Chapter 18 - Beginning to the Sacrifice
The lead of the group shifted from Jen to Dark as he was pushed to the front to lead them to the temple. Jen and Umber stayed close behind him so they could take control if the situation went downways.
'I dont know why you have to stand this close' Dark muttered under his breath.
'We dont know what your capable of Dark, we cant be losing anyone else.' Jen explained.
'Yeah. Thanks for reminding me.' He sighed with frustration.
They went silent as they continued deeper into the forest. Shades of green passed by, replaced by more green. It was endless. Every now and then there would be a burst of colour as exotic flowers sprouted from the jungle floor, or birds would flutter past. After a while Dark came to a stop. The surroundings seemed… darker, there was an eerie silence which lingered in the air. The birds had disappeared and there was a sense of dread hung over them.
'Were here.' Dark stated.
The group looked at each other, and then back to Dark.
'Where?' Umber asked.
Dark rolled his eyes and stood to the side, revealing the large hole within the ground. It looked like a black hole, any colour was sucked into the deathly blackness.
'I think someone should keep guard out here..' Foxy suddenly spoke up, he looked nervous.
'Fucking pussy.' Dark chuckled to himself.
Foxy gave Dark a dirty look, 'n-no..'.
Jen shook her head. She reached deep into her backpack and pulled out a flashlight. The rest looked at her in a wild confusion.
'Where did you even get that from?' Jake spoke up.
'Im a mechanic, what dont I have?' She laughed.
The rest shrugged, allowing the human to go first. She sat on the edge of the hole and pushed down the button on the flashlight. The blackness had now vanished with a sharp beam of white light. It still had its dry, dusty look. The mechanic then pushed herself forward and slid down the mud wall to the floor of the hole. She looked up to the others and gestured them to follow. Dark was the first, followed by Umber and then Jake and Foxy.
'Everyone here?' Jen asked.
They all nodded at her. Dark once again took lead and walked them all back through the dank tunnels. After a small while they were back to the tunnel before Snow and Dark had been split apart all those days ago. They kept walking before they hit a wall. Dark stood infront of it with confusion. He then started pounding his fist against the stone.
'Are you sure this is where you went?' Umber asked.
'I am sure. I dont know why this is here, it was a door last time.' Dark growled in frustration.
'All right, how about we calm down, we will find a way round.' Umber reassured them.
'Go on then Einstien, where else can we go?' Dark muttered.
While they argued there was a click. Suddenly, the floor beneath them opened up. They slid down a dark chute into another unknown corridor.
'where the fuck are we now?' Jen murmured.
'WHY WOULD I KNOW JEN?' Dark yelled.
She gave him a look of distaste.
'Stop arguing, just go the only way we can do, we'll end up somewhere.' Umber sighed as if she was caring for children.
They started down the corridor, dodging the occasional drip of damp from the decaying stone roof. Finally, they stumbled into the largest room, faced towards a set of stairs leading up to a large platform. On top of the platform was a rectangular slab of stone.
'Thats the altar.' Umber spoke.
They all moved up the stone steps onto the platform where Umber and Dark stood forward.
'So.. what?' Dark asked the deer.
'Alright, come here.' Umber said.
She pushed his chest backwards till he was leant against the stone altar.
'Hey now, take me out to dinner first.' The black wolf smirked.
Umber rolled her eyes and sat him down on the slab before rotating him 90 degrees and laying him down on his back.
'WOAH, I DIDNT ASK FOR THIS' Dark yelled in a mocking tone.
'Be quiet Dark, its not like that.' Umber muttered angrily.
She stepped away from him and he tilted his head to look at them. All of a sudden the sound of stone moving upon stone came again and the room turned pitch black. Some of them gasped, while Foxy screamed like a little girl. From the leftmost side of the room, a small flicker of red flame sprouted, followed by another and another all the way across the the rightmost side of the room until it was filled with a colour of blood. They turned to look at the flames in shock. Then they turned back round and noticed Dark with his eyes closed, letting out slurs of jibberish and he began to float upwards in the air.
'Umber whats happening?' Jake stuttered in fear.
'I.. no… how.' Umber whispered to herself in confusion.
The black wolf shifted from laying down to an upright position in the air and his eyes jolted open glowing ice white. They then faded to an unnerving black.
'Let the sacrifice begin.' Dark's husk murmured.
The rest of the group was suddenly flung backwards, while separate holes in the wall opened up behind thems with a large stone chairs replacing the holes. They all hit the back of the chairs with a thud and were forced to sit. Jen tried to push herself up from the chair but some kind of force was keeping her stuck in place.
'I cant move' She stated.
'Neither can I' Umber added.
'How can the sacrifice begin if Snow isnt here?' Foxy pitched up from the end.
'Thats what im struggling to realise' Umber replied to Foxy.
Dark's head quickly flicked to the side and he begun to mumble again in some sort of unknown language. From the darkness Snow appeared into view, she was lifted up into the air struggling. She was then carried over onto the stone table. The white fox screamed for help.
'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!' Jen and Umber shouted in sync with each other.
Before she could answer, Dark tied a rag around Snow's mouth to stop her from talking.
'No time for talking ladies. We are ready for the show.' He laughed darkly.
Snow tried to scream but it came out as a muffled whimper.
'Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming to the show, I'd like to introduce you to our main attraction.' Dark announced, waving his arm in the air like a ringleader.
He reached from behind the altar and picked up some thick brown rope which he used to tie down the fox's arms and legs. She squirmed trying to free herself from the rope. He chuckled again, running his fingers up her leg. A tear dripped from her cheek.
'Ah, its such a shame to have to get rid of you Snow, it seemed like the wolf really did like you and I can see why. Alas, your the only way im going to escape this prison. But hey, dont be sad, at least you finally did something with your worthless life.' Dark spoke softly down to the arctic fox.
He then lay a variety of tools out on the table next to her, each tool worse than the one prior. She turned her head to them and cried softly.
'Dont cry. I'm going to make this fun' He laughed with a sinister tone.
The black wolf leaned onto the altar and looked down at which tool he would use first. He picked up a sharp heated scalpel and pressed the tip against her chest in the position her core would be. Dark looked Snow in the eyes and started to press down on the tool. The nylon fur melted around the knife, followed by the metal. Then, the tool suddenly flung out of his hand and stuck into the wall very close to Umber. Dark quickly turned round and Alex shuffled out of the shadows.