Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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Freedom

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There's a clanging of bells in the halls. Not a soft ringing like music, but the harsh clatter of an alarm. High alert, they cry out. Soon every room and hallway will be under lockdown, and armored creatures will be scouring the palace for anything out of the ordinary. Anyone they find will be subdued, any intruders captured or killed. Until a given soldier is informed exactly what the circumstances are, those are the orders those bells give.

Pepper and I aren't in a room. We're in that small hollow between walls, the same place I'd hidden the first day here. It had been an uncomfortable fit for me alone, and this time Pepper is on her back on the ground, me on my hands and knees above her, curled up tightly to squeeze into this suffocating space. My hand is over Pepper's mouth while I listen to the stomps of heavy boots in the nearby hall.

I can't hear signs of anyone else nearby, and I release my grip on Pepper's face. Her body is shaking, her tall ears twitching, and her fur is standing on end. Her eyes are locked on me, and her breathing is fast and shallow.

"You have my silence," Pepper squeaks. "Please, let me go."

I shake my head. "No, you're coming with me."

"I am a servant, a slave," Pepper whimpers, her jaw trembling. "Worthless as a hostage. Release me, and I will set them on a false path, I swear."

"This isn't an abduction, it's an escape." Okay, it's kind of an abduction, but it would be worse to leave her behind. "We're going to get out of here together."

Pepper's voice is soft, but the disbelief of her face is deafening. "Where do you think you can go? Every door will be watched, and even if you did find a way out, this is the heart of UnderWorld City. You cannot possibly escape the notice of the entire city."

She's right about one thing. An escape on foot would end quickly and poorly. I could try this a thousand times and not be able to remember and predict the movements of every creature that could see us.

"Not if we avoid the streets," I breathe as I close my eyes and focus on the vlaric heart on its chain.

"The rooftops are just as guarded," Pepper's voice trembles, "and there are worse things than guards in the sewers."

I twist my arm to my face and put a finger to my lips, my eyes still closed, and Pepper falls silent, save for a few restrained sobs. I reach out through the diamond, at the stone and earth around me, feeling the weight of the walls and ceiling, the depth of the floors, and the empty space all between. I put these sensations together with the layout of the city, a map I've etched into my mind over many lives.

"Twelve feet down," I mutter out loud, "not to the sewers, just above them. Then, follow the ceiling bricks of the sewer south, along the main road. Past the main gate, then east, in the blind spot of the city walls."

I open my eyes, and Pepper is staring at me with more terror than before. "What are you saying?" she whispers.

"This might be a little unpleasant." I place my hand against the smooth stone floor of the hollow, and I push.

The stone below us drops, and there's a brief lurch in my stomach as Pepper and I fall the sudden few inches of distance to the ground. My chest hits Pepper's, and our faces collide. The rat-woman squeals in pain, but only slightly.

"Sorry," I whisper, my vision a blur from the strike to my nose. "Brace yourself, it's going to happen again."

I push down, and the floor drops another few inches. Pepper catches her descent this time, and I avoid colliding with her, just barely. The distance between the ceiling and floor is much more tolerable now, and I stand up slightly, giving Pepper space to breathe.

"A-are you doing this?" Pepper looks up in astonishment. "No human I saw these past few days displayed any kind of elemental skill."

I decide not to bring up the necklace, or to acknowledge her question at all, really. "Okay, I've got a feel for the stone below us, I think."

I close my eyes again and focus, this time only on the space below the floor. I spread my fingers apart and gently lower my hands, palms down. The earth below us trembles and obeys, slowly descending. We drop several more feet until I finally release my concentration on the shifting stone.

I hear my pulse in my ears. My lungs burn, and there's sweat sliding down my forehead. Worries ring in my head, concerns about whether we're limited by the diamond's remaining strength or my own stamina.

Pepper rises to her feet and looks up at the distant hollow, mouth hanging open. "What are you?" she whispers. "A warrior, a muge?" She looks at me, eyes a mix of wonder and anxiety.

I lean back against the wall I created and try to catch my breath. "I'm really, really out of shape." I give my stomach a squeeze. "Fast food has spoiled me."

Pepper's brow lowers a little, and her mouth opens and closes. Her bewildered expression is actually kind of funny. "Fast... food?"

"I'll explain when we get out of here," I promise as I look around. I've created a little bit of open space, and the jagged brickwork of the sewer's ceiling can be seen around the edges. It's not enough space, though, and our path will be obvious to anyone who stumbles on the hollow, as unlikely as that might be.

I mentally trace the path that I've planned atop the sewer's ceiling, and I walk along with it, my hands in front of me shoving dense soil aside. I hollow out a large space along the path before lowering my hands and turning to Pepper. "Over here," I say, beckoning with one hand.

Pepper shrinks away from me a little, eyes still wide, then cautiously takes a step forward. When both her feet are off the stone floor we'd descended on, I lift my hand, and the slab begins rising back up to the hollow it had started at. A twitch of a finger here, a drag of a hand there, and our tunnel should be thoroughly hidden.

I turn back to the dense earth in my way. "Follow me, Pepper. We're getting out of here." I focus on my gem and the soil once again and tunnel my way forward, Pepper's quiet footsteps following behind.

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Making a comfortably wide hallway was exhausting, so I'd switched to enough room to stand. That also proved too much, so I lowered the ceiling, and it kept happening. Walking slouched, walking crouch, crawling on hands and knees. And now, crawling on our stomachs. There is light, but just barely. It comes from small rocks along our path, minerals emitting a strange light, the same light that lights the UnderWorld in place of a sun.

My head is pounding. The air is stale and hot. My focus is starting to waver. How long has it been? I don't remember. Did I turn where I was planning to? My elbow shakes as I put my weight on it, then gives out, smashing my face against the ground.

Pepper is also gasping for air behind me. The last time I had room to turn around and check on her, there had been scrapes on her knees and bruises on her elbows. Sometimes she would just stop, almost nodding off, only continuing at my urging.

We need fresh air, fast. I had tried to maintain a large bubble of air as we moved, but the tunnel would occasionally collapse as I got too far to hold it up. Breathing takes up oxygen, releases carbon dioxide, and with less and less space, the air would grow too heavy with the latter.

I'm tunneling at an angle upward, now, so we're crawling up a gentle slope. We have to be far enough away now, right? Just a bit farther. Just a bit more.

I touch the soil ahead of me, but it remains still. I focus through the splitting headache, back on the diamond, out into the earth. Nothing. No quiver of energy, no soft song. I fumble with the gemstone in my necklace and wrench it out of its golden cage. Red, opaque stone with no shine. No light. Empty.

"Why have... we stopped?" Pepper gasps behind me.

I struggle to return the gemstone to its cage, then in resignation shove it into a pocket in my jeans. I reach out and, my fingers into the dirt, and shovel a small handful away. "Clear the way behind me," I grunt.

Another minute or so of digging. My fingers are starting to bleed. Digging straight up now, can't waste time, need the surface. Pepper is beside me now, also clawing at the earth. Dirt and gravel are up to our knees, and we're trying to pack it down, to rise up with the extra space we're making, but it's just so hard.

My nails scrape against something solid. Debris falls away from the ceiling, showering down on us, and above us, a ceiling of solid rock rippled like a river or lake frozen mid-flow.

"No," Pepper whispers, placing her hand against the ceiling. "No, no, no!" She scratches against the ceiling, tears heavy with dust streaming down her face. She turns to me. "Move it! Like the floor in the palace!"

Maybe there's a spark left in the gem. I reach out with my mind toward it, resting in my pocket. I can picture it clearly, but no power, no extra sense, comes out in response. "All dried up," I mutter.

Pepper starts shaking. "Why?" Her voice is cracking.

I look at Pepper in the dim light. Her robe is in tatters, sleeves shredded up to the elbows, bottom hem frays up to her knees, the front torn away completely. She's cowering up, bleeding arms clutching her stomach, scraped and bruised breasts heaving with quick breaths.

"Why?" she repeats. "Why did you do this to me?" Her head droops, and she shakes even harder with her sobs. "I could handle the palace, the work, the abuse. I had a place to sleep, food to eat. All that was required of me was to do what I was told."

"We aren't dead yet," I growl as I beat my fists against the ceiling. I'm not finished, not yet. I still have something, right?

I strike the ceiling again, and the sound is hollow. Open space is so close to us. "Hit the ceiling with me," I order.

Pepper stares at me. "I cannot punch through solid-"

"Do it!"

Pepper flinches at my sudden shout and lifts her arms up to obey. Dust is coming down as we pound on the rock.

I grit my teeth. "The rock is a few inches, maybe a foot thick. I don't know how far off course we've gone. Listen closely."

"You are making no sense!" Pepper screeches. "Have you gone mad?"

"Keep hitting the ceiling!" I shout. "Make noise!"

"Noise?!"

I shout with all my might as I slam my fists against the rock over and over, and soon Pepper copies me, panic and fear in her eyes. We do this for minutes, but it feels like hours.

After a while, Pepper collapses. "I cannot do this," she wheezes. "My head is spinning, my eyes are on fire." She looks up at me. "You killed us, Human. You just had to escape, had to leave. Had to drag me along."

"No." I slam my fists against the ceiling. "I'm. Not! Done!" I keep hitting with each word.

Stars are dancing in my vision. My legs are trembling, my arms feel like lead. I'm choking on each breath. Something wet and warm is dripping from my hands and onto my face. Red. Blood.

I slam against the ceiling, over and over. "I! RE-! -FUSE! TO! DIE! A-! -GAIN!"

The ceiling explodes into a shower of sharp rocks. They rain down on me, and I stagger back against the deluge.

I grasp Pepper's hand as the stones rise around us. It fills the cavern quickly, up to my knees in seconds. Pepper has completely vanished below the debris. Up to my waist, and they're still coming down. I try to clear the rocks away with my free hand, but it's just too much. Up to my shoulders. I reach up, high as I can.

Darkness surrounds me as the stone covers my head. My chest heaves, trying to grab a breath. My heart pounds, my lungs scream. Pepper's hand is gripping mine, but her grasp is weakening.

I can feel the torrent of gravel slow against my arm, and it stops rising, my outstretched hand still free to move. I've almost made it. I'm so close to the top. So close. Almost... there...

Something wraps around my hand and pulls. I clench my hand around Pepper's as tight as I can. The sharp rocks bite into my skin as I quickly start rising through them. As we rise through them.

My head breaks through the surface of the rubble, and I gasp for a breath of cold, fresh air. My hand is released, followed by a hoist from below my shoulders. My chest and torso are quickly free, then my waist. My sides are let go, and I stagger forward. I put my free hand out to catch my fall, but my elbow gives out instantly, and I slam against the ground.

The strong force wrenches my hand free from Pepper's, and I hear rocks shift as she's dragged up as well. There's a thump beside me, Pepper collapsing as well. I turn my head over to her I open my eyes.

Pepper lays on the ground coughing and crying. Her eyes open slowly. "We..." She coughs again violently, and spittle streaks across my face. "We are alive..."

I nod slowly, my chest heaving as I gulp down precious air. "Yes." It's all I can say right now.

Pepper grimaces as she moves her arms. "Someone... pulled us out... Saved us." She pushes at the ground, rolling to her side. "Who?" She turns her head, and her eyes go wide. "...No..."

I force myself onto my side as well and look at our savior.

A helmet and shoulder pauldrons, rust-red and bedecked with white, horn-like spikes. A thin slit in the helmet for a visor, yellow eyes shining from beneath. A grayish-brown, stone-like breastplate carved in the shape of a snarling face, sharp teeth hanging over the stomach. Massive gauntlets of similar color and material to the breastplate, covering three fingers and a thumb each. Armor on the tights and calves, same red metal as the helmet and shoulders, with a pair of spiked toes. Jagged gray chainmail hanging from the shoulders. Thick, naked, obsidian-black skin at the elbows, waist, and hips, wrapped tightly around bulging muscles. A red cloth protrudes from the bottom of the breastplate, draped over the bulge of the loins and hanging down to the knees.

One of Lord Van Bloot's best warriors stands above me, one foot on either side of my body. Captain of the Gothos Phalanx. Champion of countless battles. Destroyer of armies.

Pepper and I stare up at Atrapol, and Atrapol glares down at us. Pepper grabs my shirt and clings to me, curling up and burying her face in my chest, shaking and sobbing. I unconsciously wrap an arm around her and hold her tight.

Atrapol crouches down, hands on his knees, and leans forward. He speaks, and his deep voice grinds like a crumbling mountain, echoing in his helmet. "Hello."

I nod and wheeze, "Hello to you, too."

Atrapol leans even closer, legs bent so low that the cloth at his loins drags across my body. His helmet fills my vision, and I can see the shape of his eyes in the darkness beyond, sharp and narrow almonds with glowing yellow irises at their centers. Hot breath escapes his visor, smelling like blood and old meat.

Atrapol and I stare at each other for several moments, with only the sounds of his heavy breaths, my shallows gasps, and Pepper's quiet sobs filling the air. Then Atrapol's eyes shift, eyelids widening, the inner corners lifting up a little. "Up your nose, Michael? All the places you could have put a spying ear, and you shove it up your nostril?"

Pepper's sobs pause, and there's a squeak of confusion. I pat her back, then turn my attention back to Atrapol. "Not a lot of places I could have hidden it where it couldn't be found," I retort, suddenly aware of the pressure in my nose again.

There's a disorienting sound of my own voice ringing from inside Atrapol's helmet, slightly muffled by a strange static. Atrapol pulls his face away from mine a little and points to the side of his head. "Okay, sure, it did the job. I heard every word you and everyone around you said, but I also had a front-row seat to your every bodily sound as well." Atrapol shakes his head abruptly. "Do you have any idea how loud you breathe?"

Atrapol steps backward and extends a massive hand out to me. I take it, and he pulls me to my feet. "By the way, you're an asshole," I say as I help a thoroughly confused Pepper to her feet. "Leaning forward, glowering like you're about to kill us."

The UnderWorlder laughs deep in his throat and lightly strikes my chest with his fist, sending me into a coughing fit. "We can discuss how much of an ass I was later. My vehicle isn't far. I have food, water, fresh clothes-"

Atrapol and the ground start wobbling. No, wait, that's me. A pair of enormous hands catch me as I lose my balance. "Thanks," I mutter, "but I think what I need most right now..."

I don't get to finish my thought before I completely drift off.

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End of Act I

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Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.