-grey scales burst from nowhere and tightly envelop Rider in a metallic suite
The ground crumbles from under us as it give way into a deep nothingness
The others are only just able to whirl around to see us falling
Quickly, they disappear from sight
Somewhere in the dark, a sharp pain digs into my neck
My body goes limp and my mind goes dark as we continue to spin into the earth