Chapter 25: Into the Eye of the Storm.

It was dark already.

Joanie-Ellen swallowed and stared at the pale ghostly clouds above her. The strange machine... The Netherworld as Dame Skyla... Queen Skyla had called it, slowly turned under her feet. Joanie didn't entirely trust the assurances that it was creating its own gravitational field. Shivering she wished that she hadn't taken off Jade's jersey.

Joanie's mouth tightened as she looked down the shaft that she was going to climb. She wasn't afraid of the dark, nor was she afraid of tight places. She realized suddenly that she couldn't wait to get down the hole. If it meant that she could get away from the open air...

She shivered again and realized that she wasn't cold, just terrified. The flight here had been unnerving. Waiting here was unnerving. Being here was unnerving.

She had to get out of here.

'If you fail, they will probably be killed. Skyclone would do that to Skyla in a heartbeat because they are the closest thing to family she has.'

Councilwoman Faolin sure had a way with words.

Joanie sniffed as the Queen landed next to her after scouting around the area. She wasn't doing this for her; she was doing this for herself.
The sooner she got this done, the sooner she could leave these people behind her.

Forever.

"Okay," Skyla said in a hurried tone, "are you ready?"

The girl, with her body pulled close to the ground nodded nervously and glanced down the hole. Skyla pulled out an amulet and hung it around Joanie's neck. The girl frowned and fiddled with the crystal from it.

"I have another with me." The woman explained. "That way I can see when you're in trouble and need help."

Joanie raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "Then I don't need to wear it." She said. "I won't need any help. No fret."
The woman returned the smile with an amused shake of her head.

"Come on, you have to go."
Joanie nodded and looked down the shaft. Her mouth tightened but she sniffed and slipped her legs into the shaft. The first part was about a five-meter drop. Skyla had brought a rope with and had secured the one end to a piece of metal sticking out from the surface. Making sure she had a firm grip on the rope Joanie slowly made her descend. Skyla took a hold of the rope to make sure that it didn't become undone. Although she knew that she shouldn't, for safety's sake, she still formed a tiny sphere of light that followed the kid down the shaft.

Joanie glanced up at her, frowned at the light and dropped the last part. With a heavy heart Skyla let the light fade. Now that they were actually going through with it, she was having second doubts about sending Joanie into danger.

"What shall I tell them when I see them?" Joanie's whispered tone echoed up the shaft.

Skyla shook her head to herself.

"Only to come out safely and protect my investment." She said. "They'll understand. Please be careful Joanie-Ellen."

There was a soft fading chuckle from the shaft. Obviously Joanie had had no trouble with her small frame to turn around so that she could move forward in the tunnel.

"Yeah sure ya betcha..."

When they got out, the imps were going to get it.

The unspoken promise was passed through the group as they endured the three multi colored henchmen's taunts. The trio of imps was abusing their newly found power over the Skydancers as they made childish faces, jiggled the cage and teased them with sniping remarks. Breeze took a practiced breath as he fought to control his temper. Before the imps came they had already fought amongst themselves for no reason other than the cage was becoming too small. They were cramped, hungry, uncomfortable and scared. Slam, with his absolute hate for closed spaced were the worst. He was a hair breath away from losing his temper.

Breeze shook his head and shivered as he felt a tingling between his shoulderblades. HE turned around irritated, half expecting to see one of the imps behind him. Breeze almost cursed with shock as he looked up and saw a small figure huddled in one of the ventilation shafts higher up in the wall. Careful not to draw the attention of the imps as well as his fellow students Breeze held up his hand, motioning for Joanie to hold on and back up a bit. The youth nodded tensely and crouched low. Breeze turned back to the group. The imps started jiggling the cage again when:

"That's it!" Slam's temper finally got the better of him.

Jade moved clear of his arm just in time to avoid an elbow through the face as he drew his fist aback and punched out at the nearest imp.
A beam of light shot out, went through the barrier and narrowly missed Muddle the blue imp. The other two immediately stopped what they were doig and stared at the smoldering patch on the wall.

"Hey!" Jumbo the green imp exclaimed. "They can still use their powers!"

Silence reined the hall. Muddle was nowhere to be seen, having decided to cut his losses and run. Snarl backed up, as he looked form the exit to the cage.

"You know, Jumbo... I'm sort of tired." He yawned dramatically. "You take first watch." He disappeared as well.
Jumbo blinked in the direction of his retreating comrade.

"Hey, you guys!" He called out. "Don't..."
Breeze touched Slam's shoulder.

"Shoot at him again." He whispered.

Slam gave him a questioning look but complied. The energy blast didn't even hit the wall before Jumbo fled as well.
Slam laughed and blew over an imaginary gun.

"I should've done that ages ago." He said pleased. "Hopefully he'll leave us alone for the next few minutes."

Breeze turned around to see whether Joanie was still there. "Hopefully longer." He said softly. "Help's here I think."

The group blinked surprised and looked around them.

"Where?" Angelica asked surprised. Breeze motioned for them to quiet down.

"There." He said softly and pointed up. "Come on Joanie, you'll have to hurry."
His fellow Skydancers blinked surprised. Jade gasped as the minute insipid girl stuck her head out of the vent. Her short blond hair was standing in all directions, giving her an almost comical appearance.
Without looking at them or saying a word Joanie dropped to her stomach and stared at the cable stretching from the wall to the Generator's platform.

There was a considerable space between the opening of the vent and the cable.
Joanie's mouth tightened as she looked down. She paled and backed up. There were almost two stories between her and the swirling vortex below her.

The others didn't immediately notice her panicked expression.

"I think you'll have to turn around and lower yourself down backwards." Camille couched. "That'll be the easiest I think."

Joanie looked at her wide-eyed. "I..." Her throat was dry. "I can't... turn... The tunnel..." She backed up further into the hole.

Jade moved in next to Breeze.

"Just try Joanie." She encouraged. "You're small and nimble kid! Come on, we have faith in you."
They didn't see her begin to shiver.

"Why don't you hoist yourself out by grabbing onto the top of the shaft." Slam added his advice. "The walls are very uneven..."

Joanie closed her eyes and nodded. She crawled forward and without looking down again turned on her back and felt along the sides of the hole. She found a rift to put her fingers in at the top and tried to pull herself out. Her arms responded like jelly would, she realized that there would be no way for her to pull herself out.
She turned back on her stomach and backed up.

"I'm gonna try again." She said tensely.

Everyone whispered encouragement as she disappeared out of their sight.
Joanie backed up and leaned against the side of the vent.

"Pull yourself together Ellen." She muttered and rubbed over her sweating face. "Baby."

She shifted the bag she was carrying with her out of her way and relaxed her body. The vent was actually a little bit to small but...

Straining Joanie managed to turn around so that she stared in the opposite direction of the hole.
Shaking she backed up until she felt her feet meet air. Joanie closed her eyes and bit her tongue.

"You'll... you'll have to direct me." She said in a small voice. "I... think the drop is... further than I'm short."

Joanie lay down on her stomach and began to slip out of the vent shaft. When her middle passed out of the hole she pressed her legs tightly against the wall and slowly pushed herself out. She allowed the bag to swing freely from her shoulder.

For all her slight appearance the others quickly saw that Joanie had at least one thing that counted in her favor. She could carry her own body weight in her arms. They let her go on her own pace until she hung freely from her arms.

"Okay," Jade encouraged her, "to be safe, move a little to the right Joanie. Then, just carefully let go. The drop's not that far."
Slam stood over her, studying the girl's movements critically. "And remember to throw your balance against the wall." He added. "Just press your body against it."

"You can do it Joanie!" Camille and Angelica called soft encouragement.

Breeze only sent up a silent prayer for the girl's safety.

Joanie had moved as Jade instructed but held on for as long as she could.

When her arms started shaking she glanced down, panicked and let go.
The drop wasn't very far, no more than a ruler in length. There was a gasp from the group as Joanie visibly lost her balance, moved backwards then throw herself forward with such force that it almost looked as if she was pushed.
She pressed herself against the wall and whimpered softly yet, before anyone could say anything she was already carefully moving so that she could turn around and face the cage. Perspiration beaded her face as she finally managed to face the group. Her dark eyes were wide as she took a moment to study the scene before her.
She promptly ignored the group of Skydancers. Her mind didn't have enough strength to process their wings on top of everything else. She rather spent her energy on a critical study of the silo she was in.

Like the one she was on, three other cables stretched pendicular to a small platform suspended in the middle of the chamber. On the platform there was what she guessed to be the generator to the cage's shields. She risked glanced down as she studied the cage's suspension. It was hanging from the platform, but the chain was only about half a meter long at the most. She guessed that, if one of the taller students could stand on their toes and stretch out their arms to the top they'd probably only just be able to touch the platform.

"Come on Joanie love." Breeze's voice brought her back to reality. "I'm sorry but you have to hurry. We don't know when they'll be back..."
The little girl nodded tensely and took her first step forward on the leg wide cable. Her body toppled as she lost her balance for a second. Wild eyes shot up and made contact with Jade's. The older girl smiled at her encouraging.

"You can do it kid." She said softly, knowing that Joanie heard her. "Come on..."
Joanie closed her eyes and took another step forward, flinging her arms out for balance. It held for two more steps. Joanie was leaning more and more forward to keep her balance. She paused halfway and looked down to make sure where to place her next step. The height hit her like rock. Her knees shook as she flung her arms out in vain to try and hold onto something.

She was only vaguely aware of the girls' horrified cries as she toppled forward.

Her world started spinning...