Olimpia

"Sathera!" Jim screamed into the darkness in alarm as he sensed what she had decided, but it was too late to try and stop her. His voice echoed in the chamber, multiplying into the chorus of a thousand people chanting their encouragement. Or cheering for her death.

Ignoring the call, Sathera clamped her eyes shut as she started her descent. There was no difference between them being open or closed in the darkness, and it could only distract her as she searched for something she would never see. She hoped this fall would only be a few feet, but things could have been going better all day, so she didn't have that much faith in that hope if she was being honest.

Bending her legs to a half crouch to brace for her landing, Sathera focused on the wind hitting her face. She had a lifetime of experience running around and jumping outdoors, so she should be able to use the wind speed to roughly judge how fast she was going. Right? That was totally reasonable.

All she had to do was recognize that speed and then pull up on her harness with a tendril to slow herself down. It was as easy as riding a horse…

At least she had a plan to back up a spur-of-the-moment decision. And if Sathera could say so herself, it wasn't that bad of one. Jim would have just jumped into the darkness and hoped for the best. Though she could have lowered herself over the edge of the platform.

…So things could have been better. Like, Sathera could have realized there was more to landing than flexing one's legs at impact. No one ever really thought of it, but there was a lot that went into a jump to do it well and not get hurt. You had to angle your body to remain upright, position your feet right to take the impact, use your arms for balance, and, most of all, ensure your legs were tense enough to slow or stop your fall.

All of which needed eyes or a sphere of perception to do correctly. Which Sathera didn't have. But at least no one could ever tell her that she froze up from panic! Though she might have been a tad hasty as she panicked from their pursuers.

A moment after the balls of her feet touched the ground, her knees were slamming into her chest before she tilted to the side and smashed her shoulder into the ground. She let out a squeal of shock at the jarring pain running across her shoulders as all of her careful preparation became meaningless.

Sathera let the pain wash through her for a second, then pushed herself up to a sitting position with only a tiny wine in acknowledgment of the impact. Looking over her shoulder, Sathera saw nothing — …why did I even look? — but she sensed that she was only five or six feet below the platform Jim, Joxin, and Bellous were standing on. All of them were finishing turns to look in her direction, radiating horror into the Union, which was slowly shifting into surprise at her survival before turning to amusement.

"Never thought Sathera would be the one in the group I would have to worry about acting impulsively," Joxin muttered to the others.

"I know, right?" Jim agreed, "Does take some pressure off me, though."

"What are you waiting for," Sathera said over the sound of approaching feet, her tone flat, completely ignoring their conversation and trying to sound like she didn't just throw herself into an empty abyss in the vain hope she would survive the fall.

No, she knew the drop was only as far as her height, and no one could ever say otherwise.

Turning away from the men and suddenly glad that the room was so dark that no one could see her ears flush in embarrassment, Sathera moved across the chamber, scanning the far wall. To either side, Sathera picked out the dot of glowing mushrooms as far as she could see. How long is this room? What's it for?

Eyes catching on a pair of mushrooms in the darkness were only a few feet apart. Relief flooded Sathera at the potential door, and she fast-walked over to it.

"Argh!" Sathera grunted in pain as she slammed her knee into an unyielding object. She was approaching the suspected door from the side and was walking with her arm stretched out, anticipating running into another platform at chest height. Not what she was starting to suspect was a step up to it.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in her knee, which was joining all of their others across her body, Sathera reached down, finding the stupid stone she ran into before crawling onto it. It might not be the most dignified, but Sathera was willing to accept that to live and get back to the surface.

Gathering her willpower, Sathera did what she should have done across the chamber. Release a pulse while pushing past the suppression, suffusing the darkness. The result was a success in that she got a picture of everything around her… for about seven feet.

It was basically the same as the first pulse she used in the tunnel network and still wasn't a fraction of the distance her pulses usually traveled. Actually, it wasn't the same, as it felt like she was lifting a boulder with her mind to cast the pulse, eating a large chunk of her willpower for nothing.

She was not complaining, as the pulse was more than enough to cover the area around her and do what she wanted. Sathera confirmed there was indeed a platform and a doorway before her. It was just irksome that her pulse wasn't normal even when she put in the effort.

And adding to her annoyance, her pulse did reveal two sets of stairs. Well, there were two blocks for stepping up and down.

Instead of continuing forward across the platform and selflessly hopping into the darkness like she did, you had to make a forty-five-degree turn to either side to find the blocks. But even then, it was only a single large block cutting the step's height in half.

Whoever made… whatever this was, couldn't be bothered to put any effort into it and make it practical, instead deciding to make it barely functional. It was just lazy and inefficient. If you were going to do something, you should do it right. So you never have to go back and do it again if not out of pride in one's craftsmanship.

And it wasn't like the craftsman was rushed, as this much tunneling would take months, if not years, of planning and construction. Sathera couldn't wrap her mind around the thought process of acting in such a way.

This is far more than a smuggling operation, Sathera thought to herself as dread started to form in the back of her mind. What is going on down here?

Hopping to her feet and stepping up, Sathera stood on the new platform and turned around to call out to the rest of her team. Only to step back in shock as they were already crowded around the edge of the platform.

"I got Joxin," Sathera sent as she thrust her hand down. The man didn't wait for another invitation, slapping his hand onto her forearm. Throwing her whole weight into it, along with a tendril tugging on her harness, Sathera caused Joxin to flop onto the platform and slide forward.

He let out a grunt of pain as his foot was banged on the edge, but she didn't have the time to care. The stomping of feet and their echos filled the chamber, and what little light she could make from where they crossed the chamber was now blocked by bodies.

She might have heard their steps, but it was the only sound in the chamber. No voices called out for them to stop or insult them. They just continued to march like that was all there was to life. It made a shiver of fear ripple over Sathera's body.

This entire tunnel network was unnatural.

Sathera bent down, grabbing one of Joxin's arms as he attempted to get his limbs under him. Halling up on his arm, Sathera almost lifted him to his feet as she started to pull him forward. "Get to the tunnel!" She shouted over the eerily rhythmic thudding.

What she received in response to the utterly unneeded command was a mental roll of the eyes from Jim as he was nearly tripping her and Joxin by stepping on their heels and a mental picture of a finger from Bellous. It wasn't a middle finger but an index, as he was signaling he would take a moment to follow.

Sathera wasn't sure if she should be annoyed or not. At least they were listening to her and creating an ingrained habit to do so. On the other hand, there was a distinct lack of professionalism from the pair.

"I counted at least two dozen." Bellous messaged the group when he finally turned to move after her. Well, at least we know fighting was definitely a horrible idea.

Deciding to move past it and ignore the self-satisfied air they were both radiating in the Union, Sathera stopped half a dozen feet into the tunnel, feeling safe enough to stop for a moment and allowing Joxin the time to get his feet under him before they started moving again.

Moments after they stopped, Bellous's voice shattered the tension, filling the Union with a single word that slammed down on everything like a fully loaded legion pack, "Contact." The sudden ring of steel as two swords met underlined the seriousness of his words.

"Where did they come from?" Sathera demanded from Bellous. "I thought we still had a few moments?"

"Don't know," Bellous distantly replied, his mind clearly focused on other things. "Saw the glint of steel at the last moment."

"You ready?" Sathera mentally asked Joxin as she turned to him, ignoring the clanging of steel, making it too loud to have a normal conversation.

"I'm not staying here," He resolutely responded, grim focus filling his mental voice. Sathera could not make out his face, but she knew what she would see if she could. His face would be blotchy from pain, but determination would be shining from his eyes.

Sathera could feel his pain bleeding into the Union as his leg was jarred with every hopping step he took. And it looked like his ankle was more severe than a sprain, but he would rather die than slow them down any more than he already was.

"Okay." Sathera sent, accepting him at his words.

Glancing to the mouth of the tunnel, Sathera was an outline of who she knew was Bellious standing a foot from its mouth, deflecting the slashes and stabs of the figures surrounding it. Whenever he was in danger of being overwhelmed, Jim would slip around his sides to block or attack as needed.

Sathera couldn't make out more than silhouettes of the figures involved, but she could see their blades flashing in the mushroom's near-nonexistent light. It was almost like a light source was shining down on that one spot, as the steel was reflecting the light in such a way that every blade was virtually glowing a pale green in the tunnel.

"We're moving," Sathera ordered, "pull back and disengage."

Sathera kept her eyes forward as she moved down the passage — for as much good as it would do her — but half of her mind was monitoring the moved battle behind her.

As the team moved, there was no longer a buffer between them and their pursuers, meaning every step had to be taken carefully, or the rear guard would be killed. On the bright side, overwhelming someone who had room to simply step back and couldn't be flank was nearly impossible without a significant skill gap.

A gap that their attackers didn't have over Bellous in these confines.

The only thing marking their slow progress was the slight glow of the mushrooms at the sides of the passage. And given that they all basically looked the same, Sathera had a whispering doubt in the back of her mind that they were somehow walking in place as the stupid glowing mushrooms moved.

As one corridor ended, she would pick the next direction by instinct. Minutes piled upon each other as they traveled. Sathera quickly lost track of time and direction but was convinced they had looped back on themselves more than once. During that time, they began to switch off who was "helping" Joxin and who was in the rearguard position.

Whoever was helping Joxin was practically carrying him at this point. And the one in the back was constantly fighting off shadows.

Their pursuers were relentless, but other than always pressing them forward, they were little danger after their surprise attack on Bellous failed. And with these endless tunnels, their rear guard only had to step back to dodge an attack. It was really that simple.

It was like a sword was tied to a stick, and their pursuers were simply lifting and dropping it as they stepped forward. Or rotating from one side to another at the hips across the tunnel.

If they were trapped against a wall, the motions would have been dangerous, as they were filled with power, but as it was, not so much.

After the first hour, dodging their attacks became so easy they began lashing out with counterattacks. Nothing so risky that it would open them up to retaliation, but cuts to the leg, arms, and sometimes chest.

Jim was the only one able to go for a kill, as he had a spike on him he was practicing with, and he had become good enough to land the occasional fatal blow.

The chase became one of attrition. Would the constant tension wear down Sathera and the others, or would they kill off the line of… is puppets the right word? Sathera wouldn't disgrace humanity by calling these shells people, even if they were the same shape.

As never once in all their time together did they scream or utter a word.

Though she knew they all knew they weren't keeping the best track of time, Sathera and the others agreed that their struggle had spanned over the course of hours.

Left and right, passages that sloped up and slightly down, they fled through countless passages that they had long forgotten the path of.

When Sathera happened to be helping Joxin along, she turned a corner of the passage and found herself snapping her head to the side and covering her eyes.

A light bright enough to illuminate the world was burning into her eyes. After a few seconds of pain and teary blinking, Sathera could look at the distant torch lighting up a room.

Though she was standing at least a hundred feet down the hallway, she could see most of the chamber. A group of eight was huddled around a torch and standing behind a large man with beard down to his chest storming forward to slam his hands onto a wooden desk to loom over a black cloaked figure sitting calmly on its other side.

The voice of the infuriated man echoed down the hallway, causing Sathera's breath to catch in her chest, "When is ya'r damn army arriving! My men are being slaughtered up there!"