Carmine

My head ached with the ensuing urge to survive, yet the options offered to me were terrible. More than that a noise infected our consciousness from a distance and made my headache worse.

I asked, “What is going on down there Five?"

We were currently on the street on our way back to the cavern.

Five nodded. “There seems to be a valve leak. The workers have opened the pathways to the sewers. We cannot go the way we came.”

I mused on that briefly, for I knew that happening was quite coincidental. There was danger close by I was sure about that. “What then?”

Five pointed up. “The airpipes.” There were large holes grilled at the front, they led to the surface, but they gave us an unsafe path to freedom.

Valor groaned. “An annoying climb.”

A quick decision needed to be made and we had no time for this when I knew this was a trap. “Tap into that woman strength of yours. We got to get over this,” I replied.

Climbing without being noticed would be easier on the darkest side of the wall, so we turned back and went to the lowly section of the town. We walked much slowly and measured, once we came under the mighty gaze of the silos.

The road thick with the shadows of the metal walls snipped at my legs. Reaching the end led us into metal buildings that were barely manned. The workers here wore goggles and I felt the reason. My eyes were burning a bit, fluttering them with frequent blinks helped. It looked like a lot of important structures. As much as I loved to know how those places were utilized, we pushed forward.

I stared up at the wall. Jagged edges stuck out and deep pits supplemented the sunken shadows into the light gray glow. The sight frightened me to the core.

Five rushed ahead of us, with one arm, yet he swung from edge to edge.

The rope lowered from his back and hung ready for our climb. Sandream walked up to Janilla. Janilla jumped back and exclaimed, “Get away from m-“ but, Janilla fell back as her body relaxed into Valor’s arms.

Valor looked up at Sandream and said, “You could have asked her.”

Sandream said low, “We have no time to waste.” Valor glanced at me, and I nodded for us to continue, for my patience was little when I had a headache. The rope was tied around Janilla with the ending of the rope attached to my belt and I allowed a short length to linger below me.

Valor climbed and I followed her. Sandream was last and kept in line with me as I went up the rock’s face and we went up a good distance. My fingers tingled with a spiking pain that was as brief as the peace of mind I desired. The risk of falling settled in my mind.

That would be a terrible way to die. To have came this far and have died so simply would have been depressing. I shook the sweat off the back of my hair. Dying here was not happening. I kept negative thoughts at the back of my mind and pushed onward.

The time passed eerily slow. Finding my fingers between cracks and breaks in the rock got harder. With the fading light, I made out little definition in the rock. The building sweat made it no easier.

I caught my raspy breathing. My eyes squinted from the flow of sweat on my eyelids. Shaking my head, I saw Five already hung from one of the grill gates of the airpipe. He seemed to be ripping it from the side.

Five stopped moving.

My hand lost grip and I screamed with my arms whirling in terror.

The rope tugged into my waist, stopping my deadly descent and my awkward screaming. An ache traveled up my lower back, but I was not falling to my death, which was fantastic amid my gasping. I turned and tried to get my bearings, but my sight failed me mostly.

Carmine!

Five’s voice was loud in my head.

I made out Valor calling at me. Five was looking at something. I flung my aching arms up, gripped the rope, and twirled.

“Sore me.” I looked down at Sandream climbing up towards me at exceptional speed. At least she took her job seriously now.

Sandream grabbed me from my right hip, dragged me to the left, and hopped up the rock face like some irate monkey. Five ripped off the metal grill and Valor pulled himself into it.

I was chugged up by the rope until my stomach slid along the edge of the cold metal, and I flopped onto the ironstone chamber.

Sandream rushed up now and we ran deep inside.

The darkness gathered swiftly and left only our breaths and a loud whirring sound as company. Valor lit a wood bark. We were in this small room-like section, the whirring sound came from a spinning piece of metal behind Valor.

To our right was this small chamber, with silvery walls, it curved downward to the darkness.

I took my gun and straightened up. The throbbing in my back bit tentatively at my resolve. I looked at Janilla, fast asleep. “Wake her.”

Sandream had done the honors after unwrapping her. Janilla groaned and curled up into a ball, so I guessed the rope was too tight.

I breathed out and flexed my shoulders burnt from too much climbing. “Am I the only one assuming that leak was no accident?”

Valor said with a sneer, “You are not the only one Princess.”

My feet eased their burn as I sat on my bum, allowing my legs to spread along the chilly floor, while the others shifted around the creeping darkness.

Five nodded. “We should move.”

I replied, “Five help Janilla up. Sandream thanks.”

Sandream stared, then moved past me. She slid into the chamber and disappeared.

I said, “That was rude.”

Valor smirked. “Give her time?”

“Valor I thought Elamnites were a bunch of soulless, emotionless people. What feelings could she be holding for me?”

“Technically, she is more Tiam than Elamnite. She lived in Tiam after all. Not like this pound of flesh,” Valor said motioning towards Five.

“This pound of flesh is quite useful,” Five said.

“Would you look at that lassie, some of your arrogance is rubbing off on him,” Valor said, soliciting my frown. "Seriously though, I can feel it. What have you done to her?"

I tilted my head back into the smooth wall. "Canus died, that's what happened."

"I see." Folding her arms akimbo, she continued, “...Canus was important to her. That abhorrence cannot disappear over a few weeks.”

"I am more surprised she follows me, considering. Canus gave her to me on his death, yet she continues without fail, without hesitation, with no thought of her will."

"A shell, a body created to serve, does not have will. Isn't that right, Five?" Valor glared at Five, but Five did not react, Valor probably expected nothing, continuing, "You can release her if you want..." Valor yawned.

I patted the robe around my pelvis. "I need her."

Valor raised her eyebrows at me. "Even against her will?"

I opened my mouth to rebuttal, but the words failed to manifest. This went beyond duty, for if I was right, Sandream would never forgive me, but I needed to live, I had to live.

If it was Canus's dream for me to live, then I was going to make sure his death was not in vain. "We must move forward, for that is all we can do right now."

Valor's lips curled up with a snide flair. "Aye, my lady."

We strode deeper into the confines of the rock, and the torture never took long.

Sweat soaked us, and our breathing became labored. My eyes blurred to the blaze of my forehead, and we better come out at the end of this suffocation with Valor leading the way.

Sandream moved east of me with Five at my back. Janilla strode in directly behind Valor and shuddered constantly. We stepped down into another passageway.

The enclosed moss-green stone walls surrounded us. There was no opening as far as my eyes saw. Swallowing, I ached for clean yair.

A clank sent me twisting around to a swinging ax. I jumped back onto the ground and fired my gun.

"Whoa lassie!" Valor exclaimed.

I blinked as my heart eased its pumping rage, while my shoulders stopped shaking. Five's head tilted hard to the right with his eyes staring at the arrow lodged in the stone roof.

Valor said, "Quick with the fingers, but we're not practicing today, Carmine."

Had I imagined that? Where was the ax? Why was my headache not easing as much as my heart? I rubbed my eyes and sat up. "I'm so sorry Five!"

Five said, "It's fine."

Valor said, "Janilla try to not drop things and frighten Carmine too much."

I turned to Valor's sneaky smile. Janilla was dusting off her bag while giving Valor a sour stare. "Valor, damnation to you!" I said.

"Calm down, it's a joke."

A joke? A joke, this was a jest to her? Why was I surrounded by idiots?! I wiped my face in frustration. Why had I even tolerated them in the first place? "Me amor." I sighed then exploded when my hand came off my face. "Don't you dare make a joke like that!"

Valor held her hands up in surrender, backing away, while Janilla stepped between us. "Come closer to wisdom, please. We must not be fighting right now," Janilla said.

I waved my hand dismissingly. "Yes, Valor, you should know how to do that, right, assassin?"

"I understand that you are under the specter of fear." Valor said with a mock gesture of her hands. "So please refrain from taking it out on me, because you can't handle the bumps in the night, my Lady."

I clasped my hands behind my back and leaned in. "Understand? You understand nothing, Valor. Just because you have the body of a woman, doesn't mean you understand my struggles or anything I am going through!"

Valor stupefied in reaction.

I continued, "Oh, my apologies… I mean shell! You can leave anytime." I slapped my chest with the expulsion of every word when I said, "I can't! So Backa!" I waved my hands dismissively at her. "To the dead lake with you! Like you understand anything."

I was about to keep going, but the hand of Sandream touched my shoulder, squeezing it with the intensity of a forgone mother.

Valor frowned, mumbled something then turned back to leading us. Yes, that's right, walk away, like you always had. I grunted, pulled the arrow out, and followed like a good Princess.

Soon we reached down into a low-roofed room, with metal platforms raised like mounds at either side. In the center laid a clear, watery pool that had stone mounds at diagonal corners, yet why had I assumed it was not water?

The strong stinging odor slammed into the back of my nostrils when I came closer. Five pulled me back. Sandream said, “This liquid absorbs toxins in the air.” She looked up and we saw the spinning metal at the end of the room.

Valor used the mounds, for she hopped from each toward the target, the spinning metal. She rammed her ax into its path, stopping it cold. Sandream moved towards Janilla. Janilla jumped behind Five and kicked after Sandream. “Move, shoo you Zounderkite!”

Those two were a funny mixture of my life, but it needed to end at some point.

Five bent his knees and prostrated his arms beside Janilla. Janilla narrowed her eyes at Sandream saying, “Five will carry me across.” Five took Janilla up and hopped across the pool using the mounds. I and Sandream went as well, then we crouched and came out on the other side.

It was easier to breathe in this passageway, but for all the refreshing air we got back there, time whisked by and the pressure returned. Sweat and breathlessness hugged me like they missed me.

We lowered our bodies, navigating a low corridor before coming upon another round chamber. My head throbbed incessantly in its effort to gain my attention.

We slid down, one by one. Sandream and I were last. My heart raced as my back skated down the smooth curves of the chamber, so my gut lifted to the ecstatic high of my throat from the rushing speed.

I convulsed when Five’s feelings screamed alarm in my head. My wrist elevated and the shield spun out. By the time, my feet dropped onto the ground, something bounced off it.

It reverberated, while my eyes connected with Corona. Golden hair, hanging off the side, her dark brown eyes followed me. Five and Valor laid on the ground twitching, ungraceful, their mouths seeping drool with twinkling needles in their necks. Janilla was unharmed, but she was shivering on the ground.

The room was large. Stung-down wires lined the roof with spinning metals on the roof and walls. Lights shined in the corners, while we stood on a higher platform slopping down to a lower one. The loud hum echoed while my clothes fluttered from the strong gusts of the spinning metals. High stone walls interconnected each other and lined the center across from us.

I shifted to the side, shield up, hand on my gun. “Corona, what have you done?!”

Corona had no smile. She and I never lost contact. That rumbling sound, I knew Sandream was coming down right then.

Sandream, be careful!

Corona’s hand raised, and a dark object laid within the palm.

Sandream surged out of the chamber. Corona flung her arm, while Sandream’s hand rushed to the side, leaving a thin needle caught between Sandream’s fingers.

Corona finally cut her eyes and looked at Sandream. Sandream’s skin became a bold copper tone. She crushed the needle with the shift of her fingers. Corona smiled. “This is annoying.”

I growled. “You do not give up. So be it, let us end this here.” I drew my gun. Corona rushed forward and punched me in the chest. I fell. Hitting the floor, I flinched while Corona rotated away from the lunge of Sandream’s knife.

Sandream’s skin returned to normal. Corona backed away as Sandream rolled, and flung her foot upward.

Corona ducked and grabbed the leg then punched, but Sandream’s skin shifted into a dark gray. That knuckle crackled hard into Sandream’s hardened skin. Corona winced, and her face contorted with wrinkles drawn in frustration like her retracted fist clenched in agony.

Sandream stepped forward, but Corona fled briefly before twirling.

A sword sliced around and almost cleaved Sandream at the throat. Sandream sidestepped, Corona rushed at Sandream’s knee and ripped it off the ground with an upswing.

Five groaned in pain barely able to move. Valor at least was crawling.

Sandream’s skin became bloody red, and droplets of water dribbled off her. She punched upward, Corona stepped back but got a heavy splash of red water slamming Corona in the chin.

Sandream tried sweeping Corona’s legs. Corona twirled out of it and kicked Sandream in the face. A sputtering plop of red water drenched the floor from the impact. No, wait, was that blood? Corona moved wide, while Sandream hit the wall, holding her melting reddened face.

I fired, and Corona whipped her head to the side allowing it to pass by her.

Corona swung her leg low and tumbled me. She grabbed my collar and drew me closer. I railed, so she kicked me into my side. “Settle down little one.”

Little, I was not. My head rammed her wrist, causing her fickle cry. I grabbed my spear, while Valor kicked at Corona’s ankle.

I twirled and spiked the spear into Corona’s gut. Blood sprayed onto my arm. Falling back, Corona yelped and fell on her back.

I got up. Corona laid there, while her chest heaved with erratic breaths, short and distorted. I moved around. Sandream's skin returned to normalcy.

Our eyes met, mine filled with bile, while Corona’s eyes carried significant venom and fury. She grabbed the spear. I fired the gun, and Corona rolled left. She ripped out the spear and threw it. I dipped and it flashed across the room with a mighty crack.

A gulp emanated.

I looked back and saw a burning hole created by a fizzling light stream. Sandream’s lip dribbled with blood pouring onto her chin. Sandream’s chest presented a large hole above the heart. She sputtered as if to speak, but in her struggle fell backward.

My bones chilled to the morrow. I lifted my gun in anger, but Corona slapped it away and punched me in the gut.

“Carmine, run!” Janilla shouted.

I toppled over, for the pain gripped me senseless. Valor crawled and grabbed Corona’s foot. Corona turned, slapped it away, and stepped in her face.

Valor convulsed in agony. She clutched me by the back of my clothes and drew me level. “Now be a good little girl and play nice, okay Carmine?”

Valor convulsed in agony. Corona clutched me by the back of my robe and drew me up. “Now be a good little girl and play nice, okay Carmine?”

Corona got flung forward, for Janilla pushed her. Janilla turned to me, the look of terror told me enough. I spun, jumped, and grabbed the top of the stone wall.

My hand pulled my torso over the edge, while my legs scrapped me over the top. My legs swung and almost went off the other side. I reached and gripped something sharp. I winced. It prickled into my palm, but I held on and drew myself level.

Corona growled and slammed Janilla aside. She gave chase, I ran and I jumped onto an adjacent wall. My legs wobbled, and the soles of my feet burned.

I hopped onto the other one. Corona jumped up one wall and climbed up the one behind me. She fired the needle but missed me when I jumped.

That jump was not perfect.

Digging in my nails, I bit the resulting pain that ravaged my arms and creaked the bones in my shoulder as I pulled myself onto the top of the wall beam.

I looked over and my heart died, for a second. Below me was complete and utter darkness. Was I mad enough to do this?

“Carmine!” Corona cried out.

I breathed in deeply, then steeled my abdomen. My ears heard nothing, no noise, no voices when I pushed myself off.