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We must escape the mainland...theres not much hope left... |
| [Introduction] Campfire Notes: 1. When it's your turn talk in first person, I dont know why...I just like telling storys that way... 2. Create your character, Im sure you already know what to do. 3. Romance is good, I want there to be some romance, if you must have two people do "it" though dont get too descriptive. 4. There should be fighting and that kind of stuff just dont get to gory and bloody. 5. This is to be set in an ancient time, no guns, computers, etc. Only swords, spears, bows and that kind of stuff. 6. This will be a world where magic exist so your person can do magic, but dont make them too powerful. 7. Have fun, even though this is kind of a serious thing I want there to be at least a little comedy. 8. If you do not post within 3-4 days you will be skipped and removed from the campfire, like most, I want dedicated writers. Character Bio: (please be more descriptive than just a sentence or two) Name: Age: Appearance: (Remember we are rebels and we will have spent time in battle and dungeons, so dont make your person the most beautiful person in the world) Personality: Weapon of Chioce: (We are starting in battle so you do have this weapon, but once we are in and out of the dungeons you may or may not have this weapon) Proficiency in Magic: (Dont make your person an all powerful god. You can have healing powers or attacking powers or a little of both, but the more you know in one the less you can have in the other) History: Intro: In the kingdom of Daango, there was a rebellion. Instead of dying for our cause we ended up captured and doomed to life in dungeons. When we met in those dungeons, we knew nothing of each other, only that we hated this kingdom, no, despised it. We escaped the hell of the dungeon but only went into a much bigger hell. The king doesnt want us to live, he wants us to live and suffer in that dark, cold, painful place. We were not able to defeat this kingdom and only succeeded in making the king more strict on the commoners. If anyone broke a law, they were thrown in jail or castle dungeons. Now...no matter how small the crime is...they are put to death along with their family. We must escape from not only the king and his nobles but also the commoners wrath. Fortunatly we are not recongnized in every village so we can hide in those places, but now most of our days are spent outside. We have been traveling for nearly two months now...I dont think we have made it even halfway to the bordar of this massive hell. Damn that king for imprisoning us in the capital, directly in the middle of this gigantic kingdom. (Just for a picture lets just say that the kingdom is as big as Asia) We had so much confidence that we could kill the king....We conquered almost half the kingdom, which is not easy feat. The rebellion grew until we had warriors streching for miles. Even though most were not trained soldiers we won battle after battle, losing many but gaining more. Until that last battle at the capital city, Randol....this is our story, beginning with that last fateful battle...the battle where we thought we had certain victory...the battle that we thought we could win but the betrayal of our leader crushed us into defeat. ______________________________________________________ Characters Hiro - Dragon_Ninja  Shekina - Zenisha - PandorasBox Zoran - mm347 Minna - KC under the midnight sun  Character Bios:
____________________________________________________________ [Dragon_Ninja] I was walking next to Rak Shine's horse when the capital city came into view. We were going to be there in one day, the final battle to decide the fate of this land. I looked back at the mob we had as an army, I was suprised we made it this far, so was Rak Shine. "We are disorganized and barly was any type of military training, but we are united like a family for our cause." He always said that to me when I voiced my doubts. We have conquered almost half of this kingdom and gathered over a million people to our cause, but we lose many in every battle, we have few that can actually fight the king's army on equal terms and now we are not only against a few thousand troops, we are against the king's best, in the capital city alone he has over 300,000 troops and we dont know how many will be coming to aid him from the surrounding areas. Our only hope is to get into the city fast before more can come. Rak knows the king's strategys. "What will the king do once we get there, Im thinking he will just hole up in the city with archers." I thought thats what most nobles would do, all the nobles I have seen were cowards till the end. "No, not the king, he will have about a third of his army outside the city while, yes, the rest stay in the city as archers, we just have to hope we have enough strenth to get through that first wave and hope our ram can take down that gate." He said it with such certainty that Im sure thats what would happen. Rak signaled the stop and said to set up one last camp. I grabbed my spear, stuck it in the ground and lean my back against it. I was used to resting and sleeping in this position. Some others came to where Rak and I were and set up a fire, we always camped in little groups, so people could take turns on watch, I never needed much sleep so I always took first watch. We made the last meal we would have before the battle and most settled down, some people stayed up talking. The people around my fire were asleep already. All six of them knew I would take first, and I probably wouldnt wake any of them up for second so they got as much sleep as possible. "Once that sun comes up...we head to our last battle of the rebellion" _________________________________________________________ [})i()i({] The crackling of the fire brought goosebumps to my arms and I had to fight the urge to shudder as the folds of my cloak slid across my skin when I clutched it tighter to me. It is so easy to sit here in this unearthly calm, this quiet that I've grown unaccustomed to, when in my own head I can still hear my blade punching into the muscle of some opponent. Feel the blood and sweat dribble into my eyes, blurring the motion of sweaty, dirty bodies. This chaos is what my head has become, a slow moving reel of images. And still, this is better than what I have escaped from. That is a practical thought. I summon what energy I have reserved to draw my confidence closer to me, warmer than any tangible cloak. Sleep flutters on the lashes of my camp mates; a restless few like myself rest on this uncomfortable ground. Across the fire I feel the gaze of a watcher lingering in my direction. Tilting my head back I can see that Hiro has once again opted out of sleeping the first, second, or is it the third watch already... Well who can blame him for wanting to avoid the nightmare that lies behind ones eyes. This war is torture enough without our less than subtle reminders so easily given by our subconscious that never forgets the worst parts. Our eyes connect, and it's like we've spoken without words. One solder to another. Words aren't necessary to acknowledge the pretense of a kindred spirit. We notice each other, that we are among the few awake and ready. The sun is rising and I can feel it stretching it's way over the horizon. The time is close. My heart palpitates in eager anticipation to get this started. |
| I stare into the embers of the fire, focusing into them, oblivious to all. Below me, drawn into the rough soil, is a tiny drawing of the King's City, since I had been there before. I look around my campfire, at the small snoozing group which are starting to wake up at the crack of dawn. They are lucky, to have the will not to dwell on the past. I quickly distort the drawing of the City by rubbing it out and stand up. There is a common bond between us all, even if we were formerly under the King's service, as long as we made the right decision in the end. I reach down, and pick up my sword, as well as the sheath, and slowly begin to affix it to my armor, like I have done so many times in the past. The bloodshed and violence from my time in the king's army goes through my mind. I do regret what I have done, but I've realized the truth. That warriors like me can't change, because if I did, I would be destroy everything that I was, and that I was going to be. I slowly look over at the other campfires, one by one, my smirk turns into a frown as I notice that Hiro is still standing watch after all this time. His intentions are good, but one of these days, all that no sleep will affect his fighting. Then again, I can't judge him, he's done quite a lot of work on the battlefield. After appointing another member of my small group the watch, I slowly stand up and begin to walk over to Hiro and Shekina. I stop within a few feet of Hiro and speak, "It's time." |
| I see the sun rising, thinking the same thing Lados says to me. "It's time." Two words, with those two words it finally hit me, this is the final battle. This is the battle to decide if the king still reigns over these lands. With just two words, I grew anxious, more anxious then before any battle. I looked at some others around my fire just waking up. Although they slept all night, they had that tired look in their eyes. I stood up and gabbed my spear, "I know, I hope everyone is ready for this." I looked at Lados, he was one of the few with military training, one of the few that stood a good chance of coming out of this battle alive. If we win of course. Rak woke up and looked at me, "Please tell me you took at least one watches sleep." He always said that to me when he woke up, he knew the answer, and he knew I was going to lie. "Yea, I took off third watch." I always said that too, everyone around me knew it was a lie, even Lados who never really came by our fire. Rak stood up,"Well since you and Lados are already up and about start waking everyone up." Lados went toword a different fire and I went to another. Everyone at the fire I went to was asleep, I dont know who the watch was supposed to be but he wasnt doing a very good job. I shook some awake and they started around waking others. I looked around and saw Shekina doing the same. Our eyes connected again, and without word we conveyed the same massage Lados said aloud. "It's time." The mob started rousing, it wasnt really organized enough to be called an army. I had hoped that we would have more of a strategy then to just charge, but no one would really do anything other then that. I head back to Rak, "It seems almost everyone is awake, should we start heading out?" "Yea, lets go." There was no order to move out but when the leader starts moving so will everyone else. The mob started moving, and so it began. The calm before the storm... |
| Stuffing the last strands of raven hair into the cap, I look around and just watch as everyone falls into the rhythm of movement. The mentality of the group sparks like electricity in the air and it is contagious. The first surges of adrenaline warm my blood as I prepare to fall in with the rest. I'm not certain what the plan is, or even if we have one, but I spot several people carrying explosives. Maybe the goal is just to penetrate th city's walls. The destruction is likely to shed unnecessary blood, but then again, that's what this war is about. The revolt of a suppressed people who, if granted certain liberties to express needs that would actually be met- even party way. I imagine if that were the way of things, none of this would even be happening. Which is a double edged sword, since I'd still be captive in my home town. I can recall with such clarity the night the entire city was set ablaze. The total chaos allowed many to escape the brothel. Although it is safe to assume I am one of the few to make it out of the city alive. I know not by which twist of fate I was spared, only that I owe my chance at life to the fellows around me. Even though some other innocent lives had to be sacrificed. Sacrifice. Is that what we're doing, traipsing down into the city to cause as much destruction as possible? I'm not even sure what exactly is the highest sacrifice, our own lives, or the lives of the common people within the city. The blacksmith, the cobbler, the baker, and their families. Lives and livelihoods and the future of which lie in the ultimate chaos of this riotous mob. Maybe some from within the city will come to aid. Perhaps some have smuggled their wives and children out to safety. My heart can't help but think of these things. Wonderment coupled with terror brings compassion for these people I do not know, yet already understand. I only wish for this part to be over with. It isn't long before the sounds of our footsteps alert the city watch. And then there's a flurry of men like ants on the walls, positioned for impending attack. They know more about what is coming than we do it seems. But we're as ready as we can be, and once we've started, it will never end until the last ordinary-soul-turned-warrior draws his last breath on a cityscape battlefield. Choosing to die rather than retreat into the madness of this tyranny. |
| The moment had finally come, our last test. I felt as though I could sense some grand design moving with us in the crisp morning air, as though all my training and all the steps of my life had led me to this very moment. I had not slept very much the night before yet I felt refreshed and alert, I never felt more awake than I did before battle. Every sense was deliciously heightened, and I drank in every detail of the scene around me, from the fetid smell of unwashed armour, the dull roar of conversation that seemed to spring up around me and enfold me in an embrace, to the glare of the sun on sharpened blades. I watched Hiro wade his way through the throng of people to stand before us, his battle worn face showing no stress at all from his lack of sleep. The man seemed to be able to function for days on end without sleep, yet I wondered whether there would come a day when his stamina would betray him. It would not, could not, be this day, they needed him. Hiro was their backbone, their rock, the one who gave them balance and direction. I waited for him to speak, to sound the charge that would unleash our pent up fury and send us out toward the city that had come to symbolise all we hated, and all that we were fighting against. I felt like a horse straining at the bit, I ached to feel the clash of my blade against another, the soft yielding of flesh to that blade, the heat that coursed through my veins in the midst of battle. I yearned for the victory that was ours to claim, for the glory that surely awaited us at the end of this last battle. The roar of conversation faded away as Hiro finally opened his mouth to speak, and we yearned towards him, knowing his words would galvanise our hearts and minds. |
| I walked up the hill in front of our mob. This hill was the last thing in between us and the capital city, Randol. I reached the top and looked out. The king's troops, 100,000 strong were filing out the city gates, waiting for us to strike. I heard horns being blown and orders being shouted. If we were to charge from here, it would take 1 minute to reach the wall of spears they were setting. That spearwall is as big of a problem as what they have inside the city. They have balistas, catapults, and archers. In a charge, many would die before we even reached their troops...but we dont have any other strategy. I found it strange that Rak didnt have a strategy for this battle besides an all out charge, but who was I to question him? I turned around, such a vast amount of people and yet not even half would probably come out of this battle alive. We may have those troops outside the city ten to one, but they have training, most of us dont. I saw many looking at me, waiting for that order that would begin the battle. I've been unoffically chosen to be the second in command...I never did like being in the position of a leader but many in our army seemed to look to me for strenth. I opened my mouth, but I couldnt think of any words to say. What could one say? What words could prepare someone to face death? What words could lead an army to their last battle weather it ends in victory or defeat? I opened my mouth to speak, but instead of words, a yawn came out. Shit! I heard some gasps, and some people started whispering to each other. I didnt even feel the least bit tired and the first thing to come out of my mouth was a yawn! I had to say something now, before they lose any hope they had to begin with. "After looking at the king's army, this battle seems like its gonna be kind of boring, dont you think?" I said in my loudest voice and looked at Rak, I heard some laughs, though most sounded kind of nervous. Rak looked at me,"Good save, but I told you to get some sleep." He said loud enough for only me to hear then he raised his voice, "As you all know, this is the final battle, weather we gain victory or defeat, this battle will determine the future of this kingdom!" I wasnt listening, tuned around and studied the king's army again. I saw the Imperial banner, as I looked at it I got angrier and angrier. A fireball started forming in my hand. I heard some cheers behind me as Rak continued. The fireball in my hand was getting bigger and bigger, now it was about as big as a human head. I heard more cheers, louder this time. Anger was shooting throughout my entire body, as I scanned the so to be battle field. I grabbed my spear and rose up, the mob was deafening now. I turned around, my eyes turning red as I let the power of fire rush throughout my body. I reared my arm back. "THIS IS IT!" I roared "CHARRRRRRGE!" I threw my fireball at the Imperial Army. The final battle had begun! |
| My heart warms at the wide yawn Hiro displays with much embarrassment. If only he'd grant himself an hour's rest every once in a while. For his sake (and alright, ours,) I hope his tiredness is not an impediment in the battle to come. To lose him would be a terrible blow. It would dishearten this army which has come to rely on his ability to raise morale and his optimism, even when things are as drear as they are now. I'd bolster his adrenaline or courage if I wasn't so tired myself. Interrupting my thoughts, the orders resound over the hills, undulating with our vast army. As one, the hodgepodge army lurches forward unified in their cries for battle. It seems as though I am lifted up and carried by the stampede of close bodies, and it is about all I can do to keep afloat. I allow myself to be swept along, keeping my feet off the ground and trying not to lose my balance in the mad race to the gates. Bodies are already dropping from the sound aim of opposing archers, but still, we trip relentlessly toward our goal. Finally the opposing forces clash and abruptly I'm on my feet again. Grappling hooks fly and our men begin rappelling up the gates while another mass of men batter the monstrous wooden gate. I join a group of archers and we kneel and take aim, dropping soldiers from the tops of the gates as fast and efficiently as we can whilst avoiding enemy arrows. Deft with flint stones, my finger work quickly managing to light the arrows seconds before release. Even if the mark is missed, flames leap up around the gates and the walls. The sound is deafening, the shouts of the armies, the clash of metal, the singing of flaming arrows. The air is thick with the smell of smoke, and burning. With a great shudder, part of the wall collapses near the gate. It is unfortunate for our opponents because now it will be easy to tear down the gate. A rush of men are already scrambling over the rubble into the city where more soldiers greet them with swords. Soldiers from other sides pour through the gates and attack our little archer regime. My cap has fallen off and before I realize what is happening, someone is dragging my to my feet by my hair. I swipe outwardly with my blade and tear the sleeve of my captor, who chuckles and shakes me hard enough to rattle my teeth. "What, the army is so weak it allows women, and tiny ones at that, to do their fighting for them?" "No, such is the passion of your opposition that not an able body would resist the chance to fight," I growl and struggle to slash out at him, slicing into the arm that holds me. He in turn grunts and delivers another rough shake as though to render me unconscious by force of will perhaps. Twisting my body around using the swinging momentum from the shake to place a solid kick to the solder's unprotected side. He staggers and I am dropped crudely to the ground where my elbow grinds into the gravel of rubble. He's up before I am and drawing his own sword when a body slams into his midsection from his other side, taking him to the ground. Taking my chance I leap up to deliver the killing blow by sinking my knife into the first available spot- luckily his neck. My rescuer has already bounded back into the fray. The sword from the fallen soldier is pretty with a gilded silver hilt and a wicked curve to the blade. I pick it up and test the weight in my hands momentarily before jumping back into the melee. With such close combat it is lucky I have found a sword light enough to wield since arrows and daggers prove insufficient. |
| Time stood still as I waited for the order to charge. My eyes were trained on our enemy, a small force gathered around the safety of the city walls. Our numbers were vastly greater than theirs yet they held the advantage. Not only did they have more seige engines than we did, but that force of archers inside the city was going to decimate our numbers before we even managed to reach the city walls. I wondered why we had to engage them here, why we were doing what was in effect a suicide rush when there had to be other alternatives. We could have tried to force them to attack us, drawing their forces out of the city. No use pondering such things now, and who was I to question the orders? Rak surely knew what he was doing and Hiro trusted him implicitly, which told me all I needed to know. Suddenly the order resounded through the hills, and my thoughts became focused on one thing only, the force that stood between us and the city. We lunged toward the enemy with a thunderous roar, like a great rush of water released from a dam, breaking violently upon the wall of spears held by the enemy. They dropped their spears still attatched to writhing men and drew their swords, and the melee began. Hundreds fell, slain by arrows sent out from the city walls. Chaos reined, the air was full of the screaming of the wounded, the clash of steel against steel and the eerie whistle of arrows flying through the air. As I sunk my sword deep into the stomach of an enemy soldier, I looked up in amazement to see a massive boulder scream through the air and crush a dozen men to my right. I couldn't believe they were using the catapults so close to the city, not even caring that they were killing their own men. My movements found their rhythym as I slashed and lunged, parried and jabbed. I slashed the throat of one soldier, and whirled around to see a heavily scarred man grinning and holding an axe high above his head. I threw myself to the ground while the axe crashed through the air where I had stood only moments before. Using the upwards momentum to add force to the blow, I stabbed through my attacker's chin, seeing the light in his eyes grow dim and then go out entirely. I yanked my sword from his corpse and sought out another with which to test my strength and skill. I saw a large number of our men scurry towards the city walls with climbing ladders. Few of these men made it to the walls, mowed down by arrows or crushed by boulders, as the engineers adjusted the catapults to concentrate on anyone holding a ladder. Their fate was envied by those who did reach the walls, many of the men who mounted the ladders were covered in boiling pitch, and their screams of agony were truly horrible to hear as their flesh blistered and burned. Flaming torches were thrown amongst the pitch which ignited, the flames devouring any who lingered near the ladders. I deliberately kept my eyes away from the walls, seeing these things could sap your spirit and destroy your will. Much easier just to focus on what I could control, the swing of my sword and the enemy in front of me. Lunging forward to deliver the death blow to the man who crumpled before me, I heard the deadly sound of a boulder falling toward the earth. I snapped my head up to search the skies and saw the lethal shape hurtling toward Shekina, who grappled with an opponent just a few steps away from me. She was so intent on engaging her attacker that she was oblivious to the doom that rapidly approached her. I moved toward her, my movements agonisingly slow to me, my hands reaching for her as I felt the heat of energy rushing through my body. Her attacker slid to the ground, the colour draining from his skin, and Shekina looked up at the huge boulder that engulfed her in shadow. At the last moment my fingers brushed her shoulders and we were surrounded by a golden arc of pure energy, with a great thud the boulder bounced off us harmlessly and sought out a small cluster of enemy soldiers. I sank to the ground, my strength drained to the point of exhaustion, feeling Shekina grasp at my arms as the world around me faded. |
| As we charged, the excitment of the coming battle sank into me. I launched anoother fireball, I watched as it hit a soldier square in the face burning even part of his skull to ash. The armies collided, many falling from the arrows and the spear wall. I slashed through a soldier with my spear, feeling the weight of his life, I had long gotten used to the weight. I felt pain shoot from my leg, I looked down and saw a man now dead use his last breath to stab me, hoping to take me down. It would take more than a spear in my leg to take me down. I looked around, people of the rebellion were falling at an alarming rate, arrows from the city were still coming from the city like flys, it seems that the troops outside the city are expendable. I lost count of how many I killed. I realize that I was standing alone in a circle of dead bodies. The king's troops had grown weary of me. They were staying away. I took this chance to look around again. Men were burning from oil and fire at the city walls, our ram was destroyed. The ladders would be our only chance to get into the city now. Then, I saw Shekina dragging and unconsious woman off the battle field. I couldnt tell who the woman was but the king's troops were not making it very easy for Shekina to protect her. I started rushing to help her, hoping to make it in time. A man stepped in front of me, swinging the biggest sword I had ever seen. This man was a monster towering over me. He swung the sword down, I jumped to the side slashing at his leg barly scratching it. Damn! Even though I have a spear, he has the reach advantage. I had to close the gap and kill him quickly, before those troops overwhelmed Shekina. The man started to laugh, "It seems I have found a worthy opponent in this group of weaklings," his voice was suprisingly high for a man of his proportions. "You will not enjoy this long, I have something I must do right now," I rushed him. He swung his sword at my head, I ducked, stepped forword nd stabbed his chest with all my strenth. He lifted his sword, determined, it seemed, to take me with him. I had no such desire. I sent flames up my spear into his chest. His eyes widened as he felt his insides burning. He feel, lifless. I looked towords Shekina, the troops were closing in on her. I had to hurry. |
| Seconds after the protective shield impedes certain death by an enormous boulder, Zenisha collapses to the ground, her fingers brushing my arm as she slips into an unconscious state. Grunting, I heft her body across my shoulders, the cords of muscles in my arms and legs straining tenuously. I realize I don't have much time to spare. Glancing around I can estimate only a few seconds at most, before I become swallowed by enemy soldiers. It would not occur to me to abandon the very person who'd likely give her life trusting me to return the favor. Setting off at an awkward lope, I head back into the throng of our own rushing men, hoping to lose myself before an enemy notices a weakness. I concentrate on increasing my adrenaline to carry her weight, but even then, I just am not strong enough to make it far. My legs are shaking and I'm beginning to feel a drain from the added use of power. With a cry of frustration, I allow her body to roll gently as possible to the ground and thread my arms under hers to drag her as best I can from the immediate area. My breath comes heavily and my heart palpitates to the rhythm of my fear. Yet just as I am conscious of the fact that I'll never make it, Hiro places himself between the two of us to perhaps buy us some time. There are simply too many of them. Hiro and I try to protect Zenisha's prone body as best we can, but I am beginning to fear that we shall be killed, or worse. The two of us are fighting side by side using whatever force necessary, and our eyes meet, like the night before, except this time, in acknowledge of our defeat. Of course, that doesn't mean either of us will stop fighting. Until we are swallowed entirely, we fight with all the desperation of one whose will to live far exceeds a fear of death. |
| I drifted on dark mists, all earthly concerns seeming far away and unimportant. I heard faint sounds but couldn't grasp their meaning and paid them no mind, I gave myself up to the mists, better to float and dream where it was safe and peaceful. Then a change came over my tranqil haven , the black mists turned red and it suddenly seemed turbulent and dangerous. Faces rose before me, the faces of people whose lives I had claimed, they enveloped me in a tide of condemnation, they tore my clothes, rotted gnarled fingers ripping at my flesh as though they would tear me limb from limb. They sneered, they ridiculed, demanding to know by what right I had taken their lives from them. I stammered apologies that fell on deaf ears, explanations that dried on my lips as one face melded into another. What excuses could I give? I killed you because it was my job to do so, because an enemy of yours paid me the right price, because it was what I was good at. Yes, tear me apart, let the blood run down my body, I deserve all that you do to me and more. Shafts of light penetrated through the blood-red haze and my tormentors fled. Is this the end? Have I died and do I now go to face judgement? My soul was pierced by pure terror, I had not made restitution, my sins were too great, I would surely burn. Through the murk that clouded my vision I saw two shapes before me, I heard shouts and the ringing of steel. The battle! I had fainted! I sprang to my feet, my sword jumping into my waiting hands, and saw Hiro and Shekina facing a force that vastly outnumbered them. I threw myself into the fray with reknewed vigour, praying that my re-entry into the battle would change the odds, which seemed insurmountable. I was afraid of waited for me on the other side, after all that I had done in my life I was sure that torment awaited me. But my fear would not immobilise me, I would not slink from it and shirk my responsibilty. If I had to die, I would die fighting with every last fiber of my being. I would die a warrior fighting for freedom, beside brothers and sisters in arms. |
| (Zoran) A FEW MINUTES AGO: I waited in anticipation for the chance to charge. Why did this Hiro have to be in charge? I should be in charge. I'm the greatest hero here. Besides, I could kill all of these people myself. "THIS IS IT!" Hiro roared "CHARRRRRRGE!" He threw a fireball at the Imperial Army. Finally, this guy waits to long. NOW: I raced across the battlefield. After we reached a few hundred feet, an Imperial soldier yelled "FOR DAANGO!" and threw many of his enemies into the air with a mace. I unsheathed Kendron and prepared to kill somebody before I kill the noble. The Imperial with the mace tossed me to the ground. "I can't believe they call a multitude of weaklings an army." He scoffed. I was done with his foolishness. He got crushed by a catapulted rock. Zoran made another kill! I had to make a move toward the ladder. I ran across dodging enemy soldiers. I don't deal with croonies. Some of my allies, or as I like to call them my sidekicks, were on the ladder. They were soon encased in boiling pitch. I had to make it to the ladder. Before I could reach there, I noticed a projectile in the air. It was early morning, so the sun only allowed me to see a silhouette of it. Before I could move, I realized what it was: An arrow. |
| "Damn!" I pulled the sword out of my leg. How that man got through my defense I would never know, Shekina killed him before I could recover. We both knew that we would be defeated, a large sum of our army was already destroyed and with only us two, we can only take so many. I didnt recognize the girl Shekina had protected, but she regained consiousness and joined the fight. That took a heavy load off of my, and Im sure Shekina's, shoulders. We now did not have to worry about protecting her. I winced as the hole in my leg started hurting more and more. It was slowing me down. Some of the imperial troops saw it as an opening and charged in with renewed vigor. I lashed out with my spear, cutting one man's leg off. I felt the wieght of the flesh, muscle, and bone. I watched the man fall, holding his leg screaming in pain, a pain that many on this field know well. I was blocking blow after blow, getting pushed back. It wasnt long until I realized that I was now separated from both Shekina and the other girl. I called up the last of the fire within me. The four troops fighting me would be too much for me alone without using my power. The fire gathered in my palm as I was parrying and blocking. I took a stab in the shoulder, wincing in pain I gather the last of my fire. I launched it, in the face of my four adversaries. I wacthed as their heads, their skulls, burned to ash almost instantly. I felt light head and dropped to my knees. I used the last of my power. Now the exhaustion and the pain were settling in. I dropped down to my hands, breathing hard, trying to regain what I had lost. I cant pass out now, I had to rejoin the battle. Even if it is sure defeat, I had to rejoin it. I stood up, ready to return to the fray, ready to return to certain death and defeat. Pain laced through my back, this was the worse pain Ive ever felt. Someone had gotten behind me! I turned, nearly falling to my knees. I looked up, what I saw pained me more than any sword wound. It struck me in ever fiber of my being. I saw Rak standing above me, smiling as if he had done the best thing in his life at that very moment. The man I had begun to see as a father had just wounded me to the point of certain death...not a warriors death, but a dog's death. Not the death of a man fighting, but a man killed from his own foolishness. I feel to my knees. My vision bluring. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get up, my strenth, mind, and body had failed me. I looked up at the man I now resented, the man I now despised more than anything in this damned world. "You bastard, why?" Was all I could say before the world faded, before I fell into the vast nothingness of death. |
| The backs of my knees are kicked in and my knees grind into the unforgiving ground. I glare at the offender, a dark haloed figure, blotting out the sun with his bulk. My mind registers a pair of glinting eyes, and there is no mistaking the avarice in our leader's eyes. Rak has sold himself to the other side and delivered our humble masses to be slaughtered. And now, faced with the betrayer and what I would assume to be a couple leaders from the other side, I feel nothing. All has come to naught. I take a great breath and know in some part of me that it is over. My tired weary body knows this, but my heart pounds the blood relentlessly through my veins. Small hope in the face of my betrayer, who delivers not a kiss but a swift blow to the head and the world is dark. The unconscious mind only faintly recognizes pain caused by movement. I am removed from myself enough that nothing matters, and I can rest. Short-lived is the lapse of false peace however, as I am jarred crudely to consciousness by being tossed bodily to the cold stone ground. My head slams the floor with a crack that irritates an already splitting migraine. The left side of my vision is exploding in black dots and I panic for a moment when suddenly all of my vision is blackened. My mind dimly registers that a heavy door has swung closed. Locks slid into place. Keys jingling. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust and as they do, I'm coming into acute awareness. The dank smell of rot and damp, the littered and stained stone floor with it's drain in the center. Dungeons. The familiar instruments loom malevolently across the room, but my eyes are drawn back to the drain. And the rivulets of black and brown staining trails from shackles and torture devices along the walls. Suddenly my mind is full of screaming, so loud my already aching head feels as if it will burst. It's loud, and panicked and devastatingly familiar. The same moment I am embarrassed to conclude that it is me screaming someone smacks my cheek hard enough to whip my head around. I claw outward, realizing for the first time that my wrists are shackled, and a hand encircles one of my wrists, a voice piercing the darkness, "Shush, it's me." Like other whispers in the dark. I recoil and freeze. All at once I'm eight years old, bound again by captors from my past, shoved into a cart and borne away to darker, worse places. I'm whimpering, but my mind has recessed to that time, shackled to the dingy bed in the solitary room. There is no way to fight the hands on me, the monstrous man. That first time for teaching, the next and the next and the infinite number of other times always someone else, for the profit of my captor. As always, the images are too disturbing for even myself to relay and I slip into an easy faint. Maybe it only lasts a minute. I try to yank myself back into reality, commanding my brain to finish remembering. Closure, over and over and over as many times as my weakness demands. It seemed like years of my life were spent hung in that thin realm of half awareness until someone put the weapon in my hand. A story for another time. I found my strength then. Fueled by my fear and vengefulness, I lured that vile man to the bed, and at the advantageous moment, raised my arms and bashed his skull till nothing recognizable stained the place above a twitching body. I shudder one last time, coming back to myself fully, more relieved than embarrassed. I notice others in the cell, sounds of scuffling, and rattling of chains. I squint into the face of the shape still holing my wrist, "Hiro?" |
| I struggled against the chains for what felt like the hundredth time, and yet again it proved useless. I knew there was no point to it, but it was better to struggle pointlessly than to accept the unthinkable. All we had been through had been in vain, countless people had given their lives for nothing. We had been betrayed. I wanted to pound my fists against the stone walls until they bled, until the pain blotted out all else. Or better still, I wanted to give Rak Shine an amatuer dentistry job and pull out all of his teeth one by one. This was the one past-time left to me that gave me any amusement, imagining all the things I was going to do to that walking piece of garbage that we had called our leader. What was his reward, I wondered, for selling us out? Did he sleep easily knowing he had caused the deaths of thousands upon thousands? Over in a corner of the dank pit that we now called home, one of my cell mates stirred. I squinted into the darkness, trying to make out who it was, and then I heard her murmur a name. It was Shekina, the girl whose life I'd saved in the battle, who had returned the favour by saving mine. I should have let her be crushed, one instant of pain and then it would have been over. The name she had spoken, she had uttered the name of the one who should have been leading us. Hiro. A dull ache encircles my heart as I remember how I last saw him. I had seen him fall in the battle. At least he had died a hero's death, as befitting his name. I had seen him stabbed in the back by that slinking jackal Rak, I had been too far from him to do anything, could only howl his name into the uncaring winds. I try again to peer into the inky blackness that surrounds us, trying to see who it is that kneels beside Shekina. A soft cry escapes my lips and I echo Shekina's waking words. "Hiro?!" |
| (Zoran) I woke up from a deep unconscious state. I was never trained to dodge arrows. For they could go anywhere. Poor leadership was the reason we lost wasn't it. I'd go great as the leader but no one put me in charge. I had to find a way out of here. My hands were chained straight to the floor causing scraping which made slight blood stains. I was trapped in a dirty grey brick cell chained to the floor. Where is Kendron? I thought to myself. I had never been a part of a battle so I don't think that back then I knew that they had my katana. Maybe we lost because I got knocked out by an arrow. All I know was that before I got knocked out, I saw that Rak Shine fellow's face and he seemed to be smiling. He may have betrayed us, or he may have not. All that mattered was that we lost. |
| I awoke thinking I was dead, instead I was being chained at the feet. My body was screaming that it was in pain, my voice could scream. I felt bandages around my body, it seems that someone had treated the fatal wound that Rak had inflicted. Someone didnt want me to die. Yet. I looked around, an action that seemed to hurt even more than being stabbed. My eyes were getting used to the darkness here. From the rotton smell and the darkness, it was obvious that we were in the dungeons. I saw a couple of other figures in the room. My eyes wernt accostomed enough to tell who they were. They had to be the few survivers from the battle. The people chaining me seemed to think I wasnt going to go anywhere and didnt even lock the chains properly. They were easy to slip out of after they left. I stood up, feeling the pain of that battle in full. I fell back down to my knees, I wanted to stay there but I had to check on the other people in here. I painfully crawled to a corner of the room and looked down at the person laying there, both hands and legs chained. I recognized her instantly, it was Shekina. She was whimpering, she started to get louder and more hysterical. I slapped her, trying to snap her out of it, it made her go on a frenzy of screaming and trashing. She swung her arms out trying to hit me, her legs struggling against the chains. I caught her wrist and tried again to calm her down. "Shush, it's me." She froze, her eyes shut tight. She stayed like that for maybe ten minutes. I stayed there holding her wrist hoping that it calmed her down. I heard some shuffling around the cell. I look around and see some figures moving around, I couldnt tell who they were. "Hiro?" I turned back and looked at Shekina, her eyes wide open. I nodded my head. "Hiro?!" I heard another person across the cell say. It was a girl in the opposite corner. I really couldnt recognize her just from her voice. Then again, I had heard that voice before...right before I fell from Rak's sword. "Yea, it's me." "I saw you fall, I thought you had died." She sounded relieved...almost happy. "I thought I was too, it seems tha-" I stopped, I heard sounds heading for the cell. I rushed as fast as I could to where those guys had chained me up before and put the chains on my feet. I had just "locked" it into place when the door opened. "Hello my little rebels," The voice of the man that betrayed us rang out, "You guys like your new home? Here you can have that little fantasy kingdom you were fighting for." "You bastard Rak," I heard that girl in the corner say, "what reward did you get for betraying us?" She asked, her voice was filled with anger and contempt. "What did I get you say? Well, first of all, I got to see you idiots thinking you can change this great kingdom, I got to see your look of despair when you saw that I wasn't fighting on your side," He said chuckling, "Then I got as much money as I wanted, and also, it is Commander Rak now. I've been made the sole commander of the Imperial army." "So for a posiition and a few gold coins you sold us out," I said "You forgot something, the pleasure of watching the rebellion fall, I've never seen such a grand sight. Nearly one million people falling before the greatest city in the kingdom, no, the world, The Imperial City of Randol. Now, the reason I came here, it seems that I dont know everything about the rebels, so these two fine men," two men walked in, "are going to interrogate you all one by one to find out where any rebel hide outs are or any supply depots that we should know about." I heard someone whimper, I knew that "interrogate" was the nicest way of saying it. "So," Rak said, I could hear the joy in his voice, "Who's first?" |
| I was so happy to see a familiar face when my mind registered the form as Hiro in front of me, I nearly hugged him. If the thought didn't seem so ridiculous. To want to feel the warmth of another body whose strong beating heart may offer comfort or hope. My skin prickled with cold as I was thinking this and I repressed a shiver. Remembering present circumstances, I felt something drain out of me, slide right down through the maze of stones to that stained hole in the ground. The door swung open. My heart jumped to my throat. This was going to be something, what inventive ways would they try to pry information from us. Looking at it from a practical standpoint, there are a handful of us here. There's no telling which of us is one who will cave, so they'll want to make this exquisite torture last as long as it needs to. Then, most likely, we will be executed in some bloody fashion and our body parts scattered as reminders to whoever is left in the country. With this logged neatly in my mind, it's not so easy to accept death as the end. We will have to endure as long as it takes to devise a plan. With purpose and hope, I believe I can trust myself not to die in interrogation. Provided of course, that I am not deemed worthless from the start, and therefore unworthy of lengthy torture. I do not want to be first. However, I would not wish anyone else to offer themselves in my stead, so I just watch as the man prowls the room. Impatiently he tugs at my hair, "If we have no takers, I'll pick. And you won't like my choice. Ha!" he guffaws at his own joke. I find the matter tiring, this toying with us. I glare at the offending person, intentionally drawing his attention to me. Offering myself, I realize, is probably not a good idea, but a part of me just wants this to be over. "There's a bit of spirit left in this young thing, lets see if we can't crush it," a man I do not recognize yanks me up by my hair and drags me to the nearest... thing. Dunking stool, as it seems. I can't think of what I should be saying, or doing, so I merely watch as my wrists are shackled to the arms of the seat. Then my ankles. And then the seat is attached somehow to this arm, which is operated by a lever. It is when I am positioned finally above the large pool that I begin to struggle against my holds. The water beneath me is so cold I can feel the chill from it on my bare toes. "Fear not small one, answer swiftly and we won't do this more than once." A voice penetrates my fear. I exhale a gasp, losing precious time to draw breath before a rush of wind hits me on the downward swing and I am dropped into the freezing, black water. Completely submerged. It is so cold, I begin to panic a little, releasing precious air from my lungs in a strangled cry. I can hear my heart in my ears as seconds tick by and I concentrate on counting the beats. Anything to keep from panicking. I exhale a little at a time before my lungs start to burn. Just as the burning escalates to dizziness I'm hauled out of the water in a burst. The warm air is like knives and it's a full two breaths before I can manage a scream, more of outrage than pain. My thin clothes are still freezing cold and pressed to every inch of me. I am very aware of my body and the air around it, as it seems to be a different kind of torture. My teeth are chattering of their own accord and I cannot stop the tremors that begin in my chest and expand to my arms and legs. "My that was unpleasant." Rak Shine says nonchalantly, "Maybe to avoid another dunking you'll capitulate a small bit of information. It's important, you see, that we understand each other." I stare at him blankly, repressing shivers are futile. I imagine the weak picture I must make and the thought strengthens my spine. I am no coward, "I understand you. I will be rewarded for these betrayals, information as you say, by not dying today." "Maybe by giving nothing away, you prolong your agony." "Are you implying that I have something to lose which you will not take from me regardless? The inevitable shall be prolonged torture." "Enough of your poetic treason. Where do the rebels congregate?" I shake my head, "I swear I do not know." But as the other man jerks the lever, I am ready for the plunge. As ready as one can be. The shock is less this time, but no less bearable. I count a minute and a half before I am hauled up again. He repeats the question. And I supply a firm "no," before I am dropped almost immediately. I begin to lose count after a while. And the duration spent underwater increased until seconds before I am dragged up, I begin to loose consciousness, only to be jerked to reality by the bitingly cold air against my wet clothes. I manage over and over again, "No." until it is barely a hoarse whisper. Finally I am beneath the water long enough to begin hallucinating scenes from the battle. I search within myself for some small light of hope to cling to, but it is fading with my consciousness. My battered clothes are falling apart, and I watch my hair float around my head lazily. For the first time I realize I might actually die. The indignity of it burns inside me almost the same moment I attempt to instinctively draw water into my lungs. I come up choking to the sound of shouting, and scuffling. Something has been going on while I was lost in my tranquil pool. Perhaps they had forgotten I was down there, in any case I try to get my hair out of my face enough to see what is going on. |
| Silence reigned in our cell after Shekina was taken away. I think we were all struck by the horror of it, the reality of our position was beginning to sink in. We had all known that there was a possibilty of defeat, but none of us had envisioned this. At the heart of it most of us had believed that we would win, despite all the odds stacked against us. I had imagined victorious parades, flowers tossed at our feet by the people showing their gratitude for being from the tyrannical grip of the King. At the worst I had thought of defeat as death in battle, honourable and respectable. Never had I imagined the cruel sting of betrayal, being chained like an animal and awaiting torture and interrogation, as our betrayer watched and revelled in our pain. I looked around the cell, I could see better now, my eyes having adjusted to the dark. I didn't know any of the prisoners except Hiro, and it with him that any hopes lay. He had managed to escape his chains and our captors did not know of this, so perhaps we had a small element of surprise on our side. Not much, but it could mean the difference between life and death for us all. I looked over at Hiro, the only one of my cell mates that I knew, and saw that he was deep in thought, playing idly with the chains that he was supposed to be imprisoned in. I made a small sound to catch his attention, and gestured for him to come over. Others in the cell watched with interest as he crept over, being careful not to make too much noise and alert our captors. "We have to formulate a plan of escape", I whispered, just loud enough for the others in the cell to hear, "I'll be damned if I'm just going to give up and let that snake Rak win. You have your hands free and they do not know of it, you might be the only hope that we have." "Yes, but it is only a small hope", Hiro replied, " And it must be used at the right time. I agree with you, we have to get out of here, we cannot let them get the information they desire. But we have to be very careful and very smart, we will only have one chance. I have to think about this, and wait for the right moment". He looked around the others in the cell, and sighed. "I'm afraid that some of us are going to have to suffer before we get our chance, but we have to be strong and resist them. I would rather die in screaming pain than betray the cause that we have all fought so hard for." He opened his mouth to speak further but was forced to fall silent and scramble back to his corner, quickly "locking" his chains into place as nearby footfalls announced a visitor to our cell. The guard who entered was short and burly, with small beady eyes and a hard, mean face. He looked around the cell, staring into each inmate's eyes as if taking their measure before he spoke in a soft, deadly voice. "I'm here to take another one of you yellow- bellied rebels to the torture chambers." He grinned widely as he said this, savouring the words as though they were delicious morsels of food. "You can try to resist but in the end, we will break you, everyone breaks sooner or later. Personally, I hope you resist, so that I can better enjoy your agony". He stared at us again, as if daring us to speak, and then his eyes settled on me. My insides contracted and shrivelled inside my body as his grin widened. He had made his choice. He made his way over to me, and I shared a desperate look with Hiro. He shook his head imperceptably, it was not the time to make the move. The guard unlocked my chains and hauled me roughly from the room, digging his fingers into my arm. He pushed me thorugh the passageway, yanking me up by the hair when I fell. We entered a small, dimly lit room. The adornments on the walls left no doubt that this was our destination. Wicked looking and serrated objects gleamed from the flickering torch lights, and there was a stench in the air of seared flesh, spilt blood and waste expelled from victims in their final, desperate moments. I kept my face impassive and calm, but inside I was trembling and there was the bitter taste of stomach juices in my mouth. I was fastened to a pole in the centre of the room, my shirt stripped off so that I was bare. I gritted my teeth, I knew what my fate was to be. I ignored the leers and jibes of my captors, trying to take myself to a place in my mind where I was safe from harm. Then the barbed whip bit into my back and I screamed in spite of myself. My tormentors laughed, the sound echoing around the room, and taunted me. "I thought you was supposed to be a fighter or somethin. Surely you aint afraid of a little pain? Women! No use for 'em in the battlefield, barely any use for 'em at all!". I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my teeth, trying to anticipate the blows but I could not prepare myself for the shock of the barbs biting into my flesh. It felt as though my flesh was being torn off my body, one piece at a time. Loud involuntary cries burst from my lips as the pain shot through me, there was no escaping it, I could not summon up any safe place in my mind in which to hide. My back was on fire, blood running freely down my legs. The blows stopped and I collapsed with relief against the pole I was chained against, keeping my eyes tightly shut. I felt one of the torturers behind me, his lips right against my ear. "You know what we want. Tell us what we want to know and we will stop the pain". "Never", I croaked. They poured a liquid over my back and my voice broke as the scream swelled through my throat, it was like acid eating through my skin, finding all the sore spots on my back and making the pain so intense that I almost fainted. Again the man whispered in my ear, "Why make it worse for yourself? We have only just begun. When you can take no more of this, you will be taken back to your cell, and then we will bring you back here and use something else on you, this is just the warm up, a little tickle compared to what we can do to you". I knew that he was telling the truth, yet I still found the strength to refuse. They poured more of the liquid over my weeping wounds and another unearthly scream issued from my throat. Then the blows began again. At some point I blacked out, a merciful release from the agony. I fell into inky blackness, feeling some small comfort in the fact that I had not broken, that I had found my measure, that I had proved equal to the task. |
| (Zoran) I watched in horror as they tortured that innocent girl. I wanted to kill them! I wanted to kill them all! She drooped to the ground. They needed someone else to tell them information. They turned to me. "Young man, aren't you?" The guard's rough palms touched my cheek. "Why don't you..." "Let me go!" I ordered through clenched teeth. "So I can kill the whole lot of you." He slapped me right across the face. "Do not threathen your superiors." He growled. I could play rough. I tried to lunge at him but my chains prohibited me. If only I was like Hiro, he slipped out of his chains before. "TALK!" My lips remained sealed. "Hiro, you should teach this one his manners...By the way, how's about you start talking? You did plan this!" He walked on over to Hiro. Hiro slipped out of the chains once. He's our only chance of getting out of here. I closed my eyes and prayed to God that we would survive this. |
Hey, sorry about the long add, but I'm new and there was lots to catch up on!  I am conscious of my raging headache long before I feel aware of anything else. There is an awful rag in my mouth which, combined with my swollen face, makes breathing difficult. I wonder, Is my nose broken? Then I realize that I am hanging, suspended by my wrists, along a cold, stone wall. I mourn the loss of my gauntlets as my shoulders begin to complain of their abuse. I groan, blinking. At first I think I have gone blind, but then I realize that, no, I can see, there just isn't anything to see. In wiggling, I find my ankles also to be shackled, held below, so that just my toes touch the floor. All my weight rests on my arms. What had happened? Where am I? I close my eyes, steadying my nerves, calming my spirits, going to that other place to meditate, to separate myself from these earthly restraints. Oh, yes, that's right, I remember now. The battle had not gone at all well. I was in charge of the party with the battering ram. I didn't understand why, but those had been my orders. "Get through," Rak had told me. I had wanted to argue at the time, a straight-on attack did not make sense, not knowing what he knew, not knowing what I knew. But if Rak said this was the way to do it, then it was. And I did my job. No, no, I mustn't fool myself! We failed. The ram was destroyed by the waiting imperials. That was all I remembered, flying backwards from the sorcerous explosion and hitting the ground face-first. Huh. So now I'm a prisoner. Well, they'd wanted and tried to kill me before; they failed then, and they'll fail now. I wonder, though, did they recognize me? Duh, I'm hanging on a wall, with what tastes like a moldy sock in my mouth. Don't be stupid, Minna! Of course they recognized you! I pause to think. It does seem odd that the Guard would not have executed me immediately for that prior bit of 'treason.' Pain stabs me in the heart as the memories of that day and those deaths flood my mind. They had trusted me, my cadre, and what did that bring them? Nothing but misery. Even Jai, my partner and shield, my Ish'mai, my beloved. I push the sorrow back with more anger. I am not dead yet, they can still be avenged! Hmm, my eyes seem to be adjusting, I can make out shapes in the darkness. Not many. Someone is whispering. That voice sounds familiar. Who is it? Not enough to tell who it is, but then there's a rustling of movement and steps beyond our little room. Keys rattle in locks and the door swings open. The sudden light is blinding and I blink furiously, to try and make out our captor. Rak . . . ! What? No! It cannot be! Betrayed by our leader? He is speaking now, boasting of his actions, his prize. How can we have been such fools? I'll kill him! I swear! As soon as I get out of here, I promise myself, I'll hunt him down and -- wait! Is that Hiro's voice? So, those stupid imperials had chained all us rebels up together. That will not last long. Sure, sure, interrogate me first, you bastard! I'll show you a thing or two! I rattle my chains, but he does not notice. Or perhaps it is that he simply does not care. The guards take someone, and then there is quiet for a time. Let's see, shall I break out now, ambush the guards when they come back? Or should I wait? I wish Hiro would take charge and tell me what he wants me to do. Does he even know I'm here? Should I wait and see if he comes up with a plan? Or just break free and announce I'm here? I can't decide! My head hurts too much. I listen and I wait. I wake abruptly from an inadvertent doze as the cell door opens and closes as someone else is removed. Silently I curse my fuzzy head and wiggle my hands as best I can, for they are numb. Blood trickles down my arms from my wrists, torn in these shackles. I can't stay here much longer or I shall have no strength for the battle ahead, for surely there will be battle! My lips split in a fierce grin as I anticipate getting my hands on our enemies. And Rak in particular. How I wish to perpetrate his doom myself! That priviledge, however, must first go to Hiro ... but maybe he'll let me play with whatever's left before Rak dies! Yes, one must remain optimistic. Ugh! My head is still spinning. I must get out of here NOW! I grab my chains with my hands and brace myself. With fury powering my magic, I jerk my legs hard, swinging them up and ripping the shackles free of the floor. Then I turn, such that my arms are crossed and my toes press into the wall. Quickly, I break free of my other chains and drop lightly to the ground, rolling my shoulders in painful relief, conscious of eyes upon me. In seconds, what remains of my chains lay broken and scattered around me. Seeing Hiro, I go to him, pulling out the gag as I move. My first few steps are wobbly, my whole body aches, and my head most of all. I take a deep breath and concentrate on putting one foot solidly on the ground after the other. Then I'm crouching by his side. "Hiro!" I whisper. "What are your --" "Shh!" he silences me. "They'll have heard you." My hands clench into fists. "Let them come." I prowl towards the door, not as silent as is usual, but I am confident that I shall take the guard by surprise. I step a few paces back in the dark, out of direct line of sight of the door, and wait. I whisper a phrase, no louder than a prayer, "Hae Hanae-sa!" and relax into a crouch, ready to leap into action. The guard comes in again. I can't tell if this is the same guard or a different one. But, honestly, I really don't care. I'll have one chance at this, I have to make it count. I watch as the guard closes the door behind him. He is alone. Better and better. He goes over to someone I don't know, slaps him around a little, but he is tough. Hiro is watching me, I know he lacks strength, I saw he was wounded. It is all up to me. I wish my head weren't pounding so loud! I hit the guard, lead foot extended, right into the small of his back just as he turns toward Hiro. Not perfect, but the flying jump kick connects with all my not-inconsiderable weight behind it. The guard crashes into the wall, staggers a little, and slumps to the floor. Back on my feet I nod and kick him brutally for good measure. I am weak still, no need to take chances. I rub my hands together. We must hurry if we are to save our compatriots. With my bare hands I rip the chains off of the lad and he tells me his name is Zohar. Now is no time for introductions, but I give him my name anyway, Minna. "Do you know where they took the other girls, Zohar?" I ask. I pick up Hiro in my arms. "We must hurry!" Zohar grabs the keys and sword from the guard, goes to the door confidently and opens it. I turn, to make sure no one else is there. I see no one. Zohar beckons and I hurry after. Hiro is heavy, but we don't have time for either his weakness or mine. Within a few steps even I can hear the screams. We edge closer, and I set Hiro down. "Are they both in there?" I ask Zohar. He shakes his head. "Where is the other?" He points to a nearby door and I listen. Now I can make out the sound of splashing. I frown. What could be that racket? "How many in each?" With fingers he points, two in each. The incapacitated guard would make five. Where was Rak? Hiro points to the door with the splashing. "Minna." I nod. The two men got ready to enter their picked room, and I slink across to the other. The door is slightly open. I crouch beside it and ready myself. "Vasta, Khul'shalkrum," I chant. I can feel my body hardening. At once, for I know my strength will fade quickly in my weakened state, I throw open the door and charge. I jump at the first man, standing to the side of the device, bringing up my jumping foot before me in extension -- this, now is a perfect flying side kick. The man fell over backwards, air leaving his lungs in one big OOF! Immediately I roll to evade the other man's sword, dodging to the side and throwing an immediate block instead of retreating. The blow connects on the man's forearm and there is an answering CRACK! He screams in pain and backs off. I cannot let him get away! I launch myself into a spinning kick from the ground, and get impact alongside his shoulder instead of the head where I'd aimed. Still, he lurches sideways, hits the doorjam and falls back inside. One swift blow to the face and he's still. If that turned out the way I'd felt it to, he'd be dead shortly. But the other! Augh, I groan and grit my teeth as I don't quite duck far enough. I charge back at him and rotate into another spinning kick, coming out early and launching a series of combination punches to the chest and stomach, finishing with a roundhouse to sweep him off his feet and an open-palm blow to the side of the head. He now lies still. Hmm, not bad, only 45 seconds. I'm breathing hard, and I can hear shouting from the other room. This worries me. No telling who else can hear that. Quickly I go to the girl and break open her shackles. "I'm Minna," I try to explain, lifting her out easily. Even sopping wet, she weighs little. I'm undecided about whether or not to leave her there. "Hiro," she gasps, and that settles it. With her still in my arms, I charge back across the hall. |
| There wasnt much I could do with my back the way it was. Two people were being tortured and only two people were able bodied enough to save them...I felt useless. The worst feeling anyone could have in a situation like this. I watched as Minna and the man named Zoran broke through the doors. I listened as the sounds of battle sounded. I waited. Suddenly the sounds stopped. It was wierd...if Rak was in any of the two rooms it would have lasted much longer, even if the attack suprised him. I looked in the room Zoran went into, I saw the woman that had been the second to be taken. Her back had blood running down it, almost like a waterfall. I still didn't know her name... Zoran had unchained her and placed her on the ground, she was unconcious. That was probably the best thing that could have happened at the time. Looking at her back I'm sure that they put her through a lot of pain. I turned and saw Minna carrying a soping wet Shekina out of another room. She, too, was unconcious. Nearly drowned it seemed. I stood up, with a lot of effort. It pained to even move, though I'm sure that both Shekina and the other were in more pain than me, I know I'm not the only one hurting. Shekina was shivering, and the other was wincing as if the whip was still lashing out. Both of them were placed in the hall next to the open door of the whipping room. It confused me that Rak wasn't anywhere to be seen. I thought he would want to watch us being tortured. Maybe he knew he were going to try to escape and he would be on the top of our list to kill, or rather...maybe he planned on it. That was a sobering thought. Rak was always a great strategist. I turned to a sound, Shekina was stirring. She was waking up. |
| I think I initially awoke to choke on another mouthful of water trying to come back up, but after a shaky intake of breath, my eyes connected with Hiro's gaze. "How many times am I going to wake up to your face?" I asked with a wry sort of humor. Not very funny, given the current situation. "Hopefully many more, if we can manage an escape." He replied, taking the hand I extended and hauling me up. I wrapped my arms around myself, a little self consciously, I am not ashamed to admit, and tried to contain a shudder. "You all can fill me in on what I missed later. I say we get the hell out while we have the chance." I said, voicing what everyone was probably already thinking. "Right, we'll just march ourselves right out?" A girl grumbled at me. I turned to face her. "Excuse me, no. Did I say that?" I snapped. And regretted it, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm a bit agitated at the present state, and my next statement would have been: can we make a plan before I freeze or Zenisha bleeds to death, or you know, the enemy unravels your distraction and comes back for round two." "And I'd say, yes, we have a fair chance of that. I'm Minna." "Shekina. What happened to my immediate captors?" "I imagine they're lying on the ground where I left them." "Good, can we wait to get a dry outfit from one of those thugs before anything else?" As there were no objections to what I deemed necessary, I forced my exhausted body to move. "Help me." I whispered struggling to take the jacket off of the smaller man prone on the cold floor. Suddenly there were sounds in the hall; I shrugged on the militant jacket which enveloped most of me quite warmly. At least if things went foul from here I'd have that small comfort. Hiro and Minna cradled Zenisha's unconscious body. With any luck, she would not wake for a while; with any luck we would find something to bind up the open wounds on her back. "Now what?" Hiro hissed frantically. "We disappear." I motioned all the torches be thrown down and put out. The instant the cell was cast into pitch darkness the sounds magnified. We huddled in a dark corner. Hearing the shouting in the other room- our pulses thrumming in our ears. And the unmistakable scratching sounds of rat's feet. "There's a passage here!" Minna whispered. Indeed, some five yards away in the gloom, there was a darker place, an opening of sorts, in the ground. Quickly, we dragged ourselves over and found the opening was a staircase leading into an even lower level. I swallowed, visions of caves and chambers and catacombs floating to the surface of my mind. I was not a little frightened. I did not say as much since it appeared we had no other choice. It was either go down, or risk making it out of here above ground. Unlikely. Starting down the stone spiral, Hiro grumbled, "Should have kept a torch." "Yeah, but if we did they'd see us as soon as they opened the-" Minna stopped. The heavy door swung open and a pale shaft or torchlight swept in. We froze for an instant. And knew the silhouettes in the doorway could see us. "Go!" I squeaked. Simultaneously, there was an unintelligible shout from the other end of the room as whoever it was rushed us. Zoran lifted me by my elbows and helped get our group down into the stairs. Breathlessly we tripped our way down, until finally, stumbling in the darkness, there were no more steps. "We have to destroy these steps, there's a store of gunpowder under here we can use." Zoran said. "I'm not going to ask how you knew that, I'll just trust that once we blow up our only known exit, there will be another way out." I said pulling the jacket around me and working with the others to set it up and find a way to make it go off without bringing the whole thing down upon our heads. We created a nice little trail of it down the corridor until we got to a large chamber, allowing Hiro to do the honors with whatever small spark he could muster. I just prayed we'd kill a few important people in the collapse. The explosion was loud enough to make the ground shudder and send us scurrying backwards to avoid mounds of falling rubble. The blast completely sealed the entrance we had just come through, but the rest miraculously stayed intact. I breathed a sigh of relief and let myself collapse onto the ground. Just to rest, if only for a moment. I glanced around as the others did, and with growing apprehension, realized we'd just landed ourselves in the abandoned city beneath the city. We'd grown up on legends of the place, built by monks and people wishing to escape the tyrannical rule. It must have been disposed of quietly, since I had never considered the story to have any bit of truth. No telling what secrets we'd find down here. Obviously Rak and his superiors knew of it, probably even used the passages for militant strategies. And if legend served, we were in for one hell of a maze. |
| I woke to a world of pain, my back hurt with a dull thudding ache that seemed to go right through to my bones. Any movement sent sharp shooting pain crackling through my whole body, I couldn't help the whimpers that escaped my trembling mouth. I saw my former cell mates crouched around me, concern etched on their faces. "Where are we?", I asked. "We escaped the castle, we are in the catacombs underneath the city", Shekina answered. Another man that I did not know spoke up, "It was too easy. They let us escape. They're just toying with us". "Rak planned this, he means some worse torture for us", another added. Hiro silenced them before an argument could break out, "We don't know that. And nothing can be changed now. If we go down that road, we are going to break apart and then Rak wins, whatever his designs". I tried to sit up, and it caused such pain that tears sprung to my eyes. "I'm going to hold you all back. I can't be a burden to you, you should leave me behind. I can hardly move". "Did you give any information to them when they tortured you?" Hiro asked. "No!," I cried indignantly, misinterpreting his intentions. Hiro smiled kindly at me. "You risked your life in battle for our cause, fighting side be side with us. And you put yourself through unimaginable agony refusing to give our enemies information. You have done more than enough for us. We're not leaving you behind." Relief flooded my body. I sank back to the ground gratefully. "If we can manage to get out of here, there is a place I know in a nearby village where we can get some pain medication. Then I won't be so much of a burden. The place is run by a friend of mine, and she can give us some helpful supplies." I relaxed against the ground for a few more moments, bracing myself, and then forced myself to my feet grabbing at Hiro to steady myself, grimacing at the pain. My companions had managed to find some bindings for my wounds, and it helped to lessen the pain a little. "We have a greater problem now. This maze is worse than it seems. There are traps spread all the way through it. Perhaps that is why they weren't worried about our escape." |
| (Zoran) I was faint. I had just gotten out of unconsciousness. All this Hiro wanted to do was leave. All I wanted to do was rest. I mean even the world's greatest champion needed to sleep. Besides I've been in a labyrinth before. Their naturally dark, ominous, and suspenseful. Every turn is a different trap. There is no hope of escape. Then my mind went blank. All of a sudden, I started having a vision of the five of us. We had manuveured across the maze and made a turn right when something horrible. An iron maiden enclosed itself around that girl named Minna slaughtering her. Then I snapped back into reality. I had to do something. |
| That blast has aggravated my headache again, but I push through it, tearing one of the shirts from the guards into strips and using them to bind Zenisha's back and my own wrists. I don't want to think about these tunnels, I can't believe I willingly came back here. "Minna." Oh, no, I think to myself. Don't ask me, don't -- "Do you recognize these tunnels?" I groan. "Yes. Not this area, exactly, but --" "Can you guide us out of here?" "Well, theoretically, yes, if we can get to a section I recognize, and if nothing's changed too much. Hiro, it's been years since I was here last!" "That's better than nothing," Shekina says, recovering first. She eyes me suspiciously. "How do you know these tunnels?" "I ... I escaped through the catacombs when I fled here three years ago," I explain. "The rumors of this place don't do it justice, I can assure you of that." "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" asks Zoran. "The rumors understate the reality," I answer, remembering. "But," says Zenisha with sudden insight, "that also means that Rak knows, too." I rub my face. "Yes," I agree, "he knew my situation, I told him everything, it seemed the right thing to do at the time ...." "Look," says Hiro, breaking into the discussion, "That doesn't matter so much right now. If they meant for us to come down here, then they won't be in a hurry to find us, they'll be waiting for us to wander into their trap." Shekina helps Zenisha into the other shirt we'd scavenged, asking, "What do you propose we do, then?" "All that we really can do at the moment," Hiro responds calmly. "Find somewhere secure and rest." Hiro is watching me, I can feel his eyes, even if I can't see him well. I grimace, but nod. That makes sense. I just hate being here, I'm on edge and my head hurts still, making me feel weak, which makes me cranky. If only there weren't so many bad memories here! "At least we won't need to worry about torches," I add. "There's some kind of mold or moss that eats stone and converts it to light. We should be able to see, at any rate." "Zoran," Hiro directs us, "help Zenisha. Shekina, can you walk?" "Yes." "Hiro, you can lean on my shoulder," I offer. I point out into the dark. "Guess we go this way for now." We struggle slowly through the partially-collapsed tunnels. Hiro tries to support his own weight, but he tires quickly, leaning on me more and more. I can feel blood through his bandages. We've got to find somewhere to rest, and quickly. Hiro can't go much further, and Zenisha is not much better. As for the rest of us? We're all injured in some way; we all need time to recover. I stop to rest, leaning against the cold stone of the passage. I'm feeling dizzy again, I really must have cracked my head, if only head wounds weren't so tricky. "Are you all right?" Hiro whispers. "Fine," I lie. "Just tired." "Hey, I can see something," says Shekina, out in front. "Light." There isn't a lot of the fungus or moss, or whatever it is, at first, but pretty soon, we're surrounded by the stuff. It grows on every rocky outcropping, giving off a dim but useable light. We pick up our pace a little, going as far as we can for as long as we can. No sense in making it easy for our pursuers, should they decide to come after us anyway. We're about to drop from exhaustion before Shekina finds what appears to be an old storeroom. The ceiling is mostly collapsed, but there are wood splinters from what might have once been shelves, and water drips from above, allowing us to slake our thirst. I drop to the ground and lean against the wall, too tired even to help gather wood for a fire, it's cold in these tunnels. We're a quiet bunch, panting some as we catch our breath and ease our wounds. "Who were you?" Shekina asks me, settling by my side. I look at her, and then away, tilting my head back against the stone. "I was one of the King's bodyguards. The elite." "Then why'd you have to run?" I close my eyes against the pain. I don't want to think about it, but I feel compelled to answer. "The king ordered my death, and those of my squad." I can see it, as clearly as if it were yesterday. "We were in the practice yard, training. We had no weapons, just wooden practice swords. It was a slaughter." Only my particular talents had saved me that day, that and the quick actions of my shield. I press the heels of my hands to my eyes. No! I can't think about him right now! I can't afford to fall apart! "They chased me for days," I whisper, caught up in the tale. "I never thought I'd see daylight again." And here I am, back in this hell. "Did you know about the entrance to the catacombs?" "No," I manage to answer. "That was just luck." "Or planning," says Hiro. I open my eyes and look up. Hiro, Zoran, and Zenisha are all listening. "True enough," I reply. "We could have been planted there, but he couldn't have known that I'd be able to break free. It'd be a big risk, letting us loose." "But he loves the thrill of the hunt," argues Hiro. "You know him best," I respond. "What do you think he's got planned for us?" |
| I looked at Minna, how the hell was I supposed to know what goes on in that man's head? I know that he loves to hunt, though it be with people, but I could never see through the plans he had. "I cant even begin to tell you what he has planned, his strategys are very...what's the word?" I couldnt think of the word "Intricate?" Shekina suggested "Well if there is no better word then that's it. In some of the battles we fought, he planned out every single the the enemy would do and could do and thought up counters for each, then counters for his own counters, and...well you know where this is going..." "So basically, we have to expect everything around every corner" Minna said with an exasperated sigh. "Even if Rak wasnt "hunting" us, it would still be hard to get out of here I'm sure." I knew that was an understatment. "Yea," everyone looked at Minna, she had been down here once before, "even if Rak werent hunting us, we have to deal with..." She stopped, looking behind me, "...those." I turned around and stepped back, what I saw I could only describe as a beast. It looked like a wolf, only, two times bigger. Its eyes were pure white, almost glowing. Just looking at it I could tell it was blind, but I could hear it sniffing the air. It turned its head over towords us. Its growl sent a shiver up my spine, I never heard a growl with such killing intent. This is bad I thought, I didnt have any fire whatsoever in me. Its growl got louder and louder as it became more certain of where we were. It reared back, and rushed toword us. |
| I gaped stupidly at the monstrous beast that was clattering swiftly towards us, froth dripping from its mouth, fangs glinting wickedly in the ghostly light provided by the moss on the walls. The others were already beginning to retreat, and still I stood, unable to move, watching as the beast hurriedly closed the gap between us. I felt rough hands tugging at my shoulders and then I was manhandled back. The paralysis that gripped my muscles and mind broke and I found the strength to run. I frantically studied the nondescript walls of the labyrinth as we ran, fighting the urge to look behind at the atrocity that chased us. Relief flooded through my body when I finally found what I was looking for, it was still here, an aged stain splattered across the walls resembling a bird in flight. I shouted for my companions to follow me, not caring that my shout allowed the beast to pinpoint my location. They ran to me and I ushered them through a corridor to the right of my marker, asking them to trust me, promising to explain later. I risked a look back and saw that the beast was almost upon us, but if I had remembered correctly it no longer mattered. “Press yourselves against the walls and make no move or sound!”, I yelled, “ I will draw the beast on, you must trust me!” They had little choice but to do as I asked. I hollered at the beast, making as much noise as I could as I drew it on, digging deep within myself for more speed, more strength to see this through. I could almost feel the beast’s rancid breath on the back of my neck, and I began to fear that I had chosen the wrong passage when I saw the grooves in the walls that I had been looking for. I threw myself up the walls and felt a rush of air as the creature crashed past me. Sensing the loss of its prey the mutant wolf tried to halt its’ run and turn, but it was too late, it had triggered the trap. An unearthly howl echoed through the maze as the stones that supported the beast’s weight fell out from underneath it; its claws scrabbled for purchase and found none. The pit swallowed the creature and its cries were abruptly cut off as it was impaled on the razor sharp spears that were embedded in the earth at the bottom of the shaft. Panting, I dropped down from the wall and fell to the floor exhausted. My wounds began to hurt again, in the heat of the moment I had felt nothing and now the adrenaline was wearing off. I turned and was assaulted by the accusing eyes of my comrades. I sighed, and lifted myself wearily off the dusty floor. I had hoped I would be able to leave the past behind me, but it had caught up with me at last. “I have been here before, I was here only three years ago,” I said. I spoke slowly and softly, forcing the words through my lips, reluctant to expose the skeletons of my past to the harsh light of truth. I studied the floor of the passage as I spoke, not daring to raise my eyes to meet those of my companions, afraid of what I might see there when I had finished my tale. “I used to be a mercenary, a killer for hire, and I never flinched at a job as long as the price was right. I was very good at what I did, and I have lost count of the lives I claimed over the years. Men, women, even sometimes children, fell before my sword. I won’t go to go into the details of how I fell into that line of work, its irrelevant by now. I didn’t take pleasure in ending people’s lives; I usually justified it by rationalizing that they must have been bad people to have had a contract taken out on them. But they couldn’t all have been bad people; most were probably good people who just crossed paths with the wrong person. I took enormous pleasure in my skills, I became known as one of the best, a fearless assassin who never turned down a job. I bragged about my skills and embellished tales of my exploits, and even came to believe my own lies. Then one day I took the job that changed my life. I took a job that was widely believed to be impossible- the target was a courtier who resided in the castle of the King. Fellow assassins that I had become acquainted with begged me not to take the job; they told me it was a fool’s quest and that I was committing suicide. I was too cocky to take their advice. Was I not the assassin of all assassins? Had I not always taken down my targets no matter what obstacles stood in my way?” I sighed, placing a hand against the passage wall as though to steady myself, as the memories rose up before me. “I enticed three other assassins into coming with me, Belisma, Kiya and Falome. The reward was very large and I promised to share it with them, but in fact I had no such plans. I meant to use them to cover my escape, leaving them to take the fall, but it did not work out that way. We got into the castle easily enough, posing as a courtesans come to sate the appetites of some well known nobles. I took down my target, I will spare you the details, but the alarm was raised and we tried to flee the castle and we ended up down here instead. Our pursuers vanished, having given us up for dead when they found the route that we had taken. Only two of us made it out. Belisma was slain by a trap similar to the one I used to defeat the beast, and Falome was killed by a creature similar to a large reptile. The snake slaughtered her at the entrance to this passage, Kiya and I fled down here and fell into the trap, I used my gift to save us from the spears and then I fell unconscious. I woke to find myself out of the maze and in a small hut far from the castle with Kiya. She was very pale and distant, refusing to answer my questions about the maze, how she had managed to get us both out of there while carrying my unconscious body over her shoulders. Night after night she sat staring into the fire that I made to warm up our small room, as if the flames held the very secrets of the universe. I fed her soup that she sucked from the spoon I thrust into her mouth, dribbling it over herself like an infant. When she finally woke from her stupor and spoke, she said that there was something that had taken over the maze, something otherworldly, something with a dreadful intelligence alien to ours. She said that it was keeping a secret in there, for someone with the strength and virtue to take it, someone that proved worthy. She told me that she did not defeat the maze and its denizens, she said that the keeper of the maze spared her for its own reasons, it made a bargain with her. She never told me what the bargain she made was. I found myself changed by the experience and the sacrifice that Kiya had made to save us, whatever she did left her a different woman, a shadow of her former self. I scorned the life that I had lived before and became consumed ny guilt for my actions. I tried to devote myself to a life lived for the good of others, and that is one of the reasons that I joined this rebellion, to try and compensate for the destruction I had wreaked in that other life. I thought that I could leave it all behind, but here I am again.” I paused and finally dared to look up at my companions, wincing as though I expected something to be thrown at me. “Rak surely knows of this place, but he and his men won’t be coming down here. The castle uses the maze to get rid of those they wish to disappear, but they daren’t come here themselves. Rak may have meant for us to end up here after he had all the satisfaction he could from our pain, and the information he needs to completely squash the last of the rebels, but he did not mean for us to be here now. He didn’t get what he needed from us, we have taken him by surprise. That’s the end of the good news, now we have to deal with the maze. And I can’t help you because I only got here and then I fell, it was Kiya that went through the rest of the maze and she never told me what happened. All I know is that she was absolutely terrified of it, and the memories of this place haunt her even now”. |
| "So what do we do now?" I blurted out. I seriously wanted to kill somebody. Namely the Rak freak. We were searching through some dumb catacombs, just becase he could not keep from being hypocritical. PICK A SIDE! Seriously. We crossed a corner. A chill ran up my spine. Minna was obviously in front being the person who pretty much has a memorized blueprint of the place. However, she turned the corner with a little less confidence than she came in with. I had an eerie feeling. Then, I remembered my vision. I swiftly pulled herby her clothing as the iron maiden snapped shut. Empty. I had saved her. I had saved someone else with my visions. However, my joy was cut off with her simple return of gratitude. She just smiled and murmured thank you. That misgratitude shall not go unpunished. I pulled out Kendron who I retrieved while in the dungeon. I was about to strike when I thought to myself: [i}Maybe later! {/i} I returned to following them. However, I heard footsteps quieter than the night. Footsteps. Also, I started receiving twelve different horrible visions at the same time. That was not a good sign! |
| We rest. There is little else we can do. The run from the wolf-thing had sapped whatever energy me and my companions had left. One by one we stretched out in our little alcove while someone else stood watch. When everyone had slept and we were all hungry as well as thirsty, we gathered again, to decide what to do next. Oh gods above! I think. They're all looking at me! They expect me to lead them out of here. I can't do this! I can't have you all trusting me! I don't deserve trust! "Hiro," I start to say, but he cuts me off. "Do what you can, Minna. Which way do we go?" We're even more tired after the flight from the wolf-thing, and Zenisha's story only makes us more dispirited. Hiro alone seems to have confidence of us surviving to get out of this place. I glance at Zenisha as I head out. Three years ago? She was here, then, at the same time I was, possibly. Fate must have a sense of humor. I sigh and give him my shoulder again. "This way." The passage is dark and treacherous, but Zenisha roves ahead to find a safe way and Zoran keeps our rear safe. He's still the only one with weapons and I mentally take myself to task for not apologizing the other day. He'd saved my life. I just wasn't used to people looking out for me, I guess. Still, a late apology is better than none at all. "So where are we going?" asks Shekina, walking by my side. "Well," I reply, "we need to get to the city and the city is down. This passage seems to be going the right way, so, with any luck, we'll find the city without too much trouble and then I can have a look and see what I remember." "A city?" she asks me, dubious. "Not any you'd ever want to live in," I add hastily. "Perhaps once, long ago, but whomever -- or whatever -- caused it to be abandoned must have been powerful. It really ..." is something .... We come out of the passage onto a road leading down. This area of the underground is like a hollowed out gourd and the city stretches below and beyond us like a magnificent mirage. Tunnels and roads lead up the stone walls of the bowl and the stone houses and buildings stand like so many broken teeth. The light is dimmer here, the moss or lichen or whatever it is, further from what we want to see. Zenisha is crouching at the edge of the path. She looks at me. "This kinda looks familiar." "Yes," I agree. I feel sick. I hadn't realized we were so close. I say, "Watch out even more closely for traps, this place is riddled with them. And with giant spiders." I shudder to think of them. "I'll gut anything that gets too close!" boasts Zoran, waving his sword. I sigh. "Well, at any rate, there's water down there." Hiro taps my arm. "Let's go." |
| I looked around, I couldnt believe that there was actually a city down here. The massive city that is the capital is built on top of the equally massive city here. I wondered what this place looked like in its glory days. It sparked an intrest I had long forgotten. An intrest my father had started. I wanted to know this city, just as my father whated to know the past, I wanted to know the past. I tapped Minna on the shoulder again, "Maybe we should rest a little, since we're here," my intrest wasnt the only reason I wanted to stop. "I think we should keep going, I want to get out of here as soon as we can," Shekina said. "I would rather rest in one of these buildings instead of somewhere in the middle of a maze where we can easily lose our way. We may even find some weapons here," I argued, though I really didnt want to admit my growing intrest in this city. "Well, he has a point, we might find weapons," Minna said, probably tired of supporting my weight. We headed into the nearest building, instantly I realized that it must have been a library or an archive room. There were shelves and shelves of books, most of them looked to be torn and unreadable. I looked around and saw a stick, about as tall as I am. If it was strong enough it could act as a walking stick. I wouldnt have to use Minna to walk, it could also act as a weapon. I put my weight on it, gradually putting more and more. It held, I smiled and started walking around, looking at the books. I looked through all them, most of them unreadable. One caught my attention, in all the books, this one looked almost new, as if it was just placed there a few years ago. There could not have been a person down here that put this here recently. I grabbed the book and opened it. No, this book was just as ancient as all the others. There was magic preserving it. Someone wanted this found. I opened it, seeing writing. Εμεις δεν εχουμε περισσοτερο χρονο. Αμυνα μας δεν θα κατεχει πλεον. Εχουν ισχυρη οδηγους, ισχυροτερη απο ο, τι εχω δει ποτε. Ισχυροτερη απο ο, τι μας Βασιλια. Ισχυροτερες απο ολους τους οδηγους μαζι. Προκειται για την αποστολη μας σε ολοκληρη την πολη τους σωρους των κολαση η ιδια. Μπορουμε να αισθανομαστε ελξη, θα ξεφυγουν απο ξυλινη γλωσσα, λες εκτελεστει. Του ηγετη τους, οτι η αδιστακτη ανθρωπο, τον ιδιο και τους γιους ολες με το ιδιο ονομα. Ολα με την ιδια ανελεητη μυαλα. Ολα χωρις καρδιες, ολα τα ... τερατα. Το ονομα ολοι εδω εχουν ερθει να φοβηθουν. Ακομα και εμενα. Ακομα μας Βασιλια. Το ονομα λεει θα συνεχισει και θα σπειρουν τον τρομο και τη φρικη με τη γη, για πολλα χρονια ακομα. He doesn't θελουν την θρονου του, θελει να τον ελεγξει, που θελει μια μαριονετα. Σεβασμος των μελλοντικων γενεων να κατηγορησουμε την βασιλιαδες, οχι ο ιδιος η συγγενεις του. Το ονομα του θα βασιλευει πισω απο τις σκηνες. Το ονομα του ... παπουτσιων. Οι οδηγοι μαγεια καταργησε την ασπιδα. Το βαρος ειναι μεγαλο. Μπορω να αισθανονται οτι τραβωντας τα κατω. Θα παω ξυλινη γλωσσα- I had seen the writing before...only once. I could read a few words, but it would take a while to translate the few that I did know. I sat down oblivious to the others. My intrest was now too great. I sat studying the writing, trying to remember all the letters I knew from what my father showed me. |
| (Zoran) We exacavated a building and entered into the archive room. The place was dark and dingy. There were cobwebs all over the place. Where there are cobwebs... there are spider. I am most assuredly not afraid of spiders. They may have eight legs, four eyes, and fangs. However, I, the mighty Ziran, an without fear. Minna did say that there were giant spiders. She also did say that there would be traps all over the place. My almighty ability to see into the future will protect us against that. But spiders... spiders were another story. I could sense traps, but living creatures could sneak under my radar. I thought I sensed people with my psychic abilities. But I just sensed stuff that grew insignificant as we passed along this road. By the way, what made everyone think Minna was the boss of us, just because she had been here before? I thought that Hiro was our leader or better yet ME!!! I'm probably the fastest, strongest person here. I hear a cacophony of footsteps. I turned around. There was nothing there. So I continued my philosophisation. The footsteps returned. I turned around again. It was just the wind, probably. I saw a shadow loom through the moonlight from the window. It had a huge circular body with a head that had pincers on it. On the body were eight fat legs. And soon, they were all over the place. |
| I leave Hiro to his book and continue to prowl around the decomposing building. There has to be a well in here somewhere. There are multiple rooms in this abandoned and partially-collapsed structure. I'm looking for some kind of central courtyard, but I move slowly, quietly, and with one eye always on the lookout for danger, and one ear listening for the scramble of furry feet. Spiders! They had nearly eaten me alive last time, and I'd been in far better shape. Where are they? I know they're there, even our stringy meat is far more attractive than most of the other denizens of these depths. I carefully edge around a pile of fallen timbers and there it is! A fountain! And still bubbling from unseen magics. Water. I half-turn my head to shout, but the words change abruptly as I see giant, gaping fangs dangling just inches before my face: "Fuuuuuuuuuck! SPIDERS!" I duck and roll past that body, idly noting that the monster is even bigger than the ones I encountered last time. Now I can hear my companions also shouting and I run towards them as fast as I can. Shekina and Zenisha have grabbed rocks and pieces of rubble to throw at the spiders, keeping them at a distance. Hiro is smashing at yet another with his impromtu staff, and Zoran -- where's Zoran? "We need a room that has a roof and defendable doors!" I shout. "Zoran? Zoran, where are you?" Then another spider drops before me on the floor. Instincts take over. I murmur, "Hae Hanae-sa!" and attack. Fists and feet batter at the spider, and I have to dodge both its wicked stinger on the underside, the webs it keeps trying to wrap me in with its front legs, and the viciously chomping fangs. "Zoran!" I scream, "Help!" He was the only one with weapons, the only one who -- I hit the spider in the middle of its mass of eyes. It shrieked and backed away. "The eyes, the eyes!" I shout. And Zenisha starts calling, "This way, this way, I found a tunnel or something!" "Fighting retreat!" instructs Hiro. I go to protect him while he grabs his precious manuscript and hobbles toward the sound of Zenisha's voice. Shekina and I follow close behind. The three of them jump down into the dark hole and I pray that there's nothing down there waiting for us. "Zoran!" I shout. "Come on!" Then it's just me and the spiders. "Vasta, Khul'shalkrum!" I cry, and launch into a series of lightning-fast jabs and kicks, keeping the spiders at bay and, hopefully, distracted enough that Zoran can get to us. Over the commotion, I sometimes catch Hiro's voice as he and the other two struggle with the debris to block the tunnel entrance once we're all safely inside. I stomp another spider and it staggers, then falls as something impales it from behind. I jump atop another to avoid a biting attack, punching again, knocking the great, hairy beast senseless. "Zoran! Minna! Get in here!" That's Hiro. From my somewhat lofty perch, I somersault around another beast and dive into the hole, tumbling to a stop and gasping for breath. Zoran is close behind, his sword, his hand, his whole body covered in greenish ichor. Then Shekina does something and we are once again in darkness. |
| (Zoran) Hiro limped down the tunnel. He must have been tired. Unlike the greatest hero in the world, he got tired easily. Me...I was just getting started. I had to guard the back of the traveling party. We were moving through a tunnel with plans of finally escaping. I heard some intense scampering from behind. Unsheathing Kendron, I prepared for battle waiting on my allies. Zenisha glanced back while walking. They thought I couldn't do this simple job right. I was bound to prove them wrong. I kept a steel wit, since I had yet to receive any visions, which come when danger is near. We continued to walk. BBBBBBBBWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!! A scream flew throughout the air. "What was that?" Shekina was shocked and extremely afraid. I MAY HAVE grown scared a little bit. However, everyone else was terrified. The cold, dank walls of the tunnel caused an echo as the noise came back. BBBBBBBBBBBBBWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRR! "Whatever that noise is coming from..." I bravely stated with a slight tremor in my voice. "...I'll kill it." I walked toward the noise which was coming from our path. The others watched. I just had to move twenty feet away before I received a vision. Before I could make it out, it was too make. Sharp fangs clamped onto my shoulder touching my most hated gash. I was soon carried into the air with dangling legs. In agony, I glanced up at my attacker. It was a huge spider, twenty times larger than that of the spiders fought before. Now, I needed their help. |
| "Holy ...!" I mutter, as Zoran, legs kicking, is carried away. Where did that thing come from? How could these underground tunnels fit such a ... Oh. Cavern up ahead. Ewww, covered in spiderwebs. Zoran's sword is at my feet now and I know that my face has turned a sickly shade of yellow. Spiders. We've unknowingly crossed into their home lair and there seem to be thousands and thousands of the things, with the big monster now beginning to truss Zoran up in sticky webs. I'm still standing there, mouth hanging open, when Hiro shouts at me: "Minna!" I look back, eyes wide. Hiro gestures at me. "Give me the sword! Get Zoran! We'll go back the way we came!" I stare out into the cavern. Oh my ... god ... go ... in ... there? Oh, god, is Zoran really worth that much to save? Zenisha hits me on the shoulder. "Come on, Minna! Do something?" She grabs the sword. "Nobody deserves to die like that!" adds Shekina, busily doing something to the cave mouth. Zenisha and Hiro take up stances at the cave mouth, facing more of the smaller spiders climbing towards us. "I ..." I cover my face with my hands. "Oh, god!" I mutter a quick prayer and hope I've got enough strength left to make this work. "Vasta, Khul'shalkrum!" I shout, and dash forward. With a mighty leap, I push off an approaching insect and fly into the air, downwards, bouncing off other bodies as I tumble, to land within reach of the humongous, fuzzy body holding Zoran. Running forward, I slide to a halt next to our unconscious friend and slam a fist right into the mouth of the spider. "Hai!" With a piercing wail, the spider drops to all eight feet and backs away. Taking advantage of its preoccupation, I heave Zoran to my shoulder and take off running again. There are leaps I have to make now, to climb back up the where the others are, even now, fighting off the hordes of advancing spiders just waiting to drag them down into the cavern. "Come on, Minna!" I hear someone yelling and give another burst of speed and effort. Legs shaking, lungs heaving, I stagger back into the corridor as Shekina dashed past me and, using Hiro's staff, knocks a jumble of rocks loose, shutting the opening in a shower of rock and debris ... with her on the other side. "Shekina!" screams Hiro, peering blearily through the dust. "Shekina!" I lay where I had fallen, too tired at first to move. Zenisha's voice is small and solemn. "What now?" |
| I slumped down against the wall. A new wall of rocks now blocking the opening where Shekina went. I hear Zenisha say something but my mind is closed. I dont want to hear anything, I dont want to do anything. There is no hope of getting out of here, everytime we get a chance to rest something comes out and attacks us. I put my head in my hands, I cant think. I know now that there is no hope, but I dont want to die here, not in a hell like this. The thought of it scares me. How the hell did I get myself in this position. An image flashed before my eyes. Rak Shine, the name filled me with the fires of rage. Rage replaced the fear and the grief. I felt the fire run through me. It filled me to the very core of my being. I hold out my hand and fire fills my palm, filling the area with light. I look around seeing the place for the first time. I finally realize that there is now light in my hand, and also a deadly weapon. Something snaps in my mind and I laugh, a hysterical, mad laugh. "Too late for that isnt it?" I ask myself, oblivious to the others now staring at me and the light we now had, "You finally have so fire, but you cant use it when it is needed most? You are as useless as a knife is against a wall." "Hiro?" I hear someone say. "You think so too?" I say looking up, "I should have died in that battle, I think. I cant do anything and when I can, it isnt needed. I am completly...useless." I ball my hand into a fist, consuming the flame. I plunge us into darkness once more. I am exhausted. I couldn't call the flame back out if I tried. I dont want to get up. I just want to rest now. There isnt any hope of getting out of here anyway, why should I even try anymore? "Hiro!" I look up and see the outline of Zenisha kneeling in front of me, "We need to get going." "Why? Give me one good reason why." I reply, I dont see any reason to get up, "We cant get out of here. This spot is as good as any other." I look around again. This is a nice spot, it's quiet. I look back at Zenisha's outline and feel the most painful slap of my life. |
| I glared at Hiro, furious at the thought of him giving up. The stinging slap that I had just dealt him didn't seem to have had much effect, so I gave him another, and grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, jerked him off the ground and onto his feet, pulling him close to me until our faces were mere inches away. I spoke to him through clenched teeth, the words being drawn out of me like blood. I knew that I was more angry about what had happened to Shekina than at Hiro, but I was too angry to care. "Now is not the time to mourn Shekina, or to feel sorry for yourself. The only way we are going to survive this hellhole, let alone find a way out, is if we work together as one. If you break apart now, you sentence us to death. If that is your choice, then kill me now and make it quick and merciful, I would rather that than being torn apart by one of the beasts". I released him from my grip and tossed him Zoran's sword. He stared at me in disbelief and dropped the sword, shaking his head to clear the mists that had clouded his thought. He closed his eyes for a long minute and cradled his head in his hands, sagging wearily against the cave wall, then drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes. "You're right", he said, "If we don't stick together we'll die here, and then that bastard Rak will never pay for what he's done. Whatever Shekina's fate, it's his doing, another thing for me to make him suffer for". He moved to where Zoran lay and knelt beside him, lifting his eyelids and slapping his cheeks, but it was no use, he was out cold. He turned back to Minna and I, his strained face seeming to have aged, the shock of losing another companion taking its toll. "I don't know which way we should go, I don't even know which direction we were travelling in, we might find that one of these trails leads us to where we have already been. There is only one good weapon between us now, and one of us is going to have to carry Zoran, which means there are only two of us that can react quickly if we're attacked, and two of us have serious injuries. Our chances here are slim to none", he said. "But it isn't impossible", Minna said, "Zenisha you told us your friend, you said she found her way out of this maze with you on her shoulders. If one person can make it out, four people can". Minna and Hiro continued talking, their voices growing steadily softer in my mind as a strange dizziness washed over me. Darkness blurred the edges of my vision, and Hiro and Minna vanished from my sight. I panicked as I was confronted by a deep blackness, had I turned blind? Was this some spell? Then my vision cleared slightly, and I saw a figure ahead of me, their back to me, wearing a long, dark hooded robe. I stumbled towards them, not knowing their intentions or where I was, but glad that I was not alone in this all- consuming dark. The sound of their voice, gravelly and cold, halted me in mid- step. The voice was familiar, yet it should not have been. My blood turned to ice in my veins, if this was who, or what, I thought it was, I should not have been able to remember its voice. "Zenisha", it hissed, without turning to face me, "you and your companions are intruders in my labyrinth". It's voice was hollow, gravelly and devoid of human feeling, it was the sound of steel scraping against steel, bats shrieking in the night, the sound that a man made when upon his death bed, the death rattle. It made the hairs on my body stand on end and my stomach shrink, its insistence on presenting me with its back increasing my terror. I fervently prayed that it did not turn around, as I had the feeling that to look into the face of this being was to invite madness. "Normally I destroy those who come here, but I have found some use for you. There is an item I need, lost in the maze somewhere, bring it back to me and I will spare your lives and reward you well". "Why should we trust you?", I demanded, hardly believing the words coming out of my mouth, "you are an evil being, that much is clear, why should we believe that you will keep your word?" "You have no choice", it rasped, almost sounding amused at my pitiful defiance, "Without weapons and aid you cannot go on, the denizens of the maze will destroy you. I control this maze and should you thwart me I can easily unleash all hell upon you". "If you control the maze, then why do you not get your creatures to do this task for you? Why can you not do this thing yourself?" I asked. It paused and hissed again, clearly annoyed at what I had asked. I had found a sore spot it seemed. Before it could go on, I pressed the advantage. "You may as well tell me the truth, I will sense it if you lie. All we want is to escape this place, what you do down here doesn't matter to us. The truth will help to convince us that we can trust you, lie and you risk losing our aid. For all that you say, it is clear that you need us as much as we need you". A hiss that sounded like a nest of rattlesnakes issued from the creature's mouth, and I feared that I had gone too far in my boldness. It began to turn towards me and I shielded my eyes and shrieked at it to stop. I held my eyes closed as tightly as I could, and felt the thing approach me, its feet ringing on the floor as though it wore armor. It came so close to me that I could smell its fetid breath, and my flesh crawled at the thought of its nearness. "I have lived for a long time, much longer than you can imagine, I come from an older time when magic ruled the lands and your race was yet unborn. I have never been challenged so. You should fear and respect me, and do as I bid, or I can plunge you into nightmares you cannot even conceive of". "Then do so, and forget about your item, wait another hundred years for someone else to be thrown here", I shrilly replied, wincing as I waited for the thing to unleash some terrible fate upon me. I couldn't say what made me so rash, I was being guided by inner feelings that told me that I had to deal with this thing on my terms, or fall into its service, or worse, meet my end in some dreadful fashion as it looked on and laughed. To my surprise, it laughed, an awful sound that had little humor in it. It leaned even closer to me and I felt as though my organs turned to dust inside me. I wanted to scream and run but I would not give in to my fear. "You are brave little one", it said, "it has been a long time since anyone dared defy me. You may keep your skin for a while longer, unless you displease me". It turned and moved away from me and I dared to crack my eyelids open to see it walking back to where it had stood before. It seemed oddly diminished, as though my challenge of it had robbed it of some vital essence. "The item I require is the key to my power over the maze. Without it I am a shadow of my former self, and the creatures that reside here will slip further and further out of my control. It is in your interest to help me, lest the creatures rise up and wreak havoc on your world. I care not for your opinion of me, all things serve the wheel of fate and I no less than any other. I have a destiny to fulfill here, and I will do it with or without your help, you can save innocent bloodshed should you choose to aid me". "What do you care of innocent bloodshed?", I asked, "You destroy all those who are left here". "Not all", it said, "I have let you leave this place before, in the arms of your friend Kiya. You owe me your life. As do others that I have spared. But time is short. It is taking a lot of power for this meeting to take place and without the item I seek I am weak. Choose. Aid me and you and your companions may leave this place with your lives and with my favour, I have something that will aid you in your struggles with the man who put you here. Yes, I know why you are here, I know who it is that you seek vengeance against and why. I can see into your heart, and I see the demons of your past you are trying so hard to put to rest. You know you have no choice but to do as I bid, it is only petty morality that stops you. If morality is of such concern to you, perhaps I should send some of the creatures I still control to visit your friends". "No!", I shouted, "We'll do as you ask. Where do we go? What does this thing look like? How will you arm us?" All of a sudden a great rush of information flowed through my mind. I could see the item it wanted in my minds eye, a priceless gold amulet on a heavy golden chain, decorated with a single large blood-red ruby that had a deep pulsating glow. A few corridors away from where we stood was another settlement of buildings, amongst which stood an abandoned armory that was now littered with skeletons, the remnants of some great battle. After arming ourselves, we would strike west, going deeper into the labyrinths to a great cavern, beyond that it would be up to us. "You don't know where it is?" I asked. "The last place I saw it was the cavern you just saw, beyond that I know not. I will be close to you, I will give you any extra information you might need to know. Go back to your companions, tell them of our deal. And remember, break your word and you will pray for death before I am finished with you". With a great thud, I fell back into myself, falling to the floor in a great heap. My vision doubled and then tripled and I felt dizzy, my whole body shuddering. Hiro and Minna were standing over me, expressions of concern etched onto their faces. Slowly the tremors ceased and my vision returned to normal, and I cautiously sat up. My whole body ached and the pain from the wounds on my back was back full force. I took a deep breath and told them what had taken place, and Hiro's eyes grew distant. "So that's what the ancient texts meant", he whispered, his eyes lighting up, "all these events have been foreseen. If we can get our hands on some of them, we can find out what is in store for us, know what will happen before it happens". |
| (Zoran) I arose engulfed in fog. The surroundings were dark. The ground was light brown though it was hard to see through the immense fog. What had happened? I just remember being attack by some huge arachnid. I wonder if I fell unconscious. This is probably just a dream. However, as the fog was clearing, I noticed that I was not dreaming. The fog dissipated to show a slain Hiro. His head lie bruised along the soil floor. His bruise was turning purple. His hair was swept out toward the floor. His arms and legs were scattered in a way that he would appear to be running if he was upright. His eyes were now latched closed. Hiro's attire was covered in blotches of brown and black stains. Then my other slaughtered comrades were revealed. Zenisha's hair was clotted in soil. Her cheeks were blotched with black. Her hands lay meandering along the floor like dead snakes. Minna was the same way, along with Shekina. It was horrendous. "I did all of this!" A voice sounding like steel scraping against steel spoke. "I defeated them all!" I turned around to a mysterious hooded figure. "You should have been here. It was a slaughterhouse. You could have added to the casualties." The freak edged closer to me. His feet were unnoticable. His cloak just seemed to shift by itself. He had managed to battle my friend yet he did not have a scratch on him. His cloak was flax-coloured contained on it a beige rope to hold it on him. I unsheathed Kendron prepared to stab the adversary. Lifting up my blade, I jabbed it straight toward his torso. With great disbelief, I was halted. I tried to discover what had stopped my blow. His two pale skinny fingers held Kendron at the blade. Those same two fingers lifted the katana out of my grasp and hurled it out to pierce a nearby rock. I tried chopping at him with my palm, but he dodged it with immense speed. I continued to throw countless punches, kicks, and chops at him, but he dodged those too. His speed was so incredible that his outline seemed to grow blurred. I hurled a final punch at him. However, he grabbed my fist, threw me over his shoulder just to have my back cracked by a rock. The pain was horrible. My aching pain was in horrendous condition. Some of the ribs were cracked. I could feel the jagged edges of the bone piercing at my nerves. Suicidal thoughts started to fill my head. That rock wasn't even there before. "If you thought you were safe in your dreams..." The victorious figure contined. "...you're not. I gained control of your head. I am able to create any image in your dreams, cause any pain, and even control the other people in your dreams. You cannot resist me!" Apparently, this was a dream. However, I was filled with too much pain to care. The jagged edge of the rock I landed on had done this. It crushed my ribs to the point of near death. "What do you want from me?" I asked with clenched teeth. "Nothing." He answered. "All I need is you to kill in case your friends don't find my key in time!" |
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