Chapter 2: On the Run
Porrim clutched her precious bundle close to her. She had stopped briefly at her room to gather supplies and wrap her charge in a blanket. A heavy knife had separated the crab from her wrist. Without her body to leach nutrient from, it would die in a few days. She put it in a box to scuttle around in. Hopefully that would buy her a bit of time when the drones were sent out to find her. Giving one brief look at her bed-pod, she closed the door and locked it behind her. She put a note on her door that read 'I'm sick. Please take over my duties for a few days while I recover.' Such a note would not arouse suspicion and perhaps cover her escape for a couple of days.
"Well, little one," she said softly as she made her way out of the caves, "we had best be off." With that, she made for the drone access tunnels. They were nearly inaccessible, but unlike any other exit to the breeding caverns, these were unmonitored, and only used when drones came bearing filial pails or on the rare occasion when they were needed for repair. Both of her arms were needed for climbing, so she tied the blanket around her, securing Kankri to her back.
It was a long climb, but Porrim was strong from her duties, and she had the natural strength of a rainbow drinker besides. Still, at the top of the rock shelf she had climbed, she was breathing hard and sweating profusely. The worst is behind us now, though, she thought. The maw of the access tunnel loomed before her, and she instinctively began to glow with a soft radiance, another of the gifts that rainbow drinkers possess. The tunnel walls were perfectly circular, bored smoothly through the rock. Porrim passed a number of branching passages, each one leading to a different chamber in the cavern complex. After a time, the two approached the entrance to the tunnel.
Daylight flooded into the tunnel. That was fortunate. No sensible troll would be awake at this time, and not even the crazy ones would be looking outside. The Alternian sun was intense enough to blind most trolls in seconds, but while Porrim had not been outside at all for sweeps, her skin still remembered the comforting heat of the sun. Ever mindful of her charge though, she wrapped him up again in the blankets, making sure to cover his face so it would not get burned. She reached the exit of the tunnel at midday, the blistering sun casting no shadows. She took a deep breath, her first as a free troll. She spared a glance back at the tunnel, mourning her lost friendship with Nidara. Then she turned away and looked around properly.
The access tunnel was situated in the middle of nowhere. Porrim stood on a field covered in yellowed grass. Far away to the east, she could catch a glimpse of sunlight reflecting off glass. A city. She decided to avoid it. Off to the southeast, a range of tall mountains dominated the horizon, and to the north it looked as though there was a large forest. Perfect. Her destination set, Porrim adjusted her young charge and set off running for the forest. Her mind raced as she ran.
How could she raise another troll? Such a thing was unheard of. Perhaps the Grand Highblood would find it a sublime joke, but any other troll would react with a visceral disgust at the idea. Lusii were the caretakers of the young. It was a symbiotic relationship. The lusus would provide food and protection for their charge, and the young troll would in turn keep their monstrous guardian in check, ensuring that their innate violent tendencies would be controllable come the troll's maturation. Each learned from the other. The troll would learn the violence that it would need to survive come adulthood. To be Troll was to be violent. Unless… that was what she was supposed to change? She stared down at the bundled grub. What he was to change.
Porrim ran for hours, tireless, until the sun set in the west. The plain around her, so lifeless during the day came alive with the sounds of wildlife. But there were no lights visible anywhere around her. That was good. Suddenly exhausted, as though all the work of the last day hit her at once, she sat down on the grass and uncovered Kankri's face. The grub was sleeping, but awakened as his face was exposed. He smiled at seeing her, a mindless smile that simply expressed joy at seeing her. Porrim stroked his hair, smiling softly down at him as well. She fed him with some of the food that she had brought with her, then ate herself. Then, tucking herself under a bush, she slept through the night, waiting for morning to come.
When the sun rose, Porrim woke and went to relieve herself. When she came back, she gathered up Kankri, who was looking like all the grubs she'd ever seen shortly after hatching, looking for a place to spin their cocoon and pupate. "Just wait a little while longer child, we'll be in the forest soon." She said to him. He seemed to calm after that, wriggling less in his confining blanket. Looking to the north, Porrim saw that she would be able to reach the forest within a few hours of running. Glancing to the south, she saw nothing behind her but empty grassland. Hopefully her disappearance had gone unnoticed. I can only count on one more day before one of them figures out I'm not there.
She once again set off running north. As she got closer to the forest, the land changed. The grass became greener, and more bushes dotted the landscape, obviously sustained by the greater amount of water in the area. Kankri once again grew restive, and Porrim kept up her pace until she reached the cover of the trees. Once under the canopy of the forest, Porrim uncovered his face again, and moved deeper into the foliage. In midafternoon, she finally found a spot to her liking.
This deep in the forest, the trees were very old. The spaces between them were wide and filled with small bushes, many of which had edible fruit (or so she hoped). A small creek cut through the area. There was no sign of habitation that Porrim could see. But for now, she unburdened herself, setting down Kankri and her pack of supplies. Sitting down against the tree, she allowed herself to relax for a few minutes. At her side, Kankri had finally decided it was time to pupate, and wriggled his way out of the blanket. She watched as he scuttled around on his six tiny legs, prodding at the tree.
Eventually, he decided it was suitable and crawled up it a good distance. Stopping at a branch, the bright red grub crawled out onto the limb and started to spin his cocoon. Soon, his mutant, candy-red body was hidden in the dull brown carapace that was the mark of any pupating troll. His metamorphosis would take about ten days, enough time for her to explore the area around the site and construct a makeshift shelter. No rest for the weary, she sighed to herself, then, shaking her head, got up and started exploring the area around the camp. By now they must have discovered I'm gone…
Miles away, deep underground, Porrim's dereliction of duty was the last thing on her former coworker's minds. Belgis, one of the rare jadeblooded males, hunched protectively over Harfai, who was unconscious and bleeding profusely from a gut wound. They were in a cave just before the lusus pens. He stared down at her, checking for a pulse. It was there, but weak and fading. He looked up then, hearing footsteps tapping on the stone floor.
"Who's there?" he called out, voice made harsh by protective fear. Harfai was his good friend, and he had been harboring flushed feeling toward her for a long while. There was no response; the footsteps got closer and closer. He removed his shirt and packed it into Harfai's wound, but he knew that he was only prolonging the inevitable. She was already dead, her body just hadn't realized it yet. The footsteps rounded the turn in the cave and he looked up. As his eyes met the unfamiliar troll's, he felt all the blood drain from his face. That arcane flashing only could mean one thing.
It was her. Not Her Imperious Condescension, no. Having the Empress down here would be preferable to her. Having the Grand Highblood and all his entourage here, hell, the entire Dark Carnival and His Honorable Tyranny would make for a better ending than what was coming for him. The Handmaid was worse than all of them combined.
"It's—it's you…" he started, choking over his fear. "What are you doing here?" he whispered, looking at her hands. "No…" Her hands were dripping with black ichor. And the only being with black blood in the caverns was… "NIDARA! What did you do to her?" His fear was replaced with rage. "Answer me you bitch! What did you do to the Mother Grub?" He clenched his fists, knowing that they would be useless against the Lord's Handmaid.
She finally opened her mouth and spoke. Her mouth too flashed with the same arcane energy her eyes did, and her voice echoed besides. "She is dead. In a few moments you will be dead too." Her eyes narrowed. "But where is the third?"
"If you think I'll tell you anything—"
The Handmaid lifted her arm and pointed at him with a wand. It flashed, and he was cut off. Still pointing at him, she raised him off the ground. "I can make you talk. But it matters little. She is gone. Fled. Where she is, I know not. But I see now that you do not either." With a flick of her wand, Belgis was flung back against the cave wall. Something deep in his body broke, and he screamed, still silent from her magic.
Behind her, a young troll entered the chamber. Fresh from the trials, he was exhausted and terrified. The Handmaid turned around and gestured at the child. A bolt of energy rushed at him and struck him in the head. He was knocked over, but got up quickly and fled out of the chamber, moving towards the lusus pens.
"There. Now he will remember everything that happened here. He will tell of me. He will spread fear." She turned back to Belgis, still pressed against the wall, screaming silently. The ram-horned troll moved close to him. "But you," she started, her voice deepening, echoing more in her mouth, "you will burn." Her entire body began to glow, flashing with arcane power. "You will burn, and your last thoughts will be of your failure." Here, she smiled at him, a terrible smile, one that spoke of vengeance long-awaited.
She stepped back and waved her wands at the exit of the cavern that the young troll had just left. The archway collapsed, burying the exit under tons of stone. The cave was suffused in the eye-piercing glow as the aura around the Handmaid intensified. As it peaked, Belgis saw the troll step to the side, through a doorway in the air. At least the young one will survive, he thought in a rare fit of altruism. It was the last thing he thought as he was burned to vapor, and the caves of Nidara were sterilized in a coruscating fireball.
The young troll was barely out of the cave exit, carried by his new lusus when they were bowled over by a massive shockwave. Looking behind him, he saw the surface of the ground collapse, sending dust and iridescent fire into the night sky.
The Dark Carnival's endless revelry and debauchery was disrupted as the ground shook beneath the highbloods' feet. Some, intoxicated on slime, fell on their faces. The Grand Highblood paused fin the middle of telling another of his nonsensical jokes. A few words were said, orders given to meaningless underlings before he went back to terrorizing his captive audience by trying (and failing) to juggle severed limbs, laughing hysterically the whole time.
Porrim was kneeling by the creek when the ground shook. She lost her balance and fell face-first into the water. A sharp rock cut her cheek, and she hissed in pain as she got up. Not very deep, she thought as she probed it. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her and she rushed back to the camp. What if Kankri's cocoon fell during that?! Panicked, she doubled her speed, following the stream back.
She entered the campsite and scanned the tree for the cocoon. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding as she spotted it, still securely attached to the tree. She sat at the base of the tree again, thinking. What could that have been from? Tremors were not common in this area. The breeding caverns wouldn't have been hollowed out in this area if they were. Porrim decided to climb a tree to try and see if she could see anything. Light on her feet as usual, she scaled the tree with ease, its age proving an aid to her. After piercing the top of the canopy, she scanned the horizon. Stars and the two moons overhead provided enough light to see. There! Off to the south there was a massive dark cloud rising up from the ground.
It could have been a bomb of some kind, she thought, but what kind of bomb is that powerful? And why would it be dropped in the middle of nowhere… suddenly, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Though she had no confirmation, she knew in her heart that the breeding caverns had been destroyed. And Nidara along with them. Don't be a fool, there's no time to waste. You don't even know that's what it is. She descended, already bringing her focus back onto the tasks at hand: Find or build a shelter; find a reliable food source; make sure nobody lives near the site.
In time, news of the disaster at Nidara's caves would spread. Investigations were launched under the Grand Highblood's orders (though his only involvement was telling an underling to "find out what the motherfuckin' fuck that shit was"). Reports by those investigations could only conclude that the caves were destroyed by some sort of detonation. It wasn't until sweeps later that the truth came out when the young troll that the Handmaid let live started to tell his story. The records matched up, he was the last troll to come from Nidara's caves, and the construction drones stationed near the caves had been used by him.
And so the Handmaid's purpose was complete. Her name was mentioned and fear would spread like a disease. But she had another reason for destroying the caves. Doc Scratch had ordered her to kill Nidara before she could act on plans she had made. Plans that, once begun, would have resulted in entire generations of her spawn bearing her ideals, and that was not acceptable. Only two were permitted to escape. She was not allowed to know where they were, but the Doc had assured her that he knew what would become of them, and it would all fit to serve his plans. After all, he had evidence he would succeed. His servant, a paradox clone of herself, could only have come into existence from a session of The Game. The timeline was intact.
Author's Note: I hope any readers are enjoying this story. Reminder, this story is not meant to be any sort of alternate universe, but rather the story I think the Canon ancestors lived. The pacing of this story will likely not be consistent, and I have no idea if I'll even finish it. I hope you have enjoyed this story thus far! Please leave a review, follow this story, get author alerts, etc.