Disorder
Cole pulled Zane down the incline, eyes darting wildly in an attempt to find the figure that Zane had seen. No such luck. "What is it?" He asked his taller companion. "A stone warrior?"
Zane's faintly glowing green eyes narrowed as he looked into the trees again. He nearly tripped over a rock as Cole pulled him along. "All I see is a silhouette," he whispered. "Tall, and running in our direction."
Cole looked up, distracted, and saw the bird. It was flying in loops over their heads as they ran. What is it doing? He wondered as he leapt over a rock near the base of the hill. Why is it here?
"Cole," Zane said. "I might be able to run faster if you let go of my arm."
It was a knee-jerk reaction. Cole released Zane and ran to the south. Zane followed. The eagle coasted over them, uncharacteristically silent.
Not again, Cole thought with growing dread as a heat flash sent sweat oozing from his pores. Not with Zane here. He can't see my-
Without any warning, the eagle sliced through the air and shoved its feet into Cole's hair, then alighted again.
Although Cole did not cry out, the surprise was clear in his wide eyes as he turned his head and looked up at the bird, which was now flying in the opposite direction: north.
"Cole," Zane said. He grabbed Cole's shoulder and forced him to stop. "We need to follow the bird."
"Why?" Cole brushed away Zane's hand. "If we do that, we risk getting caught."
Zane pointed up at the black and brown bird, which had landed in a tree and was watching them expectantly. "It's trying to show us something," he said. "If we follow it, we will find a way out of this."
Cole turned his back and continued his sprint. Following a bird? He thought as his feet kicked up sand behind him. Nice try, Zane. I'd rather follow a Serpentine into the Caves of Despair.
"No, I don't think you would," Zane replied as he bolted forward and matched Cole's pace.
Cole started. "How did you do that?" He asked. A tall tree suddenly appeared in the darkness in front of him, and he turned away just before his nose could make impact.
"Do what?"
"Did you just read my mind?"
"No. You said it out loud."
I don't have as much control over my mind as I had originally thought, Cole realized. First, I had no idea that I shouted after that nightmare. And now I'm thinking my thoughts out loud?
"Yes you are," Zane said. "Turn around now, Cole. The eagle wants us to go north."
Cole growled loudly and ran faster. "Why should I?" He asked angrily.
"Because I can sense the presence of at least ten more stone warriors beyond those trees ahead of us," Zane said coolly.
"What?" Cole pulled up, chest heaving. Not with fatigue, but with panic and dread. Nausea churned his stomach. "We're surrounded?" He swiveled his head around. "Why does it have to be so dark? I-I can't see anything past my feet."
"Because it's cloudy, and the moon is going through its darkest cycle," Zane answered immediately. "Now quit complaining. You have a brain. Use it."
The golden eagle swooped through the dark air again and landed in front of them. It stayed silent- most likely in an attempt to keep its wards hidden- as it rammed its head into Cole's knee.
Cole stumbled backward, aghast. "Why is this fiend so violent?" He asked. "Does it want me to skewer it?"
"Violent?" Zane repeated. "Do you even know my sister's bird? She's being gentle right now. Come on." He grabbed Cole's arm and tried to pull him in the opposite direction.
"No!" Cole pulled his arm free. "I'm not going north!"
Zane backed up and examined his unhinged companion. "Why not?" He asked. "It's the only way out of this mess."
Cole started walking. Not in a straight line, but in circles. His feet led him in a furious, tight circle around a small tree. "Because," he choked out. "There's a river up that way, on the other side of the hill. It cuts practically the entire island in half."
"So?"
"So," Cole ran a hand through his hair and pulled on it frantically. "In order to go north, we would have to go through the river."
A moment of silence. The wind was picking up, humid and warm as it rustled the leaves. Zane exhaled slowly and dropped all of his weight onto his heel. "Oh." He said simply.
"Yeah." Cole's pacing increased its intensity with each step. "I-I can't go near that water, Zane."
Zane pondered this a moment before letting out a determined sigh. "Yes you can," he said. "I say that it's about time you faced your fears. We're going to the river. It's the only way."
Cole stopped and stared. "What?" He nearly squeaked. "You don't understand, Zane. Whenever I get close to that river, my hands get all tingly, and my heart palpates. It's not just an invalid fear. I-I literally go into cardiac arrest whenever I touch that water."
Zane grabbed his hand and, without another word, pulled him back in the direction they had come from. "We're going north," he said. "And that's final."
One drop at a time, little by little, water can erode the hardest of rocks. Patiently, cunningly, and persistently; in its own time, water conquers all.
...Plink...
Kai cringed as yet another droplet made impact in the same spot as the hundreds that had come before it.
They always landed in the same spot; dead in the center of his forehead.
...Plink...
Not for the first time, he struggled to move his head, which was held securely in some sort of brace. He could move his jaw, but that was about it. His wrists and ankles were shackled and stretched out in a position that left him prostrate and paralyzed.
...Plink...
Was it just his imagination, or was the water dripping slower than it had been a million years ago?
...Plink...
His heartbeat was heavy in his throat, suffocating him.
That one spot on his forehead. It was the same spot every time! His lungs were heaving, thrusting his chest up and down. Was there a hole in his skin from all those droplets? Had his skin (the rock) been eroded, cracked, and decayed by the water?
...Plink...
How many gallons of this cold liquid had been slowly poured over his forehead?
How long had he been in here? Five minutes? Five weeks?
...Plink...
He honestly felt like it had been closer to five millennia. But that was an unrealistic thought, so he would have to settle with five weeks.
...Plink...
Ugh! So many words that started with the letter P. Patiently. Persistently. Prostrate. Paralyzed. Plink. Plink, plink, plink!
...Plink...
Kai pulled against the chains with all of his strength. He was hyperventilating. Regardless of the fact that the water was icy cold, his face was hot. He could practically feel the steam as it rose from his sweaty skin. Was the puddle around his body from the water, or was it his sweat?
...Plink...
"Stop!" He cried out, panting. His wrists were probably bleeding from the force of his futile efforts. They certainly hurt enough for this to be true. "Please, just..." His breast quivered with his ragged breaths. "I...you...please, stop this!"
...Plink...
He was trapped. Claustrophobic. Drowning in a sick mixture of blood, sweat, water, pain, and tears.
Pain; another P word.
...Plink...
Where was everyone? A sudden fear that he was all alone- that he had been abandoned, left to die as the water bored into his skull for an eternity- consumed him with a horrid passion.
He pulled on the taut chains once again.
Nobody cares, Kai.
"Quiet!" He screamed. "Leave me alone!"
...Plink...
His tears suddenly evolved into violent sobs.
It was so hard to speak, to cry, to even breath with the brace and straps holding his forehead, neck, and shoulders in place. The equipment seemed to grow tighter with each passing moment. More restricting. More dangerous. Less friendly.
Ha. As if it had ever been friendly in the first place.
...Plink...
Kai tried to settle down, but he felt like his mind was working on its own; like his body was just along for the ride as his sanity plummeted into a dark abyss.
"Overlord!" He wailed. "G-get me out of here!"
...Plink...
He recoiled inwardly as the droplet exploded on his forehead.
Oh, lords. This was really starting to get into his head. He could feel his face cracking, shattering, falling apart.
He stilled his breathing a little bit and stopped his tears. Calm down, he told himself as he bit his tongue. Your skin isn't breaking. You're just overreacting. Everything is fine.
...Plink...
He gasped as he felt warm liquid run down his face. What was that? Blood? Maybe his skin was cracking, after all. Just like a rock, his skull was-
Pull yourself together! His mind screamed. It's just my sweat. I'm stressing, so my body is making more sweat. It's just sweat... He faltered. Would he feel pain if his skin was actually coming apart? Was he just going into hypothermic shock, so everything felt warm?
No, that couldn't be the case. He wasn't feeling tired at all. His mind was wired and alert, and he could still feel the cold droplets (blessing or curse?) so it had to be something else.
...Something like...insanity?
Plink.
He closed his eyes- had they even been open to begin with?- and clamped down harder on his tongue.
No, he was not going insane.
Oh, look. There's blood in my mouth. I wonder where that came from?
Nope. Not insanity. Plink.
Fruitcakes. Yummy.
No, actually. He hated fruitcake. It looked amazing, like candy. But it was full of disgusting...what was all that yellow, red, and green stuff, anyway? Synthesized fake fruit slices?
Okay, that was redundant. Whatever. What was he thinking about again?
Oh, yeah. Cake. Chocolate was his favorite flavor, but he was okay with yellow, too. But only if it had chocolate frosting on it.
He hesitated. No, that's not what he had been talking about. It was something else, not related to food at all.
Plink.
He couldn't take this anymore. He was done. This was definitely insanity. He was not going to deny it any longer.
Plink.
...Wait. No.
He hadn't noticed, but whatever was making the water drip had been turned off.
Had his mind been making those plinking noises all by itself?
Plink.
Apparently so, because he was still doing it.
If I ever see Cole again, he thought. I am going to punch his face. Then I'm going to apologize for every rude comment I've ever made about his condition.
Cole had been here for two years before his escape, living through the Overlord's gross sensuality and bloodthirsty behavior. And he did it all without showing any weakness around his companions...prisoners...
Kai was so confused. Minor detail, he told himself. Just skip it.
But there was that one time that Kai had heard Cole screaming in his bedroom. Would that count as a weakness?
Cole had screamed twice, actually. Kai had ignored it the first night, but had finally decided to confront Cole on night number two. That was when he'd seen the ugly scars.
Plink.
A loud thud echoed through the room, making Kai jump with fright.
"You are wakeful," a gravelly voice said. "Come with me; serve our master now, yes?" His vowels all sounded like O's and Ooh's, and his K's were deep, guttural noises that sounded like Sh and Ch had an ugly baby in the back of an old man's throat.
Kai was still trembling. His chest moved in spasms as he tried to make his breaths sound less like a hurricane. He swallowed the dryness from his throat and reached out into the blackness with his voice. "How long have I been here?"
A moment of silence, then heavy footsteps that were moving toward Kai. "Two and thirty hours," he said. "Half day, add one."
Kai puzzled this out as quickly as he could. I've been in here for thirty-two hours, he thought, feeling both surprised and confused.
"Come?" The man- or beast- asked from his position in the shadows. "Or...Sanguine Knight needs more time under the drip, yes."
"No," Kai said quickly. "I-I'll go and talk to him again. Can you get me out of this...thing?"
The foreign man grunted. "Hold still."
What else am I supposed to do? Kai used this slightly bitter line to distract his mind from the confusion and mental pain.
Click. The shackle encasing his left wrist fell to the floor, then the one on his right. He tried to move his arms, but the hours of inactivity had left him lethargic.
After his legs had been freed, the man went for the horrid straps on his head and neck. There were no keys, apparently, because all it took was a few jerks on the leather to get him loose.
The tension on Kai's face dissipated without warning. His head rolled to the right. This isn't right, he thought, panicked. I can't move anything.
Plink.
"Get up," the man said. "We go now."
Kai tried to wiggle his thumb.
He ended up jerking his ankle instead.
The man grunted again. He then, without warning, scooped Kai up in one arm and threw the limp body over his shoulder. "Tach yo'omek," he grumbled as he strode across the room. "Shem korughmet aliu."
Kai had not realized until now that he wore close to no clothing. How had managed to disregard such a critical, humiliating detail?
Perhaps it was because, until now, he had not been able to focus on anything other than the incessant plinking of the water upon his hapless brow.
...Being archaic did not suit him at all. Why did he even try?
Plink.