Chapter 5: Freedom

The guards had little time to react before the slaves were upon them, hacking away with their pickaxes and whatever was at hand, their grievances and anger for the guards bubbling forth like magma from a volcano. It could not be contained, the surge of slaves vying for their freedom. When one guard would cut down a slave, a dozen more would swarm, driving the guard under their combined weight, their crude weapons swinging away. Some of the slaves, now driven mad from the onslaught, began to sing, songs of their home and their towns and their people. Other slaves joined in and soon, the shaft was filled with the sounds of their voices, ringing in the enclosed stone walls along with the metallic pings of their pickaxes as they swung home.

But some of the guards were beginning to team up and in those cases, their experience as soldiers and bullies saved them. They cut the slaves down before them as if they were harvesting wheat and their claws and jaws dripped red with blood. They had no weapons, save their whips and whatever they had decided to carry with them. Weapons like swords and axes were useless in the mines; after all, what slave would rise up and force their hand? Some of the guards though, some of them had managed to wrest the pickaxes and other tools of the trades from the slaves hands and eventually, although they were vastly outnumbered, the guards began to turn the tides against them.

The darmanitan, the one who had begun the conflict, drove her pickaxe into the throat of a guard. The wartortle sunk to the ground, hands at his ruined throat. She blocked the heavy hooked claws of a zangoose with her fist and struck him in the stomach with the butt of the pickaxe, driving the air out of his lungs in a "whoosh". With her free hand, she used a "Hammer arm" attack at the guard's head, crushing it like a half-rotted melon.

"To me! To me!" she bellowed heartily over the chaos erupting around her. She jabbed her pickaxe in the air. "And we'll drive them out like the cowards they are!"

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Kephra had managed to completely catch them by surprise when he entered their abode, chain in one hand and spear in the other.

"Hello boys."

A nidoking soldier managed to sputter out a command. "Get them!" he screeched, jabbing a meaty finger at them.

Kephra crouched, the chain starting to spin in his hand. He moved away from one guard's wild swing of a sword. He snapped the chain across an ampharos soldier's, legs, tangling him up and driving him to the floor. Kephra jerked the chain out from under his moaning form and struck him across the back. He pirouetted away from a kabutop's swinging scythe arm and he drove the spear through the soldier's abdomen. He pulled it out with a sickening noise and stopped when the nidoking's hand managed to clamp down on his chain wielding arm.

"Got you," he leered, a wicked looking axe in the other hand.

"So you do." Concentrating, he stroked his inner fires and his wrist burst to life in a bright corona, burning the nidoking's hand. He screeched in pain and whisked his hand away. Then, the chain wrapped firmly wrapped around Kephra's hand like a brass knuckle, he slugged the guard in the nose. Kephra spun on his left foot, sending his burning right foot into the nidoking's chest. The nidoking was knocked back ten feet from the force of the blow.

Micah, who had just sent his mace smashing into the kneecaps of a shiftry, mounted onto the nidoking's back, using his back spikes as grips. He pounded the spiked mace into the nidoking's skull.

"Thanks." Kephra acknowledged.

Micah nodded and threw himself into a cluster of soldiers, using the nidoking's back as a springboard, mace in hand.

A electabuzz hacked at Kephra with a hatchet, the weapon charged with electricity. The pokemon bent backwards underneath the ax blade as it whistled by, inches from his face. His right hand, the one wielding the spear, touched the ground and he kicked out with his feet at the electabuzz, sending him stumbling away. The blaziken propped himself upright, regaining his balance. As he narrowly dodged a mace, he stole a peek outside. In one of the mine shafts, slaves were beginning to pour out, driving their hated guards before them. Eventually, the rebellion would spread to the other shafts, an infection.

This was not an infection of injury, slavery and death though.

This was an infection of freedom.

Kephra, growing impatient with the guards before him, sent the spear into the upper chest of the electabuzz. He fell forward onto Kephra's spear, forcing it out of his hands. Kephra yanked it out from underneath the dead guard and spun around, waiting for the next guard to take on.

There was no one left, save Micah, standing near a pile of bodies.

"You did that?" Kephra asked, pointing to the corpses with his spear head. Micah nodded. "Remind me to never anger the jeweler."

Kephra strode over to the long rack of weapons, some of which were now scattered to the floor, and scooped up a handful, despite his own hands being full.

"Let's get these to the slaves before a real riot breaks out."

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Of the near three hundred slaves that had rebelled in Shaft 8, a little more than a third survived the initial onslaught. The darmanitan that had set off the rebellion emerged from the main tunnel, a flood of slaves behind her. She blinked at the harsh light. It was afternoon and the sky seemed particularly bright. She looked back behind her to the slaves awaiting her command. Her heart sank when she realized that the minncino was not in the crowd.

"Now what?" A nuzleaf asked. He had picked off a dagger from one of the soldiers.

"We go to the other shafts, fully armed, and free them as well!" She pointed towards the building where the weapons were being stored. "And get some real weapons to fight against these cowards!"

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The darmanitan led the swarm of slaves to the housing quarters of the Mines, where they were greeted by two very battered slaves, Kephra and Micah. She saluted the blaziken with her bloody pickaxe. "Greetings friend!"

"Greetings to you as well, my friend!" Kephra held his arms out wide, spear in one hand, the chain in another. "The battle goes well, I presume?"

She flashed her dagger like teeth, jubilant at their victory. "We left none alive to warn the other guards. We will swarm the other shafts, taking them completely by surprise."

"Good."

The darmnitan jabbed at the broken down door that led inside the guards' quarters. "I presume the weapons are in there?"

Kephra bowed dramatically. "Be my guest."

Then, the group heard a loud explosion and Kephra, Micah and the darmanitan tucked their heads, afraid of shrapnel whizzing by. Kephra scanned the surroundings, searching for the source of the explosion. He saw a plume of smoke near the entrance of the headquarters.

A low howl entered their ears, then increasing in pitch. Something was warning the other guards, Kephra didn't what though.

He suddenly remembered. "Absalom!"

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Absalom blew down the door using a flamethrower, cinders and ashes whirling around him, the smoke created obscuring his person. He was confronted by at least a half dozen guards, armed. They made no move to attack and Absalom realized that they must have thought he somehow escaped.

"What's happening?" one of the guards, a houndoom, demanded of Absalom. "What's going on!" Absalom dropped the tip of the sword down, not answering. "I command you to tell me!"

"I think he's shell shocked," a crocanaw wielding a short spear whispered.

"'Shell shocked'? Is that the best think you can think of?"

In response, Absalom lunged at the nearest guard, slashing wildly, catching the soldier off guard. He went down quickly, multiple wounds to his chest and face. Spinning around, the flames trailing off his tail like a fiery comet, Absalom spewed white hot flames from his maw, catching some of them off guard. The flames managed to intersect the fires of his tail, exponentially increasing the range and width of his attack. Two of the guards were caught unawares and were engulfed by the flames, screaming as the fire seared their flesh.

"Three down and more to come," Absalom thought, vastly outnumbered. "So this is where it ends then. Very well." He thumped the sword hilt against his chest and charged, roaring and screaming. The first guard managed to veer out of the way of Absalom's sword, but the charmeleon shifted his grip to a one-handed one and slashed with his hooked claws, snagging on the crocanaw's tunic and chainmail. The crocanaw crashed sideways to the ground and Absalom lashed out at his neck with his tail, laying the soldier low. The houndoom captain howled, drawing the attention of all the other guards and soldiers nearby.

"No!" Absalom screeched, leaping at him, grabbing the houndoom by the muzzle, cutting the hound pokemon off suddenly. The pair fell to the ground vying for control and Absalom lost his sword in the scuffle. He had to rely on his natural weapons and pray that his chainmail hauberk would be strong enough against the houndoom's teeth and claws.

The houndoom's back feet kicked into Absalom's stomach repeatedly ad his slavering fangs tried to get a hold around Absalom's throat. Absalom was attempting to push the beast away with his hands, but the houndoom managed to pin his right hand down with his front paw, the other planted squarely on his chest. Absalom kicked out with his back feet, catching the houndoom off guard and the beast slipped, allowing Absalom to scramble away. The houndoom who had since regained his balance pounced and the pair crashed to the dusty ground once more, sending dirt everywhere.

Absalom managed to reach around, and grab the houndoom by the beast's pair long curving horns and wrestled him to the ground, attempting to snap his neck. The houndoom struggled to remain upright, although his back legs were beginning to buckle under the strain. Then, the houndoom lashed out and struck Absalom in the abdomen, slicing through his tunic and chainmail, opening a long but shallow gash. The charmeleon yowled in pain and the houndoom, seizing the opportunity, lashed out again. This time though, the charmeleon could sense what he was planning and jumped away, releasing his grip on the houndoom's horns. He scrambled to reach for his sword, hoping to gain the advantage.

The second he had his back turned, the houndoom, pounced, claws extended and canines flashing in the afternoon sun—

—Until a chain came flying out of nowhere and crashed into the pokemon's narrow chest. The houndoom thudded to the ground and Kephra, spear in hand came running across the field, chest and pants liberally stained with dirt, dust and blood, screeching harshly as he ran. His crest feathers were ruffled and splattered with ichor, and his wrists were blazing with the force of a thousand suns.

The houndoom did not stand a chance.

Absalom watched in mute horror as Kephra pulled the spear out of the guard, offering a hand to the charmeleon sprawled across the dirt, hand only a few feet from his sword. The other guard had since fled. "Need a hand?"

Absalom nodded mutely and reached for it. When Kephra pulled him up, he noticed the shallow gash across Absalom's stomach. "You're bleeding," Kephra observed.

Absalom tried to shrug it off. "It isn't much. Besides, it has stopped bleeding." He winced when a spasm of pain went up his spine. "It apparently still hurts though."

All of the sudden, an arrow went whizzing by, nicking Kephra's bicep with the arrowhead. Kephra flinched and his hand went flying to the injury. "The guards have begun to rally, it seems." He remarked. His eyes went to one of the guard towers, shabbily built towers of wood with stone foundations, fifty yards away. They were firing arrows into the crowds of slaves, now beginning to emerge from the shafts. The darmanitan had begun to free the slaves of Shafts 7 and 5. The slaves slaves escaping were bewildered and the guards who managed to climb into the towers took the opportunity, firing arrows into the crowds.

"We have to stop them," Absalom urged.

"Strong enough to keep up?"

The pair storming to the tower were caught up to by Micah, who was now wielding a ax with a many notched blade. "What happened to the mace?" Kephra asked.

"I got it stuck in a skull of one of the guards and I couldn't get it out."

"Blood thirsty little jeweler, aren't we?" Absalom asked, bemused.

"Tell me about it." As the neared the tower, Kephra laid out his plan. "I can climb the tower while you two do everything you can to to destroy it."

"That is an insane idea," Micah argued. "If we destroy it, how are you supposed to escape it?"

"Blazikens have long limbs. I can leap." Kephra avoided a pair of arrows as he grabbed one of the struts of the tower. "Your ax, please." Micah dutifully handed over the weapon, exchanging Kephra's spear for his. "Keep an eye on my spear, please." Ax haft shoved into the rope belt for his pants, Kephra began to climb the tower, clinging close to the structure to keep the guard from firing at him.

Micah, now with Kephra's spear in hand, began to jab away at the guards that attempted to surround the base of the tower. He managed to strike a glancing blow in the side of a magmar and the pokemon withdrew from combat. Micah pulled the weapon away and noticed that wide, leaf shaped spear head was smoking, the haft nearest the metal the color of old soot. The magmar's skin had damaged the weapon. Absalom fought using a combination of his fiery breath and his sword, lashing out at those who got close. When the guards thinned out, Absalom turned his attention to one of the four main wooden struts that held the tower upright. He snarled and began to hack at the wood, chips and splinters flying past the charmeleon's head. Every now and then, he blew fire on his weapon until the blade turned a dull red with heat. He hacked away with the heated weapon, further weakening the tower.

Kephra avoided arrows of the guards and the occasional flying weapon from below. The tower "nest" was about twenty-five feet off the ground and Kephra fought the urge to not look down, lest he freeze from fear. Why he had decided to climb the tower rather than just burn it down with his fiery fists he did not know. "Maybe I'm just suicidal," he answered himself. He managed to scale the tower and was now starring down a pair of bow wielding guards. He reached for the ax wedged in his belt and threw it, catching one guard in the chest. He hurdled over the low wall the surrounded the "nest" and landed inside, extracting the ax out of the fraxure guard's chest. He snapped out with his left hand, claws digging into the arm of the other fraxure guard. The guard released his grip on the bow out of fear and with a grunt, Kephra threw the guard out of the tower.

At the base of the tower, Micah eyed the guard hurtling out of the tower. "I think now we can destroy it!" he told Absalom over the din of the chaos. More and more slaves were pouring out of the tunnels, encouraged to fight back and more and more, the guards realized that they were woefully prepared to fight such a large number.

"It will be my pleasure!" Absalom took a step back and spewed fire from his jaws, lighting the strut of the tower he had been hacking away. The wood of the tower lit up like kindling and the fire roared upwards, out of control, burning the intermediate struts bracing the corner struts. Pieces of the tower came crashing down in a fiery rain. One piece would have struck Micah in the head if it were not for Absalom tackling him and knocking the raichu out of the way. The spear he had been holding shot out of his grip.

Kephra felt the tower wobble as the fire consumed the rickety building. He braced himself against the side of the guard tower. The tower began to tilt to one side and Kephra had to escape before he was crushed underneath the debris. Using the low lying wall around the "nest" as a springboard, he flung himself out of the tower, legs flailing wildly in midair. He thudded to the ground as the tower collapsed behind him. He shook his head, trying to regain a sense of where he was.

Absalom and Micah ran to him, both covered from head to foot in soot and ash. "We need to get out of here!" Absalom shouted, glancing around. The slaves were now pulling down the towers and destroying the squat grey buildings they called home. "Before some of the guards escape and call for reinforcements!" he panted.

Kephra sat upright. "Do we go to the gate and take out the guards then? Besides, the entrance is over a mile away. I don't think we can just walk there."

"Then we get a cart." Absalom suggested, pointing at the stables. The rapidash and zebstrika slaves had rebelled alongside their bipedal counterparts. "I'm sure they can help us." Absalom and Micah pulled Kephra upright. The blaziken pulled out a long slender splinter that had entangled itself into Kephra's crest feathers.

"Let's get a cart then."

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A zebstrika by the name of Song had no problem giving them a ride on one of the carts. "Some of the slaves are starting to destroy the tunnel shafts, to ensure that they are never used again." she explained to them as they thundered towards the gate the marked the entrance of the Black Pit Mines.

"That's a good thing, right?" Micah asked Kephra, who had found a new spear to replace the one he had lost in the wreckage of the guard tower.

"The Black Pit Mines were originally used as a penitentiary colony for the Sky Kingdom's worse criminals. When we win it back again, we'll have to rebuild the shafts, but I don't think the bureaucrats would have a problem with that. They're probably elated that we managed to take this from the Taos."

The cart shook suddenly and Kephra jerked his head up. Song, the zebstrika had been shot in the chest with an arrow. She stumbled and veered to one side, crashing to the ground and taking the cart with her. The three flew out of the cart. Kephra looked around to see whether his friends were alive or not. They were on the ground, moaning. They appeared to be unconscious.

Kephra turned his attention to the archer who had caused the wreck when he he spotted a familiar figure standing just nearby, bow in hand. It was the krookodile who had antagonized Kephra.

Kephra growled and gripped the shaft of the spear in his hands even tighter. The guard placed another arrow on the bow string, ready to fire when Kephra was on him, trying to stab at him with the spear. The krookodile dropped the bow and grappled the blaziken, forcing Kephra to lose the spear in the chaos. The krookodile flung Kephra boldly to one side, sending the former slave crashing into the upturned cart. His back lit up with pain as he slammed into it. His vision was blurry from the landing and he watched as the krookodile ran at him, jaws wide open. Kephra, in his daze had realized that the pokemon had blood on his maw and had probably killed slaves with his teeth. The realization had sickened him.

But what frightened him more was the realization that he was going to die the very same way.

Suddenly, a brown and red blur launched itself at the krookodile head, beating the pokemon with a rock it had picked up. The pokemon stopped and swung its head wildly from side to side, trying to loose the pokemon. Blood was seeping out from various cuts, the result of the rock cutting into his flesh. The guard managed to reach around and grab the blur, now identified by a watchog, by its tail and tossed it away. The guard shook his head, trying to get the ichor out of his eyes and began to charge again.

This time though, Kephra was ready. The spear in his hand was now broken from the wreck of the cart, but it did not mean it was any less of a weapon. He struck the krookodile in the head with the broken spear haft, sending the pokemon reeling away. The krookodile fell to the ground, tripping over Song's body. Kephra kept beating the pokemon with the spear haft though, the resounding cracks of the weapon off the guard's body a satisfying sound to the blaziken.

Kephra's vision began to narrow once again, like it had done when he was fighting the supervisor. Everything was veiled in red as he continued to beat the pokemon.

"This. . is for. . killing my father!" He emphasized each word with a strike.

"This is for. .killing my mother!"

Another crack.

"My. .brother! Akhum!"

Another hit with the spear.

". . .For Ezra!"

And another.

"For. . .Kara!"

And another.

"For. . .stealing. . .my home!"

And another.

"And. . .for destroying. . .my home. .land!"

And another.

"Kephra! Kephra!" Absalom's voice cut through the veil and Kephra stopped, the haft of the spear held high over his head. "That's enough!"

Kephra stepped back, the weapon slipping from his hands. He looked down at the black and blue body of the Krookodile at his feet. The guard had been dead for a while now, and Kephra had been beating his fresh corpse.

He heaved heavy breaths as he gazed around. The place was burning, the gate now becoming overrun with vengeful slaves. They had won this fight. He was now free.

The epiphany now struck home and he sunk to his knees. He held his face in his hands, the very same hands now free of their shackles.

And wept.

Absalom shook Kephra's shoulder violently. "We have to get out of here! Micah's hurt!"

Kephra jerked up. "He's hurt?"

A groan coming from Micah answered his question. The raichu had managed to drag himself up against the barrel, grabbing his right leg. Kephra ran over and knelt next to the jeweler. "What happened?"

"I think. . I think its really bad," Micah moved his hand away to reveal a deep and bloody gash running up most of his leg.

"We'll get you out of here," Kephra told him. "I'm not leaving you here."

"Then you better hurry." the watchog who had saved him said. It was a female, from what Kephra could tell. The pokemon looked familiar to Kephra.

"You rescued my brother from the shaft collapse," the watchog explained, before Kephra could ask. "He died though, but he told me about you, how you stayed behind rather than just running and leaving him to the mercy of the earth." She came over, bedraggled but aware, and shoved something in Kephra's hand. "He told me that if I met you, to tell you thank you." Kephra opened his hand to see a necklace. The pendant was an oval shaped stone, with the scintillating colors of red and gold. It was held by a leather thong. "Its called 'firehart', for it's colors." she looked at him with sad gold and red eyes. "It was his, but I wanted to give it to you."

"Thank you." Kephra placed the necklace around his own neck and lifted Micah up gingerly, bridal style. "I'm sorry about your brother."

"He is at peace now with the All-Father and the rest of our family." The watchog gestured out to the gate. "Now go! And help your friend!"

Kephra looked at Absalom, the supervisor's sword still in his possession and the charmeleon nodded.

"Let's go."