As the weight of the rocks crushed him, Kuai Liang felt the ground beneath his feet give way, and he began to fall amidst a ton of dirt and boulders. A small stone bounced off his forehead, but he did not register the sudden shocking pain. To his right, he caught a glimpse of Tomas flailing in frantic confusion before becoming invisible; the landslide carried them downwards for several seconds until at last, they both crashed into solid ground. A large stone landed on the Cryomancer's ankle, and he felt the bone crunch under its weight as it pinned him face down to the ground at the outermost layer of rubble. He howled but quickly stifled the sound, twisting his body to face his predicament.
A mound of rock and debris rested on his foot. With a frustrated grunt, Kuai Liang tried to army-crawl from the cave-in, but the rock pinning him held him fast. A thin stream of blood now wept red into his eyes. His fingers gingerly brushed what felt like a large gash at his hairline, and though he cringed at the inflamed tenderness, he merely wiped the blood away in annoyance. He couldn't be bothered with that right now. Tomas was nowhere to be seen. The Cryomancer suspected the worst, and if he was right, he needed to hurry in order to save his friend. If he wasn't too late, that was.
He concentrated his powers into his left palm, the hand that was closest to the pile, and aimed it at the offending rocks. A blue-white jet of cryogenic energy surged into it, and then a sheet of ice spread over and through it until all the rocks froze into solid chunks of ice. With his free leg, he kicked the one that pinned him to the ground. Like fragile glass, it exploded into razor-sharp shards. The Cryomancer shielded his eyes as the slivers of ice rained around him and zipped past his head. A second later, he was free. Unfortunately, his foot was crushed. He couldn't tell if the landslide had broken it or just badly sprained it, but whatever the case, his tabi boot stretched uncomfortably over the swollen joint.
With a pained grunt, Kuai Liang loosened his boot and forced himself to stand. His foot angrily protested, but he ignored it and forced himself to put weight on it to limp around the rubble. He gazed around and saw that he stood in some sort of a naturally occurring underground cave. Rocks and boulders from the landslide formed a tall wall that stretched to the twenty foot high ceiling and blocked out nearly all traces of daylight. That would hold Sektor off for a while. But once Kuai Liang and Tomas' bodies weren't found, the hunt would be on again.
"Tomas?" he whispered loudly, not daring to speak in his normal voice lest he risk another cave-in or worse, alerting the Lin Kuei to his presence. "Tomas!"
His eyes frantically scanned the rubble for some trace of his best friend. He started to yank smaller rocks from the pile, vaguely worried he was inviting more debris to collapse on them both, but working diligently nonetheless. He had to know. He had to know if Tomas was alive. But after ten minutes of searching without success, he began to accept the inevitable. Kuai Liang collapsed into the dirt in disbelief. How could they have come so far only to lose now? He rubbed his still-bleeding forehead with his dirty hand and sighed. God, please don't let him be gone.
"Fine time to disappear," he muttered, hoping his pr̆ítel would hear him, reappear, and counter with one of his usual smart-mouthed remarks. He wasn't particularly surprised when he didn't get his way. A peculiar, familiar pain crept into his throat and strangled his ability to swallow. It was bad enough to lose Bi-han. He didn't think he could stand losing Tomas as well, and on the same day at that.
Then he wistfully glanced at the pile one more time. This time, in the tiny stream of daylight from above, his eyes caught sight of some strange looking rocks peeking from the pile about a foot off the ground. He was certain they weren't there before. Kuai Liang scrambled to them on all fours, and instantly saw that they were gray and black with dust like the other rocks, but they were shaped like narrow cylinders. He ran his bloody hand over them and realized with surging relief that they weren't rocks at all, but human fingers.
"Tomas! Tomas! Can you hear me?" he whispered as he froze the rocks that entombed the motionless fingers. As he did with the rock that pinned him, he smashed them and freed his friend's hand. He continued this process, first unearthing his arm, then his shoulder, and at last his head. In the dim light, Kuai Liang saw blood smearing Tomas' face. There was no movement, not even shallow breathing. His heart dropped and hot tears sprang to his eyes. He angrily blinked them back and then he clasped his friend's hand in his own while he slumped over.
"Tomas?" he said, his voice trembling. When there was no answer, he looked to the ceiling helplessly, and not to the ceiling, really, but somewhere far beyond. "I've already lost one brother today. Please don't take away my other," he begged anyone who may have been listening. He closed his eyes and struggled to fight back the painful emotions coursing through him. Pain is the mark of a weak mind, he inwardly admonished, even as the tears cut single tracks through the dirt on his face.
As if someone had heard his unwitting prayer, Tomas now inhaled a deep but ragged breath. "Kuai Liang?" he croaked, and then coughed.
The Cryomancer jumped and then looked at him stupidly for the longest moment. Finally, he answered him. "I'm here. I'm going to get you out," he said almost breathlessly, containing his smile. He silently gave thanks to whatever higher power was listening to him while he wiped away the tears. Then he resumed his process of freezing and shattering rocks until he had dislodged Tomas and had created a hole wide enough to pull him through. The Cryomancer army-crawled halfway into the hole to reach his friend, wove his arms under his armpits, and began to yank. As he pulled Tomas out, he heard the other grunt and groan in terrible pain. But he did not stop until at last, the pile of rubble spewed them both out like it was giving birth to them.
Tomas' scalp had gashes ripping through it and it covered in wicked purple goose-eggs, much like his own, but the blood had clotted and now glued bits of his downy white hair to his face in shades of red, brown, and black. What concerned Kuai Liang, however, was the slightly concave shape his friend's chest had taken under his gray tunic; it was obvious that more than a few ribs were broken, perhaps crushed completely, and were threatening to puncture his internal organs, if they hadn't already. The Cryomancer sighed in frustration for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He didn't think Tomas could walk, and with his wounded ankle, he didn't think he could carry him. But they couldn't stay here. Sektor would find them quickly. And then, with them being in such a weakened state, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.
As if reading his mind, Tomas faintly said, "Leave me."
"I'm not leaving you," Kuai Liang scoffed. "I'm just trying to think."
"Think about this," he croaked. "It's only a matter of time before Sektor figures out what happened to us. I'll only slow you down. Leave me."
Kuai Liang chuckled. "Don't be so melodramatic," he chided, but his tone was not unkind. "You sound like a damsel in distress."
Tomas laughed, then coughed and groaned as he clutched his chest. "Don't make me laugh," he gasped. "It hurts."
"Then don't be such a ninny."
"Fine time for you to get a sense of humor."
"Can you walk?" Kuai Liang asked, changing the subject quickly.
"I don't think my legs are hurt," Tomas replied, looking at them and wiggling his toes.
"Is that a yes?"
"That's an 'I don't know.' I can barely breathe."
"Well, we're going to have to chance it."
"Do I have a choice?"
"No."
"Then I guess we're going to have to chance it."
Kuai Liang faintly smiled and then carefully helped his friend sit up. Tomas winced in obvious pain, but it couldn't be helped. Then, he got to his feet, hobbled behind him, and once again threaded his arms through his friend's armpits. Using all his strength, he lifted him to his feet. The other cried out in agony, but he stoically bit his lip and stifled the sound. He too, had thought about the dangers that noise posed to them.
"I'm alright," he breathed as he draped an arm over Kuai Liang's shoulder. "What about you, Hopalong Cassidy?"
"Who?" the Cryomancer asked, raising his eyebrow in bewilderment. He was always surprised and puzzled by the Czech man's strange references. He'd picked most of them up during a stint he did in the United States to steal top secret government documents involving a nuclear reactor.
"Oh, never mind," the other said. "You wanted me up, so I'm up. So let's move it."
"Agreed." Kuai Liang said. Ignoring the pain screaming from his own foot, he bore the brunt of their weight as he led them into the cave.
"Do you know where we're going?" Tomas asked him a moment later, grunting between every limping step.
"No," the other replied as they hobbled down a shallow hill into the progressing darkness. But he did not stop until the cave floor rose up before them and sealed off their exit. In disbelief, he patted the solid rock wall, sighed, and punched it in desperation. Now his knuckles shrieked in pain, but he didn't care. "No!" he cried.
"Well, perhaps being a glorified robot with no free will of my own will be fun," Tomas drily remarked.
Kuai Liang looked at him and scowled, though he knew his friend could not see. "You're not helping," he snidely growled in response, tempted to say more, but defeated, he just shook his head. He maneuvered them around and leaned on the wall.
"You two look lost," a clear voice broke through the air. A blue-white ball of energy not unlike one of Kuai Liang's ice balls appeared in front of them, swirling, twisting, growing until it had taken on the shape of a human. Kuai Liang and Tomas both shielded their eyes, blinded by the electric blue rays of light after being in the darkness for so long. After their eyes readjusted, both stared at the figure before them. He was a short man, Tibetan, wearing black silk robes. They recognized him immediately, but the Cryomancer could not believe his eyes.
"Xiao-Ping?" he asked. "Is that you?"
