Gales POV
My heart was still racing as we retreated from the mining area. I genuinely couldn't believe we managed to complete this part of the plan, given all the factors that could have gone wrong, but they miraculously worked out.
When I told Clover I wanted to call Rekka, she gave me a look as though I had lost my mind, but I went on to explain my plan. Even if Rekka did learn about the riot, she might not come down herself and send down trained, armed guards and either capture or kill us all. So I decided to lure Rekka here with something that would require her to take care of the problem herself... myself.
For some reason, Rekka considered me dangerous and very valuable; otherwise, she would have gotten rid of me ages ago and wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making an entire cell just for me. If she saw that I was free, along with the other enslaved people, there was a very high chance that she would come after me herself to capture or kill me.
Once I quickly told Clover my intention, she understood but wondered how I would sell the story enough that Rekka wouldn't instantly figure it was a trap. I had planned to have someone in our group put on one of the masks the slavers' grunts wore. The grunts wore something similar to a gas mask that completely covered their heads and would be enough to cover any one of our group, hopefully disguising their voices. Deception wasn't my strength, but it was the best plan I had.
Clover, however, offered a different method and told me that we could use one of the enslaved people for the call and pointed towards the body of the first slaver she had killed. It was my turn to give her a look, but she told me that we could use illusion magic to disguise one of our own as the slaver and even disguise our voice as well. I had no idea such a thing existed, and not only that, but someone in our group had some talent for illusion magic and could probably do the job.
Clover quickly traveled through the tunnel and grabbed someone from the demolition group, a skinny teenage human boy similar in age to Lucas, who had been part of their batch and had finished arming his charge. When Clover explained the plan to the boy named James, he quickly showed me what he could do. Light shimmered around him, and suddenly he looked exactly like Clover. "Is this what you were hoping for?" he asked in her voice. The resemblance was uncanny. James could look and speak exactly like the person he took on, with a few minor exceptions. The illusion worked more like a hologram than a transformation. Anyone who touched him would feel his real body beneath the disguise. Maintaining it also required his full concentration, so he could barely move and could not fight.
While these were problematic, they wouldn't significantly affect my plan. Once we gave James the rundown, he agreed to help, and we proceeded with our plan to lure Rekka.
As we were finishing our part, the riot group and the still-captive enslaved people finished taking care of the rest of the slavers. We found Darrell and told him to listen for Rekka. We then told Lucas to get the remote detonator ready. Clover also asked James if he could prepare another slightly bigger illusion, which would create illusions of deceased enslaved people next to the actual deceased slavers and one of me standing near the bodies. It was apparently to seal the story of my escape and ensure that Rekka walked into the area, and James, although he would be straining himself, agreed and created the illusion, which left a slightly bad taste in my mouth. The sight of the fake bodies made me uncomfortable, and the fake me standing over them with a horrible-looking glare left me wondering what about me made them fear me so much.
I didn't have time to ask questions, as this took priority. Darrell told us he could hear them coming, and we all prepared ourselves. The plan went smoothly, and we set off the trap and ran away from the cave. Once the tremor calmed down, the entire group began to celebrate.
"Shut Up!" I yelled.
The entire group flinched when I yelled, and the other enslaved people who weren't originally part of our group took notice of what I was, and some began to back away in fear.
"We can celebrate when we get out of this place! There is zero guarantee that Rekka died in that cave-in, so we need to move now!" I yelled
I remembered everything Lucas, Clover, and Max had told me about Rekka. From everything I had seen and heard, there was a chance that Rekka survived and could make her way out. Best case, she was dead or completely trapped. If she escaped only after we left, we could still make it. Worst case, she broke free before the ship took off.
My group seemed to understand my concerns, but those still captive hesitated to follow me. They soon felt motivated by my group's idea of freedom, and we began running through the caves. Ashes found her way back to my side and kept hold of my shirt as we ran through the tunnels to the exit, which thankfully hadn't been damaged by the vibrations. Before we neared the exit, I could smell the familiar scent of sea salt. My heart beat even faster than it already was, and as we made it out of the cave, I was greeted by the blinding light of the sun.
For the first time in what felt like forever, sunlight warmed my skin, and a cool breeze swept across my face. For one brief moment, I wanted to stand there and do nothing but breathe. Several prisoners dropped to their knees and cried. I quickly regained my focus and told everyone to stay on guard and look for the airship, and we quickly moved towards the only building we could see.
We broke into the building and looked for any signs of where the ship could be and, as Lucas told us, the clearance card that would activate it. As we combed through the building, we found ourselves in what appeared to be an office, which we presumed was Rekka's. We searched her office and found a strange key that seemed to glow and had engravings on it. Upon seeing it, Max spoke up and said, "I recognize those engravings! It's the same as the ones on our shackles!" He grabbed the key and tapped it against the shackles of one of the enslaved people who still had theirs on. For a moment, a glowing silhouette of a keyhole shone, the sound of something being unlocked rang out, and the enslaved person's shackles came off. The enslaved person whose shackles came off began to weep for joy, and Max proceeded to free the rest of the enslaved people.
As Max did this, we still had no luck with the card. We feared it was on Rekka, and I wasn't sure what we could do. I told everyone to find the ship, since the card might be on it, or someone working on it might have a spare. We left the building and searched the island. Beyond the docks, we found a small airstrip—and a massive airship.
It was my first time seeing a vehicle from this world, and I was amazed to see such a remarkable ship. The airship stretched at least a hundred feet from end to end. Broad metal wings extended from its bulky frame, with weapon emplacements mounted beneath them. Instead of ordinary jet engines, large thrusters protruded from the rear, glowing faintly with unfamiliar energy. Painted light brown and blue, the vessel looked less like a passenger craft and more like a flying fortress. This ship was more than enough to get us all out of here, but I hoped that the card was in the vessel already.
As we approached the ship, we spotted a small group of people doing what looked like maintenance and moving out of the back ramp. When they spotted us, they tried to run, but Clover and several members of the riot group quickly closed in and grabbed them before they could escape.
"Where's the clearance card?" Clover yelled as she put a knife to one of the engineers.
"I-I don't know!" the engineer exclaimed, shivering in fear.
"We don't have time to question them. Just do what you have to do. Get the information," I told Clover.
I got a few looks from my group, including from Ashes, who let go of my shirt and backed away from me, but I didn't care, as we might be on the clock, and walked over to the engineers. When the team of engineers saw me approach, a few began to weep, and then one of them, I believed to be the leader, spoke up and said, "We really don't know where the card is! Rekka may have it on her!"
From what I could see on her face, they probably weren't lying, and the card was on Rekka, which threw a wrench in our plans. As I thought about what could be done, Lucas spoke up, "Alright, change of plans. If we can't find the keycard, I will jerry-rig the console. It's going to take a bit, but I might be able to start it up normally."
"Okay," I replied
We didn't have many options at this point, and if Lucas felt that this was the only course of action, then we would do it. As we finalized the plan, I was about to tell the members of our group we were holding the engineers hostage over what to do with them when the lead engineer spoke up.
"P-please let us go with you!"
I gave the engineer a small scowl as she asked this. I didn't want to bring any of these people with me, as they clearly had no problem working for someone in the slave trade and probably got paid more than enough for their trouble, and it seemed like the others in our group felt the same.
"Why should we let you come with us? So you can find another employer to help move enslaved people around?" I said.
"I know we don't deserve to ask for help, but I swear we'll help you with anything you need so long as we can leave this place! We were contracted not long ago by Rekka to work on her ship, but we had no idea what she actually did until we came to this place! That woman is cruel, and I know if we stay here, we'll end up being killed or worse by her! Please, PLEASE let us leave with you all; we'll even be tied up if that makes you feel more comfortable!"
I stared at her, and after a moment, I asked Lucas what he wanted to do, as he would be working on the ship. Lucas thought for a moment. "If they agree to be tied up, then fine; they can come and help me with managing the ship, but if they try anything, then we'll get rid of them."
I agreed with what Lucas said, and the lead engineer looked grateful, but the other engineers still looked hesitant as they looked at me, clearly not wanting to be anywhere near me. I couldn't verify her claims, but we needed their technical expertise. "If all of you cooperate, you have nothing to worry about. However, if any of you decide to attack or do anything to hinder us, then you'll have to deal with me."
Using myself as a threat seemed to work wonders. The engineers nodded immediately, were tied up with nearby ropes and cables, and were led into the ship by Lucas, who began working on it. The rest of our group began boarding the ship, and others went to keep watch near the tunnel, with Darrell being the first to volunteer to listen for any signs of Rekka, with six others going along as backup. I went inside the ship to check on Lucas and take it in. It was incredibly spacious and filled with various instruments I didn't dare touch, for fear of messing something up. The ship had two levels. The lower deck appeared to be used for storage, while the upper level housed the command center. Most of our group, except for Lucas, Clover, and Max, sat down in the storage area, with a few beginning to weep with joy, no doubt because they were so close to freedom. Ashes also took a small corner of the space away from the others, hugged her knees, and looked away from me.
I decided not to pay any mind to that and went up to the main hub. The upper deck resembled a military command center. Lucas lay beneath one of the consoles, rearranging wires while the lead engineer advised him. Max watched nearby, and Clover guarded the remaining engineers.
"How's everything looking?" I asked Lucas.
"It's going alright so far. I need to attach a few more, and I should be able to get the main power at least up and running."
"Once the main power is on, everything save for the engines should start up on the ship, including the navigation system and the defense system. We were still working on the navigation system, but it should mostly be in working order," said the lead engineer.
"I'd need to bypass the clearance system to activate the engines," Lucas said.
Once he said this, Lucas attached one more wire, and in an instant, all of the consoles turned on, and the ship's main power was fully connected. Lucas sent Max to calibrate the consoles with the engineers while he turned his attention to the engines. As Max worked on the instruments under the engineers' guidance, I paid close attention to what they were doing. When Max reached a screen displaying an image of the ship, I noticed two things. First, I noticed the writing. The symbols meant nothing to me. This would be a setback to something I had planned, as I would need someone to teach me how to read this world's language if I wanted to gather any information. The second was a large highlighted section of the ship I didn't recognize; I asked Max what it was.
"Oh, that? That's the escape pod."
"Escape pod?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's big enough for two people and doesn't require the clearance card to use and has its own power supply."
I listened to him, nodded my head, my gaze lingering on the screen a little too long, and moved my head, but not fast enough, as Clover took notice. Clover stared at me for a moment, then walked towards me and asked, "Something caught your eye?"
"No, I was just admiring the ship," I replied.
Clover's gaze sharpened a little, and she approached me with her hand lingering near her knife and asked, "What were you planning on doing with the escape pod?"
Everyone turned toward me. Clover's hand settled on her knife.
I searched for an excuse, but none came.
"I-"
A horrible stench hit me. I dropped to my knees, gagging, as Self-Preservation flared across my vision. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run.
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A few minutes earlier
Darrell POV
I was proud.
I took my place near one of the tunnels, kept my magic active, listened for any signs of life, and was prepared to tell anyone to run away.
I had spent more than a year believing I would die in those mines. Now freedom was within reach, and my magic had helped make it possible. All my life, my village had treated me as too weak to hunt or gather. For once, I had done something that mattered.
That's why I volunteered first, as I wanted to be more useful and make sure all our tracks were covered. As I listened, my focus was sometimes interrupted by the chattering of those who came with me as they talked about what they planned to do once they got home.
"When I get home, I plan on starting a garden!"
"When I get back, I'm gonna propose to my boyfriend!"
"I'm gonna apologize to my friends, and then we'll go on a trip together!"
"What about you, Darrell?"
"I have to focus right now," I replied.
"Ah, come on, there's no way she survived that cave-in. She probably got crushed by one of those rocks!"
I paused for a second, then answered the one who asked what I planned to do.
"I... am going to go home and proudly announce to my village that I helped save a bunch of people with my magic and that I deserve to be an adventurer!"
Tap
"You wanna be an adventurer?" asked the one who wanted to start a garden.
"Yeah! I think this helped me gain the confidence to get proper training, become an adventurer, and go on hundreds of adventures, saving people and hunting monsters!"
Tap Tap
"I'm going to become a famous hero who people will look up to and admire, and I'll feel even more proud of myself and-"
Tap Tap Tap
I froze. I shifted my attention back to the tunnels and realized the clicking was footsteps on rock.
TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP
No. It was the sound of someone running through the tunnels.
"Ru-"
I couldn't finish my sentence as a figure burst from the tunnel and grabbed my face, and I was met face to face with a slightly injured and dust-covered woman.
"Good ears."
As she said this, her hand began to glow a sickening orange, and she smiled a sadistic smile. The last thing I felt was the fire—and the crushing knowledge that I would never make it home.
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Gales POV
I began to gag at the scent filling my nose, and everyone in the hub was caught off guard by my reaction and asked what had happened.
When I took a breath, I caught a whiff of something familiar back in my old life. I was brought back to a memory of trying to cook eggs for the first time, getting distracted, and letting them burn, which wafted a horrible burnt smell through the apartment and made my neighbors scold me.
This was a hundred times worse. A horrible, burnt smell made my eyes water. Beneath it lingered something heavier—something like roasted meat.
I fought against the smell and against the annoying system window and went down to the storage area, nearly stumbling until I reached the ramp and stared forward. The other three followed, drawing the attention of the rest of our group. We all looked in the same direction and froze in horror.
Rekka walked calmly toward the ship, dragging a burned, unrecognizable corpse in one hand and carrying a bloodied sword in the other.
"Hello, my dears~."
She stopped and dropped the corpse in front of her. Then she smiled.
"You shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you~."
The plan was a failure.